2 Rivet Member 
1968 24' Tradewind
1968 24' Tradewind
Canoga Park
, California
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 40
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There's the shower curtain “thing”. It may be the most bizarre, scabbed on
Your post cracked me up….
Being highly dysfunctional the Mr. and I decided to put that piece back in our bathroom. Ours is in beautiful shape although I am now frightened of what lies beneath the surface now. We purchased a beautiful 68 almost camp ready and bought a wrap/circular curtain rod from Ikea to run the curtain but decided since this "thing" is in good shape we would attach it for a trip or two and see where we land. To be honest I have no idea how to screw a flush-mounted curtain rod into the ceiling and the thought of it not being perfectly curved gives me massive anxiety. Anyone with experience, I would love to hear about it.
As far as 1968's, this is my second and I love them, this one has a different seating style very open, not a separate bedroom per se. The storage is amazing the wood is beautiful I am a huge fan. I guess I should be pleased my husband is an electrician.
Thanks for the post, fantastic job on the curtain rod! When we are attacked by the shower door mold I will find you to make us your improved model.
Happy V day to on and all
The beauty,
I find the '67/68' bath to have excellent proportion, clarity, adequate storage, it's big and bright and easy to clean… It was genius to position the tub toward center so a six-footer like myself can stand tall and still have a few fingers of headroom. The toilet attaches to the under-floor black tank in a simple, conventional manner, none of the plumbing is hidden or captured inside walls, you can easily reach the supply side of all the fixtures. I'll never understand why Airstream changed it for 1969, there's been nothing like it since…
Then,
There's the shower curtain “thing”. It may be the most bizarre, scabbed on, dysfunctional, annoying piece of junk in Airstream's history. Who could even think up this Velcro and snaps, flapping accordion contraption?? The folding door/curtain, which is permanently affixed, is 16 square feet of potential festering petri dish. It's such a shabby design, I'd guess that few even exist today. When I discovered the hot seamed plastic/cardboard bacteria haven, I immediately drilled it off the bulkhead and tossed it out the door.
Why not a simple, conventional curtain rod??
In the last few years, I think that I've looked at every shower rod and every style of shower rod mounting hardware on our planet. I found nearly nothing that you can purchase off shelf, is neat and strong. There are different gimbal/hinge/collapsing/swing-away rod devices, but they cannot affix to the bulkhead and follow the tub's shape to terminate at the endcap. There are also curved rod solutions that don't follow the tub contour.
I'm not a fan of the earlier sixties style curtain ring channel that is riveted overhead to the endcap contour. It's action is bit awkward, and the unique curtain, which has to be cut and trimmed to its unusual shape, doesn't drape elegantly, or seal remarkably well vertically, so I didn't bother to pursue that avenue.
A fix that is not too invasive, fits the era, a reasonable expenditure of time and money, uncomplicated, and has simple, familiar function.
KISS Material List,
a few handfuls of fine masonry sand
two wine corks
two feet of electrical tape
ten feet of 301 stainless steel one inch Outside Diameter .049” wall tube, hacksawed at 43.5”--76.5”
one 60 degree degree boat-rail round base (fits to endcap)
one boat-rail “T” (rod support)
one 90 degree boat-rail base (fits to tub)
one boat-rail support (fits to bulkhead)
one boat-rail end support (fits to bulkhead)
one foot of 3M 30# VHB tape
seven SS screws
How it went,
I scribed the decreasing radius of the tub onto cardboard and used that as my bending gauge.
Filled the 76.5” tube with tamped sand, corked and taped its ends. An ordinary 3/4” conduit bender will contour the SS tube with ease, to perfectly match the tub's shape.
Boat-rail mounts come in a wide variety of angles and bolt patterns. A 60 degree round mount angles so perfectly against the end-cap, it's astounding! The other two mounts stand off the pocket-door bulkhead creating a towel bar. The endcap is fiberglass, so after drilling for the 60 degree mount, I buttered the holes with epoxy. As it set, I started Antiseized screws into the epoxied holes, the squeeze-out creates an epoxy grommet. Later, I removed screws, VHB taped the mount in place, and gently snugged the screws to the endcap. Doing this makes me feel that the rod mount will not cause stress to the fiberglass. I likewise VHB'd and screwed the mounts onto the bulkhead. The rod's height allows the curtain's top edge to be equal to the top edge of the original accordion thing.
Assessment,
With ordinary, sensible use, the rod alone with its triangulated points of attachment, suffices. I worried that if Godzilla, while merrily bathing, loses her balance and grabs the rod to break her fall, it may fail, so I added a 43.5” tall midway pole support that will not interfere with the '67/'68 “dressing seat” that hides the toilet.
Additional findings,
Turns out, I love having the pole there to assist take-off and landing on the can. “Hook” style roller curtain rings glide over the “T”. We use the pole as a Safety Bar enter/exiting the tub. Clothes Line, Towel Bar, Chinning Bar (it supports my 175# with ease), and Bike Rack (now I can join the fray of “how to carry bikes with Airstream”). It's inspired Pamela Anderson Stripper Pole poses, so entertainment has been added to its list of features...
Conclusion,
All told, this project was not difficult, multi-functions admirably, and cost less than a C-note…[/QUOTE]
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Caroyl & Tim
Linear Mode
