|
11-04-2007, 10:04 PM
|
#1
|
4 Rivet Member
1963 24' Tradewind
Anderson / Sun City
, Indiana / Arizona
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 444
|
Upper cabinet sliding doors
The sliding doors in the upper bulkhead cabinets of my '63 Trade Wind stick badly.
How do you remove the sliding doors to clean, or repair the plastice track?
I, also would like to change the doors from white melamine, to wood finish. Any experience out there?
Mike Brumback
|
|
|
11-05-2007, 09:45 AM
|
#2
|
Rivet Master
1967 22' Safari
1960 Caravel
Edmonds
, Washington
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,445
|
Hi Mike, can you post some pics of what you're looking at? That might get the ideas rollin' in.
__________________
Mel
|
|
|
11-05-2007, 10:46 AM
|
#3
|
Rivet Master
1970 27' Overlander
Espanola
, Full Timer
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,753
|
our previous owner said (about the sliding partitions) that some vasiline applied lightly with a q-tip in the groove will keep them sliding...wait til some threads of cloth get stuck in the ends...talk about detailing!
|
|
|
01-06-2010, 07:38 PM
|
#4
|
4 Rivet Member
1963 24' Tradewind
Anderson / Sun City
, Indiana / Arizona
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 444
|
Still haven't figured it out
Well it has been two years and I still haven't figured out how to remove the sliding doors from the upper cabinets in a 1963 Airstream. The tracks are plastic and the doors stick due to the slight buckling of the tracks.
I would like to remove the doors which appear to be made of hardboard with a melamine face. I would then trim the bottom or top edge of the door about 1/8" to allow them to slide without sticking.
Surely someone is smarter than me and figured this out.
Mike
|
|
|
01-06-2010, 07:46 PM
|
#5
|
Rivet Master
2005 25' Safari
Salem
, Oregon
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,378
|
Hi, you have a lot of patience; I would have used a stick of dynamite and a match long before two years went by. This is a question for Andy/Inland RV.
__________________
Bob 2005 Safari 25-B
"Le Petit Chateau Argent" Small Silver Castle
2000 Navigator / 2014 F-150 Eco-Boost / Equal-i-zer / P-3
YAMAHA 2400 / AIR #12144
|
|
|
01-06-2010, 07:47 PM
|
#6
|
Vintage Alum. Enthusiast
1959 24' Tradewind
Phoenix
, Arizona
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: I currently do not own a 2nd Airstream
Posts: 4,360
|
Well, I can't help you with the track as mine is aluminum but I did have the sliding doors made by the same laminate company that did my countertops. I've had to take them out and sand them on the back where they go into the tracks to allow them a little more play. Need to do it again.
Good luck.
Brad
FF
__________________
4CU 2699 / AIR 10 / TAC AZ-1
I'm haunted by aluminum.
Charter Member of the 4 Corners Unit.
|
|
|
01-06-2010, 08:26 PM
|
#7
|
Rivet Master
1963 19' Globetrotter
Currently Looking...
Orion
, Illinois
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 714
|
One of the first things I did on my '63 was to fix the sliding doors. What I did was to slide one door to the side and then remove the track on that side (I broke it on purpose to get it out). Then you can slide the door back and remove it. Do the same thing with the other side of the door. You can get new track in wood ,plastic , or metal from various woodworking suppy companies. I believe the plastic track I used came from Rockler. I reused the hardboard doors but you could use plywood or plastic, it just has to fit and slide in the track. The big trick with a sliding doors is make it smaller than the opening between the bottom of the two tracks so that you lift it into the upper track then drop it backdown to install or remove it. To make them slide easily use drawer lube (available from woodwork supply companies). I did have to shim the track and trim my doors. The track can be installed with double stick tape or small countersunk screws.
|
|
|
01-06-2010, 08:52 PM
|
#8
|
4 Rivet Member
1963 24' Tradewind
Anderson / Sun City
, Indiana / Arizona
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 444
|
63Air,
Thanks for the reply. I have looked at tracks at Rockler but haven't figured out how to attach them to the Airstream locker cabinets. The original slides have a lip that fits over the front edge of the cabinet door opening.
I would appreciate hearing how youmade these work in your cabinets.
Thanks....
|
|
|
01-06-2010, 09:22 PM
|
#9
|
Rivet Master
1956 22' Safari
2015 27' Flying Cloud
Vintage Kin Owner
Conifer/Evergreen
, Colorado
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 12,702
|
They sound like sliders similar to our '56 Safari. We were able to lift a door up then angle it out of the bottom track - then it just slips out of the top track. The top track is deeper than the bottom so there is some "play" to lift it up. I'm not sure what your track is like (plastic?) but ours is metal - very similar to this. Unfortunately, the early plastics of the 60's we not as stable as those today and they tend to become brittle or sticky. You may want to consider replacing yours with aluminum. We were able to order M+D products through our local Home Depot - but Outwater Plastics has a really good selection of miscellaneous track & extrusions as well and you can order direct. You may be able to find something that will work...
Good luck!
Shari
|
|
|
01-06-2010, 09:27 PM
|
#10
|
Rivet Master
1963 22' Safari
2020 27' Globetrotter
State of
, Washington
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,512
|
I've been pondering this exact issue on tracks, since the plastic ones on our 63 were damaged. The best option I have come up with is getting some of the edge trim from outwater plastics to cover the 1/4 plywood edge, then going to rockler.com and they sell two different types of that track, in plastic and aluminum that you can replace the plastic track with. You might be able to get the doors as close to center of the cabinet (away from verticle frame parts) and using a couple shims and a stick of wood carefully expand the cabinet ever so slightly to pop the panels out then either build new slightly smaller, or trim/sand the old ones to more easily install/remove in the future.
__________________
Scott & Megan
VAC LIBRARIAN WBCCI 8671
1963 Safari from the 1963-64 Around the World Caravan
|
|
|
01-07-2010, 11:05 AM
|
#11
|
Rivet Master
1963 19' Globetrotter
Currently Looking...
Orion
, Illinois
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 714
|
Can you post some pictures of your cabinets so we can see what you have , yours might be a little different from mine but it doesn't sound like too big of a problem.
|
|
|
01-07-2010, 07:43 PM
|
#12
|
4 Rivet Member
1963 24' Tradewind
Anderson / Sun City
, Indiana / Arizona
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 444
|
Here are 3 pictures of my upper cabinets with sliding doors. The 3rd picture is taken from inside the roof locker. Any specific sugestions to replace the plastic tracks that have warped with age would be appreciated. The current tracks were made with a lip to cover the edge of the cabinet panel. I cannot find any current sliding tracks made like this.
How would you attach the plastic or metal tracks available from sources like Rockler?
|
|
|
01-08-2010, 09:00 PM
|
#13
|
Rivet Master
1963 19' Globetrotter
Currently Looking...
Orion
, Illinois
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 714
|
I used a high quality double stick tape (3M product) to mount the Rockler track and it has worked very well. I think you could use a variety of things such as dabs of silicone, construction adhesive,3M trim adhesive, or contact cement -any product that is compatible with the track. I did not worry about the track overlapping the front because the track sticks up and blends well the cabinet. I left the little moulding pieces on the sides so everything looks factory . Somewhere on the forum there are picture of my refinished cabinets if you can find them, not sure where they are at.
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
Recent Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|