Streamline interior walls

[teela]

We just bought a '69 streamline count & we're in the process of gutting it. (So many rivets to remove!) Where can I find the materials to replace the walls? I think they are just painted aluminum. Should I buy aluminum sheets and cut them to size? If anyone has done this before I'd love to see photos.

I'd like to find a source for replacing the windows too. I saw someone mention a vintage parts website for airstream, but I don't know if they're interchangeable. Is there a place you can buy parts for streamline specifically? Any info is appreciated

[fishstew]

Hi Teela. I just got my 1970 Streamline in February. Why are you pulling out the interior paneling? Are you redoing the insulation?

[teela]

Yes, we need to get that nasty pink insulation out of there! I saw some airstream owners used chemicals to remove the vinyl from the aluminum... There is texture on the paneling that we would need removed too. I wonder if the chemical would work for that?

What have you done to your streamline?

[fishstew]

I haven't done anything, and intend to do as little as possible. The interior of ours is in very good shape. What's wrong with the insulation? Are you planning on some major modifications?

I think the coating on our interior is pretty tough stuff. Did people powder coat things back then? Don't know if chemical stripper would work. I hate using that stuff. Are you hoping to end up with bare aluminum inside?

[teela]

I can't even tell you how nasty the trailer is. The walls definitely needed replacing (along with everything else!) when we pulled them back and found the pink stuff we knew we'd need to replace the insulation too. We're doing it for health reasons. Also some of the insulation is pretty nasty too. Since we're already removing the walls it just makes sense.

I keep going back and forth on the walls. I saw someone recommend an airline place for the aluminum... but when we saw how much it would be to replace the aluminum, yikes. So we were considering using the stripper but everytime I look in there I think it just needs new walls. We're going to try to find some alternative to the aluminum walls... just not sure what. I'm not interested in the exposed aluminium, we plan on painting the walls.

I'd love to see yours if you have photos. It seems these things are rare... I haven't found many streamline posts.

[fishstew]

I'll post the pix in a new thread - 1970 Streamline Empress pix - you'll see why I'm not touching it. I love the aluminum cabinets(zero rot, mold, etc.). It is being used full time, which is what I bought it for. It sits right next to a 27' diameter teepee. I have to do a little re-plumbing(replacing old valves), and it needed a water heater, but other than that it is pretty solid. I'm going to replace some of the old broken light fixtures with LEDs.

[J. Morgan]

If you are going back in a configuration that is different than stock that would put all of the cut outs and screw holes in the aluminum in the wrong places...

Or if the inside sheets have been mutilated, I can see replacing them. But since you are painting the inside anyway, IMHO you should consider cleaning the skins up.

I know they look funky, but they will clean up to take fresh paint.

If you go new there are things you are going to have to deal with that will take longer than cleaning the skins. Also it may be challenging to find aluminum in sheets longer than 10' , which means you are going to have vertices seams.

Certainly not a deal breaker but a consideration.

I used a steam/pressure washer to clean my skins while they were laying on the ground. They were pretty funky but they cleaned up well.

[teela]

Okay, I'm keeping the panels around so maybe I'll experiment with cleaning them. Thanks for the advice!

[J. Morgan]

In any case you might want to keep some of the panels for patterns anyway, I hope all goes well with your project.

Take care!