As the RV industry’s gold rush wanes, crafty individuals can still be found seeking out old buses to convert and vintage campers to overhaul. In getting an old camper, you can save a ton of money, especially if you’re looking at something like an Airstream. If you’re not fine with vintage equipment like I am, you may find yourself wanting to renovate a vintage camper. A pair of YouTubers want to warn you that trying to renovate a vintage Airstream might just be a total nightmare and an endless money pit.
As summer nears, I’m thinking about actually getting to the job of fixing up my 1985 U-Haul CT13. That camper has been on my bucket list since 2017, and now I finally have one. But, it’s going to need some work before I camp in it. Admittedly, the U-Haul has been on the back burner, as I thought I’d have some resources to help me that never materialized. Screw it, I can do this myself! In my spare time I’ve been watching videos on how to fix fiberglass, and the lovely Bill Caswell is teaching me how to weld. I think I’ll get there. One thing I’m happy about is that I’m not facing the challenge of renovating an entire vintage Airstream like these folks are:
Note: The video’s title is clearly dubious at best; I’ve seen lots of renovated Airstreams and people are definitely renovating them. The real content here is that the renovation of an Airstream brings unique challenges, even to experienced builders.
Bringing An Airstream Back To Life
Matt Hardigree sent me a video by Kels And Jay. The pair spend their time renovating buses and vans and then showing the world their work on their YouTube channel. If Kels And Jay sound familiar to you, it could be because recently, I wrote about how the couple joined forces with other camper builder YouTubers to convert a short bus into a motorhome in just 5 days. This pair seems to know what they’re doing!
Seven months ago, Kels and Jay uploaded a video (below) detailing their purchase of an 18-foot 1971 Airstream Caravel Land Yacht.
As Airstream explains, the Caravel was introduced in 1956 as a lightweight, easy-to-tow option in its lineup. The company says that the campers are named after European sailing ships that are good at sailing windward. Airstream’s founder, Wally Byam, loved the sea, seemingly almost as much as camping, hence the nautical naming.
Today, a Caravel starts at $74,000, making restoring a trashed one a compelling proposition. This particular Caravel is a Land Yacht, which would normally indicate the most luxurious trim level. However, this one was far past its prime:
Kels and Jay purchased the Caravel from an Airstream collector and the camper was presented in horrible condition. Apparently, the previous owner got started on a renovation project by gutting the trailer before passing away. What was left was a disaster.
Years Of Neglect
The exterior had mismatched patch panels, dents, and corrosion, but that was nothing compared to the interior. Inside, the floor was rotted all of the ways through in several places and the overall interior condition reminds me of an abandoned mall with water leaks. For example, the floor was so bad that it crumbled in our hosts’ hands.
There was even a dead bird inside one of the cabinets. Actually, the camper had multiple dead birds in it as well as rat poop and disgusting insulation. But aside from the horrible floor, the Airstream was in good physical shape despite 52 years of abuse.
The Challenges Of Airstream Restoration
Once the pair got the Airstream to their shop, they quickly began learning what makes renovating an Airstream different than a bus or a van. Kels’ first reason that Airstreams are different is that you will need supplies for riveting, which cost them over $200. They then spent $660 on rivet guns, $400 on metal cutting tools, and $425 on polishing tools.
That leads to her second struggle with the Airstream. Kels and Jay found very few resources to help them in their journey. As they found out, there really isn’t a manual to follow and it seems that everyone who renovates an Airstream has their own methods. Apparently, many who renovate Airstreams often try to leave as much of the interior as original as possible.
This part isn’t really unique to Airstream. Part of my own journey with my U-Haul is not knowing how to achieve my goals with it. I can find wiring diagrams for my U-Haul’s broken electrical system, but it’s up to me to figure out how to fix it without hacking fiberglass.
For Kels and Jay, this meant a lot of flying by the seat of their pants. For example, the couple lifted the shell off of the floor and frame, allowing them to replace the rotted subfloor and treat the frame. Kels and Jay were also able to mount new freshwater and gray water tanks. What they couldn’t figure out was how to get the shell back on. They would get one part of the shell back on before discovering that another part wasn’t close to fitting.
They spent hours banging on the aluminum, cutting, and re-measuring, but it wouldn’t fit. The shell finally fit once they took the cross beams out of the shell and tried again.
That leads to Kels’ third frustration, and it’s that even though they’re experienced in renovating and converting campers, it’s paralyzing not to know what you’re doing. If you’ve tackled a hopeless car project, you know what she’s talking about. You’ve done everything that you know how to do, but you’ve reached a point where you’re just stuck. And when you finally do figure out what’s going on, that leads into Kels’ fourth battle, which is that when you finally do make some progress, it’s going to be slow.
Remember, your typical camper will be built with walls of luan plywood, insulation, and a fiberglass outer skin sandwich. An Airstream features a semi-monocoque construction featuring riveted aluminum. Airstreams are built with outer and inner aluminum skin stretched over a frame and riveted by hand with thousands of rivets.
By removing the shell from the frame, Kels and Jay had to redo every one of those rivets, which isn’t a quick process. Apparently, the couple’s Airstream didn’t line up perfectly, either, so holes had to be drilled for the rivets.
Later down Kels’ list is that working with aluminum is a pain. Repairing the camper required cutting new aluminum, drilling holes, securing the panel, adding sealant, and more riveting once the piece had cured. Through all of this, they learned that their experience in building buses and vans didn’t really apply here.
Even parts of the construction that the couple had years of experience in, such as installing a roof fan, was made harder by the aluminum construction of the Airstream. When installing the fan, the couple had to shore up the fan because the aluminum bowed in just trying to support the fan.
The couple also found that parts that they couldn’t make themselves or find aftermarket were expensive. In their case, they decided to replace the rotted-out axle with another and found that genuine Airstream parts aren’t cheap. Thankfully, you can get parts from others in the Airstream community.
In the end, Kels’ detailed that working on an Airstream could be a nightmare and has been a nightmare for a number of people. However, she thinks that by being willing to tough it out, being ok with imperfection, learning some new skills, and taking their time, it might still be better than buying a new Airstream. The couple already has an update where they’re beginning to build out the trailer’s floorplan. If you’re interested, click this link for more.
While my U-Haul isn’t going to be anything like this, Kels and Jay do give me some inspiration for my project. If they can do this, my little fiberglass trailer would be a comparative walk in the park.
(All Images: Kels And Jay on YouTube)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
This Tiny Motorhome Drives Like A Car And Is Shorter Than A Pickup Truck
-
My Camper Has So Much Water Damage That The Walls Are Falling Apart And The Floor Split Beneath My Feet
-
This School Bus Camper Was Built In 5 Days And Looks Nicer Than An Apartment
-
The Wanderlodge Is A Luxury RV Built By A School Bus Manufacturer And More Expensive Than A House
I restored a 57 bubble with my dad. To properly restore one you have to separate the shell from the floor. The shell sits on the floor and floor has likely rotted away and since the floor is structural you have to use full size sheets to get the structure back. The frame will also need rust repair and that is much easier to do with the shell out of the way. The key is proper bracing of the shell prior to lifting to prevent distortion. If rivets failed and panels shifted, then they did not brace it properly. The bracing also makes it much easier to re-unite when you get to that point. We even replaced the curved belly pan in its entirety with no previous experience with aluminum. Airstreams are not impossible to re-build, they just require patience and planning. I will admit that there was a lot of blood and cursing, but every project has that.
I can confirm that the Caravel ( Caravelle ) is an European historical sailing ship… after all it’s what Chistopher Columbus used as ships to Discover America. …
Now the Caravelle is also a training sailing boat used as first training sailing boat ( anlong with what we call the optimiste, but that one is a single person boat, while the caravelle is a team job ) before sending people on 2 people sailing boat.
Edit for clarity : I learned sailing on a Caravelle ( the training sailboat version, not the oceanic going ship )… And didn’t go much further despite a mom that was a Glénant trained & diplomed/potential French sailing teamate in international competitions… I went uphill, to the mountains and got a French Alpinism Federation Diploma.
And to keep it cars, the VW Caravelle is the passenger version of the Transporter van.
And the prices people want for the worst wrecks make crapped out Mustangs seem cheap
With cars, once you take the body off the frame, it never will be the same. With the Airstream, I assume this is likely even more true. Polished aluminum is a nightmare, because it shows every imperfection. They may end up with a decent camper, but I doubt it will ever look right.
Interesting that the countless amount of cars I’ve taken off frames heavily modified both and put them back together without an issue have been better than before ……
All that effort, and result looks like shit in that last photo. The body is now hopelessly wavy and the polishing is crap. I wonder if they will find a sucker to buy this turd when they are done.
Yeah that’s not good!Perhaps the camera catches more imperfections than the eye?
Even so it’s never going to look great.
Once polished metal is dented it’s a nightmare.Honestly,i’d be filling the dents and painting the whole thing.It’s the only sane way forward
So about 9 years ago, the wife and I moved back to where we grew up, bought some land and were starting a business on it. No house, figured we could live at our parents a few years, but we DID think about getting an old air stream and redoing it so we could live on the land until we could afford a house.
BULLET DODGED holy cow. I knew it would be more than I could reasonably do at the time, especially with no shop to work out of. But I think it would have been even worse than I thought. One day I’d like to try, but maybe I’ll try to get a post-covid nice used airstream from someone who thought they’d really love it but didn’t.
I figure you can cut the purchase price by ALOT if you find a used one from someone who is sick of the payments or needs some liquidity.
Riveting isn’t a small job. Neither is applying sealant of any sort. Combine them and it’s a recipe for lots of frustration.
As soon as I saw that they separated the shell from the frame, I thought to myself boy are they ever screwed. And I was right.
They didn’t need to do that. I would’ve removed the floor and gotten rid of all that stuff, then put the floor back in place in pieces, not taking the shell off of the frame.
I had to stop watching it, but I am sure that there are other instances of failing to plan for putting it together when they were taking it apart.
It looks like that forward window could be removed and you have a giant hole to pass materials through, so I don’t see the logic with taking the shell off. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time.
Yeah I worked on a couple and I swear that the floor has to be replaced with the body in place as it actually tapers down below the floor level. This looks like a mess
Yeah, I would think the floor could go in with the body on exactly as you describe.
I have sorted deduced this myself watching youtube videos of people reno these things. What I have discovered is that youtube is littered with a lot of people who tear these things down and then that’s it. The reason is that it’s a hell of a lot of work. I’ve considered doing this but I have realized that it is definitely a labor of love and not something that I could put on a timeline or a budget.
As soon as these people removed the shell I realized they were in trouble. I watched an experienced guy take a larger one down to the “studs” so to speak but kept the shell on the trailer. You really want to do that. In any case, a lot of restos of these things are to do one of two things: make a semi-permanent AirBNB style hotel room that is no longer really an RV trailer–basically one without a bathroom or kitchen, just a bed, electrical, and more or less permanently parked. Or turn it into your mobile food-trailer–again, no toilet–just a stove, electrical, fridge, and plumb in a sink/tank.
Nearly all of the people who keep it as a proper RV travel trailer don’t take it down to the bare metal, which means they buy one that doesn’t have leaks, doesn’t have a rotted floor, and that enables you to just replace the appliances, spruce it up, and viola.
I’m convinced that those that do take it down to the bare metal are the kind of people who are turning it into one of those $200 – $300K situations with full wood/metal interiors like a Bowlus or something, because only that kind of work and luxury is worth the actual labor costs. Or they are just a bit crazy.
Having finished renovating our house I bought a Winnebago Elandan thinking it would be a piece of cake compared to the house. So wrong. It’s nothing like working on a house.
For one thing everything has to come in and out of that one tiny door.
Never again
The curves, the angles! My personal nightmare.
A lot of the stuff came in through the windows before they were installed, at least you have an Elandan that is well built some other ones are craptacularly constructed
Facebook Marketplace is littered with old Airstreams that have been gutted and then the owners realized they were in way over their head. The shells are aluminum, but the frames are still steel and critters still get in below the floors and cause damage. There’s also frame separation issues on some older models. Often the body needs to come off the frame to do a complete repair. If you want a vintage Airstream, it’s much better to try to find one where the work is already done (and well documented), or one that has been stored indoors and doesn’t have the leaks and frame issues that cause damage. Just like a classic car, you never get back what you put in, so it’s better to get the one that has been restored already at a loss.
Much of the frustrations and labor for such a restoration can be offset by the outrageous prices used / restored Airstreams go for.
however, like restoring a classic car, to do it right wont be cheap. And unfortunately many folk want to follow the DT restoration model. And they never get to the endpoint they desire
Between the early era of welded tube frames and today’s carbon fiber composite tubs, Indycar chassis were built of fabricated and/or cast bulkheads and aluminum sheet. The folks who built these were truly epic craftsmen. The Airstream has that vibe.
Well, there’s a series of videos I won’t click on.
If you only discover airstreams involve working with aluminum after you buy an airstream, you don’t deserve an airstream.
This inability to plan and think ahead makes me question if any of their builds are reasonably competent.
I sort of wondered that, too. “It’s nothing like a bus.” Yeah. Go figure. Step 1, find someone who has restored one. Step 2: ask them for basic advice.
“wait, we need rivets and polish for an airstream?!?!” That threw me a bit too.
The over the top title + oversized pic of the influencer on these YouTube vids must really work, because everyone freaking does it…
I’m confident with a wrench, but restoring an aluminum camper seems to require a team-up between a master homebuilder and a veteran aircraft mechanic, which *glances at diploma, recalls all life experiences* I am decidedly not.
For real, I bet there are only a handful of people competent in restoring an Airstream exterior. The curved shape alone is terrifying, then you get to the polish that reveals every single imperfection.
I guess they will get paid via clicks? Aluminium fabrication has come a long way since the original Airstream though eg pulse welding is now pretty affordable, there are adhesive that bonds aluminium. It looks like more research ahead of time would be better, but I guess they need the drama for the clicks.
Those patches on the roof give me palpitations and I am not invested in it.
Waste of time. Shop or not these millennials thought watch a video we can do it. You cant you are idiots but maybe saved money by doing videos. I dont see why i shpuld watch morons do it wrong.
Here is one thing millidiots should learn. No matter how hard the job is watching a talented person do the work convinces you it is easy. It is not it just shows how talented the real talent is. So screw idiots like this couple it earns them money and totally screws up your project.
Did a Millennial steal your baby or something?
This is a weird take for someone on a website that’s basically dedicated to millennial amateurs taking on unadvisable projects.
The best part is these two probably aren’t even old enough to be millenials. Everyone’s gotten so used to blaming millenials for stuff that they forget millenials are all in their 30’s and 40’s now yelling at Gen Z’s to get off their lawn. 😉
Dave always has shitty takes, he has been banned once before.
Mercedes, when it comes time to work on your trailer wiring, I again offer my help. I kinda know what I’m doing.