Post # 41: Door repair

Sorry for not posting sooner but my computer died and I had to wait for a new one to come then hunt for my photos.  Still haven't recovered everything.  And now my phone went dead and won't take a charge... 

Not much has been done this fall and winter except having the door knob cleaned, a new locking mechanism put in, and keys made for it.

I put new aluminum screen in all the window screens, and door screen & installed them. Plus I got my hubby to recreate the slide in the screen door with a piece of aluminum plate, as the original one had a split in it. 

The outside of the door to the trailer had a small 1" hole worn through the bottom panel, & some dimples it that I thought wouldn't look nice if I just painted it. So I decided to cover the whole bottom of the door with some textured aluminum that I'd purchased for a backsplash but didn't use. I think it looks rather nice.  I then painted the upper sides of the door a black semi-gloss. 

For the inside of the door I went with an Antique Brass color that the window trim was painted so it matched.  After painting I did some stenciling on the bottom of the door with a large turtle stencil a friend gave me and a few smaller ones I had on hand.

I then mounted the door stopper at the top of the door, and above the fridge vent to keep the door from denting the side of the trailer. I also mounted the grab handle just outside the door.

Once the door was done and installed I added some weather stripping around the door frame and will put some on the edges of the door too, so it's really snug.  I also put more trim around the door frame inside where needed.

I managed to find a ramp for the threshold that my hubby had to modify just a little bit to make it higher. 

I'm really liking how it turned out. 

But now it's Christmas Eve and it's 12 degrees out so I'm staying in the house where it is warm. The welding on the tongue and bumper will have to wait until it gets up to at least 40 degrees.

 

Post # 40 - Windows, Vents & Rails installed.

 Once we got the skin on it was time to install the windows and vents.  

A bit dirty - but this is the new Refrigerator vent cap.

Front windows installed (for some reason I never realized that one is plexiglass before I installed it.  Will have to take out in place and replace with glass.

Street side windows and outlet covers installed.

Rear window, tail lights, license plate light, city water inlet, fan and range vent covers installed. 

Upper side fridge vent installed with screen behind to keep the bugs out. 

Curb side windows installed, as well as cargo door & brow. 

The Awning rail is installed as well as the drip rail on both sides of the trailer.  Because I could,  I put an Awning rail on the street side too.  There have been a few times I I've camped where there was no space to put the awning out on the curb side, but had room on the street side for an awning.  And when camping with a friend I could cover their spot as well... 

Post # 39 - Skin Install

 August and hot weather finally arrived.  We had a predicted forecast for 85 - 95 degree days for a full week, occuring in between camping events, so I managed to wrangle the husband from his project for a few days to help me. We set took the metal out of their boxes and assessed the situation - since I went with mill finish Hemet Valley RV sent me metal that was 36" wide, which ment I didn't have a full run of staples holding it down along the wall, but this trailer has lots of openings to staple around.  We held it up and marked the openings, cut the opening out and installed each piece.  Turned out pretty good over all. But I will not use a double mesa sheet for the roof of a trailer ever again.  The ridges and seams make it really difficult to get a good seal around the perimeter.  I did run putty tape under the fold over up the sides, as well as under the awning and drip rails. We used 4 straps over the roof to cinch the metal down while we folded the edges over & stapled it down.  We used many tools to cut and trim the aluminum - scored it with a utility knife, used a pneumatic shear, hand shears, a pneumatic saw, a nibbler, & a router.  Depended on the opening we had to cut. 

I did put the cargo doors in upside down, and will put chains on to hold the doors up when open.  I also purchased brows from Vintage Trailer Supply & painted them black and installed them over the doors. 

Street side

Strapping down the roof wrap

Front panel installed - window cut out.

Street side - tank water inlet - electrical inlet, and cargo door set in place. 

Bottom street panel cut out before installation.

Curbside metal all installed with all openings cut out from behind.

Curbside metal all installed with all openings cut out and cargo door installed from front.

POST #38 - 9/2020 - Windows, cargo doors, and vent covers.

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything since last year when I got the inside to the point I couldn't move forward because it got too cold for me to work outside & so I had to wait until the weather warmed back up. Some of it I couldn't do until I got the skin on.  And to put the skin on I needed hot, hot weather which we didn't get until August of 2020.

And after a trip to Hawaii in January, Covid-19 in February, Quilt Camp in March, I was busy with other stuff until April. Once Spring became a thing, I set up my popup tent with screened sides and set my tables up inside to work on.  

This trailer has 7 windows, three roof vents, a vent for a fan and one for the range hood. It also has an electrical and two water inlets. I went through each window and took it apart, removing the glue and silicone that were holding the jalousie windows in place (broke a few getting them out), replacing cracked and broken windows. 

I did spend most of the spring (from April) cleaning up, acid bathing, polishing, and re gasketing all of the windows, the rock guard and the cargo doors.   Vintage trailer gaskets had everything I needed to reseal all of the windows. 

I also painted the cargo doors, and vent covers black, so the trailer will primarialiary silver and black outside.