Re: [A/S] Newbie with a wiring problem

["Mr. Joy H. Hansen" <joytbrew@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lou,

My '72 service manual (not the owners manual) has a 6 step, very short
section on the bezel removal/replacement on page 46.  "72 was the first year
that service manuals were available for Airstream units.

Says to lay a strip of masking tape around the bezel to protect the finish.
Fill the holes with pop rivets to seal the old fastener holes.  Use putty
tape under the bezel for the reinstallation.  Then trim the putty.  Be sure
to put the new rivets in the groove around the perimeter and in about the
same location as the original fasteners.  Hopefully the masking tape will
help to reposition the bezel exactly so it matches the original skin
contour.

Sure hope you are sure that the wires coming out of the lamp base are not
damaged.  When I looked at the splices for the tail lights, they are of the
molded type and it's unlikely that they pulled apart.  A long section of
heat shrink insulation would go a long ways toward covering  broken
insulation that can't be reached otherwise.  I'm also pretty impressed with
the liquid tape.  Given time to dry properly and application of more than
one coat makes a super insulation repair.

By the way, I had loads of problems getting my tail/running lights to work
as I got very confused trying to keep the tow vehicle umbilical wired
correctly while modifying the Safari plug wiring to retain the original
Safari receptacle wiring - whew, what a headache!  When I bought the new
F250, it was necessary to bring everything to code so I could tow with my
conversion van and the F250 - for both the Safari and a large utility
trailer.

Did  you retain the original clearance lamp lenses, or did you change them
out for modern replacements.  I thought to order new replacement lenses from
Airstream Dreams, but .  .  .

As a side note, the bezels that came from the salvage Airstream were cut out
from the outer skin.  So, I got to experience cutting off the rivets to
verify that the procedure works.

                                                '69 Safari, Joy