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Old 05-08-2005, 08:18 PM   #1
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1984 34' Limited
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Post Tambour Doors Repair

Now here is an idea that I never thought of, so it pays to listen to your father! Just don't tell him I said that!!!!!!!!!!!!

My dad builds and flies remote control airplanes(somtimes they crash).

My 71 Excella 500 had all the tambour doors. Some doors are in good shape and others are not. They split along the bend as they usually do!

Solution! It's called Ultra Coat. You can get it at hobby shops. It's what is used when building recomte control planes.

We lined up all the strips of tambour and then cut four strips of Ultra coat. Each piece ran the hight of the door. Make sure you put the tambour face down.

Two strips where applied just inside the edge of the handle on the door, two more strips place evenly spaced in the centre of the door. Then you just iron it on.

The other option is to cut a peice of unltra coat to cover the back of the door completely except for where the door runs in the guides on both ends. Then just iron it on.

The ultra coat is very srtongs and it stikes to the paper coating no problem! Worked like a charm!!!!

When I get some pics taken I'm going to repost this item including the pictures. Best of all its a simple and cost effective solution.
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Old 05-08-2005, 08:34 PM   #2
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Good idea! That can definitely save money if the Ultra-Coat is cheaper than muying new tambour material.
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Old 05-08-2005, 08:53 PM   #3
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These tambour doors seem to be a large tedious problem in the Airstream comunity. I'm only picking up my '73 Ambassador tomorrow and have never owned one before, but when looking it over, I noticed that 4 or 5 of them (overheads, spice rack, under sink) need some attention. I didn't freak out or anything because I remember my dad repairing my mother's vintage roll-top desk. I plan to repair them in the same manor. Just glueing fabric on the back of them. The right glue, a tough fabric, and a little more than a little bit of time should take care of them.

Ben
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Old 05-08-2005, 09:56 PM   #4
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They replaced the paper backing tambour with fabric backing after the 1973 model year.
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Old 05-08-2005, 10:42 PM   #5
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74s had them

I just finished fixing 9 tambours on my '74 (paper backed). I used the canvas duck / contact cement method and they all turned out great! Have fun!!

Curt
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Old 05-18-2005, 09:07 PM   #6
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what about duck tape

Hey ! that sounds good . i was just tonight trying to remove mine for repairs, but i was going to try duct tape, and go right along the the breaks. maybe this ultra coat is better ? stronger ? can't be cheaper ,but cheap isn't always the way to go . I will check it out at the local hobby shop
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Old 05-18-2005, 11:54 PM   #7
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Okay, I need some help with tambour doors. Oh, the doors are intact, that's not the problem! The strips are firmly together, they just don't roll very well. In fact, in some areas, like the overheads in the hall, I can only get them half way open. Some areas will open, but won't stay opn, closing at inopportune moments trapping my arm. (This usually happens when I am standing on my tippy-toes, reaching way into the back of the cubby.)
What do I do to fix the less than full functioning roll ups? And because I am a dummy, I need really simplified step by step help!
All help gratefully accepted!

Elizabeth in Iowa
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Old 05-19-2005, 08:14 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cedars
Okay, I need some help with tambour doors. Oh, the doors are intact, that's not the problem! The strips are firmly together, they just don't roll very well. In fact, in some areas, like the overheads in the hall, I can only get them half way open. Some areas will open, but won't stay opn, closing at inopportune moments trapping my arm. (This usually happens when I am standing on my tippy-toes, reaching way into the back of the cubby.)
What do I do to fix the less than full functioning roll ups? And because I am a dummy, I need really simplified step by step help!
All help gratefully accepted!

Elizabeth in Iowa
Liz

I think the problem you are having is with the door guides. If you look at the left and right sides you will see plastic guides that end in of sprial. This guide can get damaged or dirty. First thing make sure it is clean or it will stick.
As for them dropping at inoportune times, the doors are held open by a little key on the door which goes into a notch in the side guide. Take a close look at the plastic guides and you can see how this works. The key on the door will snap off and the door will not hold open, or it wears out and will become disengauged at the slightest bump. The only fix I know of is replace the end guides.
I hear tell they are still available so you might check with some of the vintage suppliers. I was lucky and bought some spares from Ebay.
So keep looking they are out there.
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Old 05-19-2005, 09:35 AM   #9
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Doors that don't open fully but appear to be properly adjusted are often just dirty in the roller spirals. If you can get the whole thing apart, cleaning is easy. If not, injecting a bit of soapy water in there with a syringe and running the door back and forth a few times may do the trick. Have some towels handy. Don't oil them -- that will cause more dirt to collect.
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Old 05-19-2005, 01:11 PM   #10
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Doors that don't open fully but appear to be properly adjusted are often just dirty in the roller spirals. If you can get the whole thing apart, cleaning is easy. If not, injecting a bit of soapy water in there with a syringe and running the door back and forth a few times may do the trick. Have some towels handy. Don't oil them -- that will cause more dirt to collect.
Oil will attract the dirt for sure.
I have found that sometimes it is nearly impossible to tear the surrounding components apart withut spending the whole day doing it.
I like Rich's idea of squirting some soapy water into the tracks.
I have gotten to the undersink cabinet tambour from another door. I then used the wooden handled cotton swabs and soapy water to clean the tracks from behind.
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Old 05-19-2005, 04:54 PM   #11
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Post Hey Mister Tambour Door Man...

I found a Tambour company with a neat web site. Check it out at http://www.winonamanufacturing.com/
Perhaps this will be a helpful resource for you.
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Old 02-16-2007, 02:10 PM   #12
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I am going to try that. I also looked at winona webs site. Going to do a little more research with them. Thanks
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Old 02-16-2007, 04:49 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cedars
Okay, I need some help with tambour doors. Oh, the doors are intact, that's not the problem! The strips are firmly together, they just don't roll very well. In fact, in some areas, like the overheads in the hall, I can only get them half way open. Some areas will open, but won't stay opn, closing at inopportune moments trapping my arm. (This usually happens when I am standing on my tippy-toes, reaching way into the back of the cubby.)
What do I do to fix the less than full functioning roll ups? And because I am a dummy, I need really simplified step by step help!
All help gratefully accepted!

Elizabeth in Iowa
The backing material on the early 70s coaches will get very stiff with age, not allowing the door to bend freely as it feeds into and out of the spiral track. In this case I see the only solution, which worked very well for me, to separate all the strips and reglue backing with a flexible material. What I used was aluminum tape across the strips every 6-8" and cover the whole back with nylon packcloth glued on with contact cement.

Someone above mentioned using duct tape. I think that may work as a temporary repair only, very temporary. Haven't tried it though.
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Old 07-21-2010, 04:36 PM   #14
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The soapy water applicator can have dual uses. I went to automotive supply house two years ago and got a professional tire plug kit for about $45.00. It has long ago paid for itself.
Where I am going with this is I mixed up Ivory Dish Detergent in a spray bottle to spray on the tire to identify the spot the air is escaping from.
Thusly if you get one of the plug kits, a spray bottle from Home Depot and fill it you have lubricant for that and other jobs (such as cleaning hands) available at all times.
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Old 08-01-2010, 09:35 PM   #15
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In checking out storage areas today on the 76 I just got a overhead stuck half way up. I went and got the tire spray bottle with Ivory and water in it. Sprayed the tracks with door up and worked it back and for a few times. Worked like a champ. Might just add a little Ivory to the mix to make it slicker.

Tambour under sink is another problem. It is delaminating and slivers want to jump track. I cut off bad end as a interim fix and found the major part of the problem. The piece of wood the lower scroll (under sink counter 76 Sovereign) has come loose. It was only air stapled in the first place. Now I gotta figure out how to get epoxy to where it is needed to get the lower scroll to stay still while tambour is being uploaded. Also gotta figure out how to clamp in place
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Old 09-17-2010, 03:35 PM   #16
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Closer examination of the tambour door revealed multiple problems. Primarily poor workmanship.

1. The scroll inlets are not in line with the outer track. The credenza was examinated and they are in line and work great. The galley ones are out of line about 1/2"! ! !! I bet this thing has been a problem since the first owner! !! ! ! ! It has two WBCCI numbers on the unit 3581 and 10148 was removed to put on the 3581.
Anybody know these folks?

2. The mounting plates were just crown stapled in place.

3. The mounting plates are too close together so to get the door to ride in the scrolls it has to rise about 1/8" and it binds at the top and bottom.

4. I will tear out bottom scroll mount and lower it about 1/4" so the tambour will not bottom out in the scroll but just be guided by the rails.

Obviously the same guy that built the credenza did not do the galley.
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Old 09-25-2011, 01:10 PM   #17
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fixed some tambour

Today I removed, fixed, and re-installed two of the lower bed tambour doors. It was quite easy, I used heat seam carpet seal to repair the tambour. I cut it in the correct length and ironed it onto the back of the tambour. They look and work great, I'll try and update how well they hold up. MPJ
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Old 02-02-2012, 06:00 PM   #18
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Don't know if anyone else is looking at this forum but I found it to be an inspiration. I am picking up my 1973 Overlander next weekend and I noticed when we bought it that the tambour doors under the sink were the worst and those under the bunks were pretty bad. I have been trying to think for the past few days how to go about it. Thanks for all the work you guys have done already. Does anyone have any pics of when they were fixing theirs? I kind of got the idea from reading, but I am more of a visual learner.

Thanks in advance.
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Old 02-02-2012, 06:22 PM   #19
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Better than duct tape, but still temporary

Get some aluminum metal foil tape. It will last a lot longer than duct tape but is still a jerry rig fix.

I have had good success with removing the handle, then metal foil tape strips every 9 inches or so 90 degrees to the strips. Then ballistic nylon covering the whole back attached with contact cement. Make sure the ends are bare where they fit into the guide. Also keep it sliding with silicone spray in the guides.

It is a time consuming process.
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Old 02-02-2012, 06:47 PM   #20
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The ultra-coat material ironed on to the back of the tambours is working great. Three are complete and three more are in progress.
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