1970 rear bath restoration

[GTracer]

I'm a big time newbie to the Vintage Airstream world and about to undertake the big restoration project of my 1970 airstream. Which was bought new the first time on my birthday how cool is that! So my first of many questions is my tub has major stains and sun damage. How can this be refinished? Is it paint ? If so whats the trick and whats the product? Any help would greatly be appreciated...

[uwe]

Welcome to the forum. I am new as well.
My trailer, however, does have the same stainsa nad discolorations you mentioned, so i'll be on the lookout for responses to this thread.
So far my wife and I have not found anything that really cleans these plastic surfaces.
Let's see if anyone has any solutions!
Uwe

[Chuck]

What is the tub/shower made of? is it plastic, or fiberglass? If its fiberglass, this stuff called "zap restorer" (one of those "info-mercial" cleaners) works great....they say not to use it on plastic, though. Its the only thing that I've found that gets the red iron stains off my fiberglass tub/shower at home.

[GTracer]

Hey chuck the tub is plastic and I'm trying to find out if it is possible to paint. If so will it be durable ?? Thanks

[dienst1]

We just had our home fiberglass shower stall refinished by a local Kott Koatings dealer. I asked about our 1981 Airstream motorhome shower and sink which are an ivory color. We want bright white like our ceramic toilet. He identified our shower and sink as an ABS (plastic) and they could be coated. The home shower stall turned out looking better than new.

Our dealer is in Laguna Hills, CA but I'll include the link to the home office.

http://www.kottkoatings.com/index.html

[83Excella]

Alot of the sinks, tubs and showers are abs plastic, I have been told a fiberglass repair will not take to abs plastic so be careful.

John

[javah]

My Tub and counter tops where really in bad shape when I got my AS. The back window was broken out for quite some time. The tub,sink,and counter were very dry and discolored. I have some pictures of the bathroom on the Member's Photo Galleries.




I got the chemicals from Midwest Chemicals. www.midwestchemicals.com
This is what all it took to do the job: air compresor, paint sprayer, and the chemicals ( Porcelain Enamel 1000 resin)(Porcelain Enamel 1000 reducer)(Permabond Epoxy Primer 2000 Catalyst)(Porcelain Enamel Catalyst)(Permabond Epoxy Primer 2000 Resin) Let me know if I can help you any further.

[Jim Clark]

Originally posted by GTracer
Hey chuck the tub is plastic and I'm trying to find out if it is possible to paint. If so will it be durable ?? Thanks

Yes, I have done several baths, and Ice Box interiors on Sail Boats I have restored. My paint of choice is Interlux Brightside Polyurethane. It a single part Polyurethane which is almost as hard as a two part when cured. It has held up well in the ice box interiors on sail boats which often have coke/beer cans rolling around in them. West Marine handles the paint. It will lay out like glass. I have used it on exterior hulls applying with a roller and tipping with a brush lays out like glass. Even has anti UV properties so you can leave your curtain open. Remember it is all in the prep work. BTW a quart will be all you will need. It is strong stuff so heed the warnings.

[loechli]

I am considering painting my bathroom in my 72 overlander. How has the
Interlux Brightside Polyurethane held up?

Does anyone else have coments or suggestions if I want to paint on, I don't want to remove the bathroom or use a sprayer.

Steve

[balrgn]

I used Por 15 Whitecoat with great results. You can check out some pics @

http://www.balrgn.com/Airstream/airs...oject_2004.htm

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by uwe

Welcome to the forum. I am new as well.
My trailer, however, does have the same stainsa nad discolorations you mentioned, so i'll be on the lookout for responses to this thread.
So far my wife and I have not found anything that really cleans these plastic surfaces.
Let's see if anyone has any solutions!
Uwe

I have been told, though I never tried it myself, that the color of the bathroom plastic is consistant through the thickness of the plastic so stubborn stains and discoloration can be sanded off without harming the finish.

[balrgn]

Originally Posted by Marshall

I have been told, though I never tried it myself, that the color of the bathroom plastic is consistant through the thickness of the plastic so stubborn stains and discoloration can be sanded off without harming the finish.

Tried that on mine, Sanding only made it have adappled look. But that was in my 75. Don't know about older years.

[FrenchBern]

Over a year ago I bought a 1970 Overlander with the worst looking bathroom that ever existed including ring stains, broken or missing plastic corners and stains and stains everywhere. Most of the material is plastic and can look like new again. I had a dealer tell me last week in TOP that he thought I replaced everything with new material.
I used a combination of material such as fiberglass material, body putty and the amazing gorilla glue. After rebuilding the missing corners and filling the wholes, reinforcing the cracks and sanding for a smooth surface I painted the entire area, except for the ceiling, with some tub and shower 2 part epoxy (Lowes) mixed with coloring to math the color of my new commode. One quart was more than ample to do the tub, cabinet doors, sink, sitting area and even the top of the seat which is a fabric. That paint is self leveling and was applied with a good quality brush. Unfortunately the working time is less than 2 hours so don't do it alone as I did. Fortunately I did it with the temperature around 55 degree and my last few brushes strokes are visible if you look carefully. This is my story and I am sticking to it.

[PizzaChop]

Did it last year with my '72 Overlander. Am ready to do it again with my "new" '73 Sovereign

After one year, the Overlander bath has held up very well

[somefun]

Has anyone tried krylon Fusion on the bathroom fixtures?

[sovereignrwe]

Originally Posted by Marshall

I have been told, though I never tried it myself, that the color of the bathroom plastic is consistant through the thickness of the plastic so stubborn stains and discoloration can be sanded off without harming the finish.

Our Airstream manuals confirm that Airstream believed that early 70's plastic can be sanded back to the original color.

We have done some sanding, as the manual instructs, and have been able to get rid of a some rust rings, and rust in the tub. We do have some sun discoloration that evidently runs much deeper, and we haven't yet sanded deep enough to sand that away.

[Georgeinsf]

Check out the restoration project on the DIY Network website and you'll see how they restored their 70 Overlander bathroom. They did a light wet sanding process then a 2 part epoxy paint. I used the same method and it has worked great.

[Silver Threads]

we used the Krylon Fusion paint on our bathtub and the sink area. My husband sanded it down, cleaned it off and painted the tub. I did the sink area. It turned out really nice. I think I have some pictures of it when we posted our interior. Our computer crashed and we lost the ones I had stored, I will see if I can copy them into this thread.

[gtijewlr]

April 10-I'm a new 'streamer myself and have some work to do on my 72 TradeWind-the cupboard doors are all pretty much kaput (I think theyre called tambour)-any body out there repaired or replaced them? For those of us who believe in God, I think he's got a twisted sense of humour- been wanting one these trailers forever and since taking delivery two weeks ago its been snowing so havent been able to get out and polish it like I want to-oh well warmer weather will come.Did manage to paint the hitch and tanks but did them grey and they look awful, so will have to try aluminum if it stops snowing long enough.

[david b jone]

Tammy,
Was the fusion process difficult? I have used it before on outdoor chairs but not inside. Also what about cleaning? Has it held up well for you. It looks really great!
Thanks!
Val J