When we first bought our Argosy is was apparent that things were old, and needed desperate repair. Of course there is always the option to buy “new”. What is the fun in that? We decided early, that we were (to the best of our ability) to try and restore, refurbish, any of the original Argosy interior, while implementing our own style. Our Airstream Argosy’s Shower Pan was one of the pieces we really wanted to save…but it was a mess.
Did I mention, we had a small crack in it also. Yea! As with most Argosy renovation projects, this was going to take patience and understanding.
- The first was to clean, clean, clean. We used 409 Degrease Cleaner. Then we had to get those fish stickers off which wasn’t has hard as I thought. We used GOO GONE. Once we got the fishies off it was time to get the dirt and grease off.
- This products by far worked the best. SOFT SCRUB W/BLEACH. But the trick here. Do this is direct sunlight and let the bleach whiten the ABS Plastic.
- Repeat this process a few times.
How to fix the crack: This was tricky because our tiny crack was in the lower right back corner.
- Drill a very tiny hole on both sides of the crack. This will help stop the crack from expanding and getting worse. We used 3mm bit (mostly used for crafts or jewelry)
- We used two products to repair the crack. The first product was J-B Weld 8277 WaterWeld Epoxy Putty Stick – 2 oz. Great for repairing plumbing, fuel tanks, tubs, showers, drains, boats and portable water tanks it also sets in 25 minutes, cures in 1 hour to an off-white color with a tensile strength of 900 PSI. Once cured it forms a permanent bond and can be drilled, tapped, filed, sanded, painted and will withstand temperatures of up to 300ºF. The next product we used was FLEX SEAL Spray (CLEAR).
Once everything dried and cured, it was time to bring this guy back to life. We used Rust-Oleum 206999 Marine Topside Paint, White, 1-Quart. This paint is used on Boats above the waterline. This is a thicker paint so be prepared. It takes some patience to put this on and it cures quick.
After a few days of working on it and letting it dry. It was time to test. We plugged up the drain and let water sit in the tub for 2 days. Not one drip.
This project truly was a labor of love (aren’t they all)? But this turned out to be very worth while project because the end result was saving an original piece of our Airstream Argosy.
As with all of the other projects, we were really proud of this one. To restore something that looked like it would never be used again was really self satisfying and gave us some much needed confidence to move forward.
Our shower pan is now installed and ready to use. We can’t wait to use our shower on the road with a sense of accomplishment.
If you have a Airstream project that you would love to share, please post below, we would love to see it.