Tag: 1967 Airstream Sovereign

I am going to go to a weekly update as my schedule is really busy and also there is going to be a lot happening with the Airstream in the coming weeks. This past week was busy with more cleanup and preparation work. I finally got around to removing the old water heater, furnace, front bulkhead, lower A/C console, all outlets, removed the wheel well covers, and anything else attached to the walls. The walls are now being stripped before we take down the inner skins. I have tried various ways of applying the stripper, but in the end, making sure to have two heavy coats of the stripper is key and no need for any plastic wrap. Here are some photos from this past week.

I have been dreading this day for awhile as I knew this task would either be a walk in the park, or more likely a nightmare that I would never forget. The ’67 has the vinyl clad aluminum walls, which basically means it has vinyl wall paper on top of the aluminum inner walls (aka skins). This stuff is notorious for being impossible to remove as the bonding process they used was very effective.I decided to give the process a try under the first front street side window.

I have done a lot of reading and researching on various experiences and finally found a couple that found a product that they claimed “worked like a dream”. I went to our local Lowes and found the product (9 years after the account I read about), which was amazing that the product was still available. I then also followed another couple’s advice that said that applying the stripper and then placing plastic wrap over the stripper would help the vinyl absorb more of the stripper. I was very skeptical.

I brushed on a few coats of the Jasco Premium Paint and Epoxy Remover. I then applied the plastic wrap and left it sitting for 20 minutes. The stripper didn’t have much of a smell to it at all, but I do have the windows removed and some good airflow. Finally it was time to see if the stripper would work so I got out a plastic scraper and poked at the test area…

It worked! This worked way better than I even imagined and I think I could remove all of the vinyl from this 30′ in less than 8 hours easy. The test area pulled off all in one piece like a big latex balloon. It was pretty amazing how it would not even budge around the areas that had no stripper applied to them yet. There wasn’t even much adhesive residue left and I am sure some mineral spirits will have that all cleaned up in no time. This is by far the easiest task I have worked on so far with this restoration!

Here is the link to the forum thread where I found all of this very useful information: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f39/stripping-interior-vinyl-covered-walls-2625.html.

The belly pan has now completely been removed and is folded up and waiting to be used as a pattern for the new belly pan. The rivets have been removed for some time, but I simply haven’t had time to finish removing it until now.

Since it was in such bad shape I decided to cut it on either side of the axles and then just keep it around to use as a template once it is time to button up the old gal. The cutting just took a few minutes and was very easy. I think I need to work on my straight lines. 😉

I then slid out the front and rear pieces and folded them up into quarters for easy storage.

Things are starting to look really nice!

Well the belly pan is basically off of the ’67 now, but still needs to be dragged out from under the trailer! It went fairly smoothly, but unfortunately will need to be completely replaced as there were a lot of severely damaged spots that go way beyond simple patch jobs. The entire process took probably 2-3 hours from start to finish including the banana wraps, but just spread over many days since I typically have an hour here and there to work on it and some of that time is always taken up with setup and cleanup. It was so nice to do this on a concrete floor where I could use a floor creeper/roller to easily move around.

I actually didn’t find as many surprises in the belly pan as I had expected. As you can see from the picture above the pan is down and simply resting on the axels. There is some type of nest constructed out of some very comfortable insulation towards the front of the pan and I imagine some huge rat use to call that home.

The cleanup filled up 20 gallons worth of trash, but now is ready to be removed without spreading all of that wonderful fiberglass all over the place. I am planning on cutting the pan in quarters and then storing until I get to the point of needing to create a new pan our of some new type of product. I think I will go back with the same type of aluminum, but will do a little research to see if anyone is using vinyl or anything else that might make a better belly pan material. I also spent some time moving all of my various pieces that I am keeping as templates from the ’67 into my ’77 which makes a good storage place for those various items.

I am planning on cutting the pan into quarters during my next work session and then will either begin on stripping the inner skin or removing the inner skin. I would like to remove the old zolatone, but need to talk with some people to see if it is easier to do that project while they are on the ribs or on the floor.

I took a little break today from the belly pan to finally remove all of the bathroom panels and aftermath left inside of the trailer from when we tore the bathroom apart. I know that the belly pan will be off shortly and that I need to make sure the inside of the trailer are empty and ready. I will be removing the inner skins, but have not yet decided if I am going to strip them first or just paint over them. I am leaning towards stripping them first and then removing them, even if painted in the future they will be prepped and in great shape for any type of treatment. Again I forgot to bring my camera along, but we are quickly nearing the completion of the destruction phase! It is very exciting to see the frame starting to be exposed and I can’t wait to get all of the old insulation and wiring removed from inside the walls.

No pictures today as I forgot to bring my camera to the shop, but I think I will have the belly pan off within another hours worth of work. Today I removed all of the curb side rivets along the belly pan and also began removing the rivets along the underside of the trailer. I do have to say that I am disappointed as I have found enough damage to the belly pan in the front half of the trailer that I will need to replace that with new material. There are several holes, which could be patched, but where the belly pan is riveted to the underside of the frame there has been extensive corrosion and most of riveted areas have been eaten away leaving the belly pan separating from the frame. Hopefully in the next few days I can find some additional time and get this thing off once and for all!

This was another productive day as I removed the street side banana wrap, removed all of the rivets for the belly pan along the street side, removed what I am currently calling the propane regulator, and removed the remaining gas lines.

You can see here the street side banana wrap and the gas regulator mounted to the hitch. This banana wrap contained the worst damage of any single panel on this trailer and after getting it completely removed I am now thinking I will have to fabricate an entirely new wrap instead of just creating a simple patch. The gas regulator box came off without much of a fight and the remaining gas lines are now a thing of the past. I am really still surprised how this trailer had exposed copper gas lines that were just run right under the bottom of the trailer. I haven’t exactly figured out what I am going to do, but I will not be having exposed lines.

Here you can see what it looks like with the banana wrap removed. This area was especially dirty since it had an huge hole and probably a good 3-5lbs of dirt. I vacuumed out both of these corner pockets, but I am still curious what I will find once I get the entire belly pan removed. Removing the rivets along the street side went very smoothly and went even smoother once my drill bit broke in half leaving what I now prefer for drilling out the pop rivets as it does a much better job than a new bit with a pointy tip oddly enough! I will tackle removing the rivets from the curb side next and then start on the underside and get this belly pan removed completely!

Well after a three month break due to lack of available time to devote to the ’67 project, the project is now moving forward again. The other news is that I have decided to keep the ’77 and have it waiting it in the wings for a future restoration project.

This morning I began the work of removing the belly pan and plan on having it completely removed this week. I started with the curb side banana wrap and had fun getting use to some of the larger sized rivets. I was able to get the wrap completely removed and also removed all of the gas lines that ran under the trailer outside of the belly pan. I plan on running the gas lines in a way that keeps them from being as exposed from the elements, but still easily accessible for repairs.

The plan for next week will be to start the arduous task of stripping the interior panels. Then that will pave the way to remove the inner panels and floor so that the restoration of the frame can begin.

No new progress to report on the ’67 this week as I’ve been busy with work and other obligations. Over the past few weeks we have been looking for a good used vintage Airstream for some close friends of ours that would like to become Airstreamers. A few weekends ago we came across a hidden jem on the side of a highway that looked like it would be perfect for them. The trailer wasn’t listed in any paper or Craigslist, so we thought they might get a good deal.

We went to look at the ’77 with them last week and it was in really great condition for the price. The trailer had three awnings in incredible condition, all windows, and the exterior panels were all in excellent condition. Our friends decided that it wasn’t quite right for them with their current tow vehicle and my friend is starting up a side business that has quickly started to build up speed and looks to keep him very busy for some time. They still want an Airstream, but decided to pass on this 1977 31′ Sovereign and look for a 25′ trailer once his new side business is up and running.

’77 Sovereign

Now, also last week at the same time, I started to research how I could obtain a Zip Dee awning for the curb side of our ’67. A few phone calls and getting quotes on new replacements I was finding that it would cost about $1,500 to purchase a new awning and assembly (before shipping). That just seemed like way too much money with all of the other items I know I will need to finish off this trailer.

I then started to think about how the trailer that my friends had looked at and thinking of those three Zip Dee awnings that were in near perfect condition! Once I was sure that my friends were not interested in the trailer, I offered the seller some money just for the awnings, but he declined. I then decided it wouldn’t hurt if I low-balled him an offer for the entire trailer, with the intent of removing the awnings and then selling the trailer myself. To our surprise he accepted my first offer for the trailer and tonight we sealed the deal. I will bring it to the shop this weekend to sit next to the ’67, while I decide what I am going to do with this new trailer.

Zip Dee

Now the problem is us deciding if we want to fix up the ’77 a little and use it while we are restoring the ’67. The trailers are each unique in their own ways and the ’67 is vintage, while the ’77 looks classic. I think they would both be great campers and now can understand why a lot of the members of the airforums.com forums have multiple trailers!

I woke up before it was light today to tackle ripping the bathroom out of the AS, before beginning my day job. My dad will be helping me on/off as he has time and today he joined in for the fun. The bathroom took a lot of time for such a small space and was like taking a puzzle apart.

I had originally thought that I would be able to save and repurpose a lot of the items in the bathroom, but after spending more time in there, I am not sure I want to build the bathroom anything like it was originally designed. I would love to know how someone kept the area around the toilet clean in this original design! The components were in decent shape, but there were several fiberglass panels that would need some repair. The black water tank was in unusable condition and was literally falling out of the bottom of the trailer. We didn’t even bother removing the toilet since they both needed to go and we simply cut the tank away from the valve and gave her the heave-ho (well actually we carried it out very gently since it was not empty…).

This entire process would have literally taken me 2x as long if it weren’t for the help of my dad (thank you Dad). When we finally got the dividing walls down, then we could see under the cabinets and there is no telling how many creatures have called that space home over the years. The hot water heater had seen better days and the floor had a very interesting patch job. We laughed several times as I recalled that the seller had said that this trailer just needed some new linoleum and it would be good to go. I can’t wait to get the belly pan off and the inner-skins, but I am guessing that those will hold the true treasures and surprise from rodents that thought the AS would make a great home. Where did I put my hazmat suit?

Bathroom After

I wish I could say that I have already organized the items from the bathroom that I will keep for the time being, but almost the entire bathroom is sitting in the front half of the trailer. I guess I know what my next project will be.

Bathroom Aftermath