hole cutout repair

[minnie r.]

Hello all,

I've been fixing up my 1986 Burro and am nearly done for the camping season except for one thing. The previous owners made a cutout for a water heater 16"x 16" approximately and short of hiring someone to glass in a patch I don't know what else I can do to cover it. The Burro is not flat and anything I've thought of such as an access panel sticks out nearly 2 " along the bottom where the curve in is. The prevouis owner had simply gooped it with caulking which looked terrible.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Minnie in N.W. Washington

[Ron in BC]

How easy it would be to make a good looking cover depends on how the area is curved. If the area only curves in one direction it would be very easy to buy a piece of aluminum a little larger than the area to be filled in.
.040" or .050" would be fine, here and probably in your area there is a store called "Metal Supermarket" that will cut a piece to size for you. It is easy to form by hand and you could pop rivet it on.

You could spray bomb it white and it would just look like it was meant to be there.

If the wall curves in two directions, compound curve, then the quick and easy option of using sheet aluminum is not viable. In that case, without making a cover that sticks out, it's likely that glassing in the area is the only option.

Ron

[Donna D.]

Pictures would help! Maybe you can get an access cover for that area... and never open it because you've had to bend that frame, etc. to fit. Thinking outside the box here...

[minnie r.]

Thanks Ron in B.C. and Donna D. for your ideas. I covered the cutout with aluminum sheet, painted it white. It looks good and should be fairly easy to remove if I want to replace the water heater some day. For now it's off to the Strutz music festival next week and the Burro's first campout with us. Can't wait!!

[ThomasE]

I did the same thing, I removed my water heater and made a cover out of aluminum sheet. Originally I left it unpainted as I liked the aluminum look but the panel got too hot in the sun so I painted it white. Looks and works fine.