'69 newbie bathroom questions

[keepitsimple]

Hi all, I'm brand new to airstreams and to the forum (and to any forum in general). We just bought a 31' 1969 Sovereign. The rear bathroom seems to be in decent shape, with the floor even feeling solid when poked around (as I read to do). It's a bit yellowish with age though, and on the 'ceiling' there seems to be a couple small patches or something, that have been done at some point. I'd like to paint the tub/sink/walls white and have read up a bit on doing that. My question is about the material of those parts… Are they all fiberglass? Or are some parts fiberglass and some plastic? I'd hate to tackle the project with the kit I bought today for prepping and painting fiberglass (the exact kit someone posted worked for them in a different model/year), only to find that it works great on the tub but not the walls, or something like that, and have a big mess to deal with.
Thanks!

[keepitsimple]

Here's a few pictures of my bathroom if this helps. Fiberglass? Plastic? Thanks

[dbj216]

Hello Keepitsimple. Welcome to the world of Airstream adventures. I think your bath fixtures are a combination of fiberglass and thermoplastic. The "ceiling" end cap is likely fiberglass. The "tub" and shower area is likely fiberglass. The sink is likely thermo formed plastic. The bench is likely fiberglass. I don't know about the plastic pieces along the walls above the tub.

My 66 has fiberglass bath fixtures. My 86 has thermo formed plastics. My 66 and 86 are stained as you describe. Many Airstreams have successfully repaired and painted these parts to look like new again. I don't know when or how, but Airstream moved away from fiberglass and into thermo formed plastics during the 70s.

You 69 appears to be in pretty good shape. Nice find. And enjoy upgrading it to make it comfortable for you.

David

[mimiandrews]

If you can get access, look at the under side of the sink and bathtub. Fiberglas will show the glass fibers on the unfinished side. Thermoformed plastic may not be the same on both sides, but it won't have visible glass.

[68 TWind]

My end cap in my 68 is fiberglass. Tub is fiberglass and the sink some type of plastic. I painted the tub and sink with a 2 part epoxy tub and tile paint that I got at Sherwin-Williams. I used Krylon Fusion on the plastic surrounds. I did have my bath apart due to rotten flooring so I was able to spray the epoxy. The instructions say you can brush the expoxy paint but I did not like the look. Trying to spray with the bath intact would be very difficult plus the fumes are really bad, a charcoal respirator is an absolute must so brushing my be your only choice. The fiberglass endcap has a gelcoat finish which you can paint or there are boat products available from marine dealers to touch up gelcoat.

[rprobst]

I also have a '69 Sovereign and I'm a newbie (also in Washington!). I'm starting to clean the bathroom as carefully as I can to determine if it is in good enough shape to keep it as-is and paint it. I'm worried about a couple of things though...every surface looks to be interlocking molded pieces. I worry that some or all of it will be brittle or cracked, and I'm not sure any part of it can be removed without just scrapping it completely. If some has to go, I'm worried that means I'm stuck ripping it all out and somehow rebuilding the walls and putting in a new bathroom from scratch. I'm hoping someone has advice.

[dbj216]

Hello from Colorado and welcome to the vintage Airstream hobby. You're 69 may have some fiberglass parts as opposed to all ABS plastic stuff like my 75 has. Your suspicions are likely correct, you will find cracks in the bath parts. But they can be repaired to be better than new.

Here are a couiple of photos of my bath as I took it out, and then put it back together again with new plumbing and wood supports and the like. The plastic bathrooms in these old Airstreams take some time to make good again.

This is a rather old thread and might not garner much response. You might like to take a look at the Airstream Trailer Knowledgebase near the bottom of the Forums page, then select Sovereign, and then select your year range. You can see how folks worked their bathrooms. The model year 1969 was the first year of the new body style. The 68 was completely different. But model years 69, 70, 71.72 were very similar in construction.

I disassembled the bath completely, repaired the rotted floor in the back of the bath, painted the plastic parts, installed new plumbing through the trailer, and then put the whole hot mess back together again. Keeps a retired guy busy.

Hope this helps...

David