Steve,
We DO have the same point of view! What you are doing is EXACTLY what should
be done! The problem is that most of the people who empty out their trailers
intending to rebuild them, give little thought as to how they are actually
going to do the rebuilding! They end up burning the interior, or hauling it
to the dump giving no thought as to using the old parts as patterns to aid
them in rebuilding.
As the past membership chairman of the VAC, I cannot tell you how many times
I was contacted by someone wanting help rebuilding their trailer after
gutting it out and destroying the interior. One of these trailers was a very
rare World Traveler. Only 7 were made, and at that time his was the only one
other than Wally's that was known to exist. Even Wally's was altered by a
previous owner. So what this guy did was to destroy what was possibly the
only original WT! However I am very happy to report that there are now 4
known to be around. One, a '59 has a very rough, but nearly original
interior...an excellent candidate for someone to take it apart, and
carefully rebuild, original, or close to original I don't care. I would just
like to see it back on the road again. One the not quite so rare Airstreams
I don't mind the "wild" rebuilds either as long the rebuilder keeps to the
spirit of Airstream. Quality, light in weight, made to be used. Done
correctly the trailer will outlive the owner, and MANY changes in decorating
trends.
Scott
> Dr Daze & Scott,
>
> I'd like to offer a different view point. I too am dismayed by all the
> folks
> that manage to gut their trailers of what's left of the original interior
> and then for a number of reasons decide to give up... but I don't feel
> that
> these trailers and their history are lost to the landfill. Other than a
> few
> of the bathroom pieces, the interiors on these are not that complicated to
> replicate. In the case of my '67 Ambassador, though well cared for, 40
> years
> of condensation saturated rodent leavings and various other wear and tear
> had left the interior in a state that no amount of cleaning was going make
> clean enough for my family. I chose to carefully remove the interior and
> re-use for the purpose of patterns in constructing a new interior from
> fresh
> materials. Having grown up in the era, I am very familiar with the
> elements
> that will keep my new interior sympathetic to the original. It will not be
> a
> museum piece that is representative of the trailer as it rolled of the
> Jackson Center Assembly line in '66 or '67, but it will be as it could
> have
> been at the time... and it will be suited to the needs of my family. This
> gets to the key issue in this debate... the trailers were meant (by Wally)
> to be used. Any trailer that is used is better than one that is not. I
> plan
> to learn all I can in my restoration and then do my best to encourage and
> assist folks in creating their own Vintage Airstream experience.
>
> Steve