Magnet18's 1983 310

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by mayco

If you’re willing, it would be great if you could photo document the rear air bag replacement.
I’m sure it’s in my future at some point. All the 310 owners would really benefit....thanks Rob.

Mike

Will do Mike!

My photo documentation for this thread is usually pretty lax, but I'll see if I can make something useful this time

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by JeffofCT

I used Henry's white on my canned ham trailer restoration. It held up well. As I recall, it cured pretty quickly, but then again I was in the summer sun. Gets about as hard as a finger nail.

I wonder if it needs the uv from the sun to cure, mine is still a bit rubbery feeling. Not that I'm worried about it, as-is it's still fine

[Magnet18]

Got the assembly line setup. Strip, paint, seals, reinstall.

Interesting, looks like airstream used leftover rubber hose as a spacer for some of the fixed windows, not all

[PeterH-350LE]

you just dont mess around, do you? Many of us do 1 window and then take a 3 week vacation. If you didn't have to chisel out the old one inch by inch, you may not be the first replacing the seal.

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

you just dont mess around, do you? Many of us do 1 window and then take a 3 week vacation. If you didn't have to chisel out the old one inch by inch, you may not be the first replacing the seal.

Haha, the seasons started changing and it kicked my butt in gear. I'm working with a weather window right now where I can actually get by with no windows or climate control, and I can paint without building a heated paint booth.


The old schlegel will indeed need chiselled out inch by inch, that's the project I start today while the wife strips the old paint off.

[bobmiller1]

I found that however I did the windows on the 325LE and the 370LE, each window took 4 hours to complete. I changed everything and even re-screened the screens. Dud I spell that right ? Regards, Bob

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by bobmiller1

I found that however I did the windows on the 325LE and the 370LE, each window took 4 hours to complete. I changed everything and even re-screened the screens. Dud I spell that right ? Regards, Bob

Well, I'm up to 4 or 5 hours for the removal of 7 windows, so at least 23 hours to go by your math! Sounds like a good goal. Hoping to finish this weekend, I'm putting in about 4 hours a day.

Doing screens as well, going with a finer no-see-um mesh to keep the gnats out

[Magnet18]

Cleaned the old channel out yesterday evening

[Magnet18]

I was able to get a (just one) decent chunk out in one piece.
Here is a side by side comparison with the schlegel that inland rv sells.

The original was all rubber and looks much more, or exactly, like the AS1268 weather stripping than the schlegel.

Interestingly, the schlegel is exactly what airstream used in my cockpit windows, rather than the rubber.

No idea why they used 2 different materials on the same build, but I have no idea why they did a lot of things

Based on reports that the schlegel (that I have in hand, for free) will rust and/or cause rough operation, I went ahead and ordered the AS1268.

I figure I'm not doing this job again, might as well do it right

[Magnet18]

I'm also soaking some schlegel in warm salt water to see if it really does rust, or of that's a myth. The wire core of it might be aluminum, and I don't see any rust on my original cockpit slider tracks

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

I'm also soaking some schlegel in warm salt water to see if it really does rust, or of that's a myth. The wire core of it might be aluminum, and I don't see any rust on my original cockpit slider tracks

I read on the InlandRV site that the new schlegle has alu guts. The original I have seen before definitely was rusty steel.

I like that the 1268 will perfectly conform to the curves if the back is sliced as described. It also lets you cut nicely working drain holes. I understand that the schlegle is supposed to be porous for draining, just not sure how efficient that is.
One more consideration is that you can adjust the 1268 by trimming if you happen to have a super tight channel spot.

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

I read on the InlandRV site that the new schlegle has alu guts. The original I have seen before definitely was rusty steel.

I like that the 1268 will perfectly conform to the curves if the back is sliced as described. It also lets you cut nicely working drain holes. I understand that the schlegle is supposed to be porous for draining, just not sure how efficient that is.
One more consideration is that you can adjust the 1268 by trimming if you happen to have a super tight channel spot.

Makes sense, I confirmed that the new stuff the PO bought is aluminum

My shipment of 1268 should be here Friday, I expect I'll have some schlegel for sale after that

[cole3444]

Magnet18,
If you have any left over let me know, I need to change mine out on the 310 also. Got the little rusty screws out a while back so it will be easier to get apart to replace the gasket and our temps have dropped to a nice level to work outside.

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by cole3444

Magnet18,
If you have any left over let me know, I need to change mine out on the 310 also. Got the little rusty screws out a while back so it will be easier to get apart to replace the gasket and our temps have dropped to a nice level to work outside.

Will do! I expect I'll have some, I'll post here.


Yesterday, finished stripping all the old sealant that was above the windows, captain tolleys on every rivet, and started painting the first of the windows. Should be able to keep painting and start reinstalling today

[Magnet18]

I drastically underestimated how long it would take to strip and prep and paint all the windows, finally finished last night, then got about half the screens done

[bobmiller1]

LOL......Regards, Bob

[Magnet18]

Long process stripping the window panes, finally got the first window resintalled, went pretty smooth.

Make sure to straighten and smooth the beat up corner of the slider window!

Different than what I saw in peters post, I had no problem waiting until the weatherstrip was installed to then install the sliding window, and had to remove it to get the screen window installed. What seemed easiest to me was

Schlegel
Screen
Slider
Upper channel
Lower channel
Fixed window


Very happy with the result, operates like new!

[Magnet18]

I noticed the fuzzy seal on the screen frame is not even close to making a seal, does the screen frame need bent to a more aggressive angle? Seems risky

[bobmiller1]

If you want a nice clean finish before you install the fin seal, take a Brillo or SOS pad to the frames and clean them all up, then you can run a pocket screwdriver down the fin channel before you put the adhesive on to get the old crap out, Regards, Bob

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by bobmiller1

If you want a nice clean finish before you install the fin seal, take a Brillo or SOS pad to the frames and clean them all up, then you can run a pocket screwdriver down the fin channel before you put the adhesive on to get the old crap out, Regards, Bob

Thanks for the tip Bob!