TinCanDreamN

Before my T1NCAN found me, I was dream'n and learning about vintage Airstreams. One of the places I found online early on was http://www.airforums.com/. On Air Forums I had to sign up to be able to ask questions so I came up with the handle (online persona) as "TinCanDreamN". I would get an email digest weekly of Q&A's as well as be able to search the classified section on the forum. I would periodically check out what was available to study price, condition, models and location of trailers that were for sale. I have been on Air Forums since 2007! Considering I didn't buy my trailer until October 2017 that is a lot of time seriously dreaming about getting a trailer. Add that to the childhood fascination with wanting to get my own and I am around 40yrs + of dreaming about a vintage trailer. As my interest aged and ahem, matured my love of the vintage trailers remained. I never looked at new trailers with the same interest. My family was aware of this inter...

Staying with my plan to tackle all the outside seams and fixtures that need new caulk and sealing I replaced the vent covers with snazzy, new silver vent covers. When I first showed off my '65 Tradewind to a local owner of the same year/model, he looked at my sad, black PVC vents and said "You know, you can get nice silver covers for those from Vintage Trailer Supply"! I have been thinking and dreaming about them for the past 1 year. I honestly thought that I would wait because there are a few more important things to replace on the unit. But with my shift in mindset this spring, deciding to get the roof in tip top shape, even the little things matter. So in my research online I was surprised to learn that the covers are under $9 each. So replacing the 3 that I need isn't a budget breaker. I will mention that one of my vent stacks was missing the cover completely and could allow water to come in (which may be why my shower drain always has water in the drain line, now...

Two days of sunshine in the forecast so I needed to carpe diem and get caulking! I am not even sure that "caulking" is a verb but I will use it liberally and quite the opposite of how I use caulk. Caulk can go bad in many ways when it comes to sealing all things on an Airstream. There are stories of good trailers being caulked to death by over enthusiastic caulkers. I am certainly no expert but I do pride myself on getting as smooth and small a running bead of caulk as possible. Before I tackled more of the weatherproof sealing on the outside, I needed to order more caulk because there is nothing worse than running out on a perfectly sunny day! The forums are filled with an assortment of "favorite" caulks and one AS owner even published and forwarded to me a handy-dandy cheat sheet for what caulk to use in what area of the AS. All these brands and types of caulk are new to me as I am only familiar with those used for household renovations.  So here is my stas...

It was a long, cold, and snowy winter here in NH, like every year! The snow started in November with a significant amount and kept falling until early April. Each winter, of the past 20+ years I have lived here, have been different one to another. There doesn't seem to be a pattern but it is almost certain to have snow, ice and below zero temps for a portion of the season. This winter it seemed to be the entire season of all three. The design of Airstream trailers originated from aircraft construction and design. So if you ever thought they looked like "flying clouds" you are not alone, they even name one of the designs "Flying Cloud" and it is a very popular model since the beginning of the official company in 1952. My model is a Tradewind, another air reference. The dome design is for the aerodynamics of the trailer but here in the northeast we praise it being able to shed snow quicker than a box-type trailer design. My trailer was used every year by the pre...