Airstream Windows

We bought our camper with 3 missing window frames. When I found it online I thought they were just missing the glass but it turned out that the outer frames were missing also. I searched everywhere I could find on the internet for some replacements. New replacements were like $400 so I really needed to find some used ones.

The few places I did find with windows would never return my calls or would tell me they would get back to me but would never call. I finally found someone down in Mobile, Alabama that was parting out a 77 Sovereign. He only had the front center window and a 30" side window. The 19" side window is only on 69-78 Safari's, Trade Winds, and some Overlanders.

We figured 2 is better than none so this past Saturday we took the drive to Mobile to get them. The guy was very reasonable with pricing so we also picked up some other things. We got a small retractable awning for a 30" window, some interior lights, and some trim pieces.

About 5 minutes after leaving his house I realized that I just might be able to take a 30" window and cut the frame down to 19". So we turned around and picked up another 30" window.

Here are some pics of the window replacement process.

30" replacement fits perfectly, need to remove the bubbling tint still.

The front center window opening was filled with some campaign signs by the PO. I removed those and found a ton of old caulking, vulkem, and what looked like liquid nails all over the edge of the frame. I think someone at one time tried gluing a piece of plexiglass to the frame with this stuff. This means the windows have been missing for quite a while.

I scraped everything away, this took over an hour.

Then I installed the window. This window has old tint on it that has to be removed too. The bar you see across the inside of the window is the window screen frame, I have it detached and hanging right now. The front wing windows will be repaired soon with Lexan too. Some genius screwed plexiglass directly to the outside of the window frames.

Next I began working on converting the 30" window into a 19" window. These are not the exact dimensions. The 30" window is actually about 30 1/2" and the 19" window is 18 1/2". This is 1/2" smaller than the inside frame opening that the window goes into.

Here is the 30" window.

The first thing I had to do was drill out the rivets that hold the frame together. There are 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom. Once they are drilled out the frame will separate.

Next I drilled out the rivets that hold the window lock brackets.

Then I measured and made my marks where I need to cut. The outer window frame (or sash as it's called) should be 1/2" smaller than the inner window frame.

Then I cut the frames down, removed the metal rods that hold the frame together, and reinserted them into the channel of the cut down frames. Then I test fitted the new sash together.

Next I measured for the Lexan. The channel the Lexan goes into is 7/16" deep, that's 7/8" for both sides. I added that to the measurement from the inside edges of the sash to get my total width and height. Once that was done I used the original glass window as a template for the rounded edges. Then I cut the Lexan, and then measured and cut the weatherstripping that goes in the channel.

 

It turned out to be a perfect fit.

I still need to rivet the frame back together, rivet the hinge on, and install the window. I will do that this afternoon. Then I will be taking a break on the Airstream for a month or two while I finish the restoration of our house.