Re: [VAL] New '76 Airstream Owner and VAL participant

[Daisy Welch <jtdjtd@xxxxxxxx>]

Welcome Aaron!

This is a job for the pros. You need to take the trailer to a regular RV 
place and have them service it. There are a lot of things that can go 
bad on a furnace that old and most of them are dangerous. This is not 
the moment to wake up dead on your first trip out.
> 
> 2. Same applies to the refrigerator - I can easily view the igniter
> flash through the peep hole window in the front of the fridge, but not
> able to fire up the gas to test how well the fridge works (like
> performing the 'does it make ice' test).

Does the cook stove work ? ie are any of these getting the gas they need 
?  You may need a new regulator, they are cheap and a lot of things get 
solved by replaceing it.

There is probably crud in there, few people clean in there...Again, let 
the pro's fix it, although the fridge is as dangerous as the furnace. 
This time find out what they did. It could be rust, soot, bugs clogging it.
> 
> 3. My Sovereign's undercarriage was coated with a foam insulation from
> stem to stern (and the tanks too). Are any of you aware of any problems
> this has caused, or may cause? From what I can tell it has actually
> protected some portions of the undercarriage, but I wanted to ask the
> experts! Yes, I do plan to restore the skin on this beauty, so 'someday'
> this coating will all have to be removed... any tips for that?

Never heard of that being done. Sounds like not a bad idea. Removing it 
requires knowing what kind of foam it is. If you scrape, you will 
scratch the aluminum. If you use the wrong solvent you will pit and etch 
the aluminum.  The skin of a '77 won't go as shiny as the 60's ones, 
it's a different kind of skin. And you should know that unless you have 
it professionally ($$$) clear coated, you will have to do this every 
year. Some folks get pleasure out of polishing, I don't get it.


Enjoy !

Daisy