[VAL] Re: VAL Digest V2 #185

[ABLUTIONS@xxxxxxx]

Well, as brand new (2-week) owners of "The Dixie Tramper", a '62 Glove  
rotter (missing our "T"), we are learning the hard way --  trial  and error with 
lots of ERROR ! --  that we "believed" the former owners  much more than we 
should have when they said their Globetrotter was completely  restored and ready 
to go!  As antique car folks, we have long said that a  cosmetic restoration is 
a fool's folly but when we saw pictures of that shiny  baby Airstream "right 
up the road" (a mere 13 hours of hard driving in  sleet and snow by the way) 
and in our price range,  we feel in love hook,  line & sinker & purchased it 
without any tire kicking or looking into  the horse's mouth so to speak!  Now 
home in our driveway, we are  discovering what is below the cosmetics and need 
some advice, assistance,  assurance, or at least a "you can do it" from you 
Airstream experts (who we hope  to meet in person if we ever get  on the road and 
to rallies !)
 
My questions are simple:
 
1. Shower curtains -  where can you get the curtain hardware that is  
required to slide along the rounded groove and also  a  pattern  so I can make one 
that would be correct (the 1  that was in there was suspended from the ceiling 
on plant  hooks).
 
2.  Where can you get those little slide things that hold  window curtains in 
the grooves over the windows so I can make those too  (with everything else 
we're replacing, we can't afford to have them made  by that nice guy in Florida 
right now) ?  Not going to describe what  is there now but Mardi Gras beads 
blowing in the breeze comes to  mind ?
 
My husband Ronnie's questions are more technical:
 
1.    Can you and/or how can  you replace the  rubber seals that go around 
the outside of the windows -- ours are hard as a  rock and broken off in many 
places & we are afraid that it could cause  leakage.
 
2.    What do you suggest for a leaking dump  valve.  Ours seems to not close 
properly/completely.  Is there a  fairly easy fix ?  
 
After shaking  your head and thinking, "one more idiot who doesn't  know what 
they are doing",  please remember that everyone has to start  somewhere and 
we are not about to give up and put the "Tramper"  on Ebay as someone suggested 
yesterday.  In fact, if we can fix that  dump valve, we're going to take it 
to Chickasha, Oklahoma, to a pre-war  auto swap meet on Wednesday.  
 
My e-mail address is _ablutions@aol.com_ (mailto:ablutions@aol.com)  and 
Ronnie's is _REMOLLERE@aol.com_ (mailto:REMOLLERE@aol.com)  if you need to contact 
us  beyond this format.
 
In His Grip,
 
Anne (and Ronnie) Mollere
Jackson, Mississippi
Tin Can Tourists 
Model T Ford Club of America
Magnolia State Model T Ford Club
Henry Ford Historical Foundation