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Anna · 11-23-2002, 09:41 PM

Okay, just humor me...
My husband pulled back the interior wall and saw that behind it was aluminum. Is it possible to remove the walls and have an aluminum interior? If so, how would we remove the adhesive?
Thanks,
Anna and Greg

airstreamcaravel · 11-23-2002, 09:47 PM

Anna,

Many people have polished the interior walls of their trailers.

This is NORMALLY done by removing the Zolatone flecked paint,
or in your case (I believe) removing the vinyl wall paper .... then
polishing the interior skin.

If you removed the inner skin, you would be looking at a mess of wires, piping, and structural ribbing. Not the look I think your going for. Trailers with polished interior skins are very beautiful,

Im my humble opinion.

DMC

airstreamcaravel · 11-23-2002, 09:52 PM

I knew I saw one recently!

This will give you an idea of the look of polished interior skins.

DMC

http://www.marinestove.com/airstream.htm

Anna · 11-23-2002, 10:03 PM

Thanks for the reply and the link. That Airstream is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!
Now, once we trash the vinyl wallpaper, how do remove the adhesive that's on the aluminum?
Thanks,
Anna

airstreamcaravel · 11-23-2002, 10:13 PM

I believe that there is an adhesive remover made by BIX

You should be able to pick it up at ACE, Home Depot, Lowes etc.

I'm sure that others will chime in with suggested products to help!

DMC

74Argosy24MH · 11-24-2002, 05:31 AM

If you have the vinyl clad aluminum walls, it would be easier to replace the metal than remove the vinyl. I have tried stripper, heat, etc. It doesn't come off.

John

airstreamcaravel · 11-24-2002, 07:27 AM

I would bet that ACETONE would remove it! OR any of the specific
adhesive removers like GOO GONE would be worth a try.

DMC

Anna · 11-24-2002, 12:57 PM

Well, we went to Home Depot and bought some JASCO and my husband is out stripping the vinyl. So far so good. I hope to put some pictures on line soon. It's so funny that when we first purchased our trailer we were going to just replace the floors and couch cushions...now we're stripping everything!
-Anna and Greg

Silver Bullet · 11-24-2002, 03:08 PM

Do it right the first time, you won't be sorry, even if it does take a little longer.

Oscar

airstreamcaravel · 11-24-2002, 04:02 PM

I won that bet ....

DMC

oldvws · 12-19-2002, 12:04 PM

Hi all.....

I am going to help my friend over the holidays strip out his late 60s Airstream.

It has the vinylclad inside that has been painted over with what looks to be housepaint.

He wants to go with the polished aluminum look inside and out.....

SO......how do we strip the inside vinyl , I know it will not be easy,

Any experiances of what worked
and maybe more important what did not work !

thanks

airstreamcaravel · 12-19-2002, 12:45 PM

Here's a link to a previous thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forum...ighlight=vinyl

Good Luck!

DMC

oldvws · 12-19-2002, 01:07 PM

thanks for the tread....

but reading it was more confusing !

some say you can , others you cannot !

Any personal experiances ?

hex · 12-19-2002, 02:20 PM

I don't know about winning any bet , but I sure wish that Anna and Greg would report in on their progress or lack of it.
I just imagine that stripping the clad vinyl is not that easy! And like Anna asked, what about the residue of the glue? I'll PM them and maybe we can get a follow up.

airstreamcaravel · 12-19-2002, 02:52 PM

Airstreamcaravel wrote:

Quote:

I would bet that ACETONE would remove it! OR any of the specific adhesive removers like GOO GONE would be worth a try.

Anna Wrote:

Quote:

IT"S WORKING!!!!

Clear as Mud now?

DMC

airstreamcaravel · 12-19-2002, 03:05 PM

Anna says it was working.

DMC

Anna · 12-19-2002, 04:13 PM

Well, like I said, the JASCO is working like a dream... just stinky and time consuming. My poor husband has so many projects to do that the whole process has been slow. We are currently shopping around for a polisher for the inside and later this summer we might attempt to polish the outside (we''ll see how far we get!).
Right now our trailer has new vinyl flooring (black and red checkered) and about 3/4 of the interior is stripped down to the aluminum (just needs to be polished). It's going to be real cool when it's done!
We will post pictures soon!

Anna · 12-19-2002, 04:28 PM

Wear protective gear (will melt plastic and burns skin):
-goggles
-resperator
-chemical resistant gloves
-you get the picture

We used about 2 gallons of JASCO bought at Home Depot.
Use a paint brush (you will go through a few) and brush in one direction only when applying.
Apply 2-3 coats (in the same direction as previous coats) in a 30 -40 minute time period.
It will start to bubble and then you can start pulling it off.

At a later time:
Once everything is off you can use Goof-Off on a terry-cloth buffer to get rid of any residue.

Feel free to e-mail us if you have any questions or have any advice for us.
Thanks,
Anna and Greg

3Ms75Argosy · 12-19-2002, 06:56 PM

anna, how long did it take you and your husband to strip the insides. I'm assuming that your inside endcaps are the plastic ones - what are you doing here? Just curious and itching to try myself.
Marc

Anna · 12-20-2002, 10:38 AM

Hi,
It's taken my husband a few weekends to strip the interior. It would probably go faster if I could help him, but I'm busy watching our 1 year old. We are going to paint the end caps red using car paint I think.
Happy Holidays,
Anna