zolatone or not?

[Rebus]

Hello, am looking forward to making new connections to people who have been involved in Airstrean restoration projects. Just picked up a '56 18 footer. More floor rot than was obvious initially. Also, significant rot and very gross amount of yucky mouse carcasses,etc and some rust on beams in rear. My very best friend in the world cleaned up most of that mess .
I have a couple of questions for starters if anyone has the time and info.
A lot of the interior is origional in fairly good condition. The zolatone feels depressing to me. How bad of a violation for serious renovaters is it to 86 the zolatone? Secondly, how can that best be done? Lastly, for now, any suggestions on how/what to replace it with. The bare aluminum looks kind of cool, maybe in combo with something else.
Thanks fo any help, i really appreciate it!

[robandzoe]

Check out our blog. It started as our 58 Sovereign of the Road restoration, and has morphed into covering our other Airstreams. Go back to November posts for pictures of the 58.

http://sweetsovereign.blogspot.com

As fas as Zolatone, that is hard to remove. Why does it make you depressed. We are going back from terrible white paint to a custom zolatone paint. It makes the trailer worth more with the zolatone later on, as closer to original. Plus, for us, it is soothing, not depressing.

Send me some pictures to robbaker91@adelphia.net

We are in Plymouth, NY. Also, go to www.theVAP.com and listen to us talk Vintage Airstreams!

PS, we are hosting the Pageant of Bands Rally this Thursday to Sunday in central NY, in North Norwich, NY 13832. Friday night we have a 15 piece band playing for us for 3 hours and Saturday from 3-6 is open house. I am expecting at least 3 1959 trailers. Come on over!

Rob

[NorCal Bambi]

Howdy, and welcome aboard. I'm just completing a 1963 Bambi restoration. I redid the Zolatone and very pleased with the results. If you have the right spray equipment, the actual process of spraying the Zolatome is not bad. Also Zolatone has many colors and textures some are quite contemporary. The original Zolatone is a very sturdy surface. To redo my trailer all I had to do was scrub the inside with the reddish 3M pads and 409 then repaint. The paint works great to blend in all the seams and rivets that appear on the inside of an Airstream. To each his or her own. I just thought I'd put in my 2 cents. The important thing is to make it your trailer. If you have additional questions about the process, ask. There are great ideas in this forum. My suggestion is to spend some time and search. Here is my thread to give you some additional ideas on Zolatome. http://www.airforums.com/forum...mbi-17925.html
Don