Hi Mike,
Our
Burro was in rough shape and was used as an extra storage shed for 4 years. We have done a complete egg-off-the-frame reconstruction beginning with sandblasting the frame,
painting with POR-15, making a 1/2" marine grade plywood floor sandwiched between 3 layers of fiberglass, and reattaching the egg to the floor to the frame.
There were many holes in the fiberglass. The previous owner used cup hooks on the outside to hold some sort of
awning. I bartered with a local fiberglass shop to get the supplies and knowledge I needed to repair the egg myself.
They suggested using fiberglass resin mixed with ceramic dust to create a paste to fill the holes. This created a really hard surface, that is equally hard to sand down but if you put a piece of wax paper over the patch when it is warm and smooth it out, it helps with the finishing. Just peel off the wax paper once hard and sand the edges.
Our front rock guard (aluminum frame & hinge with fiberglass center) did have some sort of wood between the aluminum hinge and fiberglass. It was completely rotten and not much of it was left. We filled all holes in fiberglass using same method above. We reattached the hinge with stainless bolts, a stainless strip and lots of butyl tape. We drilled holes for the bolts, laid two strips of butyl tape (width of our butyl tape was about 3/4" and the hinge area was about 1-1/2"), installed bolts through the hinge, pushing through butyl tape to the inside where we had a strip of stainless steel backer. We then attached bolts on inside, and tightened. The buytl squeezed out a bit. We trimmed gently with razor knife and later sealed the outside edges with 3M Marine Adhesive Sealant 5200. No wood, no screws, and no leaking.
We took out all windows, refurbished them by cleaning in all tracks, behind all rubber in tub, then applied Brasso on soft cloth in circular motions on smoked Plexiglas, let dry, rubbed off with even softer cloth, and wow! What a difference. Both sides were done and the Brasso took out most of the cloudyness. We reinstalled the windows much in the same way as rock guard…liberal butyl tape on fiberglass, the we reinstalled the inside trim ring with stainless steel screws the same size as original (rusty) screws. The butyl oozed out when we tightened the windows to the inside frame, we trimmed gently with razor knife, and later sealed outside edges with 5200 Sealant.
The fiberglass professionals that I worked with, recommended the 5200 Sealant. They create parts for autos, planes, boats, and industrial applications. So our little trailer should be water tight.
I only used liquid nails minimally on inside applications where adhesion (or lack thereof) would not cause any due harm. It actually performed better than I thought holding a plastic curtain track in the bathroom. I changed my mind and had a heck of a time getting the plastic track off.
As far as the bunk…haven’t gotten that far. I will be creating the small dinette in front that will make down to a bed. And have several ideas floating around about the upper bunk. There are schematic drawings of bunks somewhere on this site that will show you the hardware that some units have. Since
weight is always in the back of my mind, I’d like to create a top bunk with aluminum tubing for a frame, with either the outdoor webbing (folding chair style) or a canvas piece suspended by stretch cord around the frame (cot style).
Good luck with your projects!
ET-19
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