And it's snowing!

Yup. Winter is a-comin' in, as expected and right on time. Or so we think. I'm very grateful to SNP for helping build the trailer garage. Without it, it would be another winter with no work done.

Moving the frame

As you may have noticed, the Airstream is back in one piece. It was an 8 hour job but not because of the difficulty. It was the finicky nature of putting the body back onto the frame. (If there is a next time, I'll build gantries for the shell as well as the frame. That would have simplified the reattachment process.) Without an accurate fit, buck riveting the two together might have been a problem. A few weeks ago, my nephew Dan came up for a visit with his wife and kids, and we buck riveted the body back to the frame. Nothing like working on a project to get two guys talking!

SNP and I dropping the body onto the frame

Wing window with new butyl tape

I've begun reinstalling windows. The stuff from vintageairstreamgaskets.com has worked very well. Without the internet, this kind of rebuild would be virtually impossible. The Vista View windows and stackers are all clean and clear. The new caulking is fantastic and holds everything in very well. But, I did run into a snag today. As I was reinstalling the curb-side wing window I came to realize that the bucking bar from vintageairstreamsupply.com didn't work. OH NO! There's a 18mm gap between the frame and the sash, and their bar is too large. Enter SNP. He looked at the bar and then after a moment said, "I can make you one in 15 minutes." Which he did. It fits the gap perfectly.

SNP's bucking bar.

So, the rebuild is coming along. Will I be done by next summer? Doubtful. Marlene and I may just head out with an aluminum tent. But the winter will be spent doing as much as possible, most likely and including installing the new Fantastic Fans, run the wiring, finish the plumbing, maybe even start insulating. There's no end of work to be done, but it's not a 'race to the bottom' (one of SNP's favorite sayings). It's about learning new skills and seeing progress in incremental steps.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself.