A while ago on the Airforums there was this thread about a residential/commercial company (Maxim) that would make a custom skylight to your specifications. They obviously have found Airstreams to be a niche market because they now have a page devoted to Airstream Skylights.
Many of the newer model Airstreams have converted their skylights to maxims but I only found mention of one other vintage rig, so I was a little concerned about how this was going to work.
I wanted to replace the Astrodome in the front with a Maxim. There are reproduction Astrodomes made, but I was missing the Ladeaux lifters and knobs (known unobtainium) so going back to what was there originally wasn't feasible. I've seen the knobs alone go for $50 on ebay, much less the lifter. I will lose the abilty to open the Astrodome but with the two Fantastic fans creating the equilavent of a wind tunnel, I doubt I'll miss it.
This masqueraded as an Astrodome. I think it's a window off a seventies Airstream. If you can identify it and want it, it's yours for the shipping.
The maxim is custom made so it was necessary to remove the old skylight to take accurate measurements. My skylight frame happened to squared up (or rectangled up?) but it's possible that the frame could be bowed out in the center or out of square so I took take measurements in a few different places. I was concerned about the top of the frame having a channel. Late model Airstream's are flat there and somewhat wider. With the design of the skylight it was a non issue.
I called and gave them the actual measurements. They build in a fudge factor of 3/4 inch so you have a gap all the way around. My actual measurements were 13.875 by 25 inches and the skylight they made for me was 14.625 by 25.75.inches.
I chose all three layers domed and clear, and a mill finish frame. Just over $200 including shipping. The genius about these skylights is that they screw into your original frame from the side! Much less likely to leak.I found the Maxin Company to be simply amazing to work with. There was a slight hiccup in the process when they got my order wrong. They cheerfully admitted the mistake and had the correct skylight made and sent the next day.
And they are very strong, try doing this to a regular astrodome!
(Okay guys, this is a gratuitous use of two pretty girls trying to break a maxim skylight. This is as good as this post is going to get so if you stop reading after watching this I understand! Totally....just saying....)
Go ahead click , I'll wait....
Anyway, this is what the skylight looked like during the test fit
Jut like the Fantastic Fans the hardest part by far was getting all the old sealant off!
I installed with #10 hex head stainless sheet metal screws. Make sure you deburr the holes on the skylight, a few of mine needed it. Otherwise the screw won't tighten up. The skylight frame comes pre-drilled (and without hardware).
When I test fitted the skylight I predrilled the holes into the original framing because I wanted to be sure that the skylight was centered on the inside. The predrilled holes on the skylight are too low to use a drill to transfer the holes to the original frame, so I chucked a bit into my dremel and used that.
Then I used a trebled up piece of Eternabond double stick tape and put a piece of the alumibond over that (just so the skylight wouldn't stick when I test fitted it. When the screw goes through the doublestick it will seal itself.
I did use Tremco 635 on the exterior of the screws. Here's the finished product. Quite a bit better looking than when I started!
It's been leak free through several rainstorms. I'm going to have to fabricate some kind of trim because the screws are visible from the inside of the Airstream. Late model Airstreams have a trim piece that will cover it, but the vintage rigs don't.The view from below.
Guess whats next?
