1978 Airstream Couch Renovation
Our #AirStream couch #renovation, update was a SUCCESS!
We decided that since the aluminum frame was in very good shape, that we would keep the design and would just make it more durable.
We are doing all of the work ourselves, and will update and add comments as much as possible in hopes of helping others who are wanting to do the same, as well as being truthful and upfront will you all in regards to budgeting and how much projects like this one cost. With that being said each project will have an estimated amount spent, tools and consumables needed as well as instructions based on how we did things (yes- this includes the screw ups and re-doing of things after we found a better way to do them.)
So...
COME ALONG AND LETS GET THIS DONE!
For this #project we spent about $150 for equipment needed as well as things we did not have like the wonderful rivet gun we bought.
First, Math:
* Wood- $30 ( we were fortunate enough to be able to go and get as much wood as we could scrap from a local place in Fallon Nevada, where we were currently stationed.)
*Metal ware-$80 (all of the rivets, screws, chains, brackets, etc)
*Stain/ Wood Sealer $20- (we already had some that would help to protect the wood)
Next, the Consumables:
* Rivets (we used 3/16th size)
*Plywood
^^^ note: we would of rather used Cedar wood, but with where we are located and availability we did not have this choice and that is why we used plywood, and just sealed it for protection.^^^
*Screws (assorted sizes)
*Assorted Brackets (we used Flat)
*Chains (to add stability to the couch)
*D Rings
*Flat clasps
*Hooks and connecting equipment
Finally, the tools:
* #RivetGun (review post up now)
*Drill/Drill bits
*Pliers
*Circular saw
*Carpenter Pencils (in our case we had sharpies)
*Phillips head screw/ or bit for the drill
*Hammer
*Carpenters square
*Large straight edge
*Eye/Ear protection (duh- of course, SAFETY FIRST!)
#Instructions for the build:
First, we cut the wood to size, we did 6 squares total so that each piece could slide into its slot and be held by the frame itself.
Our Square pieces ended up being 20d x 22 1/8w.
Once we had all the pieces cut we checked to make sure that they all fit, unfortunately since the frame was hand made it was off by a little, but just enough to make us have to trim down our wood a few times to get it just right. ( minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.)
Next, we lined up all of the brackets for the bottom half of the couch, and started to rivet the brackets on the edges that would touch the metal frame. We ended up needing to put smaller pieces of wood under the brackets themselves on the wood side to keep the wood and frame touching, because our plywood was just tad bit thin.
From there we just riveted the wood to the frame, and continued the whole process until it was done.
^^^Side note (we had a batch of really shi**y rivets and had to keep redoing them so we recommend getting an extra box of them just in case. ( we ended up going through 120 rivets) ^^^also note that if you can get bigger boxes of them DO IT!, because we ended up spending more getting the smaller batches of 15 count because they didn't have the 50 or 100 count boxes in the ones we needed.^^^
In the end it was a pretty straightforward project. The last thing for this to make it #100 done will be to make the new #cushioncovers but other than that I say it was a pretty good start to our #airstream #fulltimeliving #journey :)
-The Whitten’s-
