1984 u-haul stove fix

[Astrid N]

Hello All

We live in Nova Scotia Canada. Just purchased a 1984 U-HAUL 13 FT.
So cute. Needs a bit of fixing. Need to fix ceiling, and our range hood
and 2 burner stove are rusty. Any suggestions on what we can do
to remove the rust.?? Looking at various ceiling options as the carpet was
removed. Am loving reading and looking at everyones cute trailers from all the different models. Very pleased to be part of such a special group.
Astrid

[Donna D.]

Welcome to FiberglassRV... we're glad you found us. You'll get lots of help here on with your questions.

[Panoz77]

The stove top on my CT-13 is stainless, however a very good way to clean up light rust is mineral spirits and a fine #000 or #0000 steel wool. Do you have pics of how bad the rust is?

[Astrid N]

Originally Posted by Panoz77

The stove top on my CT-13 is stainless, however a very good way to clean up light rust is mineral spirits and a fine #000 or #0000 steel wool. Do you have pics of how bad the rust is?

hi there!!!!!!! mine I THINK is stainless as well, but there certainly is some rust. will try the mineral spirits and wool. do not have any pics yet as we just bought our U-HAUL not even 1 week ago. going to love camping and maybe even a Rally or two. we were wondering if maybe we could organise a Ralley in Cape Breton N.S. in the park that is a KOA by the Cabot Trail.

oh should we seal our roof seam before we put anything new up there??
Astrid

[Kevin A]

Originally Posted by Astrid N

hi there!!!!!!! mine I THINK is stainless as well, but there certainly is some rust. will try the mineral spirits and wool. do not have any pics yet as we just bought our U-HAUL not even 1 week ago. going to love camping and maybe even a Rally or two. we were wondering if maybe we could organise a Ralley in Cape Breton N.S. in the park that is a KOA by the Cabot Trail.

oh should we seal our roof seam before we put anything new up there??
Astrid

Do you have any reason to think the roof seam is leaking? I frankly have not seen a roof seam leak, but the windows... Oh boy!

If you are concerned about the roof, you can wait to cover the inside seam until you've had a good rain or you can give it a good shower with the hose. You may find a leak around your fan or swamp cooler (whichever one you have). This would be fixed with new gasket material around the opening or a replacement unit.

Have fun!

[Astrid N]

Originally Posted by Kevin A

Do you have any reason to think the roof seam is leaking? I frankly have not seen a roof seam leak, but the windows... Oh boy!

If you are concerned about the roof, you can wait to cover the inside seam until you've had a good rain or you can give it a good shower with the hose. You may find a leak around your fan or swamp cooler (whichever one you have). This would be fixed with new gasket material around the opening or a replacement unit.

Have fun!

hi Kevin
Thanks for the advice. well you must be psychic, we recently had a good rain, we thought maybe we should check the UHAUL but didn't. We went out there to wash everything and clean. I turned over one of the cushions in the dinette area the one by the emergency exit window and it was soaking wet and in fact there was mold on one of the corners. I am now going to do bleach and water on all of the cushions, may steam them as well, I also have one of those bacteria wands that kills all sorts of bugs, so will do that too. We are now trying to figure out how to fix that window. I don't think it is from our swamp cooler on the roof somehow. It is odd as the seal on the windows looks just fine to me. Have you ever had that problem??? it sounds like you have. You certainly are a wealth of info. Thank you so much for all of your advice.
Astrid

[KevinWA]

KevinWA here............did you get your stove cleaned up yet? There is a post on here somwhere and the fella used high heat paint to clean up his stove...looked nice.....i had stoped into visit a fellow trillium owner, and they gave me a tour of their camper...they had their stove chrome plated...very brite and shiny...............i am looking into that or powder coated...maybe we can get a discount on getting the two done at once...i will post up prices when i can.....good luck and have fun with your new camper.

[mary and bob]

Astrid: What is a bacteria wand, and where did you get it. We just bought a CT 13 that needs some repair. The stove had been painted, we cleaned that off with stripper and then went over it with an air powered die grinder with a 2" scotch pad and then some "Mothers" metal polish. Not perfect but good for now. I would think having a stove top chrome plated would be quite expensive, maybe better to buy a new one. We have some window leaks also, somewhere I saw a detailed thread on how to rebuild the windows, by Bridget I think. First day on here so have a lot of research to do. Taking our uhaul to the adirondaks for it's first trip tomorrow. Bob

[Kevin A]

Astrid,
I'm the first to admit that windows have been my nemesis for the time we've owned our VT. Because I couldn't find replacement window seals when we first bought HOWIE, I used butyl caulk to seal them shut. No more leaks (except the sliding back window has a way of thwarting me everytime). You should check you drain holes on the outside bottom of each window to make sure they are clear. Gunk gets in there all the time, causing the water to back up over the felt seal, thus leaking inside. If you take a small wire, you can clean out the drain holes. I also drilled a few more, just to make sure the water gets out. I put the butyl caulk around both side windows, including the emergency exit, and we've had no more water there. The emergency window will still function, since the caulk will just give way with a good pull/shove. If I'm stuck inside and have to use that window, you can bet it will get a good shove!

If you search around this site a bit, you will find some posts about window seals that people have found that work great if you're up to the task of taking out your windows. Michael J in Columbus, IN, redid his windows and they are very nice. I believe he said the company was Perfect Fit. He has some posts here, so look for him.

[Astrid N]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Astrid: What is a bacteria wand, and where did you get it. We just bought a CT 13 that needs some repair. The stove had been painted, we cleaned that off with stripper and then went over it with an air powered die grinder with a 2" scotch pad and then some "Mothers" metal polish. Not perfect but good for now. I would think having a stove top chrome plated would be quite expensive, maybe better to buy a new one. We have some window leaks also, somewhere I saw a detailed thread on how to rebuild the windows, by Bridget I think. First day on here so have a lot of research to do. Taking our uhaul to the adirondaks for it's first trip tomorrow. Bob

HI THERE Bob
I bought the wand on our shoppingchannel like QVC IN THE USA. It is great use it all the time. I decided not to try and save our seats, they are too musty. For this year we will buy cushions for bench seats that are for benches and use those, make new ones next year. I will save the old musty ones as my template for new ones. We had a major rain system move through and I checked the rain through windows and it really isn't a lot, a small trickle really. We will try sealing the windows a bit with silicone see if that helps as it is really not a lot. We however did find a major leak around the area where the water hookups are , we siliconed that and it fixed up that issue perfectly, maybe have a peek at yours. We have not yet used our new trailer, but are going out right after Labour Day. Also
we are going to sand and paint our stove with high heat paint, which should make it look good. Next year going to paint and polish up the outside. I LOVE OUR LITTLE TRAILER AND INDEED THIS WEB SITE, SUCH NICE PEOPLE LIVE HERE. How did your camping trip go this last weekend?? I assume it was your first time?
Astrid

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Astrid N

We will try sealing the windows a bit with silicone see if that helps as it is really not a lot. We however did find a major leak around the area where the water hookups are , we siliconed that and it fixed up that issue perfectly,
Astrid

You talk about silicone here on FiberglassRV and we'll all send flying monkeys after you! There are so much better products to use that won't cause nightmares in the future. Silcone is a product developed by the Devil

[mary and bob]

Astrid: First trip out was fine except that about 15 miles out our Thule kayak rack broke and the two kayaks, still bungeed to the rack fell off the top of the car and ended up in the driving lane on I 90. Luckily we got them out of the road before anyone hit them. Dropped the trailer & kayaks in a police station parking lot, went back home to get another rack I had, back to the trailer and reloaded the kayaks and continued another 180 miles to the campground. We bought a 10 X 10 shelter to put over the trailer because of the leaking windows, and that worked fine. Hit some heavy rain on the road, but the windows didn't leak. I used a "flowable silicone" to seal the front window which seems to have worked without having to pull out the window. The side windows I'll get all the parts to rebuild them, the rear is in bad shape and I'm still looking for an affordable source for a replacement window. Bought new tires and a spare set of hubs. bob

[mszabo]

What's wrong with your back window?I have a frame with stationary glass for sale

[mary and bob]

Mike: Our rear window looks like it once had sliding glass but now has plexiglass stuck in with a huge amount of silicone. It looks kinda butchered up like a couple other things that were done to this trailer. It would be nice to get a replacement window that opens, but at this time I'll take anything that's better than what we have. What's the details on yours? Bob

[mszabo]

https://secure.onedayglass.com/ordernew.php?step=3

You can order replacement glass here

[Astrid N]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

You talk about silicone here on FiberglassRV and we'll all send flying monkeys after you! There are so much better products to use that won't cause nightmares in the future. Silcone is a product developed by the Devil

HI Donna
we live in rural Nova Scotia not much special available what is better than silicone??? maybe I can special order something.

Astrid

[Donna D.]

Here's the perfect topic for you to read: Butyl Tape, Silcone and Sealing

[Astrid N]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Here's the perfect topic for you to read: Butyl Tape, Silcone and Sealing

OMG Donna this is perfect thank you.

Astrid

[Donna D.]

You're welcome. We'd all like to see people fix things right the first time, rather than create a mess and have to fix over and over and over again

[Mary F]

Moving this topic to Problem Solving, because it's good information that's in danger of getting lost in the "HI" forum...