1978 Travelux President 31'

[jonplayers]

Last night I sealed up the back window and tail lights. I used trempro 635 again. I am quite impressed with that product!

I also stripped the old battery box. I had planned on painting it on and leaving it till tonight. However, I remembered that aircraft stripped was not safe for fiberglass. I quickly got it off and neutralized with water.

Tonight I plan on dry fitting the rear rail and polishing the battery box.

[jonplayers]

I did get the rear rub rail on the other night. Of course I had to scrub the old goop off first!

I polished the battery box the next night.

I attached the brackets for the awning also. I will have to take them off again. I just wanted to open the awning up again. I have not had it open since I bought the trailer. I think i may need a new spring as it did not roll back up.
It is rough, but I might use it as is for now.

I ordered more stuff! Man it never ends!
More F 7 and I am going to try F 9. I also got POR 15 whitecote for the tub.
I am having a hell of a time on the street side. It almost looks like I am spray painting on the shine. Takes a lot to get the first cut.I am hoping the F 9 will get me there faster. ATTACH]204445[/ATTACH]

[Aerowood]

It's looking good though.

[jonplayers]

Originally Posted by Aerowood

It's looking good though.

Thanks. She looks good from the front..and from behind! Now for the rest of her!

I ordered my insulation today. Maybe that will motivate me to get the wiring done.

I got all the rub rails dry fitted now.
I drilled out for 5/32 rivets.

I also had a small victory with the rear window. I managed to change out the window drip gasket. It was a pain to get out. The new one went in easy and is a perfect fit!

[jonplayers]

Well I kinda screwed up when I did my front and rear separation repairs.
On the rear I thought I would be clever and hide the monster rivets in the belt line. Well that was all fine and dandy. The trouble I had was when I started to drill out the holes for the belt. I was drilling and drilling. Of course it hit right on the edge of angle aluminum. Needless to say the rivets would bind and pop to early( I had a hunch this was gonna happen).


I had already gooped everything and was not about to pull it off!
I resorted to stainless screws...(hang head in shame)...DON'T JUDGE ME!!!!

Hahaha they worked all right anyways. As soon as I was off the angle aluminum the pop rivets worked fine.

Another mistake I made on the rear was to add buck rivets around the radius. It pushed in the odd spot..( I said "pushed in" instead of dented because it sounds better).
Anyways it is hardly noticeable.

[jonplayers]

I rewired all the running lights. I ran a new wire for every light. I installed two junction boxes at each end where all the connections are located.

I also installed a 7 way distribution box
Under the battery box where all the connections are for the new trailer plug.

Tonight I installed the front rub rail.
Slowly coming together. Soon I will be right back where I started.

[jonplayers]

A few pics of the fixed battery box. I reassembled with some trempro.

I had to throw a tank on to see how it is going to look.

[Gene]

Make sure you put some drain holes in the bottom of your very cool battery box since it will leak some water in.

No snow in Terrace? It looks like the trailer is in a metal building, so I guess that's why there's no snow. Quite a mirror finish on the trailer.

Gene

[jonplayers]

Originally Posted by Gene

Make sure you put some drain holes in the bottom of your very cool battery box since it will leak some water in.

No snow in Terrace? It looks like the trailer is in a metal building, so I guess that's why there's no snow. Quite a mirror finish on the trailer.

Gene

You know we have hardly had a winter here this year! Except the last couple of weeks it has been sunny and clear, but well below freezing. Yesterday and today has been a snowstorm. I trudged through a few snow drifts to get in the shop tonight.

There are quite a few holes in the bottom of the box already. The PO had it mounted on the back bumper so there are lots of extras. I was thinking of installing some small vents on the backside of the box for ventilation. Not sure it is necessary though. I hope the lid sheds the water. I suppose on the road the water will funnel right up and under anyways.

[Evalu8r]

Really coming along nice, John.

I haven't had a chance to work on mine, Too dam cold and mine is outside behind the garage. I'm still at the stage of the floor out and cleaning the frame before I seal it.

[jonplayers]

Thanks! It's slowly moving along. I brought home the insulation today.

I also bought my elastomeric roof coating ("snow roof"it is made by the same company as kool seal) and it was available locally.

Before you put your ply down make sure to fab up a front and rear hold down plate.

I used angle aluminum on top of the ply. If I were you I would put one angle under the ply for the outside skin to rivet to. And one on top of the ply for the inside skins. Hope that makes sense.

Cheers Jon

[jonplayers]

I was on a vacation for a while, but now I am back at it!

I can see the light finally!(On the polishing ) I am just about done the first pass on the street side. I have been using the F 9. I sure wish I had tried it earlier. Way better cut then F 7. I will finish up the street side with the F 9 then do a quick pass with F 9 on the curb side( to even up all my attempts).
Then on to C grade! My favorite!

Should only take another year or so.

[alexdubs]

Hey Jon, I was wondering a few things from some of your past posts...

can you take a picture of the interior where you crank the antenna up and down? I see where it is but there isn't any handles or anything like that so I was just wondering what it looked like.

I started gutting the back end of mine and surprise surprise, I found out that the floor is pretty rotted in the bathroom area. In some of the pictures it looks like the plywood subfloor goes underneath the frame for the walls... is that the case? I haven't pulled off the interior wall panels yet but want to know what I am getting myself into.

As per usual, great work! Keep it up and post 10 million more pictures please!

[jonplayers]

Floor rot hey? Darn it! How bad is it?

The ply does go under the wall.

The belly pan is nailed to the edge of the ply also.(if you are trying to pull out some of the floor and are wondering why it's not cooperating).
Here are couple pics.

Attachment 210293



What I did during my floor repairs.

1- Determine patch size.
2- Cut patch with a 45 • bevel
3- Lay out the area to be removed.
4- Flip the patch upside down to use as a guide for the multitool to cut out the area. (Having the bevel not only strengthens the repair it also helps with the fitting of the patch...it kinda just drops in place)
5- Cleat the underside of the trailer ply
with 3/4 ply and premium construction adhesive. Fastening with screws. I went for 4-5 inch overlap.
6- Apply more adhesive and screw in the patch.

Hopefully the rot is not to far into the bathroom. I had just a small area.

Don't forget your tanks are under there!


You will probably want to remove at least some of your lower inside skins.

I would also address the rear separation issues. There was NO rearhold down plate on my trailer.
This was ultimately the cause of my rot in the first place.

Best of luck!

[jonplayers]

I got the curbside windows sealed up today. I had a couple buck rivits to replace first. One was sheared, and the other crooked. I am still moving towards another leak test.

One technique I have figured out for scrubbing detail areas. Is to use a small putty knife as a handle to move a scotchbrite. I double or triple up the pad and use the knife as a handle. It worked great on the windows.

[jonplayers]

I got the street side windows sealed up!
I have über busy with work/ farm/ kids these days... three kids in soccer!

I got a load of fire wood delivered today so that will take care if my spare time for the next month or two.

I am not giving up though.

[jonplayers]

I have made some good progress the last two days! I took Friday off from work and I was able to get three coats of Snow Roof painted on the roof. It turned out ok. I also added a cross stringer where the air conditioner will sit. In between coats I prepped the tub for paint.

Today I painted the tub. I used por 15 white cote. I found it hard to use. It is easy to use to much as it is quite sticky.
My first coat resulted in more than a few sags and drips. : (

Well I was in a painting mood I decided to use my left over por15 gloss black on the rusty door hinge and front step.

I have also been poking away on the odd little thing. Got the new reflectors on, all the windows and seams are sealed, a patch or two and a few rivits and outside is just about done!

Tomorrow I plan on priming the plywood floor inside.

I can't upload pics right now...I think I got to pay my subscription first.

[jonplayers]

I had a great idea to motivate me back to the shop! I had thought, since I needed to get the 3 way fridge out.
Why not plug it in and put beer in it.
That way I would want to come out and work. Well it worked for about a two days. Now the fridge doesn't work. : (
It has a new heater element. Grrrr.....
Why can't anything be easy!

[alexdubs]

Because then there wouldn't be a challenge! Haha keep up the good work man!


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[Evalu8r]

Originally Posted by jonplayers

I used angle aluminum on top of the ply. If I were you I would put one angle under the ply for the outside skin to rivet to. And one on top of the ply for the inside skins. Hope that makes sense.

Cheers Jon

John,
I think I get what you're saying is this in addition to the original C channel.
Thanks Shawn