Terry,
That's why you never go to sleep in any confined space without the vents
and/or windows open!
You never know what might kill ya, now or 30 years from now!
At the very least it will give you a headache in the morning!
For some folks, using a trailer that has not been sufficiently cleaned of all
the contaminants may bring on health risks they previously had not experienced.
Some people have a nose for such things and upon entry of an old trailer they
will have an immediate reaction to the contamination.
The basis for Tad Taylor's business, Healthy Homes in VT, was to rebuild houses
and in later years, old trailers, with non toxic materials. Tad was somewhat of
minimalist so these rebuilt trailer interiors were quite austere (Clean Room
quality). I contacted him in 1999 about reusing the interiors of the Vintage
Airstreams he was gutting and his response was, why would I want to put contaminated
materials back into a trailer. Got the whole run down on his Bio-Hazard background!
He was trashing and burning several interiors per year. A few years ago I went to
his website and discovered that he found out there was gold in the sale of vintage
parts so he had a list of what had come out of many of them.
The website is still up and it appears, someone is conducting a cleanup of the
property having a going out of business sale. Looks like a 63 Bambi might be waiting
for a new owner!
http://www.healthy-homes.com/airstream.htm
I'll throw my 2 cents worth of comments on the Trash VS Salvage issue. For me it all
comes down to the condition of the relic you find and how much you have to spend. Without
question, coming across the find of a lifetime, like Fred Coldwell's "Ruby" a 48 Wee Wind,
demands preservation. It is the finest example of an unmolested treasure Ive seen to date.
On the other end of the scale, a find like Bill Kerfoot's 54 Double Door 30' Liner, a
truly unique find in less than usable condition, leaves the palette in the hands of the
owner.
I generally prefer to update and maintain the period decor but there are cases such as
my 66 Trade Wind where there was only one alternative and that was to gut and rebuild.
I chose to keep it as close to original with modern updates to the appliances.
What is at the heart of the debate is Originality VS Custom. Unlike automobiles whose
production numbers were in the tens of thousands. Airstreams were produced in the hundreds.
Availability of original hardware is next to nothing. Due to this, the Airstream company is
not supportive of a Marque Club that would celebrate and maintain Vintage Airstreams in the
same way as a Corvette club. Its just not practical.
The founder of Airstream Co, the Vintage Airstream Club and its founder have all taken the
position that the trailers were meant to be on the road and used for as WB said "making your
travel dreams come true".
With that said. Airstream has always built custom trailers for all kinds of industrial and
commercial uses. Modifying a useless hulk of aluminum to a purpose-full venture is the highest
order of recycling I can think of.
Just like Republicans and Democrats, there is room in the world for both! (OK! Independents
and non committed as well).
Happy Rebuilding, whatever your pleasure!
WAM
Vintage Airstream Club
Past President
Region 1 Rep.
> The CDC, working with FEMA, hired a contractor. The firm Bureau
> Veritas North America tested air samples from 358 travel
> trailers, 82 park model and 79 mobile homes.
> Analysis of the samples, taken from Dec. 21 through Jan. 23, came
> back last week, McGeehin said.
> They found average levels of 77 parts formaldehyde per billion
> parts of air, significantly higher than the 10 to 17 parts per
> billion concentration seen in newer homes. Levels were as high as
> 590 parts per billion.
> The highest concentrations were in travel trailers, which are
> smaller and more poorly ventilated, McGeehin said.
How about this tidbit?
Terry