Buying it back...

Restoring a B190? Start a thread here so we can follow your progress!
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skater
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B190 Year: 1991
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

kstills wrote:
Wed Oct 12, 2022 2:52 pm
Was there any insulation under the bed frame? Looks like there is an inch or two there where some could go, no?
Yes, you could definitely put some there. I originally rebuilt the bed years and years ago, and I don't recall if there was insulation there originally or not (and for all I know it could have been removed by a previous owner if there was).
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
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skater
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B190 Year: 1991
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

Time for another update. I've actually had a little time to work on this in the past few weeks.

First, I made some window frames. Someone on the FB group asked for dimensions so I posted them here. All three upper windows are out of the van shell, and two are cleaned up and ready to reinstall.

I also cut a bunch of strips of woods to glue to the walls to use as mounting points for the cabinets. The upper cabinets rest their weight on the "hip" (as I call it) but are screwed into the wall to keep them from falling over. The wood strips provide that support.

Finally, I also cut out new wood for the bunk frame. More info here.

I've come to the conclusion I can't reinstall the windows until the interior is in place. Now that I've come to that decision, it's somehow easier to accept that the van will be under a tarp for a while. Wish my garage was tall enough for it!
Attachments
window frames
window frames
20221105_135651.jpg (915.04 KiB) Viewed 32693 times
bed frame, old and new
bed frame, old and new
20221105_135657.jpg (3.65 MiB) Viewed 32693 times
bed frame, new
bed frame, new
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strips of wood for the walls
strips of wood for the walls
20221105_153857.jpg (3.11 MiB) Viewed 32693 times
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Buying it back...

Post by kstills »

skater wrote:
Sun Nov 13, 2022 2:52 pm


I've come to the conclusion I can't reinstall the windows until the interior is in place. Now that I've come to that decision, it's somehow easier to accept that the van will be under a tarp for a while. Wish my garage was tall enough for it!
Why can't you reinstall the windows?

And cutting those frames with a jigsaw sucks eggs, no? :rofl:
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skater
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B190 Year: 1991
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

kstills wrote:
Tue Dec 06, 2022 2:58 pm
Why can't you reinstall the windows?
I think I was reacting to the fact that the inner metal rings need to be pushing against something, or the window won't sit flat like it should. So I suppose I could do it when I'm at the stage you're at, for example. Then remove them again when the actual interior wall goes in.
And cutting those frames with a jigsaw sucks eggs, no? :rofl:
I used a circular saw as much as I could for the straight edges - less likely to screw it up that way! A good blade on both the circular saw and the jigsaw helps a TON. The circular saw in particular is a Harbor Freight model from some years ago, but I put a good blade on it, and now it just rolls right through whatever wood I throw at it...and my plastic sawhorses sometimes (oops).
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
kstills
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Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Buying it back...

Post by kstills »

BTW, if I were you, I would slather all that wood with poly. :wink:
kstills
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Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Buying it back...

Post by kstills »

skater wrote:
Sun Nov 13, 2022 2:52 pm


I also cut a bunch of strips of woods to glue to the walls to use as mounting points for the cabinets. The upper cabinets rest their weight on the "hip" (as I call it) but are screwed into the wall to keep them from falling over. The wood strips provide that support.

I have glued supports for the walls, but they are much smaller. The only thing they're on the wall for is to mount the decorative panels. To secure the cabinetry, I'm going to screw the bottoms into the van (or a plate mounted to the van) and the tops into the supports on the ceiling.
kstills
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B190 Year: 1996

Re: Buying it back...

Post by kstills »

Doh, skater, can you move my posts about my build over to my thread?

Thanks in advance. :wink:
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skater
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

kstills wrote:
Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:29 pm
BTW, if I were you, I would slather all that wood with poly. :wink:
I did that for the supports around the ceiling fan, and they didn't adhere to each other very well (using Liquid Nails). I was hesitating about doing it with the rest of it for that reason.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
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skater
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

kstills wrote:
Wed Dec 07, 2022 9:28 am
Doh, skater, can you move my posts about my build over to my thread?

Thanks in advance. :wink:
Done. I moved one post that wasn't technically about your build, but you mentioned what wood you used in it, so it seemed more relevant to your thread than mine.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
kstills
Seasoned Traveler
Posts: 126
Joined: Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm
B190 Year: 1996

Re: Buying it back...

Post by kstills »

skater wrote:
Wed Dec 07, 2022 10:49 am
kstills wrote:
Tue Dec 06, 2022 3:29 pm
BTW, if I were you, I would slather all that wood with poly. :wink:
I did that for the supports around the ceiling fan, and they didn't adhere to each other very well (using Liquid Nails). I was hesitating about doing it with the rest of it for that reason.
Your window frames will be held to the wall by the clamping rings, so that shouldn't be an issue. I painted and polyed all my wall supports, then glued them to the fiberglass with either 3m boat adhesive or Gorilla glue (both because they can be used in wet environments) and didn't have any issue with adhesion. All my ceiling supports are screwed up into the wood braces in the fiberglass, including around the fan. They were all either painted and polyed or tung oiled.
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skater
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

I haven't had a lot of time to work on this lately, at least in a visible way. In February, while we were away, the box with the new gasket and slider material for the slider windows arrived (marked fragile, which worried our neighbor that put it in our screened-in porch for us). I've been slowly rebuilding them using the new material. Two are done...but as I recall the window is extremely hard to slide on one of them, so that one will get done again to see if I can make it easier to move.

Most of my "work time" lately has been absorbed by the trailer. We're taking it on a longer trip this summer, so we had a long list of things we wanted to do to it before we left. I'm hoping after I return I'll have more time to work on the B190.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
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skater
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

I haven't had a lot of time to work on it lately, as we were out of town for almost a month at the Airstream Club International Rally in Rock Springs, WY. However, since we got home a few weeks ago, I've put in a few hours.

First, I refurbed the last window. I don't know what I was thinking about one being hard to slide; the two I completed before were fine. The third one went together just fine. All three windows are ready to reinstall, but it'll be a while until I'm ready for that.

A few days ago I started a spreadsheet with a list of things to do. It was over 30 items long when I finished. Ugh. I put the list in a general order of things that need to be done

I spent several hours today working on the B190. I removed the new Maxxair fan and the wood strips that are supposed to support the roof. Unfortunately the construction adhesive I used turned out to not be great on fiberglass, and some of the wood I had previously glued to the fiberglass shell had pulled away, so I have to redo it.

I also pulled the plumbing vent and cut and removed the coax cable for the roof rack antenna. This let me finally remove the last ceiling panel. I've decided I'm going to mount the rearview camera to the roof rack and run the cable in the old hole for the coax...I'll have to expand that hole a bit, but it's way better than adding three new holes to the top.

I also worked on cleaning up the wiring behind the control center. I decided I was never going to use that rooftop antenna, which meant I didn't need the booster, cable/antenna switch, and the line noise reducer (which I think someone added, based on how it was wired in). I'll repurpose the booster switch space for ethernet and coax jacks (for Starlink, a cellular booster, or cable TV). The spot where the cable/antenna switch was will hopefully serve as USB chargers and a 12 volt outlet location. I still have the spot where the phone jack was to put something more useful in!

I worked on removing some of the adhesive from the window holes and the hole for the Maxxair fan.

I also worked on some silly things that aren't really strictly germane to getting it on the road:
  • I swapped the incandescent bulbs in the side marker lights for LEDs.
  • I used metal polish on part of the roof rack, out of curiosity. If you're wondering, it got a nice, reflective shine to it, but the lower half of the tube still had spots. I meant to take pictures, but I forgot, and the tarp is back on it now.
These latter few things are kind of silly to worry about at this point, but, eh, let me have some fun. I have a long list of things to do yet.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

Well the old tarp wore out and was leaking, and I don't want to talk about how much water I vacuumed out of it yesterday. I did get a new waterproof tarp on it. Don't cheap out on your tarps, people!

Today I removed the old phone jack and coax connection and installed a new ethernet jack and coax connection, and ran ethernet and coax cables up to the control panel. I installed the jacks for them where the slider switch (cable/antenna) used to be, contrary to what I said above. I had to square up the hole for the slider switch for the keystone jacks to fit, and I forgot to take an "after" picture of it.

It might seem odd to work on something like this at this point, but the wiring has to go behind the wall, so it made sense to do the replacement while everything is apart.

Why ethernet and coax? Well, we have a Starlink setup we use with the trailer, so it made sense to me to have the ability to use it with the B190, too. And the coax can either be used for our Weboost antenna booster or a television connection, not that we ever carry a TV in the trailer. The pole that came with the Weboost also has the Starlink adapter on it, and I put some of those roll bar light clamps on it, and I found some that will fit on the ladder (and the roof rack, conveniently, for the camera), so I can attach the pole to the back of the B190 when we're stopped if we need internet or a booster for the cell service. I don't expect to use Startlink or the Weboost with the B190 much, but I wanted the option available.

The hole for the old booster is huge, so that might get 12 volt and USB outlets in it instead.

I also re-glued the wood base for the Maxxair van on the ceiling. I think I put 10 clamps on it trying to keep it flat against the roof!
Coax and ethernet outside
Coax and ethernet outside
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Coax and ethernet instide
Coax and ethernet instide
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Coax and ethernet wires down the wall
Coax and ethernet wires down the wall
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Back of the exterior coax and ethernet jack
Back of the exterior coax and ethernet jack
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Hole for the antenna/cable switch before modification
Hole for the antenna/cable switch before modification
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Old phone/coax jack
Old phone/coax jack
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Back of phone/coax jack
Back of phone/coax jack
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Old phone/coax jack
Old phone/coax jack
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New phone/coax jack cover
New phone/coax jack cover
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1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
User avatar
skater
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Re: Buying it back...

Post by skater »

I haven't done any updates in a while. I've reglued the wood frame for the fan to the fiberglass top, this time using adhesive that should actually work on fiberglass. Woo, hoo. That was a couple months ago; the roof is still being held up by props.

Last weekend I tried to cut out the second window frames which will provide enough thickness for the trim ring to pull to hold the windows in place. Unfortunately I found that the trim rings don't follow the exact same profile as the window cutout.

So, today was "crafting with kraft paper" day. I taped the window frames to my work table, then taped kraft paper over them, and traced the outside edge of where the window cutout is, to make a template for cutting the wood frames. I took some pictures.
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1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
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