Stripping interior vinyl covered walls

[stacyrwarren]

Instead of starting a new post... Just thought I'd share my experience of this last weekend of stripping vinyl walls... It took me 3 days (by my self), probably 6 hrs a day... And went better than expected. I still have finishing touches to do but am pleased with majority of it being done! Hope this helps those looking to embark upon this project. I bought the stripper at Lowe's

[SCopp]

The outside of our '73 Overland is looking great after polishing it so we decided to do the same to inside. Now I am not sure what to do.

The finish is very spotty meaning some of the areas look great and other spots are still very cloudy. I have tried using the stripper again just incase there was glue left on the aluminum and I have polished the cloudy areas longer. No luck making it look smooth and uniform.

I wonder if a different grade or quality of aluminum was used on the interior since it was going to covered with vinyl wallpaper.

I could use some advice!

Thanks
SCopp

[Gasgano1979]

::bump::
::bump::

I'm curious as well...

[littlebird]

I am thinking about stripping the Zolatone painted over vinyl on the walls in a portion of my 1970 Sovereign. I will probably simply paint the front living area, but the sleeping quarters would look awesome with the aluminum finish. Problem is she already has a lovely wood laminate floor installed by the previous owner. How likely is it for the process of using the Jasco stripper to damage/ruin her flooring? Any recommendations?

[Bauxter]

Originally Posted by Anna

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

Anna, What about the other vinyl and plastic pieces, like kitchen window trim, fan, AC trim, etc? I may do the same stripping in my Sovereign, but if I did, I was thinking silver paint for the interior plastic and fiberglass parts. I was going to be a rebel for the outside trim, and use red, instead of blue, but not sure about the inside. Please post pics, as you progress.

Thanks
Mike

[SCopp]

I could not find Jasco Stripper where I live but I was able to find Aircraft Paint Remover at ABC Auto Parts. Aircraft Stripper could eat its way the Earth's core faster than a nuclear meltdown. I would be very careful and cover floor with heavy cardboard and wipe up anything that drops on the cardboard. Update on the hazy polished walls - I went back over everything with one more coating of Aircraft Stripper. Then carefully scrubbed the walls with 0000 Steel Wool and sprayed it with GooGone and wiped it again with 0000 steel wool. Then I used lots of paper towels to wipe down the walls. The paper towels were very gummy and yellow gray colored so I think I had glue residue on the walls which caused the haziness.

Susan - SCopp

[bjandpaula]

We are currently doing a full monty on a 1976 29 foot ambassador. After reviewing this forum I decided to attempt to remove the vinyl. The difference is for me that I am working on the removed walls that are laying on the ground. The process is pretty much the same that everyone has mentioned above. The difference is that I have noticed that the weather can effect the process. If the sun is beating down on the initial coat of remover it ill sizzle and crack and you have to work very quickly to paint it on, but it seems to pull off easier. The down side to this is that on the second coat that removes the leftover glue is that if you don't remove the paste before it starts to dry you will end up with major cloudiness. I pressure wash after the second step to help remove the glue. If you do it this way make sure to do it when it is a little cooler or in the shade to avoid the cloudiness.
At this point my results are fair. The vinyl was in terrible shape, stained, damaged and smelly, so even if our results aren't perfect yet, it is better than it was. My husband thinks that once we polish the aluminum we will be very pleased with the results. Everyone who has done this in the trailer is viewing it in filtered light and we are looking at it in the bright sunshine.

[vchatelain]

Hold on! I have a 1976 Overlander. Does this have aluminum walls behind the plastic walls?

[bjandpaula]

I am guessing that it does. I am no expert but I believe all the walls are aluminum inside and out. They are just covered with a vinyl sheeting. They did a very good job of attaching it and removing it is a chore.

[O Shiny]

I have been working to remove the vinyl wallcovering on our 72 Overlander, thanks to this thread and other info. Here's my little bits of advice:

1. cover yourself heat to toe, wear safety glasses and work boots. Even a splash of the Jasco remover is going to hurt! I kept a package of baby wipes nearby and swiped it off as soon as it hit. It will go through your clothes quickly.

2. I had to purchase the big gnarly rubber plumber gloves from Harbor Freight. Even the heaviest chemical box gloves weren't a match for the Jasco remover.

3. Let the stripper do its job! The most important advice I can give is to paint on a good first coat of stripper, wait 10-15 minutes, paint on a second coat, wait 10-15 minutes again. It helped me to have other jobs to do to keep me busy while I was waiting. After the two coats did their job the vinyl wallcovering often came off in one giant sheet. Amazing.

4. There were a few spots where it appeared extra glue had been used. Just be patient, and apply a third coat. You may have to pull fairly hard on the wallcovering. This stuff is amazingly strong, can take a LOT of pull without tearing. I braced my foot against the aluminum for fear of bending it while pulling off the wallcovering.

Good luck! We LOVE the look of the aluminum inside.

[bakes]

Quick question, why not just take down the panels, and make new aluminum panels with outlines from the originals? Wouldn't that be more time and cost efficient?


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[Dustycowgirl]

Just started on a test small piece applying the jasco wish me luck wish it was a little cooler when I started this process not summer all these long clothes are no fun

[Dustycowgirl]

Here is what it looked like once stipped and washed. Still a lil aged looking thoughts? Is that cool patenna for the walls kinda like aged copper but aged silver or not I'm going for the rustic look inside anyway ?

[mikextr]

It looks beyond rustic to me. I would describe it as "post apocalyptic" which would be awesome if that's what your going for.

[Dustycowgirl]

I am going to go ahead and do the rest an if I don't like it I'll polish it maybe? Anyone have experience polishing it

[Bauxter]

Originally Posted by Dustycowgirl

Attachment 218983
Here is what it looked like once stipped and washed. Still a lil aged looking thoughts? Is that cool patenna for the walls kinda like aged copper but aged silver or not I'm going for the rustic look inside anyway ?

Are you sure all of the adhesive is off? I did a test strip, that looked like that, then used lacquer thinner and a scrub brush, which took off some of the yellow/brown color.

Mike

[Dustycowgirl]

Gotcha I can tell it's adhesive residue but the stripper doesn't seem to be taking it off I also noticed that when I moved the piece I was working on to the shade it to like twice as long to work it's magic

[Dustycowgirl]

[SCopp]

I stripped the nasty old vinyl off the walls in our trailer. Once the vinyl was off it took 2 or 3 applications of stripper and 0000 steel wool to gently remove the adhesive. I then wiped it down with citrus cleaner and paper towels.

We wanted to have polished aluminum walls. The interior aluminum is not the same as the exterior and will take many more hours to polish. I used the Nuvite products and wool pads to polish the walls.

Good luck! You will have Popeye arms when you are done!
Susan

[Dustycowgirl]

I want the interior walls to end up shiny but not so much that they are a mirror finish. Just curious did the steel wool scratch the aluminum Bc it did when I tried it on a test piece