1976 Trillium 1300 Remodel - For Caitlin

[David Tilston]

I am impressed Jim.

It is a bit late now, but I found that cutting the metal tabs in half, with a Dremel, made it possible to pull them out with out it being necessary to grind the glass to expose them.

Grinding through the bandage that connects the top half to the bottom half is unavoidable.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post402162

[Jim Bennett]

Another thing I have been doing, is grinding out the worst cracks. Most are just in the gelcoat, but a few from the sunken roof, projected slightly into the fibreglass to. I gouged them out to about half the thickness of the shell. This is where they are at right now, but I plan to use the Bondo Fiberglass Filler, which I am real impressed with, to fill and fair.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

I am impressed Jim.

It is a bit late now, but I found that cutting the metal tabs in half, with a Dremel, made it possible to pull them out with out it being necessary to grind the glass to expose them.

Grinding through the bandage that connects the top half to the bottom half is unavoidable.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post402162

I found most of them popped out not too bad at all, and that they bent in half quite easily too. There were actually a few that were fairly deep that I just glassed over.

I was surprised how thin these clips actually were. In lots of places, especially at the corners, they had them doubled up.

[charlsara]

That looks good Jim. I used to repair fiberglass truck hoods. It requires a bit of skill to look good


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

[Ian G.]

This is looking great Jim, impressive work
Any chance your daughter and you will have it ready for the Prairie Egg Gathering in July?

[Jim Bennett]

As I showed in a photo in post #4, the door laminations were splitting apart. I ended up prizing the two pieces apart, and ground out all the adhesive used to bond them together. I will be taking the pieces out to Trillium Outback to get them to bond them with their system, when I go to pick up my rock guard.

[bec]

Wow ....that is looking so very good !

[JRTrillium]

Very impressive. I wish I had the means to store inside to do some work.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by JRTrillium

Very impressive. I wish I had the means to store inside to do some work.

This wee trailer easily fits through the 8' overhead door. I sure wish my Escape would too.

[Evergreengirl]

Just found this thread and can only say Wow!, what a great job you're doing. It must be very satisfying to restore this little trailer. What a great wedding gift for your daughter! Thanks for all the great documentation through photos and words of how you're going about everything.

[David Tilston]

What tool did you use to grind out the cracks?

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

What tool did you use to grind out the cracks?

I used a 4 1/2" angle grinder, with a metal grinding blade on it, though I am sure a masonry one would work too. It took the fiberglass down very quickly, while still controllable. By tipping the nose of the glade into the work, it created a nice curved trough to put the new glass into. It took me about 1 hr to grind the band down.

I figure if you count all the time that I put into getting it ready to paint, including grinding, glassing, fill coats, and sanding, I have about 10 hrs in to it. Considering that I would likely put near half of that time into reinstalling the belly band, that does not seem too bad. Plus, the look is going to be much nicer.

[David Tilston]

Oh, I agree! I will do this on the belly band of all my Trilliums.

[Ice-breaker]

Great job Jim. Makes me want to buy a small trailer to fix up just for the satisfaction of doing it.

Of course, I am not really that motivated.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Ice-breaker

Of course, I am not really that motivated.

My motivation was waning for a while to Dave, but I now have it back in gear. Just too much other stuff going on in life to deal with.

[dbir]

For grinding out fiberglass a 4.5 grinder with a sandpaper flapper wheel works well, it lets you go a little slower with better control. But cover up first, that itch is horrible.

Great job, looking forward to more updates.

[hrose414]

Hey Jim I'm starting the job of trying to remove the spider cracks in my trillium as well. Did you have any issues with them re-cracking afterwards. A Fiberglass guy I was talking to said I need to lay Fiberglass mat down for it to not re-crack. What product did you use to fill the cracks?
Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[David Tilston]

Hughe, I hope Jim doesn't mind me answering for him. He is not done yet. Project in progress.

The cracks are not likely to return, unless the trailer is flexed. His trailer suffered under a load heavy enough to cause the roof to sag.

[hrose414]

Perfect, off to grind! Thanks for the help!


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[Jim Bennett]

Here I am!

As Dave mentioned, I have no concerns with the cracks coming back. Most were just through the gelcoat, and in some spots that was quite thick. There were a few that did start to show a bit in the fiberglass, but were not really cracks, more like faint stress marks. Where the cracks were small, I just sanded through the gelcoat to remove them, and where bigger, left the gelcoat, but ground slightly into the fiberglass. These gouges will be cleaned and filled with a Bondo fibreglass filler that has lots of glass fibres in it.

Life got in the way of this project, but it is starting up right away here. Besides my regular work, I got extremely busy doing lots of remodelling in my own house, in preparation for 11 house guest last weekend for the wedding.

The wedding was fantastic, the bride extremely beautiful, and everyone had a heck of a lot of fun. After all the prep work, the rehearsal dinner and party, the wedding itself, and the gift opening at our house on Sunday, my wife and I took a couple days to decompress from it all.