Getting closer

We spent Saturday at the Buellton Trailer Rally.  It was awesome, though always daunting to see so many perfect restorations.  Luckily there is an equal number of terrible, broken, saggy trailers that make you worry about your own trip home, so we end up feeling OK.

Unfortunately, Sunday ended up being above 90 degrees here, so the warped skin we recently noticed was even worse than usual. 

Hot weather is perfect for installing skin, so we pulled the staples and smoothed it out.

Not the best, but much better.  Many campers have screws in the field of the skin, so we might add a few here and there if it gets bad again.

We also fixed our bad front window install.  For our first window, we applied the putty to the skin, not the window, so it was harder to located the old screw holes.  Luckily, the extra screw holes on the bottom are mostly covered, so a little gutter seal should keep it water tight.

Mama was the star of the day though...nailing the cushions on the first try.  A little nudging here and there might make them perfect, but nothing is perfect on this camper, so they are, in fact, perfect.

Before and After and Chug.

Finally, started the "buttoning up" process, but stapling over the roof skin.  We tried to make it a little more watertight by putting some butyl caulking under the fold, but that just ended up a big mess when pounded into place.

that #(^&($ing window...and the door

It took two trips to the hardware store, but we finally got the bunk window glass cut right and installed.

We also replaced the plastic window spacers with metal screen springs.

We also punted on the door, opting to leave the internal paneling and just paint it to match the appliances rather than disassemble and replace with birch

 Finally, ended up breaking the rear window glass trying to take it out.  Was necessary, as half the glazing was shot, but still a bummer

Makes cleaning the aluminum easier though.

 We did score a vintage water cooler for $1.

Windows and Doors

We ordered a replacement crank from a gentleman who goes by the handle "trailertrasher" and parts out old trailers in the California Desert.

Unfortunately, the new crank was backwards and the knurl for the handle was too big to fit in the window rails.  We decided to use the rack from the new mechanism to replace the one in the old gear assembly.  To do this, we filed off the stop on the end of the rack and cranked it into the old assembly...it's a little loose, but it will work for this window for now.

The finished window and the valance we made to cover up the clear panes on the top.  We wanted to replace all of the privacy glass with clear, but did not want to spend the $30 at this time, as it can be done at any point in the future.

Next we started playing with the door.  The door itself seems to have some internal rot, has ugly metal on the interior and is difficult to get apart, so we just removed the door frame and installed it.

 We wanted to get the sill in place as kids are damaging the small bit of skin at the bottom of the door, getting in and out of their playhouse.

Windows Windows Windows.

We made some good progress on the dinette and rear bed windows.  These were all in good shape, so just needed some polish, a little oiling and a touch of OSI gutter seal in areas where the glazing seemed a touch dry.  We will leave them installed for a week, then retorque the screws and trim the excess butyl rubber tape with a plastic putty knife on a cold morning when it's more workable.

The windows were looking so good, we took some time to drive out of town to Joanne Crafts and Walmart for some curtain and cushion fabric.  With coupons, the outdoor fabric for the dinette seat was only about $10/yard and the curtain fabric $4/yard

The wife made quick work of getting all the curtains sewed up and installed. 

A couple windows really start to make it look like a working camper

Unfortunately, the remaining windows are all broken in some way.  The kitchen jalousie has a broken crank rack

The door has ugly plastic paneling that we'd like to replace with wood.  

The door frame welds are also broken in one corner.  Unsure how to fix...either an l-bracket on the outside, or maybe just rely on the putty tape to keep it sealed once installed.

The small bunk window is in the worst shape of all of them.  It was leaking a lot, so it has generations of bad Previous Owner fixes, 2 types of putty tape, silicone everywhere, 3 types of window glazing, 2 types of privacy glass, broken latch and broken slider feet.

If it wasn't a unique size, we'd probably just replace it altogether.  As it is, it's probably a full weekend of disassembly, cleaning, repair and replacement.

Skin and Windows

Wife has been complaining about dust in her knitting parlor.  Time to button this thing up.

The windows were completely trashed by our silicone loving Previous Owner.

So we busted out our ghetto grinder.  We actually have a bench grinder, but this lets us spin slower so we don't damage the aluminum.

We used 1/16" butyl tape to reaffix the window glass.

And a double layer of butyl putty tape to install the window.

It's not exactly square, but we don't remember if it was in the first place.  At least it's probably water tight.

Skins and windows

We ran out of putty tape which we wanted to put under the roof bend, so after ratcheting down the roof, we test fit the panels we cleaned yesterday instead of finishing the roof.

They are a little lumpy and don't look great.  Not sure if we'll keep them aluminum or paint them white later.

We also started working on the windows.  The front and rear windows are fixed pane, with clips holding in the glass.  Under the clips, the putty used to seat the windows was totally desiccated and some critters had taken up residence.

There PO answer to failing window putty?... Silicone of course.

These windows are going to be a lot of work...

Friday afternoon odds and ends

​I split work a little early to try and polish some aluminum skins.  The plan is to try and finish up the roof and front/rear skins soon and get the windows installed.

At least now I know I will never own an Airstream.

Also turned a bunch of 2″ curtain rod hangers into 1″ curtain rod hangers at the wife’s request.