Pensacola Pacer Project

Winner Selected at Region 6 Rally

2006-10-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

We took the Pacer on one last trip to Gray TN for the WBCCI Region 6 Rally. On Saturday night, Oct 15th, The Region 6 President pulled the winning ticket for the Pacer. We called the winner, Bobby Parker, back in Pensacola from the stage to tell him he won. He had bought the winning ticket at a car show in Oct 2005.

Classic Chevy Car Show

2006-08-29T07:13:00.000-07:00

We took the Pacer to the International Show for Classic Chevys in Springfiled MO in early August. We used our 63 Chevy Carryall Suburban to pull the Pacer

about 1000 miles to the show from Pensacola. Sold a lot of tickets at this show and the pair was a hit and won a Cruiser Award. We intended to go on to a Vintage Airstream Rally in Colorado but the Suburban started overheating in the hills and 100+ temps west of Springfield. So we took the 63 Burb home and swapped cars.

6000 Mile Trip to Salem OR

2006-07-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a Salem Oregon where the 2006 Big Wally Rally was held. We finished the Pacer in time to take it even without an Air Conditioner. Everybody said Salem would be cool so no problem. It was 104 the day we got there and 107 the next day. But it cooled down at night so we were alright. After 2 days the daytime temps dropped back into the 80s/90s. We took the Pacer to show it off and sell tickets. Business was good and we sold a number of tickets. Everyone thinks they have the winning ticket. We didn't enter the Pacer in the Concours but it would have scored at least at the silver level, probably a close gold level.

Picture 1 - The Pacer parked in the Vintage Area at the Rally
Picture 2 - Lined up to parade into the rally site
Picture 3 - Crater Lake National Park, OR
Picture 4 - Mt. Lassen National Park, CA
Picture 5 - Natural Bridges National Monument, UT
Picture 6 - A National Forest CG in OR
Picture 7 - Fossil Beds National Monument OR

Interior Installed

2006-06-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

It took about 4 weeks, but the floor replacement/cabinet refinish part of the refurbish is now complete. In this project we replaced the plywood floor,installed new vinyl flooring, refinished the furniture,sprayed new Zolatone wall covering and then reinstalled everything. We hope to be complete and ready to roll in time to take the Pacer to Salem OR by mid June. Note the tiny door knob on the closet, the Humphrey Gas Light, the refinish door interior and the original fabric on the sofa. The goal of this project was to preserve as much as possible of the original look of this 58 Pacer.

Furniture refinish

2006-06-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

Vince came from New Orleans to help refinish the cabinets in the Pacer. Several panels had to replaced with new birch plywood. We had to experiment a little to get the new wood to match the old panels. Our mahgic formula was a coat of pecan stain, followed by a golden oak follwed by several coats of orange shellac. It took 3 days to fix all the furniture.

Tonque Restoration Complete

2006-05-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

The Pacer tonque had been modified somewhere and sometime ago. It had a weird extension the pushed the coupler out to about 4 feet from the front of the cabin. Also we were unsure of the condition of the extension welding and metal. So we had a welder cut the extension off and return the Pacer to a more original configuration. Once the welding was completed we sandblasted the rust away and painted the frame with POR15, POR Tie Coat and the silver paint. Another step towards completion of the project.

The sub-floor is finished!

2006-05-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

The plywood decking has now been completely redone. All 4 sheets of the original plywood had major damage so it was easier just to replace each of the 4 sheets. This was done in stages so as to always keep some plywood between the frame and the shell and thus keep the shell from falling down abd collapsing the gap where the new plywood had to slip into. The frame was painted while it was exposed. Most of was in good shape. Only one cross member in the rear had to be repaired. The edges of the new decking were sealed with penetrating epoxy. The new decking was fastened to the frame with elevator bolts, self tapping, slotted or normal. All work was done from the top side of the decking. In some places we cut access panels in the new decking to get to the bottom side of the bolt. The decking was also cut into 2 pieces so as to allow it to slip into the slot between the frame and bottom of the shell. This cut was fastened back together with screws into a overlappping piece of plywood below the cut. A full sheet 1/8" sheet of plywood was the used smoothly cover the decking. Either carpet or vinyl sheet flooring will cover the plywood.

The big job - Replace the floor

2006-04-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

We started the effort to replace the floor in the Pacer. First all the cabinets, the sofa and the bed were removed. Turns out there's only one way to get the cabinets out. The big wardrobe was unscrewed first but then was too big to move to and thru the door until the sink cabinet was removed. Parts were bagged and labeled to aid in putting it back together later. Took about a day to remove all the insides. Then the full floor could be examined in detail. Turns out most will have to be replaced. We will try the "body on" method and replace the floor in sections.

The front 3 or 4 feet of the rotten floor was removed. The frame appears to be OK which is good. We were worried about having to fix the frame. Then the inner front skin was removed. In this Pacer the lower inner panel went from the door around the front and over to the side window. It is a large section of AL.

The removed furniture took up a good section in my workshop. Probably about half as much space as the Airstream. The next outing for the Pacer is the Vintage Rally at Mystic Springs on April 20-23. Come on by and see the Pacer under construction. Then get a ticket. You may be the lucky winner in October.

Florida State Rally

2006-04-08T18:34:00.000-07:00

The Pacer made it to the FSR successfully. Pensacola members with motorhomes pulled it there and back w/o any problems. We sold raffle tickets all week and were quite happy with the results.

Putting it back together for the Florida State Rally

2006-02-14T16:59:00.000-08:00

We will leave in 3 days for Sarasota and the Florida State Rally. So today was spent reinstalling the running lights and the interior lights. We have compounded about 3/4 of the Pacer and will hold the rest until after the rally. I plan on taking the polishing tools so as to have demo at the rally. We also put a bedspread and pillows into the Pacer. The Pacer has a small floor furnace that was under a rug. I cleaned it out today but haven't checked to see if it works.

More Polishing and cleaning

2006-02-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

We continue to compound polish the exterior and clean the Zolatone interior depending on the weather. The trip to Sarasota with the Pacer is a go. We found a member with a motorhome who agreed to tow it to the Florida State Rally. We will set it up near the Vintage Parking area and hope to schedule a polishing demo there.

Restored wall light

2006-01-30T19:13:00.000-08:00

It rained and we couldn't polish so this little wall lamp was cleaned and repainted. Also ordered new taillights/lens, window hardware and some Byam hooks from Airstream Dreams. So far we have spent about $1000 on parts to renovate the Pacer.

Getting ready for a trip to the Florida State Rally

2006-01-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

The Airstream had been at a hunting camp for the last few years. We have inspected and repaired the brakes and installed new teardrop running lights, and installed a new car/trailer wiring harness. We also purchased and installed new ST radial tires and 15 inch wheels with baby moon hupcaps.

So the Pacer is ready to roll to the Florida Rally in late February.

Polishing starts on the Pacer

2006-01-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

The first pass at polishing the Pacer has started by "compounding" the aluminum surface to remove 48 years of oxidation. On day 1 we polished about 1/4 of the exterior aluminum. Compounding produces bright metal but also leaves scratches. Thus a second and third pass at least is required to smooth the scratches. A 7 inch Harbor Freight polisher was used to compound the Airstream.

Interior of Pacer

2005-08-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

The Pacer has a gaucho sofa bed in the front and a double bed in the rear.

Pensacola Pacer Project

2005-08-29T18:16:00.001-07:00

This vintage 1958 Airstream Pacer was donated to the Pensacola Unit of WBCCI. The club will renovate it over the next year and then give it away at the 2006 Region 6 Rally in Tennessee. This web site will be used to document the renovation efforts over the next year. This first posting shows the Airstream as we first got it.