1994 Gypsy Casita 16' rebuild

[John Breiby]

I don't know how tight those rivets will fit, or if they might leak a bit after having been shaken over rough roads, but I wonder if smearing them with a dab of marine caulk as you're installing them might give an added bit of insurance against leaks. Currently, on a boat i'm building, I'm using Sikaflex 291 strategically at the laps at the ends of the planks. There are variations in the amount of adhesiveness. Some of it is very adhesive, others semi-adhesive, like the 291 that I'm using, which would be better for eventual rivet replacement. It comes in various colors, and in white, which I'm using myself. It's pretty spend stuff at around $27 for a tube (Alaska prices). When not in use, I seal up the end of the tube with a cut-off finger of a rubber glove wrapped in painters' tape, in spite of which it still sometimes sets up in the nozzle of the tube after sitting a while. But recently I learned a trick to keep using it: I just use a drill bit the size of the nozzle opening and drill into the set-up caulk, and it pulls the set-up stuff right out, so I've been able to use use just one tube for most of the boat. I don't know if this will help on your leaky rivets--just a thought. Good luck, and glad you're getting some rain; I hear you've been having a drought.

[saucesquatch]

Originally Posted by John Breiby

...but I wonder if smearing them with a dab of marine caulk as you're installing them might give an added bit of insurance against leaks. Currently, on a boat i'm building, I'm using Sikaflex 291 strategically at the laps at the ends of the planks. ...

That is a great idea, I was planning on caulking with clear fiberglass caulk on the outsides after the rivet was in but a little dab on the rivet before it goes in sounds like something to try.

[saucesquatch]

After almost two weeks of rain my grass looks great but it has really delayed our progress. My wife said we should have bought a boat!

All my fiberglass internal pieces and now all the cabinet doors have been sanded and stained. I knew sanding all that stuff would take a while but dang... I made a little drying rack so I can keep my finished pieces (relatively) dust free.



With all the rain our little "tent city" operation has worked out pretty well.

Some of these pieces cleaned up really nice, some lost the veneer all together from some water damage.



I'm really hopeful that we can get all the stained pieces finished and some paint on the interior done this weekend.

[John Breiby]

Hi Saucesquatch, it looks like you're doing a wonderful job, in spite of the rain. Finishing always seems to take longer than you think--for me at least. It looks like you'll have a "brand new" trailer once you're done. Congratulations! John

[Borrego Dave]

Very nice rack Jamie, I'll have to make a drawing of that for a future project .

[saucesquatch]

Thanks Dave and John, the rack was a pretty quick down and dirty build out of some scrap I had laying around, nothing fancy. The wife was not too pleased to hear the saws going instead of me staining but I think she has come around that it was worth the effort.

I ended up staining the doors + tables to darken a touch, then last night I went over with a coat of shellac on each side, it's starting to look good. Another coat or two and wood elements will be done!

It's going to be a real interesting couple weeks here, we have our first campout in 3 weeks haha. Nothing like a deadline light a fire under my arse. Obviously in 3 weeks we won't be finished but I suspect everything will be back in and we will stay dry and comfortable.

[EricAllyn]

Looking good! I found after the first outing, that I changed things, or thought of different things to do, so if you aren't all the way done when you go, that may be a good thing!


I also found that two ladders with 2x4 between worked well for a stain rack.

[saucesquatch]

Originally Posted by EricAllyn

Looking good! I found after the first outing, that I changed things, or thought of different things to do, so if you aren't all the way done when you go, that may be a good thing!

That's what we are telling ourselves! I'm not lying when I say my wife has not camped since 1994 (same year as our Casita!), she keeps asking me what we are going to do the whole time... Thinking of new projects for our Casita obviously! lol

[Nor Cal Mike]

Sorry that I missed this thread until now. I suppose I missed it because we have been out boondocking in the Casita I did a similar project on last winter.

It looks like you are on track. Enjoy!

[saucesquatch]

Well, probably time for an update. It rained most of last week again and this weekend I discovered that my new subfloors had gotten wet, windows are leaking around the frame. So that kind of took the wind out of my sails, it was disappointing because we were getting so close to putting things back together. BUT, it was blessing in disguise, if I put everything back in I would be pretty defeated if I had to pull it all back out again (although I'm getting better the more I do it).

I did however get all the fiberglass sanded, cleaned and ready for paint then laid down a coat to see how it would dry.

We ended up going with Rustoleum Topside Paint. Originally we ordered white, that was VERY white like a florescent bulb, then we ordered the Oyster which was too yellow... so I mixed them 1:1 and I'm really happy with the color.

I have a friend who has a pro sprayer and was originally going to borrow that, however I just didn't think it would be a good idea since the overspray would go everywhere without building a booth.

Watched a few videos on the roll and tip method so I gave that a shot and I have to say I'm a little disappointed in the streaks but I can live with it. I've read that it should level as it dries, I did not find that to be the case but it did level some.

Here it is wet:


streaks are more visible at this angle


As for the windows, I had no choice but to pull one out and see what I'm dealing with


Not much to it really, the gasket is holding the glass (plexiglass) in, I pulled that out and the plates came right out.


I have new gasket material ordered, I'll get the 1/8" plexi cut up on the bandsaw and hopefully I'll be back in business soon.

On these older Casita's the gasket keeping the windows in is called "Hehr 1/8 Glazing Bead", Hehr made the windows. But search for that and you'll find what you are looking for.

[saucesquatch]

It's been a couple weeks since I've posted some progress and the windows are in. I made a separate thread on the window build with some links to the products I used. Rebuilding the windows was much easier than I thought, hardest part was cleaning that old sealant gunk out.
Here is the thread:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ons-86984.html

All the fiberglass internal pieces have been painted with 2 coats of the paint, I found that on the second coat really just rolling without the tipping worked just fine if you had enough paint on the roller, it did level out.



I had some of the paint left over so I ended up painting the floor (after I hit it with polyurethane), I figured the floor might stick better with that nice glassy paint.

I just put the flooring in, finished bolting to the frame and caulked all the corners. Really happy with the floor pattern we chose (my wife picked it out):


It was nice to move some of the parts back into the camper since we have had parts in our living room, garage and bedroom... pretty insane how this rebuild has taken over our lives and our house. We do love it though, both the camper and the project, but things would be easier if it would just stop raining.

But now that things are going back in it's time to start securing them with the rivets, I need to wire up an outlet/switch for our mini fridge and the million other little things that still need to get done lol