which is nice if you’re starting in inclement weather. Before the first interior screw is removed, however, ensure that there is no battery hooked up and the propane tanks are removed.
Although the Cruisette did not have a black-water tank, this early-1950s Boles Aero Ensenada did. Before removing the tank and toilet, I pulled the camper to a dumping station and gave both the gray and black holding tanks a good flush. If you’re unfamiliar with this process, plenty of tutorials are available online. Also, note the internal aluminum rib construction of this non-Airstream example.
If your camper has a black water tank, it’s a good idea to ensure that it is empty before beginning any work. If necessary, pull the unit to a dumping station or use a portable waste transporter to flush it out. After dealing with lead paint, insulation, and rodent scat, the last thing you want to address is human waste.
The walls of this 1980s Overlander served as a nest. The inside walls of old campers should be thoroughly examined for infestation. It’s best to remove any animal traces right away or they will continue to attract more visitors.
The stove/fridge/sink all-in-one unit in this galley was too big to remove through the door, so it was the last component to go when I separated the shell from the chassis. Surprisingly, this tiny Airstream had a toilet that, equally unexpected, did not drain into a black-water tank, indicating a welcome change of camping standards since the turn of the century.
This simple vintage Wedgewood range uses screws to mount to the galley. This one has been removed and reinstalled before, as evidenced by the modern wood-grabber screw used to fasten it. On ranges with an oven, screws are used inside the oven. These often require lifting out the grates and heat shroud to access.
Sometimes it’s easy to find the mounting points, such as this ice chest’s screws that are exposed on the front. Sometimes, however, the mounting screws are hidden inside vintage fridges, or on the backside, accessible through exterior maintenance hatches and vents.
Keep in mind that the order of disassembly is the reverse order of assembly, so it’s a good idea to note how things come apart. You may find that some appliances are too large to fit through the door. It’s common that a large refrigerator or shower/bath could have been installed then built around. With that said, start by removing propane components such as the stove, heater, gas lamp, and water heater. If you plan to restore these, be careful not to add any damage during removal.
Stoves are usually installed in the galley with screws hidden inside. First, you need to lift the top off and disconnect the liquid propane line under the range. Ice chests and fridges are secured in a similar manner; you need to locate the mounting screws retaining these appliances to remove them.
Galley, Bed and Cabinets
Once the equipment and associated plumbing/wiring are removed, you can focus on cabinets and large components such as the galley and dinette. On the Cruisette and other early Airstreams, these were secured using large sheet-metal screws. It’s important to loosen these slowly, and work your way along a line of perpendicular or parallel screws. If you release one screw all the way and leave others torqued, you could create tension and deform the camper’s interior sheet-metal walls, creating more work later.
Sometime in the 1960s, aluminum extrusions were riveted to the interior skin with cabinetry walls screwed to them, which became the main fastening system. When disassembling, take note of the camper’s original fastening system, as you’ll be reproducing this during reassembly.
Like any product of industry, travel trailers constantly evolved. Early 1950s Airstreams used large sheet-metal screws to fasten cabinetry, which were later replaced with more complex aluminum extrusions and blind rivets as technology progressed, shown here inside a 1960s Tradewind closet. Also notice the (probably original) patch with slotted pan-head sheet-metal screws and the Zolatone finish.
When disassembling, things can strip out and be stubborn. Before frustration sets in, avoid damage when prying, drilling, and hammering by using masking tape, sacrificial plywood, and/or cardboard to protect both metal and wood surfaces from gouges and scratches. Sometimes, screws can be hidden and difficult to access. Remember that someone put this camper together, and it does come apart. Once you’ve removed the galley, dinette, bed, etc., you have the start of a bare shell.
Interior Skin
Now is a good time to focus on wall preparation. As mentioned earlier, Cruisettes were known for not having interior endcaps to keep cost and weight down. But like other Airstreams of this vintage, the Cruisette does share the Zolatone coated aluminum common of 1950s models (but it was not the more-common speckled finish). Zolatone is a two-stage paint first used on Airstreams and automobiles where durability was needed, such as the trunk.
The vinyl-covered aluminum skin of 1970s and 1980s Airstreams accumulate a gross, sticky grime over decades of use. Take note here of the black mold and rotted insulation between the windows and even between the lap joints. To properly address this, discard and replace all insulation, seal interior seams, and clean and strip the panels of the grime and mold before reassembly and paint. Keep in mind that these conditions exist under most Airstream skins, and without addressing rot, mold, and grime, you’re only putting a bandage over a much bigger issue.
Zolatone can be difficult to remove. It’s still available today, but you need to get creative to match an original hue. You can find plenty of Internet forum talk on the process necessary to match an original finish if that’s your goal. Essentially, it’s going to take a certain amount of controlled chaos to achieve the splattered look. If you’re unhappy with the outcome, you can always strip it and start over. Practicing on smaller sample sets helps to dial in the density and size of splatter.
Airstream did not use Zolatone for very long and ended up replacing it with a vinyl covering applied to the aluminum skin. If you’re tackling a non-Airstream restoration, your camper may have aluminum or plywood/lauan interior walls. Either way, once the major interior components are removed, it’s time to address the interior walls.
In some cases, it might be easier to replace panels with new aluminum then to strip and prep for paint. Before deciding what materials and products to use, visit a painting specialist for recommendations on products and techniques. Painting and prepping vinyl-coated walls (there are special vinyl paints, if the vinyl hasn’t started to peel) differs greatly from prepping for a Zolatone topcoat.
In the case of the Cruisette, the owner wanted the walls stripped and repainted with a modern, low-volatile organic compound paint. With the panels in place, I began the time-consuming and hazardous task of applying automotive paint stripper to work through many layers of paint accumulated over the years.
Keep in mind that this was only a preliminary stripping and panel prep. You’ll be removing the interior panels to address
