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Old 04-13-2020, 07:09 PM   #441
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Doing very good Bill. These Forums are great for getting ideas for our trailers. I'll not soon forget your plastic sheeting for the front end cap. Great idea.

Faith is going to get conceited with all those good looks.

David
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Old 04-24-2020, 02:56 PM   #442
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Thanks David for the encouraging words
***
We spent the last three or four days cleaning up and replacing gaskets on all exterior windows. Several of the windows had old tint that had to be cleaned up before new could be installed. There is not a lot to see so I didn’t include pics.
We finished painting the interior. I had hoped to be able to one coat the walls after we applied the primer, but the paint went on unevenly (my old eyes) and a second coat and final touch up took some additional time.
With that corner turned, we are finally at the point where we can buildout the inside. We note that it has taken sixteen months to get this far.
We went to the storage unit to get all the rear bath plastics since this will be the first section to install. When we got them home and spread them out we were reminded what a worn out, roach infested, filthy mess Faith was.
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You can see that many of the wooden pieces are rotten and we will have to redo them. We separated all the plastic pieces from the framing today and tomorrow we will pressure wash and prepare the plastics for paint.
Although we have decided to retain the old bath plastics, we are not sure if we want keep the old aluminum framing. We may go with more traditional wood framing, but that has not been full decided.
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Old 04-25-2020, 07:16 PM   #443
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Well, let the fun begin. Renovating an Airstream interior is very time consuming. We mostly supported our bath plastics with new wood, like the tub platform, the plastics supports, and the water heater cabinet. We kept the aluminum seam moldings and some of the vertical pieces if they weren't too "holey" from previous disassemblies.

Building a rear bath is like building a bath in a basketball. There is nothing square to reference from. We had several "start overs" to get things to align decently.

So I will follow along and see if you can teach me any new cuss words.

David

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Old 04-26-2020, 08:19 AM   #444
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We see the bath as the most challenging part of the project, even more challenging than lifting the shell off the frame. There are so many pieces that have to fit perfectly together, including plumbing. In addition, with all the plastics getting a new coat of paint, reassembling all the pieces without scratches will be a unique challenge.

The question we face is whether to paint all plastic pieces separately and then assemble, or install unpainted and spray once installed. My thought at this stage is to paint separated, since some of the surfaces would be hard to reach once installed. Open to ideas.

As far as cabinets go, we were thinking about assembling the plastics, prop them up with temp supports, rivet them in, then build the lower frames to permanently support it. Our thinking is that building the support frame first with few clues as to square and plumb might work against the plastics fitting together. It seems that there is very little fudge factor with the plastics and there is flexibility with the supporting structure. We’re just thinking out loud at this stage. Again any input will be appreciated.
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Old 04-26-2020, 09:46 AM   #445
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I did what you're leaning towards with paint outside and install supports afterwards. My reasons were as follows:

Painting with 2 part epoxy (tub) requires too much masking if in place. Any small damage can be touched up after the fact.

We were using a combination of parts and locations that didn't follow the original layout so plumbing got more complicated and required new pieces to hide plumbing.

Closeout panel for the tub and a false wall to hide plumbing on the rear wall were 'new' so no patterns to follow. Couldn't determine shape until everything was in place.

Because we had a rear bath and this was our first Airstream rebuild, I wanted some miles/rallies experienced before all that plumbing was hidden. Of course, being a follower of Murphy's law, the first leak will be later
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Old 04-26-2020, 10:35 AM   #446
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I’m having the same issues, this forum does not seem very intuitive

Quote:
Originally Posted by wcronin4 View Post
I've tried twice to begin a blog on my frame off project. When I go to submit the new thread, after having typed on in for a number of minutes, It cycles me back to the login. When I do that I get a blank screen and all of my work is lost and nothing is posted.

What am I doing wrong? Is the system timing out?

Help
Hey welcome to my world, I did the same thing you are describing last week and was not having success. I have a 1975 Sovereign I got a couple weeks ago and have begun a complete frame off restoration. I’ve watched tons of video but still have tried to get a conversation going with others to have real time dialogue. Thanks, I’m listed as “Mighty Mo” and my name is Mike.
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Old 04-26-2020, 03:17 PM   #447
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Mike

Did a frame off. I’m here to help real time as others were and still are for me.
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Old 04-26-2020, 03:30 PM   #448
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Mike - Mighty Mo. I hope you’ll start a thread in the section you found my thread Knowledge Base Trailers. I admit to having difficulty getting my thread started but haven’t missed a beat since. If your taking the shell off a 31 footer you’re in the right place.

David - you have experience with the admin part perhaps you could suggest something to Mike.
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Old 04-26-2020, 08:40 PM   #449
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Harold/57 Vintage - I have decided to paint all the pieces separately out of the camper. While I did paint the cap inside, trying to paint all these pieces in a cramped bathroom won’t cut it. It just means more care will have to go into putting everything together.
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Old 04-30-2020, 07:58 PM   #450
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Hello from Colorado Mighty Mo. Sounds like you want to jump in the deep end with your 75 Sovereign. Well, Bill has learned to stay afloat pretty darn good. He is doing an excellent job with his Sovereign. We learn from each other here by "bloging" about our projects and others following along.

Yep, I would recommend you start a "project thread" in the Knowledgebase in the mid seventies Sovereign category right where Bill and I are, as well as many others. There is a big advantage to keeping your project in one location instead of asking about axles in the axle section, or frames in the frame section, or plumbing in the plumbing section, etc, etc. Certainly if you have a specific question you can select the right category, but a project thread tends to bring better results, at least for me.

I'm working on a 76 Sovereign with a friend who owns the trailer. We are currently working on the sink and stove cabinet. We've been at it since the first of October and have a bunch of hours and dollars in the project. There are big differences between a 75 Sovereign and the 76 Sovereign model year. The frame is different, the subfloor is different and the list goes on. I own a 75 Overlander 27' that I renovated over the last two winters. It is now travel ready.

So Mike, start your project thread, take photos, and we in the peanut gallery will following along.

By the way Bill, we did paint the bath plastics before assembly. And there is nothing fitting exactly in an Airstream plastic bath. We have spent more time on making cabinets than putting the bath together. We plumbed the fresh water and the drain lines before we started with bath plastics. You will get yours back together just fine.

David
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Old 05-07-2020, 09:21 AM   #451
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For the past week or so, we have been working on the bathroom and we still haven't got anything assembled. The first order of business was to get all the plastic parts painted.

We used a polyurethane single stage paint with a catalyst and hardener. This type of paint is flexible out of the can, so no flexing additive was needed.

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We've already posted pics of how disgusting the plastic pieces were when removed. Here are before and after pics of the tub which should provide a good comparison.

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Here are pics of the other pieces.

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We've become pretty good at repairing cracks in the plastic with fiberglass. For all practical purposes these plastic parts, they can be treated like fiberglass as far as patches and repairs are concerned. Here is a pic of a stress crack in the bathtub that had to be repaired before it could be painted

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In this case the crack hadn't gone through the plastic and was easily repaired.

What makes the reassembly of the bath so challenging is getting all the plastic pieces and the drain and water plumbing to line up properly. A few days ago we dry fitted everything together to ensure that we had the plumbing lined up. We tried different approaches to assemble the plastic pieces then took it all apart to finish the plumbing and to second coat one of the shower pieces. We found this exercise to be very helpful. Now I have the order down on how to assemble everything and connect plumbing as we go.

Putting the bath together requires a significant amount of patience and time. It is a slow process, which cannot be hurried.

We feel like we have boldly gone where no one wants to go, and can report progress against the evil forces that live and thrive in Faith's bathroom.
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Old 05-07-2020, 09:35 AM   #452
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Nice paint work.. Look forward to seeing it installed.
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Old 05-07-2020, 02:39 PM   #453
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Thanks Harold for your kind words. We are also anxious to see what the bath looks like assembled. There are a few rivets that hold the plastic together that we haven't figured out a way to install.

Since installing larger tanks and moving the grey tank forward a bay, the location of the shower drain was changed. We didn't want to cut a hole in the floor to accommodate a P-trap so we did some research on a HEPvO Sanity Waste Valve which is a waterless P-trap but with a compact design.

Here is what it looks like installed.

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There is only 4" between the bottom of the tub and the floor. Within that space we had to come out of the tub with a drain, a 90 degree elbow and install the HEPvO valve. The setup from the value maker gave us a 1/2" to spare, enough room for installation and enough space for a half inch fall to the drain.

The way the valve works is an internal rubber flap that opens when water is draining and closes when water isn't present thus closing off gases from the gray tank. The advantage is its compact size and it eliminates the problem of sewer gas getting into the trailer when the water in the P-trap evaporates.

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They cost about $25 per plus shipping and installation was simple.
We saw these on the Forum several months ago and we were intrigued with them.
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Old 05-07-2020, 07:08 PM   #454
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We also drained the tub forward like you are dong. Only we made a right turn and dumped the water into the existing grey tank. Airstream drained the water into the rear of the tank through a big hole in the rear of the subfloor. We opted not to do that, and I prefer water running from the small end of the tank to the big end for some rinsing effect, so I imagine.

We used an old fashioned P trap. I should have used the modern one way valve like you did.

David
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Old 05-07-2020, 09:03 PM   #455
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Did the same also on the tub, 90 off the drain with a Hepvo trap. I used these also on the sinks. Gives me a little more storage.

I did have an odd situation come up last fall, towing the trailer with a full grey water tank. I had some grey water work its way back into the tub, not much but enough to concern me. GW tank is forward of the tub (rear bath). There isn't much slope between the tub and the top of the GW tank, so I added a Valterra valve between the tank and the Hepvo trap for the tub. Its under the curb side twin bed so I have to access the valve by lifting the plywood bed cover. Think I'll change it to cable operated, but its a ways down the punch list.
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Old 05-08-2020, 10:14 AM   #456
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The bathroom parts look fabulous! I've been debating what to do with my very yellowed bathroom pieces. I'm going to see if we have that product available in Canada. I will have to paint in place; no other reason to take the bathroom apart. Should be doable, don't you think?
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Old 05-08-2020, 02:39 PM   #457
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Camper Crazy

We painted the end cap in place. You have to mask off and cover everything because the overspray is “like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”

We’re sure you know that a proper respirator is essential. Get the correct paint, repair all your cracks, lightly sand your surface, super clean everything, use a tack rag to get rid of stuff you missed with everything else and your ready for paint. Get a decent spray gun and thoroughly clean it. I didn’t do as good on cleaning the gun as I should and ended up with some fisheye in places. I hand cleaned the gun when I last used it with mineral spirits which contaminated the gun. HD has a decent HPLV gun for $60.

I a recent post, I posted a picture of the paint I used. Good luck.
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Old 05-09-2020, 08:48 AM   #458
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Thanks Bill, I will be referring to your advice when I start the paint process. Gosh, it is so impressive how well the bath pieces turned out.
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Old 05-14-2020, 04:01 PM   #459
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David mentioned that there was nothing in the rear bath that was square, level or plum and that assembly of the bath was like building a bath on the inside of a basketful. No truer words. I expected the rear bat to be the most difficult part of the interior. That has been a correct assumption.

I expect to be working on it for another week or more.

When Kris (Kristoff) said that one of his PEX fittings blew apart during a test, I remember remarking to myself to be sure to check all my fittings to make sure they were all crimped. Tested plumbing today and three joints that I had not crimped blew apart sending water everywhere. I had a real chuckle over that.
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Old 05-15-2020, 07:53 AM   #460
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Probably not helpful now, but we tested our plumbing before we added water using compressed air. Much easier to clean up!

Kay
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