Maintenance & Restoration

EricAllyn · 03-16-2018, 08:01 PM

Yes it has the drop edge and that worked well when I had the door wire holding the curve, but after that came off, then it was to wide of a crack for the drip edge to help. So now the complete rebuild.

Here is the start of the stripping off of all the inside of the door. I am sanding it down, then will use the conduit for rigidity, and then glass over it. Was only in the low 40's today so didn't work outside real long. Tomorrow will be a little warmer in the afternoon, and I will get new belts for the sanders.

sfc007 · 03-18-2018, 04:46 PM

Marine Coosa Board will not rot and would work wonders replacing the plywood.

k0wtz · 03-18-2018, 04:54 PM

soooo that is what one of those doors look like inside!

bob

EricAllyn · 03-18-2018, 06:40 PM

When I took it apart last summer, there was a fiber board in strips on the inside. I replaced that (it was wet and held water) with OSB strips, covered in Epoxy. That added a lot of weight, and and was solid at the bottom, but not the proper curve. Something must have slipped a little when I put it back together. The tip part had OSB pieces (small ones 1" by 15") that were around the window to give some rigidity. These were covered by FG but also were rotted a little. At the door handle, the wood under it was completely rotted, so I thought I would put a section of wood there. What I didn't have in place was something that would help hold the right curve on the weak spot where the bottom of the window was close to the side and the latch. Since that is what held the curve for the side opposite the hinge, I could never get it to have a tight seal. This is what I am working to correct.

EricAllyn · 03-18-2018, 06:47 PM

If you notice in the pictures above, I put a line where the top of the door opening is, so will need to be about 1 1/4 above that line to seal well. It will be centered on the rack, and the curve was taken from the camper. Since the walls have been fixed inside, I needed to make sure that I used the current curve, not the factory curve since it might be different after I put the cabinets back in. I'll take more pictures when I start the epoxy and glass work tomorrow (or later tonight if I decide to go out) I'm thinking about whether to start the conduit at the top and come down as far as the 10' piece will go, or start at the bottom on one side, and curve it around as far as it will go. Leaning toward starting at the top since it will be less critical to hold the perfect strength in the lower area, since I can add several smaller pieces there.

rbryan · 03-18-2018, 08:04 PM

The door curvature looks tricky Eric, but your rebuild looks like it will fix it. Way stronger and more rigid than the factory build ever was.

EricAllyn · 03-18-2018, 11:11 PM

I hope that it will. I looked at some plastic sheeting in Home Depot the other day that I may try if this doesn't work right. I would use the flex from it, and the curvature from some oak, and not put a window in, just set it up so that it will keep out the leaks. That is the backup plan, but I am hoping to get it right this time.

Borrego Dave · 03-19-2018, 02:18 AM

Eric, not quite understanding you're question of a starting point for the conduit. I can see what you're looking for and would suggest bending the 10' pieces in a "C" shape around the perimeter with the joints being middle door top and bottom, not short of a complete perimeter. Eliminating the window will also be a plus for a leak source. The one in my SD really serves no useful purpose as the door is open when we're there and closed if gone or sleeping.

k0wtz · 03-19-2018, 06:27 AM

I wish I had 1/10 of your abilities just from one thing to another. you must do a lot of pondering and thinking in order to fix and resolve your issues.

amazing

thanks for the posts

bob

EricAllyn · 03-19-2018, 06:54 PM

Thanks Bob, I try to think things out, but sometimes don't do as well in the execution. Might take me a couple of time to get it right. That is the nice thing about the pictures, you can see the final product, not the middle "wish I hadn't done that." If you look close in the picture you can see a couple of places that the chisel went through that will have to be fixed with bondo before I paint. A little easier to fix FG than wood -- I have several times had major fixes when something didn't work out well with wood.

We are looking forward to taking it out later this spring and spending a little time camping.

EricAllyn · 04-24-2018, 06:52 PM

Tried lots of ways to get the conduit to work, and couldn't get it to do what I needed it to. Scrapped that idea and went with the strips of wood, epoxied in the curved setup. I also put some in the center of the lower section, and have used some Bondo FG fill to smooth out the wood stack, and will glass over the edge before putting the carpet back on. Had a few issues with the window area, and will be building up the edges better and filling them in with glass and epoxy. I am hopeful this will fix all the issues, and be a good seal. I think part of the issue might have been that I did not push my roof all the way up properly, and so I had a slightly different curve than the door was to start with.

Nor Cal Mike · 04-24-2018, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricAllyn

I think part of the issue might have been that I did not push my roof all the way up properly, and so I had a slightly different curve than the door was to start with.

You might be onto something there. I found that in my trailer, I could effect door fit by the amount height I added or detracted with the jacks. I just found the sweet spot where it took a slit nudge in on the door to get the latch to click home.. The click told me that seal was engaged. I never did get it perfect. There is a little gap at the very bottom. I don't think the issue is the door. Rather, I think the years of the body settling while sitting without support may have caused a little residual extra curve in the lower part of the trailer body. My fenderboxes were leaning out pretty bad when I started. It took awhile, like a month, for them to come back in even after the jacks were in place.

EricAllyn · 04-24-2018, 11:56 PM

Yes, I still have some of the sag in the fender wells -- didn't think about it until after I already had a number of things put in place, and it was to late to continue to raise it up. It doesn't bother me much since I'm only 5'9" now that I am shrinking.....
I'm going to post pics tomorrow after I take a bunch of clamps off and get ready to try it.

Nor Cal Mike · 04-25-2018, 07:55 AM

A little interesting side note. I put in two 3/4 plywood bulkheads on each side of my trailer. On the curb side, I the forward bulkhead immediately adjacent to the door and the aft bulkhead 4 ft. back. There is over an inch difference in floor to ceiling height between the two. It is taller in the rear. Is that by design and all of these trailers are like that when they come out of the mold? Who knows. I haven't had access to another trailer to measure. I relied solely on the jack and look method where I jacked, I eyeballed the trailer from a distance
jacking up and down until I said that's good 'nuff. A large portion of that eyeballing was the fit of the door.

EricAllyn · 04-25-2018, 11:46 AM

I think mine is taller in the back than the front, but I jacked more in the back than the front. I guess the good thing for me is that it is good to camp in and water tight. I go with the 6 foot rule, or the looks good from Chicago

Got the door ready to check and see if the curve works. Here are pics of the way I put the curve in.

EricAllyn · 04-25-2018, 07:34 PM

It was looking so good till I set it up to the door. Then the "fun" began! I had put the build up on the handle side to close to edge and it ran into the edge of the door opening, then I realized I hadn't quite gotten the curve right, still a little to far away at the top. cut the edge back to fit the bottom of the door, then sanded out the top part and then re-glued the top with more curve. That is the nice thing about FG -- mistakes can be sanded down, and you get another shot at it. Hope this one is good, and I can get the door back on! Then it will be time to frame out the new bed extension, and mount the solar controller, and then set up the A/C hole, and Clorox the water system and check that all out. Then maybe camp a little! Pics tomorrow if the door works.

EricAllyn · 04-26-2018, 07:01 PM

Today was a good day -- the door fit, the A/C is mounted and the door is finished and back on!!! I even got a little trim done on the cabinet by the door. Got the battery in and covered and the set up for the tubs we use for clothes.