Finally finished the fiberglass repairs inside and put the new plywood floor in the first section of the trailer (see pic)
The fg floor had dips in it so I put boards underneath held up by jacks to gently push the floor up and make sure that the shell made contact with the plywood so the resin that I spread on the fg could adhere the two together. Also put rocks on the top to add
weight for the same reason. It will hopefully be firm with limited bounce.
The edges of the plywood and the whole area by the door where treated with resin to increase water resistance.
Also experimented with removing
paint from the top half of the trailer, using a "gentle"
paint remover and found that patching had been done with filler by a PO so it looks like the whole trailer will have to be painted.
As well, I began grinding the belly band area with a flapper disk in preparation for doing fg repairs on the outside (and inside again at the belly area).
Over the last few days I have been polishing the window frames and door frame with a product called Never Dull. It is doing a fairly good job of removing the residue from the butyl tape and shining up the aluminum. There is some pitting but basically the frames are in surprisingly good shape. I do not have the tools to polish and buff the frames to make them perfect but I am happy with the result.
I have ordered replacement hardware for the
jalousie windows (Side Mount Torque Operators) online from Vintage Campers that should replace the worn out opening mechanisms. It was interesting to take one of the
windows apart to see how they actually work but I think I can do the replacements without dismantling the windows.
I have actually purchased materials online from about 6 different businesses in the US so will be going down to Grand Forks next week and camping (in the Eurovan not the trailer) so I will be able to bring everything back under the healthy 48 hour exception.
Lots going on but nothing dramatic to show for my time yet. As soon as I get the rest of the floor down, I can start working on restoring the curve to the ceiling by adding metal supports to the roof framing and replacing the parts of the wall framing that I removed because it had rotted. Then I can move onto insulation and installing the ceiling and the interior walls. That will feel like a major milestone.