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[PeterH-350LE]

Here, Greg, look at my 310's 1 piece cap panel where it meets the roof panel.
Obviously too short! And note all the buck rivets, so its not some overlay job.
Having established that your front roof is not some Po's hack job, but rather the factories solution for a "problem" they had AND knowing that the factory did NOT use vulkem on seams during assembly, you have 2 choices:
1. Seal it like the factory did, from the inside with tons of vulkem
2. Remove the second panel and seal it properly with vulkem during assembly.

[Waipio Rim]

"Both the driver and passenger windows are extremely difficult to close. The latch does not seem to be in the proper position to latch closed."

After I replaced window channels, the driver's window would not close all the way. I was convinced that the frame needed to be tweaked, and stopped at the factory when we were in the area. A tech there somehow took a hammer and wooden shim to the channel, and now it's fine.

[streamquest]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

Here, Greg, look at my 310's 1 piece cap panel where it meets the roof panel.
Obviously too short! And note all the buck rivets, so its not some overlay job.
Having established that your front roof is not some Po's hack job, but rather the factories solution for a "problem" they had AND knowing that the factory did NOT use vulkem on seams during assembly, you have 2 choices:
1. Seal it like the factory did, from the inside with tons of vulkem
2. Remove the second panel and seal it properly with vulkem during assembly.

My 325 had been partially repaired by the PO after having had the front right corner (including the "A" pillar) heavily damaged in an accident. I had to do a lot of roof work in this same area, including replacement of the entire front passenger side sliding window and frame. Granted, I have a single piece front cap, but I was amazed at how thin that metal skin really is, and once you start drilling out rivets it can get kind of fussy. I wonder if just the thickness of a hefty bead of sealant wouldn't be enough to cause a slight misalignment of the panels (and holes) upon reassembly.

Would a reasonable third option be to leave things intact, and overlay the entire seam with say a 6-8" wide band of aluminum from one side to the other with plenty of sealant between it and the existing roof? Start from the center with fresh holes in fresh metal, and gradually squeeze things out toward the sides. It seems that separating the two panels might open can of worms when trying to re-use (or not) the existing rivet holes??

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by streamquest

My 325 had been partially repaired by the PO after having had the front right corner (including the "A" pillar) heavily damaged in an accident. I had to do a lot of roof work in this same area, including replacement of the entire front passenger side sliding window and frame. Granted, I have a single piece front cap, but I was amazed at how thin that metal skin really is, and once you start drilling out rivets it can get kind of fussy. I wonder if just the thickness of a hefty bead of sealant wouldn't be enough to cause a slight misalignment of the panels (and holes) upon reassembly.

You have some good points about thickness of sealant. I almost lost my center panel hole alignment when I replaced the rear three panels due to the thickness and premature curing of the vulkem. You have to move fast, so the vulkem can compress.

Originally Posted by streamquest

Would a reasonable third option be to leave things intact, and overlay the entire seam with say a 6-8" wide band of aluminum from one side to the other with plenty of sealant between it and the existing roof? Start from the center with fresh holes in fresh metal, and gradually squeeze things out toward the sides. It seems that separating the two panels might open can of worms when trying to re-use (or not) the existing rivet holes??

It certainly would require some precision drilling to reuse the same holes.
I have considered that third option before on a problem roof seam. If done with precision it could add to the looks

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Waipio Rim

"Both the driver and passenger windows are extremely difficult to close. The latch does not seem to be in the proper position to latch closed."

After I replaced window channels, the driver's window would not close all the way. I was convinced that the frame needed to be tweaked, and stopped at the factory when we were in the area. A tech there somehow took a hammer and wooden shim to the channel, and now it's fine.

yes the channel is just thin alu and can be easily bend to adjust the sliding window.

[Gregsch]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

Here, Greg, look at my 310's 1 piece cap panel where it meets the roof panel.
Obviously too short! And note all the buck rivets, so its not some overlay job.
Having established that your front roof is not some Po's hack job, but rather the factories solution for a "problem" they had AND knowing that the factory did NOT use vulkem on seams during assembly, you have 2 choices:
1. Seal it like the factory did, from the inside with tons of vulkem
2. Remove the second panel and seal it properly with vulkem during assembly.

Peter, Here is a pic of how they did mine. So it is starting to make sense now. ( Is sense the right word, or should I say nonsense?) When I push on the extra panel it deflects about 1/4" until I feel the cap panel underneath.
1. It now appears to me that the factory's attempt to seal it from the inside with tons of vulkem (actually I think it is butyl sealant) never did completely seal it. The more I understand about how it was built the more I believe it leaked from the get go. All the leaks I have now correlate directly to rotten subfloors.
2. Removing the panel would involve removing both windows. Getting it out and back in looks really challenging.

[Gregsch]

Originally Posted by Waipio Rim

"Both the driver and passenger windows are extremely difficult to close. The latch does not seem to be in the proper position to latch closed."

After I replaced window channels, the driver's window would not close all the way. I was convinced that the frame needed to be tweaked, and stopped at the factory when we were in the area. A tech there somehow took a hammer and wooden shim to the channel, and now it's fine.

Among other things, I do commercial doors and hardware for a living. On occasion, as a last resort I have used a 12lbs sledge and a 2x4 to make 'minor' adjustments. I thought of using a hammer before but, the fixed glass panel in the front scares me. I have enough trouble hear without replacing broken glass. If I get everything else squared away I may come back to that.

[Gregsch]

Would a reasonable third option be to leave things intact, and overlay the entire seam with say a 6-8" wide band of aluminum from one side to the other with plenty of sealant between it and the existing roof? Start from the center with fresh holes in fresh metal, and gradually squeeze things out toward the sides. It seems that separating the two panels might open can of worms when trying to re-use (or not) the existing rivet holes??

Steamquest, That may indeed be my best option. I first taped the forward most seam. That seemed to cut the leakage in half. Them I taped the seam where the cap meets the roof and that seemed to reduce the leaks by another 40%. So I would have to add two 6" strips.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Gregsch

Peter, Here is a pic of how they did mine. So it is starting to make sense now. ( Is sense the right word, or should I say nonsense?) When I push on the extra panel it deflects about 1/4" until I feel the cap panel underneath.
1. It now appears to me that the factory's attempt to seal it from the inside with tons of vulkem (actually I think it is butyl sealant) never did completely seal it. The more I understand about how it was built the more I believe it leaked from the get go. All the leaks I have now correlate directly to rotten subfloors.
2. Removing the panel would involve removing both windows. Getting it out and back in looks really challenging.

Greg, I have replaced rear panels several times with leaving the window in place. You may have seen my write up about the 310 recently.
If I would pull the panel I would under no circumstances pull the windows. The very worse case scenario would be a couple of pop rivets under the window frame. But I certainly will not encourage you to do that.

The problem I think you will have with using bands of aluminum to cover the seam is the compound nature of that roof. You may get into something deeper then you want to. If the compound of the roof does not allow you to tightly rivet the band, you will have a big mess on hand.
The seam that meets that big roof panel could probably be covered with a band, the first one I seriously doubt it could.
I hope you follow my thinking.

[PeterH-350LE]

Greg, what did you decide to do with your front cap situation?

[Gregsch]

Peter, I read your thread about replacing the rear curved panels. Nice work. It give some some ideas. I really want to avoid taking everything apart but, I don't want to proceed if there is any doubt about being watertight. i have some ideas that I am working on. Does surfing the internet researching ideas constitute progress?

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Gregsch

.... Does surfing the internet researching ideas constitute progress?

Sure it does, here is someones crazy idea
You may not have to take it all apart. Knowing what I know now about original construction (no sealant in between seams), I personally would:
1. drill all the rivets out,
2. Use compressed air to blow dust and shaving out.
3. use a rag soaked with Lacquer thinner and a 1 " putty knife to clean the surface under the seam (you will be amazed how much access you will have to the space between the panels, after the rivets are gone)
4. place blue masking tape at the seam
5. inject Vulkem 116 under the seam and in each one of the rivet holes
6. Set new rivets (since you prefer and know how to use buck rivets, you are set to go)
7. Seal everything from the inside as well

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Gregsch

...Does surfing the internet researching ideas constitute progress?

If it doesn't then I've pretty much made zero progress on my Argosy the last three years!

[Gregsch]

My water fill was broken and needed replacement. Found one on E-bay! This should be easy or so I thought.



The replacement had a couple minor issues so I patched the cracks and holes with ABS and added a reinforcement for good measure.


It looked to me like stress had caused the failure so I am using swim pool hose for the replacement, it is more flexible.

I had buck rivets handy and it looked pretty straight forward. I dry fit everything with clecos and it fit good. After I got it all coated with butyl caulk the problem reared its ugly head. Can't get the bucking bar into position. Long story short two hours later I was done. Note to self buy some Olympic rivets so you have them on hand when you need them.

[bkahler]

Nice job!

Olympic rivets should be one of those repair items always kept on hand

I'm surprised you actually found one on ebay. I got lucky and got a good one from John that will be replacing the really bad one currently installed on the coach.

[Gregsch]

My dash was really ugly. Stained from the windshield leaking all those years.[ATTACH][/ATTACH]
When I got the dash out I found this rust. No suprise there.
Painted with Krylon Fusion Camo paint. It is sold as a camo paint but it seems to be a nice neutral color I think it will work out fine. Fusion paint is hard to find around here.
Fixed a couple more leaks in the last few days. Rivets!!!!! One was a pop rivet that holds the rub rail on, the other was Olympic rivets that a previous owner installed. They had little rubber gaskets under the head and the gasket dry rotted. Had to replace about 20 of them. Better to do it now before I put the interior back in.[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[Gregsch]

Had a good rain shower last night and sure enough more leaks showed up. Where the rub rail is pop riveted around the front section of the MoHo the rivets into the main structural member are not sealed. As a matter of fact I could see sunlight through the rivets. They look just like regular pop rivets but , there is no mandrel ??? You can see in the picture I could stick a small piece of wire right through the hole and into the interior. Fixed a couple of them with 1/8" x 5/8" pop rivets but, that was all I had. Ordered a bag of them . They should be here Monday.

I have used several different techniquess to locate leaks. This seems to work good for pinpointing a leak. You can really control where the water goes.

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Gregsch

..They look just like regular pop rivets but , there is no mandrel ??? You can see in the picture I could stick a small piece of wire right through the hole and into the interior.Attachment 262490

Greg, I willing to bet that those pop rivets had a steel mandrel and you can probably find tiny remnants inside your wall. I prefer alu mandrels that plug the hole inside from the back, some of alu/steel poprivets just smash the rivet, break off the mandrel and drop the thicker part leaving the hole you describe.

[Gregsch]

Originally Posted by PeterH-Airstreamer

Greg, I willing to bet that those pop rivets had a steel mandrel and you can probably find tiny remnants inside your wall. I prefer alu mandrels that plug the hole inside from the back, some of alu/steel poprivets just smash the rivet, break off the mandrel and drop the thicker part leaving the hole you describe.

Yea, that makes perfect sense. I bet that is what happened. I ordered rivets from Grainger (confirmed they have aluminum mandrels) . Problem should be behind me on Monday.

[PeterH-350LE]

You sure did a fine job polishing your Airstream. Did you take it all the way to Nuvite S?
I am currently polishing my 97 trailer and its a tough job. End caps are kinda textured. After I get the trailer done, I may tackle the 310