'69 Safari bath floor repair

[fotochop]

i see a few rallies in my future, ceej, but not this one...although I just LOVE that "hog with piglets" logo!! if you or anyone else sees a t-shirt of this get one for me and I will gladly pay plus shipping (I wear a medium ;-)

[paris]

The learning experience is the funnest part of this whole rebuild. Thanks to Rick and many others all the answers are here in Air Forum if you look for them. Ricks photos have been most instructive. So many good folks reading these Messages just kick in at times and no one is really alone. Just ask and you will get some help. My floor is real simple and I have very little challenges to deal with.
My challenge (now that the floor is replaced) ... to wire my hot water heater from the old location of the power supply my 1963Globe which is on the other side of the cabin. I am considering drilling a 4" hole on either side of the cabin and fishing my wire through Floor braces to the other side to get to the water heater. (Unless Rick says no that is).
We are with you CJ!

[paris]

Count me in too on the T's shirt (please!)

[CJ of Okla]

Got back from the Branson rally and hubbie got all fired up and took the grinder and cut the bolts and weld spots. The belly is now laying in the driveway. It was great to talk to people who had been there done that. Gave James the information he needed. Apparently the PO had welded a steel (rust) plate for the floor of the bumper compartment then welded extra angle iron to hold the belly sheet. We didn't realize that the belly sheet was suppose to go all the way out to the bumper and cover where the Steel had been welded. Well it is all gone now. So in the next few week we will be POR15 the frame. I well try and keep you all informed.

[paris]

CJ, was it difficult to take off the belly pans? Did you raise the trailer up? I had thought I might do the same thing to run my wiring to the new AC/Propane water heater. Fotochop replace some of his inslation with flexible silver padding instead of what Airstream used.
Send me photo of the bellypan and how you lifted trailer if you did?

[CJ of Okla]

Paris, My hubby had the nose of the trailer down so the back end was up. See if you can find PizzaChop on the forum. He has some great photos of his 73 Sovereign. It looks just like our 69 Sovereign. He has some great photos of the belly skin laying on the ground.

CJ

[fotochop]

Originally Posted by paris

CJ, was it difficult to take off the belly pans? Did you raise the trailer up? I had thought I might do the same thing to run my wiring to the new AC/Propane water heater. Fotochop replace some of his inslation with flexible silver padding instead of what Airstream used.
Send me photo of the bellypan and how you lifted trailer if you did?

bellypan's not hard to remove, but if there's propane lines on top you must (SAFETY!! AVOID PROPANE IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT WORKS! AGAIN: SAFETY!) remove the propane lines (and stab.jacks, etc. if necessary) and drill out the rivets holding the pan on....

I added some Reflectix mylar insulation and will add pink foam board on top of that before close-up..

[fotochop]

hey, finally, some PRETTY pictures (instead of stomach-curdling crud...)

after chasing down a half-dozen or so plumbing trickles...and lemme tell ya, it ain't no piece of cake hooking up all that pex before riveting the plastic components back together...and making sure the wiring was OK...got to riveting back the plastic and adding trim holders..



my plan is to have white plex doors made (I know a guy who's just super at this and not at all expensive...plus he used to build the sets for the Morgus the Magnificent TV show here in the 60's..) for the sliding cabinet and the two upper cabinets...the plywood was not in great shape and seemed heavy anyway..plex will be much more elegant, especially with the wonderful chamfered indentation pulls Phil the Phabricator can do..

I sure wish that original shower head had an on/off button! makes 'navy showers' kinda tricky when you are turning on/off 2 separate faucets..sigh..but it IS orignal..and beautiful...you'll notice I left the window trim pieces "antique" (off) white... I'm also planning to leave the actual flexible trim pieces their original faded white/tan...why? well, I'm really into the idea of VESTIGES...yknow when there's just a little bit of something remaining to remind you of what once was? and those old faded tan/white trim pieces will remind me of what a nightmare this bath once was...and how nice it is now ;-)



will no doubt have to touch up a few spots with Interlux white poly..you really have to manhandle some of those bath parts in place then cleco them...I was truly disappointed with the fit (or lack of it) of a couple of pieces and it became really clear why some had cracked...they're just under too much stress...I have high hopes for my G-Flex repairs though..this stuff seems much tougher but still flexes...should be just the ticket....I kept all the original faucets & fixtures...hard to find parts for a few but no sense replacing them until the sitch becomes truly desparate..I think the grass-green VCT linoleum looks pretty good in here..adds a nice bit of color...I have enough to do the entire trailer (next project)...



in this photo above you can see that I re-wrapped that aft closet with new .025 aluminum since the faded white formica was mucho-crappy...got a nice piece of aluminum angle I'm going to rivet on as trim and I think this door will either get a new aluminum face or become white plex to match the others....

today was a VERY exciting day for me: my trailer's been a parts yard / trash heap for what? four months now so this morning I cleaned everything out, stashed the tools in the closet, fired up the a/c and actually did part of a photo shoot inside with my hugely-talented buddies, The Iguanas!!



Joe Cabral (2nd from rt) is the proud owner of a 27' Overlander and one of the guys who turned me on to Airstreams back in the day...I keep trying to talk him into towing his rig with his amazing 1929 Ford coupe but its probably a bit low-slung for this kind of towing anyway....

[Zeppelinium]

Rick, really nice job! I particularly like the aluminum divider/closet wrap (not bad on getting all the bathroom plastic sparkly, either, my man). I have in the past made a couple bathroom walls with a sheet of FRP glued to 1/2" birch, but your metal wall --oooh.

Zep

[Jim Clark]

What a difference from a week ago. Looks great it won't be long now. Good Job.

[vhord]

Wow! Rick!

I just hope someday I can post such improvements. I might can hijack my English wheel guy to come to New Orleans if you are willing to refinish my bath fixtures!

Good job!

[paris]

Ok, here goes,
be careful of gas lines..I am ok with that.
lower front to raise back...dig it! Why didn't I think of that!
Fotochop! Best bath make over I have ever seen. Loved the Aluminum side panel and soon to be "most pupular knock off" for make overs in Airstreams.
I entended to spray paint our interior last sunday but it rained. Instead I removed window gear and taped and prepared more.
This was this weeks effort attached.
Warp speed on Fotochop!

[Zeppelinium]

Paris, you da man, Man! Where'd you get permission to think out of the box? I've been buying repair kits for the dump valves because I never thought of replacing that glued-in gasket. How did your repair work? What's the spec on the O-ring you used and where'd you get it?

Zep
(temporarily demoted to Zep the Master, not Zep the Doctor)

[paris]

Hey Rick,
Nice job on the bath rebuild. Is there no replacement for the plastic trim strips?
I primed the interior yesterday with "ZAP" primer. I have the window cranks extended out so the spray paint would load up on the parts. Plus makes a clean mounting surface for the new hardware. I am having problems getting the lift bar to release from the window. I haven't figured out how it works yet.
Today's project!
I saw a thread on respraying and repairing tubs. I am not sure if it is advisable to do myself or have it done?
Preparing to prime Primed

Preparing to prime Preparing to prime