Doin' the Full Monte

[NorCal Bambi]

Struck by lightening. Sorry to hear about your grandparents house. Some things can't be replaced. We live in a house that was built in 1900. If anything ever happened to it, It could not be replaced. One example 2x4's that are 2x4. Your trailer is going to have some very special personal history items in it with the woods. I'm sure your aunt will share when she hears how you plan to us the wood. I think the idea is way cool.
Don

[fastrob]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

Man, I love the smell of cedar. I hope this works.

Jim

Moths stay away, do not know about other pests, Great Idea!

R

[malconium]

One small thing to keep in mind about cedar closet liners that I picked up along the way is that to keep it working over the long haul all you need to do is to lightly sand it once in a while. Evidently over time there is a bit of oxidation of some sort at the surface that reduces the amount of fumes (good in this case) that are outgassing. Of course you can not apply any kind of sealer to the surface.

Malcolm

[Jim & Susan]

Ok, so the door won't close all the way. I've been eyeballing this plate in the door frame and trying to figure out why it is "green" and everthing else on the TT is silver aluminum. Does anybody know if this was added later, possibly because the "catch" on the door frame became too worn to hold the door shut? It almost looks like an aluminum "slug" that has been painted with zinc chromate and added to build up the door latch to make things hold shut. Any ideas?

JIm

[wahoonc]

For Jim:

Aaron

[ankornuta]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

Ok, so the door won't close all the way. I've been eyeballing this plate in the door frame and trying to figure out why it is "green" and everthing else on the TT is silver aluminum. Does anybody know if this was added later, possibly because the "catch" on the door frame became too worn to hold the door shut? It almost looks like an aluminum "slug" that has been painted with zinc chromate and added to build up the door latch to make things hold shut. Any ideas?

JIm

The green paint makes me think that it was added by a PO... of course I don't know much about trailers from this year...

[PizzaChop]

Jim,

Don't think the green paint is "factory".

I just removed mine and turned it around. (Re-riveted of course.)

A machine shop could mill a new one in about 3 minutes or you could do it yourself with some thicker aluminum. (In fact, I think I might have done that myself, though I can't remember as it was all a blur last fall.)

[Jim & Susan]

Yea, that's the most reasonable thing to do. I have some aluminum about that thickness, So maybe I'll just play around with a new piece and see if it works out. I'm thinking that maybe the catch mechanism wears down after a few years, and this is a common way to repair things. The problem with my camper is that it seems to throw off the alignment of the door juat a bit, so that it won't close all the way.

Thanks for the help, Ron. And everybody else, as well.

Jim

[wahoonc]

Jim,
the more I look at your pictures the more I think you have a plate that somebody fabricated. In your close up picture, it looks like there is an over cut at the top near the rivet. I have seen some of these plates that were buckled and torn because of forced entry or just excessive wear. Yours is also larger than what is on my unit. I am pretty confident the one in my picture is original. Won't hurt to try and make your own. I would also suggest a dead bolt to help keep the wear and tear on the orginal lock to a minimum...they cost BIG BUCK$$ to replace...if you can find one.

Aaron

[Jim & Susan]

Now that I look at it up close, I see what you mean, Aaron. My thing is to get the door to close properly, so I don't have to "slam" it every time to get the latch to catch. And also to get the door to close all the way.

Maybe I'll remove the old one tonight and play around with it some. I do intend to install a deadbolt before I put the inner skins back in.

JIm

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

Ok, so the door won't close all the way. I've been eyeballing this plate in the door frame and trying to figure out why it is "green" and everthing else on the TT is silver aluminum. Does anybody know if this was added later, possibly because the "catch" on the door frame became too worn to hold the door shut? It almost looks like an aluminum "slug" that has been painted with zinc chromate and added to build up the door latch to make things hold shut. Any ideas?

JIm

Jim.


Part of the problem, I think, is the striker "pocket" in your photo is a home brew.

The correct pocket is cast stainless steel.

Because of that, they are not cheap.

Andy

[Jim & Susan]

Thanks, Andy. That's kinda the conculsion we were coming to, as well. And thanks for giving me the correct name for the thing, I've been calling the striker the "anvil". Dooooaaa!!!

I'm going to fashion a new one and see how it goes.

Jim

[rebel beck]

Jim,
As you know we have had problems with our lock but not like yours, I will tell you this I had a locksmith out 2 weeks ago to put my new door lock on and I stopped him when he told me the cost with the fabrication job to get the new lock to work. To make a long story short I had him to re do my dead bolt lock (cheaper) it was not working the spring had sprung on the inside so he had to go in and fabricate the guts of the deadbolt when he took it all out it fell apart (rusted out) wonder how that got water in there? So you may want to redo all of that.


Becky

[Jim & Susan]

Thanks, Becky. I'll make sure to use a little extra sealant around the lock when I install it. That is strange that the "inerds" would rust. You would think that a deadbolt would be made to stand up to weather.

Jim

[Jim & Susan]

Well, it turns out y'all were right. The P.O. (or somebody) replaced the striker plate at some point. Once it was removed, it was easy to see that it was a poor replacement for the original. A Dremmel tool was helpful to remove some of the aluminum around the edges to make it fit better. I used the buffer attachment to get ride of that old green paint and now it works pretty darn good. It'll never be like original, too many miles on the old 'gal. But much better. Here's a couple of pics of it all cleaned up.

Jim

[tphan]

hey jim 'n susan- the factory-type strike plates are available, from inland or oasis. I got one because they do indeed wear out, I assume from the vibrating and rubbing going down the road mostly. Now my door latches like on my old VW bug- makes your ears pop- with a light push. But the deadbolt thing- what is involved with installing one? Any old deadbolt from HD? Any tricky milling involved? Will the inside part not get in the way of the screen door when both are closed? Anyone done this job on an early 70's? Sure don't want to screw up my nice, original door or jamb. Thanks- tim

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Jim & Susan

Well, it turns out y'all were right. The P.O. (or somebody) replaced the striker plate at some point. Once it was removed, it was easy to see that it was a poor replacement for the original. A Dremmel tool was helpful to remove some of the aluminum around the edges to make it fit better. I used the buffer attachment to get ride of that old green paint and now it works pretty darn good. It'll never be like original, too many miles on the old 'gal. But much better. Here's a couple of pics of it all cleaned up.

Jim

Jim.

When the cast stainless steel striker pocket is used, a brass shim must also be used with it.

Actually, the striker bolt will rest on the shim, instead of the harder stainless steel plate.

Andy

[Jim & Susan]

Tim, take a look at this thread. RickStream gave a really good description of his deadbolt install on a '74 model.

http://www.airforums.com/forum...ion-14754.html

In my camper, the deadbolt won't interfere with the screen door. It's only a guess, but yours is probably pretty close to our '73 and his '74.

Jim

[Jim & Susan]

Looks like you were right Andy. I got a chance to look at a '72 on Saturday and the striker "plate" is actually a pocket. The P.O. on mine obviuosly replaced the pocket with a simple (and crude) plate that is preventing the door from closing properly.

So, Andy, ballpark, what does one of these run?

JIm

P.S. So, is anybody else having problems uploading pics tonight?

[Jim & Susan]

Try pic again. Second time seems to be the charm.

Jim