R e s t o p a u s e  !

 Yes, I know it's been a good few years since I put anything up here.  

As anyone restoring an Airstream well knows, it's always an ongoing process.

I'd love to say that the restoration of our 53 Flying Cloud is all done and dusted but in fact I just reached a point where she was restored enough for our annual two week's camping in the wilds of Cornwall and maybe a festival or two. I'd call it a RESTOPAUSE !

So here are a few shots from this year's camping trip. 

Not quite ideal towing conditions ! 

But worth it for the peace and quiet.

We sailed our little gaffer round too.

The hills of the Cornish coast

Canoes too - our restored Grumman.

Bit of a chop.

Some interior shots - The rear double 

And the hitch end dinette with a temporary table.

Polished endcaps

I'm always glad I kept the original cabinetry, even if some veneer occasionally delaminates and needs glueing down (hence the yellow tape on the magazine rack).

The re-released 1950s Sanderson fabric works well.

After 7 years comfortably camping in her, maybe it time to restore the fridge and put the gas and water back on. Maybe next year !

Solar panels

 

After many years keeping an eye on the development and falling price of flexible Solar Panels, I decided to take the plunge. 

I'd opted for two Baird Semi-Flexible Panels

They come in various sizes and wattages 

The main limitation on the Airstream roof is the size of the gap between the vents, so rather than one large panel I went for two 60w panels wired in parallel which fit neatly between the vents.

 Luckily I'd planned for this eventuality by wiring a dedicated circuit and taping the wire to the inside of the roof of the Flying Cloud. I'd measured & recorded where but not drilled the skin - so I was a little nervous when I did drill form the outside. Luckily I was pretty close & with some stiff bent wire I was able to hook out the cable - phew !

I went for a grey marine cable inlet which had a rubber gasket & cable sheathing...and Vulkem to make sure !

 So with the two panels wired in parallel, I would have 120w @ 12v

 Its never nice drilling into your skin but I just didn't trust mastic alone. So 4 large-headed rivets per panel & Vulkem, should keep them there in all weathers

 I was particularly impressed with the build of these panels. The solar cells are encased in plastic & bonded to a thick sheet of aluminium and the height is only 3 or 4mm. They have a small box where the cable exits the panel but even that's only 10mm. Price (through Amazon) under £70 each

Topside wired 

 Now for the inside. I'd been very impressed with the 240v Ctek Charger, so, after reading many reviews (all good) went for the Ctek D250S to manage the solar input and intelligently charge the batteries (one now, but I plan to have two). The Cteks are more expensive but they really do a good job and the various tests suggest that they'll extend the life of your battery, so will repay that extra over time.

 I'm trying to use LEDs where I can but with a lot of vintage light fittings I was very pleased to find Bedazzled, who supplies BC & ES fitting LED bulbs in 12v (most of the market is for 240v) mainly for the Canal & Narrowboat market.  They're a little more pricey but its nice not to have to cannibalise my old light fittings to fit new LEDs

So with 12v power constantly being topped-up it was time to sort more of the lights out. 

On top, I used aluminium tape for the cable runs, its simple, durable & invisible from the ground 

 Pretty neat, if I say so myself

 Next to be rewired was the original ceiling light. Unfortunately one of the casualties of the Flying Cloud's Atlantic crossing but after many years of looking, my good friend Sam Harkness of Vintage Airstreams UK, had one surplus to requirements...

...and very fine she looks too - many thanks Sam

I'm sure solar panels will get better & cheaper, year by year, but you have to take the plunge sometime & while I'm glad I waited I'm now very happy with the set-up I now have. And form ground level, you can't see any hint of them.

Small things...

 Summer has flown by, so here's the first of a few catch up posts on the work done on the 53 Flying Cloud this year

 Its often the small things that make life better, so time for some small fixes in the Airstream too: Drawers - the original ones are a little tatty but a little clean & revarnish will sort them out. I could add some plastic trays but decided to divide up the drawers with simple ply divisions

 The three drawers from the kitchen unit - stain touched up 

& revarnished

Divisions in 

Ready for another 60 yrs ! 

This was in early April & our swallows have just returned to the barn where my workshop is - so summer is coming 

 Similar divisions to the drawers in shelf unit under the front window

They tend to be home to a thousand little bits, so I've gone for double-height storage 

 with a lifting ply lid

and room on top for papers or books 

 Kitchen drawers 

with a little order brought to the chaos 

and the original pull-out chopping board sanded down & the front revarnished 

 Outside time to tackle the polishing I have never finished

 Gradually getting to a proper shine

Curtsied too 

Though still work to do on the door & a new fly screen to be installed (that'll be next year) 

 Drizzle stopped play

Our first outing is to the Larmer Tree Festival, so a nice find was these 50s shot glasses 

perfect.