Suicide door? I get it now.

[VIKING]

Hi Woody,
I'm sorry to hear of your door accident.
Where were you on the playa? I also saw lots of individual Airstreams out there, maybe yours. I was at 8:45 between B & C.
I saw a thread or blog that goes through the process of fixing a door. I'll see if I can re-find it for you. Not all doors are made the same way, so the process is different also. Hopefully yours is the easy one!
Best of luck to you.
Rich

[Yhottys]

Originally Posted by Woodywhite

I always thought that the orientation of the door was just begging for trouble. I was right. My son and I went to Burning Man and took the Twinkie (1960, 18') on it's maiden voyage for us. All went well, but on the return home my son needed something out of the trailer and didn't latch the door well.

Wow! We had the same thing happen on the way to Burning Man with our 1959 Overlander on her maiden voyage with us! We stopped at the rest stop in Wadsworth, Nevada. Gemma thought she locked up the trailer (tempermental Bargman round keyed locking knob that replaced the original Bargman "refrigerator" handle lock). Five miles down the road Murray notices that the door is flapping as we drive along at 55 miles per hour! Thank goodness Wadsworth has a much slower speed limit going through town. We get out and thank the heavens above that nothing spilled out of the trailer, including our Honda 3000is generator that was very close to the door, and that we didn't pierce any of the panels, although we now have a small circular indentation where the knob slammed into the side of the trailer and the door knob assembly is slightly pushed in, along with the edge of the door being slighty warped.

We locked it up again and used some heavy duty red strapping tape along the leading edge of the door. We watched the door the rest of the way to Black Rock City and again, on the way home.

We don't have a handle across from the door to slip a wood block through nor do we have the original Bargman refrigerator door handled lock. Does anyone have any other aesthetically sensitive solutions that might work (that don't involve adding a hasp)? We're thinking about possibly a circular rubber door "stop" rivetted to the side of the trailer, right about where we now have that small circular indentation caused by the door knob slamming into the trailer. But that doesn't solve the initial issue of the door opening while traveling. Any thoughts?

All the best,

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by Yhottys

We don't have a handle across from the door to slip a wood block through nor do we have the original Bargman refrigerator door handled lock. Does anyone have any other aesthetically sensitive solutions that might work (that don't involve adding a hasp)? We're thinking about possibly a circular rubber door "stop" rivetted to the side of the trailer, right about where we now have that small circular indentation caused by the door knob slamming into the trailer. But that doesn't solve the initial issue of the door opening while traveling. Any thoughts?

All the best,

I saw 'Buttercup' stretch 2 very long bungies in an X across his door. He must have hooked one ends to the awning channel and the other ends somewhere near the belly pan. It were'nt pretty but his door stays closed.
Neil.

[Yhottys]

Originally Posted by FreshAir

I saw 'Buttercup' stretch 2 very long bungies in an X across his door. He must have hooked one ends to the awning channel and the other ends somewhere near the belly pan. It were'nt pretty but his door stays closed.
Neil.

Neil,

You and Lynn are the best! Thanks for being so responsive. We'll put a few long bungee cords on the shopping list. It's a great solution!

Thanks again,

[Woodywhite]

I was pretty sick to my stomach when I saw it, but as it was still attached to the Traveler I just had to keep it there the rest of the way home from about Reno. I had some long straps that I used to hold down my awning and thought about running them around her whole body like a belt, but didn't want the metal buckles to bump and scratch her in the wind. I settled on a smaller strap run around the two handles about five times and cinched down tight. Then I put a whole bunch of duct tape (don't leave home without it) across the front of the door to minimize it catching the wind. Wasn't sure if the tape would hold on top of the playa dust but it was still in place when I got home.

I thought about joining the AS group at The burn, but this was a rare solo trip for my son and I, and I wanted to spend time alone with him. I figured group dynamics would change that. We were on K between between 3:30 and 4:00. Close to 4:00. I kept looking for the AS group, and found a bunch of singles, but never the pod. I kept thinking, how can I miss a herd of Airstreams? Post-burn, I realize how big the thing is and how much I didn't see in spite of trying to see everything.

The idea of cutting smaller access patches is interesting, but as you see from the photo, I have a cabinet wall right where I need access. So, I have to dig into the cabinet and see how much trouble it would be to pull the cabinet (with fridge and heater) forward. I hate to cut the inner panels since they still have the cool original textured aluminum. But if it's inside the cabinet, it might be OK.

Well, I'll sleep on it and keep looking at it for now. Keep your suggestions coming and I'll get started on the doohickey.

Thanks,
Bob

[tallytwo1994]

Originally Posted by Yhottys

We don't have a handle across from the door to slip a wood block through nor do we have the original Bargman refrigerator door handled lock. Does anyone have any other aesthetically sensitive solutions that might work (that don't involve adding a hasp)? We're thinking about possibly a circular rubber door "stop" rivetted to the side of the trailer, right about where we now have that small circular indentation caused by the door knob slamming into the trailer. But that doesn't solve the initial issue of the door opening while traveling. Any thoughts?
All the best,

You could add an entry handle to the side of the door. You may not find one exactly like the originals but something in stainless steel would look good. Try marine supply stores if you don't find anything at rv type stores. This would also be helpful when your a little older and need that extra boost up.

Carol

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by tallytwo1994

You could add an entry handle to the side of the door. You may not find one exactly like the originals but something in stainless steel would look good. Try marine supply stores if you don't find anything at rv type stores. This would also be helpful when your a little older and need that extra boost up.

Carol

I 'think' the grab handles are still available. Try VTS or Inland. You guys are a bit away from needing 'extra boosts'.
Neil.

[clydecrashcu]

Sorry to hear about your door, when I first bought my trailer I always used a bungi cord (sp?). I noticed in an earlier thread it was mentioned that he had fashioned a wooden dead bolt lock for the exterior. I was given one a couple of years ago from a friend and he was given one by one of his friends so we keep passing it on. There is a thread on this site about the "Domaggie, not correct spelling I am sure.

I can post a photo of mine if you would like with dimensions. Mine works well and I have traveled down many washboard roads and terrible highways and it hasn't fallen out yet. When I put in my lock it is in fairly tight and keeps the door from coming open. You have the type of door and entry handle where it will work. I didn't want to put on a external lock and hasp, etc. because of how it looks.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f453...-new-post.html

Let me know if you are interested.

[putback]

Woodywhite, you can get good clean bends in your alum plates by sandwiching them between 2 pieces of hardwood boards in a vice, then tap them over 90 degrees [slowly] with a rubber or wood mallet. Or steel hammer w/another wooden block. If your door panel won't straighten useing the common methods find someone with an English Wheel. However this means disassembling the door. They can re-arch, compound curve, remove dents, smooth, even remove a crease. About the only problem a "wheel" can't fix is streched metal, that takes a planish disk.

[Woodywhite]

OK, I've started the process of removing structures to repair the door and tear in the sidewall. Since I don't have a press I'll use Putbacks idea for hardwood sandwiches for the bending process. I've taken photos of everything so I can get it all back in place. It looks like I'll have to remove the heater, fridge, and cabinets in order to access the inner panel. I won't have enough room to work without doing so.

Thanks for all your help. I'll send in another note when I get in trouble in the next 3-4 weeks. Assuming everything goes well, I'll send a rehab note documenting the job so hopefully it'll make life easier for someone else.

Thanks again,
Bob

[Woodywhite]

Time for an update on my suicide door repair.

To date I have:

1. Removed door via hinge pins. Turned out that the hinges were tweaked so I realigned them.
2. Upper hinge plate held when door flew open but it had pulled out some and created stress cracks visible in the body aluminum. Removed the hinge plate, flattened the body panel and drilled small hole at the end of each crack to avoid further extension of the cracks.
3. Opened wall inside. Used heat gun and scraper to remove the black gummy sealant inside the wall to allow good interface with new brackets.
4. Fabricated upper and lower brackets of .050 aluminum. Of course they were slightly different sizes. I made them in the shape of a box for increased strength.
5. Lower bracket required a couple of stepped shims of .030 aluminum in the aft aspect of the bracket due to the shape of the exterior wall.
6. Both brackets and shims were held in place with sem-kit industrial adhesive (to wall and frame) and rivets (to frame). Sem-Kit is used by the airlines and I'm told it will hold two pieces of aluminum together even if they become airborne. If that happens to my Airstream, the glue holding will be the last of my concerns.
7. Hinges put back on with rivets. Internal wall was open so I used regular rivets for maximum strength. Back of hinges primed before installing them.
8. I was still concerned about extension of the cracks at both hinges so I fabricated an external faceplate to go around each hinge. These were held in place with sem-kit adhesive and regular rivets.
9. All plates and rivets to the outside wall had adhesive spread across all surfaces and surrounding all holes and inside the rivet holes to prevent leaks. Additionally, I put caulking on the inner wall over each rivet and at each joint. I can’t get much more waterproof than that.

I am now comfortable the wall will hold and the door will NOT come open again because I’m using a doohickey and I WILL check the door personally before I drive away. Famous last words?

Next step:
1. Re-arch the door. Advice?
2. Repair/replace the handle and door. The existing handle’s not the original, so it already had an odd fit with lots of caulking when I got it. It got pushed inside the door and the surrounding area is bent in. It will close and latch but it currently has some wide open areas around the knob and faceplate. Anyone got a source for a 1960 doorknob? I found some listed for as old as 1965. Will these work on a 1960?
3. Replace the floor tiles – When I pulled the cabinet, I found a number of tiles that were lifting at the edges and needed replacement (same thing at the doorway). Only a little bad wood underneath but manageable without replacing the large sections of the floor. I actually found a bunch of old asphalt tiles in my basement of the same era. Different colors, sort of like bowling ball variegation but it’ll look funky cool. Anyway, my wife likes the new color scheme at the entryway.
4. Put cabinets, fridge and heater back in.

And then I'll start to work on .....

Thanks again for your advice.

Bob

[VIKING]

Woodywhite, It's looking good again. nice work. that top hinge really tore the heck out of the skin, didn't it. From your description of the repair I don't think you'll be having any further problems with it. Very thorough work.
It appears that you have a bad case of filiform corrosion on your rig. Have you thought about doing the polish job on it? I have a Dewalt heavy-duty polisher I've been using on my Safari when I feel the urge. I don't have filiform to speak of but I hear it's difficult to get out.
Rich the Viking

[tallytwo1994]

Nice job!

[Woodywhite]

Thanks. I have to admit, it looks a bit like an antique fridge door now but the general aesthetics work. I would like to polish it in the future, but I have to get through the getting it livable again first. That means that I won't have a chance to consider polishing it before next summer or spring.

Is there some compound that can remove the filiform? I assume it's the clearcoat that is spidering and needs to be removed.

I'll be sure to call you when I'm ready to polish.

Thanks,
Bob