Burro door repair (1975)

[Eric Johnson]

The bottom of our door is rot , doesn't fit at top well , latch is in badly damaged fiberglass, the hinge isn't in the right place, center fiberglass on the outside panel is warped...looks like rain too. The best part is that we have a heated garage for this fix and the rest of the renovation. The Burro looks like Whinny the Poo's Eor....but by spring will be more like Tigger.
I learned a lot with my Dremel and Grinder.. the door is a poured composit with a with an inverted u shaped metal band of ferris steel 1in from edge and kerfed plywood inside if that. I'll try and add pics of my tear down to give you a better idea of what you 13 ft Burro owners are working with.

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[Eric Johnson]

Originally Posted by Eric Johnson

The bottom of our door is rot , doesn't fit at top well , latch is in badly damaged fiberglass, the hinge isn't in the right place, center fiberglass on the outside panel is warped...looks like rain too. The best part is that we have a heated garage for this fix and the rest of the renovation. The Burro looks like Whinny the Poo's Eor....but by spring will be more like Tigger.
I learned a lot with my Dremel and Grinder.. the door is a poured composit with a with an inverted u shaped metal band of ferris steel 1in from edge and kerfed plywood inside if that. I'll try and add pics of my tear down to give you a better idea of what you 13 ft Burro owners are working with.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Fiberglass RV mobile app

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Fiberglass RV mobile app

[Eric Johnson]

What were they thinking? or were they drinking?
Wow! The more I dig into the damaged ill fitting door on this 75 Burro the more I want to make my own design. I'm no engineer ...I dont even ride trains, but I think I could design the door to be more camper user friendly. The door I see has been redesigned from the 70's to the 80's I see by the added center re enforcement. The ferris (rusty) steel strip and the plywood ( prone to rot) composit pour technique leaves me wondering and very wanting.
Is there any one else who has experienced this frustration..or better yet won this battle.
I got it to a better fit by a hinge relocation and trying to relax the fit by cutting into the wood and want to fiberglass more plywood inside but fear that is not enough.
Your input is valued!
I'll try and add a pic but all I see is a slot to add a url. I will work on my FRV web skills next.

[Eric Johnson]

Didnt have much time to work on doorless Burro yesterday.
I did get a possible fix idea from a pdf I saw on a Boler on making a alum. tube frame to stiffen and support the door.

Im still wondering if any Burro owner can tell me of the best remake of this problem.

[rick.a]

Hi Eric,

The door on my '85 Burrito is not the same shape as the opening and does not fit as it should. It does not curve in enough at the bottom to fit the opening properly. I have made do with differing thicknesses of door edge seal rubber but it still is not to my satisfaction.
My door is made from an inner and an outer fiberglass form, each of which have a generous gel coat on the outer surface. In the hinge area there was wood blocking at one time, but that is mostly rotted away. I did not see signs of wood anywhere else nor did I see any metal strips. However I never took my door apart. What I did do was to seal the 2 sides together properly with thickened epoxy and force epoxy into the hinge screw holes (several sets of holes) with a syringe. This made the door water tight on the inside and provided secure attachment points for the hinges.

Your hinges also differ from mine. Mine are the more commonly seen refrigerator hinges that were used on the 80s Burros.

My advise is to keep fitting your door to the Burro as you rebuild it to make sure that the final shape will match. Also, if you plan to replace the wood floor or repair it near the door, do that FIRST, as this will change where the door hits or change the lower shape of the Burro itself. You also will need to reinforce the hinge area on the Burro, as the wood backing in these commonly rots away also. The lower one is easy since it is exposed, but the upper is glassed with Gel coat on inner and outer and will require re-glassing the repair.

There are several threads here regarding Burro door repairs but all indicate that there is no easy fix. You actually have the best chance of getting a perfect fit since you are rebuilding the door and can modify the shape.

Good luck,
Rick

[Jane D.]

Eric,

Very happy to see your attack of the door. I have a Burro and to use the word "fit" and door in the same sentence is just plain wrong. Mine is way off, sticks way out at the top and too tight at the bottom. No amount of seal is gonna fix it. Please continue to post the details and photos as to what you are doing, it can only be a great help to many of us.

One thing I would suggest, that took the downward sag out of mine, is to get new hinges. I didn't take the door completely apart, I am gonna have to I know, but put in new wood where the hinges go in. Mine had the small ones like yours and I replaced them with a much better set. Vintage Trailer Supply has them and they are a great improvement to what was there.

Best of luck and thanks for putting this up for us..... I'll be watching this thread for sure.

Polar Hinge

[Con]

I would suggest you take a look at my "Boler Door Fix" tutorial in the Document Center this site. The same principals I used should apply to your door problem.
If you have questions contact me at con-quistador37@shaw.ca

[Eric Johnson]

Thanks for everyone who responded to my posts, I need all the suggestions and heads up I can get..yall are super! The saga continues. I have cut strips of 1/4 in plywood strips to glass in to the inside of the door after I waterproof them with epoxy resin. I will have the door forced to shape in the camper opening first with the hinges replaced. I drilled to good wood at the camper and door hinge holes and epoxied the holes so I can relocate the screws with the hinges in the new better alignment. The machine shop took roll pin out and we didn't see any wear ( hinges are brass).The floor and hinge mounting points have good wood, a good break for sure.thanks and hope to hear from you again soon!

[Jim Hovind]

I would make a door jig using some 1-1/2 x 8" hardwood.
Scribe and cut one for the front and one for the back using the burro body on each side of the door.
Add 1-1/2" spacers between the above to make a jig the width of the door.
Starting at he top clamp 2x4 across the door every 4 inches and using a heat gun from the inside slowly draw the door to the jig using the lowest heat setting.
When the door fits the jig then glass in 3/4" Kevlar or fiberglass rope every 4" top to bottom.
This should cure the problem.