Finally finished my '69 Airstream Caravel

[oldGSfan]

By popular demand! Well one guy asked a long time ago. Got the inside done with new flooring, birch veneer, paint and epoxy tub enclosure etc. I also replaced all the seals and screens. Re-riveted screen door, refurbished all latches and fixed many small things. Lots of work and pretty happy with the result, now to sell it.

[Gorminrider]

Wow! is that ever nice! You won't have any trouble selling that! i think Much in demand around here anyways.

[steve murdoch]

That is very cool.
I hate to say it because it is only a '69 but it really does a retro vibe to it.
Just curious, what would it weigh? 3,000 or so?

[oldGSfan]

That is very cool.
I hate to say it because it is only a '69 but it really does a retro vibe to it.
Just curious, what would it weigh? 3,000 or so?

Yeah the body style is the first of the modern look ones with the curved corning glass in the front corners and large plexi screen. It weighs in at 2880 lbs dry. The Willys towed it really well, around town it was a lot stronger than my '14 Grand Cherokee given the torque of the 350 V8. It just pulled it with seemingly no effort. I didn't haul it for long trips with the Willys though, that's where the GC shined with its gearing and comfort. A medium SUV and V6 is just right, enough power and still got about 18 MPG.

[dorkburger]

Nice. Those look awesome when polished up on the outside.

[trevor]

Very cool! Too bad you didn't have it ready to sell 6 months ago....our rv prices were out of this world but have come down quite a bit in the last couple of months. We just bought a 23ft RV that we are fixing up.

[oldGSfan]

Nice. Those look awesome when polished up on the outside.

Yeah that makes them pop and it might be a good investment for selling but will be at least 3K I think, hard to determine ROI. This one got polished about 15 years ago, it was about $100/ft, the going rate for a long time. Now it's gone up like everything else. I considered it, re-polishing is supposed to be easier, but I just didn't have the confidence in doing it myself. It's a nasty job. I have grown to like it the way it is and will call it 'patina'.

My green Willys wagon had peeling clearcoat and I took it to Maaco (gasp!) because it would have made every sale conversation's top topic. I paid 2K and it came out well, not great but it impressed those that looked at it and the buyer is happy. The crazy thing to me is: Why can't they figure out how to not get orange peel and overspray? I suppose their paint is sorta junk but still.

[nvr2old]

SO cool. Looks like a giant shiny jellybean. You shouldn't have any problem finding a new owner for it.

[Rob S.]

Hook it up to a pickup with a huge V8. Then put a trailer behind the Airstream for the 1100 turbo. Kinda' like Erly Cuyler's truck-boat-truck.

[salty_monk]

The Airstream looks good! If you wanted a revenue stream you could look to renting it out.... there is some money to be made in that, my friend made a very successful business out of it.

My green Willys wagon had peeling clearcoat and I took it to Maaco (gasp!) because it would have made every sale conversation's top topic. I paid 2K and it came out well, not great but it impressed those that looked at it and the buyer is happy. The crazy thing to me is: Why can't they figure out how to not get orange peel and overspray? I suppose their paint is sorta junk but still.

Because masking & polishing are very labor intensive as are adding more coats. They just slap it on thick....