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bweldon · 01-30-2014, 08:06 PM

I thought I would post some progress pics of the work I have done over the last few weeks. We are less than a year into having the Airstream (our first camper) so I didn't have a background in working on them. Thanks to this forum I have the confidence to tackle much of what we want to have done. We used the camper in its first season on 12 occasions, all short trips to our local lake except one trip of about 4 hours away. It was very functional the way it was but it always bothered me that there was one bad spot in the floor that we just tried not to walk around just to the right of the front door under the window. Below are some progress pics.

Barry

mccrosti · 01-30-2014, 08:11 PM

Barry, don't see the pics?

bweldon · 01-30-2014, 08:15 PM

I'll figure this out sooner or later.

bweldon · 01-30-2014, 08:18 PM

The hole in the floor below the window was much smaller before I went to tearing it away. I had a friend to weld in some extra bracing for me and then painted the top of the frame with POR 15. There wasn't alot of rust to grind off.

bweldon · 01-30-2014, 08:29 PM

I replaced the floor in three pieces & used screws from VTS. The last pick is the underside of the old subloor just above where my kids sleep on the foldout. I was really glad to get that outta there. I still need to buckle the front down with the two plates and bolts that came out. I'm waiting for a warm day so I can remove the banana wrap to do that. The old plates that came out were highly corroded so I will be making replacement ones. I see them talked about here in a few places. Mine are small compared to most of what I hear talked about. They are only about 1 1/2" wide X 3" long.

bweldon · 01-30-2014, 08:38 PM

Whats funny is this started out as a painting project. I removed the couch and took it to the upholsterer & the table came out to have some work done to it. I thought, I might as well fix this floor while I've got all this out. This story has played out many times here. (laughter) Is there anything that I have left out or should consider doing at this point?

Barry

HiHoAgRV · 01-30-2014, 09:00 PM

That looks really good, all that is left is to bolt it all together and go camping

rippie · 01-30-2014, 09:16 PM

...and ignore any simple little leaks you may see around the base of the toilet. Look the other way. They're probably nothing. Ha!

bweldon · 02-03-2014, 01:55 PM

Still waiting on some warm weather to remove the banana wrap and install the plates. Here is a pic of the old ones and the new ones I will install. With it being so cold out I started to remove the overhead storage compartments to make it easier to paint. I'm wondering if I should have left them in place now. They are really flimsy when they are not mounted. I also wonder if the tambour will be easier to re-install from the back side while they are removed. The tambour is getting a fresh coat of paint now.

78SovIntl31 · 02-16-2014, 04:27 PM

Thanks for posting, I have the same soft spot in my 78 Sovereign. I think this year I am going to be like you and avoiding that spot on the floor. - too much on my plate this year! Is it bad when I am already making a list for next winter? At least now I have an idea as to what I am up against.

bweldon · 02-17-2014, 05:04 AM

Had a little warm weather her and was able to get the banana wraps pulled away and get the hold down plates installed. Mine only has two up front just outside of the two battery boxes. They are only about 1 1/2" wide X 3" long. Some of the ones I see here on the forum are much bigger. Pulling the wraps has me wondering about a couple of things. Are all of the outer wraps around the lower edge called banana wraps or just the ones at the front corners with the bend that looks like a banana? Also, read several threads about the charcoal colored paint on the wrap. Some mention paint o the shelf at JC to be purchased, ODM has a can for $30, they also mention on their new banana wraps for purchase that they come in two colors but will have to be panted anyway to match your existing color. I'm of the thought that my almost 30 year old rig would probably need all the wraps painted to look right as whatever I put on will be tough to match considering fading. Thats could be several $30 cans of paint. Also mentioned in some posts is the durability of the paint in this area. Today I'll be looking at some options at my local hardware store.

bweldon · 02-17-2014, 05:13 AM

Not sure why that last pic loaded all cockeyed & I cant seem to fix it.

Rippee,

I finally got the toilet out & you were spot on. There was some water damage on one side but not too bad. I think I will use some penetrating epoxy & hope the new toilet doesn't leak.

dmh2ocop · 02-25-2014, 12:01 PM

Barry,

You have the same floor I have in my 88 Excella. I'm in the process of replacing the badly decayed front and rear. Did you have to rout out the edge on the plywood to make it fit in the channel? I can't tell from the pictures. My original subfloor is slightly thicker than the channel and the OSB was routed around the perimeter to make it fit. Also, any tricks to clean the old wood out of the channel other than chipping away with a chisel?

Nice job so far, hope mine comes out as well as yours.

Dwight

korn · 02-25-2014, 03:13 PM

I bought a '91 Sovereign a couple of weeks ago thinking it was solid. Boy was I wrong!

I am in the process of stripping the interior. I have the same rot in the front, plus the back, the door and under the water heater.

Please keep the photo's and info coming. Tom

Jim Lee · 02-25-2014, 03:23 PM

When I took up the floor in our 1978 31' Sovereign, I noticed there was a huge hole in the front without any bracing, htat caused the floor to spring. I put in extra bracing to stop that and then some one pointed out that was where the spare tire was carried.

Huh, I didn't know that.

bweldon · 02-26-2014, 08:01 AM

Dwight,

I took a belt sander and rounded the outer lip on top & bottom to the depth of the C Channel (I think it was 1 5/8"). I marked that outer measurement on the panels with a sharpie and that also helped when I put the panels in place to know which way I needed to shift things to fit. For removal I found it helpful to screw a 2 X 4 to the floor and hammer it in the direction I wanted to remove the panel. I got most of the wood that was stuck in the channel out this way. Of course some of the most damaged areas will just fall apart and can be removed with a skinny chisel or long screw driver. Its hard to get out when the water swells it up and it gets compressed. When I put my panels in it was a tight fit and I also used the 2 X 4 screwed down to the panel to hammer it the way it needed to go, then just filled the holes with wood filler. It was a tight fit.

Barry

bweldon · 02-26-2014, 08:06 AM

Jim,

I also put some 2 X 2 angle iron in for bracing in that front segment without thinking about the spare tire area there. I would like to use this for that purpose down the road. In some of the threads talking about adding that carrier under the front segment, others have commented that they wish the tire fit up closer to the underside of the floor instead of hanging down a bit. With that being said maybe we still have enough room after allowing clearance for the bracing. Maybe others will chime in on this. My brace extends down 2" below the subfloor.

Barry

bweldon · 02-26-2014, 09:07 AM

A few more progess pics. Had a stretch of warm weather so I was able to get the front plates buckled in and get the banana wraps back in place. I peeled it back a bit and took care of some rust with POR 15 before I riveted the anels back in place.

Barry

bweldon · 02-26-2014, 09:18 AM

Front wall panels back in and walls are cleaned, scuffed & ready to paint. Lower tambour storage painted brown & bath tambour painted white. Im going with a dark wood color on floor and wanted the lower storage to just kinda blend in with that.

Mixter · 02-27-2014, 03:26 PM

You guys are cracking me up reading this....

We are all in the same boat... "I was just gonna....", but now we all have these all ripped apart.

Are we glutton's for punishment? Or did we miss the memo that states "If you buy a vintage Airstream, you WILL become an Airstream mechanic".

Barry- you're moving fast- good work. What did you end up doing on your banana wrap paint?

I went through your same dileema, and settled on using truck bed liner from the auto parts store... I'm not at the point to where I'm installing them yet, but they are painted. Hope it works good.