After the Vinyl's Gone?

[Shortie77]

Hi! We are the new owners of a shortened '77 Sovereign. I have found many posts on removing the interior vinyl, but few on what to do after the vinyl is gone. The previous owners painted the vinyl on the lower walls a color that I have dubbed puke pink using Valspar house paint. Other than being an atrocious color, it was also sticky in spots. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to strip the paint. My initial test spot worked well. My full-scale stripping removed the vinyl from the wall.

Has anyone removed the vinyl and done something other than polishing the aluminum? I ask as I do have some of those glue marks that do not remove as easily as the vinyl. Do you recommend some sort of wood paneling, paint, another type of wallpaper, or is polishing the aluminum the best option? I am open to any solution. I have renovated several old houses, but never an Airstream. I do not want to be the person who made their Airstream look bad.

Your advise is appreciated!

[Splitrock]

Rip it out and replace it with some nice stained and lacquered birch or oak veneered plywood. Use the rip out as patterns.

[Polished]

Hi,

Just out of curiosity, what did you decide to do with your vinyl walls? I have 2 big holes in my walls so I want to replace the vinyl but i'm not sure where I can buy replacement vinyl or how much it would cost?

Thanks!

[Shortie77]

Well, when I went out the next day to see how the bubbles looked, they had all gone down. The wall looked almost as it had before except it had a mix of paint and stripped areas. The only parts that showed any sign of having been wet were the edges. That left me with the dilemma of trying to fully strip the vinyl off or something different. Since it was already late July and we had not gotten to use the Airstream yet, I went for a temporary solution: paint that area with a color that I like and place matching duct tape over the joints where the vinyl curled. We bought the Airstream for our river lot and I want to use it before it gets cold. Once the season is done, I plan to strip that vinyl off and have the aluminum exposed. There is already an area of exposed aluminum in the bathroom. Aluminum in the front will balance out the look of the airstream. My fingers are crossed that the vinyl will come off easily.

Good luck with your project!

[geodazed]

Hi,
Hope your use of the Airstream gave you the motovation to tackle the vinyl issue. I too have sticky vinyl and a ceiling crack in my vinyl covered interior due to a bad AC installation. I have gutted my 66 Tradewind for a floor replacement and have not tackled the vinyl yet but have read many threads on the issue. I hate to go to all the trouble of an extensive rebuild and then have bad vinyl walls that are sticky or painted with bleed through. I have read that stripping off the vinyl and glue are quite laborious with polishing the metal as the last step. Does anyone have any information on the vinyl strippinga and metal polishing method>