Tyvek will pass moisture, not quickly, but it is pervious. Brett's idea of sealing all edges is good, I did that on my floor. Think seriously about some type of thermal break between the wood and aluminum, I believe you will have more trouble from the conductivity of the aluminum than leaks within the walls. On cool damp days I could see lines of moisture from the ribs on my inner skin. To me that meant that wood against the aluminum was going to be like a sponge.
The foam did stiffen the body a lot, even helped a little with sound. It is easy to fix, a sharp knife and a putty knife and you can pop a piece right out to do a repair. Fill the hole with some from a spray can and you never know it was done.
Another thing besides leaks and water in the walls I would think about early on is the loss of strength to the shell by removing the inner skin and how you can compensate for that. It is like peeling the paper off one side of a piece of cardboard when you remove the inner skin.
If you are planning on using paneling my experience says you are going have to form it before you install. There is a luan that is used for making curves that would work. I like the idea of that and veneer if I can find an adhesive that would hold, maybe one of the polyurethanes. Research time.
good point about tyvek being semi-permiable--will consider plastic instead. also good point about the poly. as far as the comment about stability after removal of the inner skin goes. you are right about removeing the skin, but i'm not leaving it off or driveing anywhere without it. i will be replaceing the 33 year old vinyl with new hardwood plywood as well as a liner of spray foam and the same number of rivets that A/S used originally. i may be wrong, but my figuring goes that i will most likely gain structure.
as far as bending and installing the plywood, i will go to the experts. we have a high-end plywood mfg. here in providence--allied plywood. when i get completely demo'ed and pretty well planned out, i am going to go over there and see if i can enlist their help. you know offer to give them a really nice set of 8x10 'before' and 'after ' pictures to hang in the office as a thank you for the help when i get done.
as we all, know everybody loves an A/S
do you think that sufficiant moisture would build up between the polyurathane and the tyvek/plastic vapor barrier to cause problems?
re the cold transfer along the ribs condensing lines on the wood, that's a real good point-- need to line those ribs with some kind of thermal barrier. what kind of a thermal insulator can you line the ribs with that still allows you to pop rivet into them?
The vinyl on the inner skin is laminated to .050 (or close) aluminum. It is like a super duty contact paper on the metal. These pieces go from the front to rear main ribs. This along with the curve of the body has to make an extremely strong sructure. It is probably overkill for what is needed, but is what allows these to last 40+ years. One problem I see is that the ribs (on mine) were not attached to the sill. The skins were used to provide the strength. Paneling (or even hardwood plywood thin enough to follow the inner curve) really isn't designed to be a structural element. You will also loose strength because the sections will run vertically as opposed to the one piece front to rear horizontal runs. When you do your cabinetry I would try and make a few heavy floor to ceiling partitions where you could tie to a rib.
Before insulating I made sure I had no leaks. I resealed all openings and let it go through some pretty good storms just to make sure. Before Dow bought the outfit that made the foam I used, they had a good website with a Q&A section. One of the things they touted was the sealing properties because of the way it expands to fill the smallest hole or gap and they were right. I can't imagine there will be a lot of problems with leaks or moisture buildup. I like the idea of sealing the panels with polyurethane, but don't think you will need a vapor barrier. If you are concerned that moisture is going to be a problem I would use small vents near the top and bottom of the panels . These could be inside a storage area or closet and not normally visible.
The ribs are only about 5/8" wide where they attach to the skins. I put 1/4" thick self adhesive foam weatherstrip (closed cell, no moisture transfer) on the ribs, rolled some 1/8x2 aluminum to match the curve and pop riveted it to the rib/weatherstrip. That also gave a 2" wide piece to mount the paneling.
Did you guys ever complete the wood interiors and determine how the condensation affected it?
I am considering adding an 1/8 layer of birch ply over the inner aluminum skin and am interested in what came about. I considered using a layer of the really thin sheet styrofoam that they put under pergo 'floating' floors, so that it would add a layer of something between the wood and alum. and help even out all of the differences in the panels and rivets...
I am considering adding an 1/8 layer of birch ply over the inner aluminum skin and am interested in what came about. I considered using a layer of the really thin sheet styrofoam that they put under pergo 'floating' floors, so that it would add a layer of something between the wood and alum. and help even out all of the differences in the panels and rivets...
this sounds like what i want to do to our traveller when i get her back together. did you ever end up starting this? i'd definitely be interested in seeing a step by step on installing wood. especially in the end cap area where the compound curves are.
Dave:
I'm considering doing the same thing. Besides veneer or laminate what is thinnest wood sheeting that you can get?
Bernie
veneer is pretty thin. i wouldn't worry about weight or anything with it. depending on how many panels you have on the end caps, veneer might be the only way. i have a 7 panel interior, the panels have compound curves, that i will have to get the veneer to adjust to. if you want the 13 panel look, check out carlos's work here:
I have a 69 Sovereign 31'. Before you remove all that vinyl, Try this. Spray a 1 square foot section of the vinyl with Krud Kutter (available at Wal-Mart paint dept.) wipe with paper towel. If the vinyl comes out as clean as mine did removing all the grime just repeat on the next square foot. Every time I went out I did another 3 square feet, took the Krud Kutter camping and did some of the cleaning while camping
stagecoachbill #5345
I am all most finished with my veneer job in my '65 Globtrotter. We used paperback birch. It is beautiful. I suggest that anyone using veneer that they should bondo around existing rivets and sand before applying veneer. Also do not use water based contact cement. As soon as you apply veneer you must seal it with a good sanding sealer. As it is pouris . The front end is the hardest because of the compound angles. Made lots of templates and experimented before cutting the veneer. I decided that I wanted my trailer to look similar to a woody station wagon and little wooden sailboat. Once we veneered the walls, I realized that I now had to cover all the boxes in veneer also. I have over two grand tied up in veneer and it is coming out beautiful. Where the seams are we are putting 1 1/4" strips of solid birch. All the trim around windows, door and cabinet are teak. It is amazing. Kenny
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