And so it begins.....

[Jim & Susan]

Ted,

Found many of the same problems in mine. To start with, I found lights exactly like mine at Wally World, if you want to re-install those. They were about $2.60 each.

Drill bits. Went through several, no, many. Buy the carbide, they last longer and give a truer cut into the pop rivets. I have found several small leaks all over the TT that I have to deal with. One big leak was in the center front running light just above “Airstrea(m)”. This is what caused all of the damage in the street side radius area on the floor plywood. I also have a small leak just above the door from a pop rivet that leaks. The weird part is that rivet holds nothing in place. It must have been put there because of a hole in the outer shell at the factory. Other small leaks include the Vulkem on the upper door hinge, the center vent Vulkem, the vent for the fridge in the Vulkem (all Vulkem leaks are small/slow drips).

Lots of makers marks inside the walls. One appears to mark the time of the afternoon break period for the worker bees (3:00-3:15). Another is just a series of letters with an arrow pointing to nothing. Some are alignment marks for the proper fitting of ribs/spars. Weird.

Dissimilar metals. All that I have read agrees with what the other guys say here; don’t mix and match metals. But I see no corrosion in the front gusset area of my trailer, but I do have a small leak there. It may be that the steel gusset is coated with something to keep it from reacting to the aluminum.



Good luck. I’m almost to the point of beginning to repair/replace things. I’ve spent the winter taking things apart (my entire interior had to come out). I’m ready to fix something and get on the road to “getting on the road” rather than just spending time in the cold back yard!

Jim

[till]

Heck, I'm open to suggestions. Maybe a polished aluminum one that is coated to stay shinie.

[till]

My dent removal style is poor at best. I have the interior out, so I just found the dent on the inside and give it a wack hence I have some creases. The better way is to slowly apply pressure from the outter edges (from the inside) and work it till it pops.

Sorry for the dely inanswering, but OVER TIME ( for the first time in 5 years) sprang up and I could not say no. 13 hour days till Friday.......... ZZZzzzzzz

[moogie32]

Hey there Tedd! Thanks for the dent massaging info...it'll take awhile 'til I get to the dents anyway. Just picked up a nice set of DeWalt cordless powertools from Costco yesterday and now I'm aching to start really getting that bathroom out of there....yeeehaaaa! Have a nice rest - it's bedtime here too!

[till]

Glad to be of some help. They let me out early today.

Question to the masses.
With the bucked rivets that have popped, should I buck new ones, or just put in pop rivets for now and go back after the shell is back on and buck in new ones?? (I will replace all the pop/popped rivets I can with bucked ones during this project.)

[till]

Today is a cleaning day, Three trash bags of insulation on the curb and one full trash can. I still have a little left in the walls and ceiling. I have found many repairs that need to be done. The list seems to grow every time I go out and clean the inside of the trailer. It looks like I will have to tear apart the Overlander (Shell Shock) sooner then I thought. The list of interior bracing parts is at three ceiling braces (under the AC) a few feet of u-channel to attach the shell to the frame and now it looks like a rib . The rib that is on the street side just aft the door had been tweaked. I have seen a way to splice a rib in the sections of a 1978 manual I have, any thoughts on this??

[till]

I see I'm talking to myself.
Today I installed a new gasket on the front window. Wow is that "swamp snot" some nasty, sticky stuff. I see why it is used, that stuff will stick to anything and not let go easy. I need to really scrub to get it off my hands.

I will be bucking in new rivets over the next few weeks to get the shell back up to snuff. I will have to finish AC removal first.....

And the list goes on....

[thenewkid64]

Tedd,

We are all watching, we just don't want to offer a hearty distraction. We want you to be able to join a rally somewhere or camp out in it this summer. If we keep bugging you, you'll never get it done!

I can say from experience that many may not chime in but are keeping up to date on your project. Keep plugging away at

[balrgn]

Originally Posted by till

I see I'm talking to myself.
And the list goes on....

You didn't really think you we alone did ya? Been outside every day it's been above freezing here! Which isn't often... Got 2 restorations going at the same time here. At least the AS is almost completed, well ready to go camping anyway...

[moogie32]

Originally Posted by till

I see I'm talking to myself.
Today I installed a new gasket on the front window. Wow is that "swamp snot" some nasty, sticky stuff. I see why it is used, that stuff will stick to anything and not let go easy. I need to really scrub to get it off my hands.

And the list goes on....

I watching and listening too, Tedd! My ears prick up anytime I hear the mention of window work on our year coaches...and now for the dumb question....(drumroll, please!)...what's "swamp snot"?

[eljay]

Yep, I'm watching too! (and learning...)

[till]

I thought you would never ask....."Swamp snot" is the 3M gasket adhesive that Inland sells with the gasket I purchased. The tuff is kind of blackish and yellowish, and is a little on the odoriferous to say the least. Also it is sticky to the extreme, wear rubber gloves, I will from this point on. 1 down, 6 windows and a door to go. The door uses the same gasket as the windows.

Thanks for all the support.

[flamingo-kid1]

Originally Posted by till

I thought you would never ask....."Swamp snot" is the 3M gasket adhesive that Inland sells with the gasket I purchased. The tuff is kind of blackish and yellowish, and is a little on the odoriferous to say the least. Also it is sticky to the extreme, wear rubber gloves, I will from this point on. 1 down, 6 windows and a door to go. The door uses the same gasket as the windows.

Thanks for all the support.

Tedd, we're here, too, and rooting for you.
I can't even begin to imagine what a HUGE undertaking you've done.

But you've GOT to get your wife and babies out of that popup and in to some great aluminum :-)

[silver 67]

I'm with the rest of the gang; just watching and dreaming and waiting for extra parts (or the parts you take off and don't remember where they go.)

I'm just excited that your doing this legally now.