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uwe · 07-23-2002, 11:36 AM

I want to restore my airstream letters, the Land yacht plaque, and the tailight housings on my 71 TradeWind. I am looking for the best paint to use, as well as for a matching paint code.
Also, I am looking for a source for the blue stuff that goes around the bottom moulding. Is this paint or is it tape? I went searching onthe web, but had no luck so far. Someone in this forum restored an older airstream name plate, not the individual letters, with Rustoleum royal blue, but it seems the letter should be a little lighter blue.Ulness it's all faded......
Help!
Uwe

Sharon Lee · 07-23-2002, 12:16 PM

Uwe,
Im not positive but I thought there was something on the airstream trailer link library.
try www.airstreamtrailers.com and check it out.
It's a cool website
Sharon

davidz71 · 07-23-2002, 04:29 PM

Rustoleum brand Royal Blue matches the Airstream letters according to a previous post. I went to my local Lowe's and found it in a pint can. It looks great even after a year of sitting out in the sun. Craig

uwe · 07-23-2002, 05:45 PM

thanks a bunch. I am sure I can get that locally.
InlandRV have the blue moulding tape for the lower and midle moulding. It is very expensive, though. i might ust paint the inside of the aluminum extrusion with the same royal Blue Rustoleum. Or at least do a small section to see what it looks like.
Uwe

71tradewind · 07-23-2002, 06:23 PM

UWE ,Rustoleum brand Royal Blue is exactly what i used.I bought a quart and that was plenty. Tom

71tradewind · 07-23-2002, 06:27 PM

Almost forgot ,I also painted that lower trim area "where the plastic was" and it turned out great ! Just keep a rag with laquer thinner handy to clean up the edges , and any mistakes !

uwe · 07-23-2002, 07:18 PM

I was going to mask off around the trim, and then paint the inside of the extrusions. This might be a little more work, but I imagine getting nicer edges. I do not have a very steady hand for painting with a paintbrush, especially not sober....just kidding.

Pick · 07-23-2002, 07:59 PM

We used "Ford Blue" that we got at Tractor Supply. It is so close to Royal Blue, you can't tell. It may be Royal Blue, re labled, who knows, but it is so close, no one will ever know anyway.

71tradewind · 07-24-2002, 07:42 PM

Pick , nice rig ! How did you redo the counter top? Uwe as far as taping off, all I did was paint it then used the laqure thinner to clean off the excess ,it now has nice sharp edges. You dont have to worry about the finish on the bananna wrap trim at least not on mine because it is just plain metal "no finish on it" I think if you use this method you'll find it to be both time saving and cheaper $$$$$. A small can thinner is about $1.50.The other thing is the paint doesnt really stick to alum. real well so when you pull the tape off you might pull your paint off as well. Maybee others out there might have some advice on this . I just know this worked real well for me. Good luck

uwe · 07-24-2002, 07:57 PM

What is the banana wrap trim? Is it the piece going from the middle of the trailer around the back? Mine definitely has a groove in it, possibly was blue in there some time ago.

thenewkid64 · 07-24-2002, 08:32 PM

Bannana wrap is the name given to the curved sheet of skin that is under the lower rub rail and blends ino the belly skin. I belive the name derives from the shape it is off the trailer, or the fact that it can peel off like a bannana skin if you rub up against something hard enought to tear it

Pick · 07-24-2002, 09:09 PM

First we removed the stove and sink from the countertop, then removed the countertop from the top of the kitchen cabinet. We then took the countertop into the garage and removed the "mustard yellow" laminate from the plywood countertop, which was fairly easy. We went to Lowes and picked out the blue, that you see. It cost $39.95 a sheet. Well, we had to ah, ahem, use two sheets, because, well, you know. Anyway it came out perfect the SECOND time! I found out that a table saw does a real good job of rough cutting to size. Scoring and bending to break it does not. I have some more pictures of the process from a chemical camera that I will scan and post.

thenewkid64 · 07-25-2002, 05:39 AM

I have done some laminate work on our MH as well. It had neon lime green formica and the stove and nutone had bee nemoved and patched with plywood by the previous owner. I elminated the Airstream edge as I needed to bridge the gap where the stove was so mine looks more like a residential style counterd with a standard edge. I also covered the wall at the end of the counter in the same laminate as the wall covering was shot and full of holes. There had been a mirror there at some time in the past.

Here is the before:
http://www.airstreamphotos.com/photo....php?photo=506

here is the after:
http://www.airstreamphotos.com/photo....php?photo=505

Next is the floor!

Fatt Ratt · 07-25-2002, 10:02 AM

Hey y'all

I replaced my brakes and painted my hubs with Rust-oleum #V2124 Safety Blue. The shade is lighter then ford or royal blue. See my picture. - Ray

Chuck · 07-26-2002, 01:05 PM

What's the best way to go about shining up the plaques and the outsides of the letters? steel wool? some kind of polish? same kind of gunk is on the alluminum housing for the tail lights.....

also, the red stripe on the "land yacht" plaque is a faded pink...what's a good match for that? my "blue" isn't all that bad...thinking it was possibly touched up before.

mdiggles · 07-27-2008, 11:31 PM

Hi Folks,

Thank you all for the tip about the Rustolium royal-blue paint; I'll run down and buy some tomorrow. I rebuilt my tail lights on my '70 Caravelle and need blue for the groove in the aluminum casting. But that waste belt and the half belt higher up that used to have blue tape in the extrusion: There are dozens of ugly hollow-core Pop rivets holding on the extrusion and if I just paint it, those will show. Do you all think it shows not much so it is OK? I guess I'll paint it and see, all that can go wrong is I buy the expensive tape and fill it later; the paint can't hurt.

Thanks,
--Mike

Quote:

Originally Posted by uwe

I want to restore my airstream letters, the Land yacht plaque, and the tailight housings on my 71 TradeWind. I am looking for the best paint to use, as well as for a matching paint code.
Also, I am looking for a source for the blue stuff that goes around the bottom moulding. Is this paint or is it tape? I went searching onthe web, but had no luck so far. Someone in this forum restored an older airstream name plate, not the individual letters, with Rustoleum royal blue, but it seems the letter should be a little lighter blue.Ulness it's all faded......
Help!
Uwe

Lothlorian · 07-28-2008, 05:53 AM

I took a small piece of old vinyl rub rail to the auto color store and used their paint chart to get an exact match. They made me a pint of blue, red and white. I matched the blue and guessed at the red and white.

I then went to a sign store and had them cut a vinyl sheet for the rub rail. They have computers now that do the job for you. It came out really nice. I pulled the strips off and pressed them on. That came out really nice.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f36/...n-38204-9.html

SIU Bound

Brian

reggiemon · 10-24-2008, 10:28 AM

Can anyone tell me if the color of blue used by Airstream has been the same thru the early years? My trailer is a 59 and when I searched on logo color, I have found vague references to a lighter blue used in the 50's. I need to repaint my nameplates.
Thanks!

eubank · 10-24-2008, 10:52 AM

The Airstream folk in the DFW area claimed that the match for our 67 is Krylon blue, available as spray, which I didn't want. So I bought the Krylon, sprayed a patch, and had the color matched to an enamel at the hardware store. (Of course, it didn't help a bit when I got home and managed to drop the new quart of enamel on the gravel. Lots and lots of blue gravel, but enough left in the can to do the Airstream a couple of times over.)

Lynn