31' sovereign floor plans

[Carmilla]

Hello one and all.

This is my first post. I am looking into a 31' sovereign to completely re-do. Would anyone out there happen to have floor plans? An accurate line drawing will do. I'm interested in the measurements etc. Need to know if I can do the planned renovations. And, of course, hang the chandelier.

Carmilla

[Condoluminum]

Carmilla-

Welcome and good luck with your search...

As a newly registered member, you are now entitled to FREE unlimited Searches using search tab in blue bar above...

Try typing in Floor Plans or Sovereign 31 or other combinations, and you'll find lots of older threads you can study to see what you can find..

As far as your question, without year and model and length a lot of questions can't be answered. Some had rear baths, others had mid-baths, etc etc. If you describe the one you're looking at exactly, someone will have an owner manual or other resource for interior layout. Beware, Airstream didn't often publish dimensioned floor plans.. You have to sort of approximate, and then measure your particular model exactly...

John McG

[JimGolden]

Carmilla,

I have a 31' Excella which is basically the same shell, just a different trim level. I've also taken many measurements to design a new frame.

The shell is approximately 91.25" wide where it meets the floor. It is also about 313.25" long where it meets the floor. These are outside dimensions, and you'll need to subtract out the thicknesses of the walls. I don't recall exactly, but I think the walls are about 1.5" thick, so you're looking at 88.25" wide and 310.25" long interior wise. I'm not sure what the radius of the front and rear curvatures are. But you could use CAD to draw a box that's 88.25 by 310.25, put some general radius on it, and have it good enough to see if your floor plan is go/no go.

I can probably get you more detailed measurements if you list exactly what you're after.

As you may be already aware, it's actually relatively easy to change the floor plan of an Airstream around. The bulkheads are basically just screwed/riveted into the frames. It's easy to move them. If you're goihg to gut it and redo the whole coach, you can pretty much build whatever you want.

If you're looking at a 70's coach, be aware of the issues with the 4" deep frame. It's essentially inadequate for the coach and flexes a lot. It can develop a sag which you can generally tell by looking at the skin just fore and aft of the wheel arches. If you see a buckle in the skin there, the frame is probably yielding. As well, the shells were prone to separate from the frame. You check that by having a buddy jump up and down on the back bumper while you view it from the side. If you see the bottom moving but the top isn't, or the crack by the lower molding opens up, you've got separation. My '77 has both to varying degrees. I intend to build a new frame.

I believe they went to a 5" deep frame in 1985 and most of the problems went away. If you've not bought one yet, you might want to try for an 85 model. I would, if I were doing it over. But, I got a good deal on mine, the shell is perfect, and the interior is in good shape. So I plan to rebuild mine completely.

Let me know if i can help you further.

[malconium]

I have a 1973 31' Sovereign International that I am also redoing the interioir completely from scratch. It does have a 5" deep frame on my model by the way. My original floor plan had the bath along the street side with the closet oposite the hallway that ran down the middle of the trailer. I had a rear bedroom with the double bed option that mounted crosswise. The body is about 1-1/2" thick. There is some outward curvature of the body from the floor as you go up. I am currently thinking about the floor plan I want to implement in the beadroom so I have a couple of fresh measurements that might be of help. The inside dimension of the body from side to side at about the level of a bed mattress runs right at about 92". From the middle back of the inside wall at the floor to the back end of the wheel wells runs right at about 8'. I remember that the overall length inside at the floor runs almost exactly 27'. From the floor to ceiling runs right in the range of 80+". The curvature is not exactly the same at the front and the rear. I can tell you though that at the back wall there is right at about 60" of flat wall under the rear window (flat from side to side not top to bottom). For your preliminary purposes thinking about the curvature occuring mostly with 16" or so along the side will not be far off.

One of the main considerations that I have had to think about when I consider the new floor plan is the location of the windows. A rear bath model will have the windows in different places than the mid-bath model did. I don't know what year you are looking into but both the year and model can make a lot of difference relative to where the windows, door and plumbing are. I forgot to mention that I am also having to take into account where the roof top plumbing vents are located when I do my planning. They can be moved but it would be nice not to have to. If your year happes to be a 73' I could scan the floor plan in my service manual and send it to you. With a few key measurements you could probably get reasonable scale from the drawing for preliminary planning purposes.

Many of us would be interested in hearing what you decide to do. Eventually I will get back to publishing my results here on the forums. I have been a bit stalled for most of this last year but did get going again some last Saturday. I am in the process of installing new foil insulation in the walls and putting back in the interirior skins.

I hope this helps get you launched. The forum here has a wealth of restoration information. Definitely use the Search feature at the top right of the main menu. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

Malcolm

[Carmilla]

Thanks so much everyone, I will indeed keep you posted.

As an aside- someone today said they knew someone who put a propane fireplace in their airstream- is this an urban myth?

Carmilla

[JimGolden]

I wish mine had the 5" frame. Would have saved me a lot of trouble. I don't know the full history...I guess maybe they tried to get crazy with weight savings in the name of fuel economy. But to sacrifice so much rigidity for so little weight savings...wouldn't even do that in aircraft.

I bought my coach before I'd really read a lot on these forums...anyway, I've basically got a flexi-flyer frame with some sag and some separation, hydra-vac brakes that don't work, plumbing that the PO let freeze, no awning (PO saw to that), and double pane vista view windows that you can't see through because of the nasty looking scotch tint.

What I DID get, though, was a perfect shell, an interior in very good shape, and a very low cost of entry. So, if I put another $10K into it building what I want, it'll still be reasonable.

I visited a new Airstream dealership yesterday. And while I like the new ones, I have to admit that I did not see one that I liked any better than my old one. And, with the cheapest one I looked at (a used 2005 30' Safari) being $39K, it makes my '77 look more appealing. Hey, the Safari didn't even have Vista-Views The new 31' Classic was in the $63K range, on sale. As Bob Hope would say, a bit rich for my blood

Stay tuned for the Mon-Stream Makeover (as in Monster-Stream) which will be coming this way in a few months...

[malconium]

Originally Posted by Carmilla

Thanks so much everyone, I will indeed keep you posted.

As an aside- someone today said they knew someone who put a propane fireplace in their airstream- is this an urban myth?

Carmilla

It is definitely not just an urgan myth. Check out the following thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forum...pane+fireplace

I am sorely tempted but I still am hanging on to the idea of installing hot water radiant heat in the floor.

Malcolm