Restoring a 1955 bubble

[BB 55 Bubble]

I went slow and steady. Checking the temp of the metal and only using enough pressure to remove the oxidation. Luckily the drill I bought for this at Harbor Freight has a speed adjustment to keep the speed in check. I figured I did not want to use my good Dewalt drill and blow through the international electric brushes.

[BB 55 Bubble]

I finished the visible metal buffing and turned my focus to the surfaces that are visible only when the window is open. With a light sanding using a foam block, fine grit, I lightly roughed up the surface. Primed the metal with a aluminum specific spray paint I bought at Ace Hardware. Once dry I painted it with a light gray "hammer texture" Rust-oleum. No will see it but me, but what the heck.

[BB 55 Bubble]

The window "guts received the same treatment. Prime and paint. The window lifts received a sanding with the same sanding block and some polishing with a brown jewelers rouge. Then a light oil to prevent rust.

[BB 55 Bubble]

The internal screen frame did get the polish, prime, and paint. I bought some aluminum screen from Home Depot, more expensive than steel but did not want to tempt the diss-similar metal corrosion Gods. I used some metal shears and rough cut the screen to fit. I squared the screen to the frame the best I could. Using a cheep screen tool I proceeded to affix the screen into the channel of the frame. Do not do it too tight or you will have a heck of a time getting the bars in the center of the frame. Once in place I trimmed the excess. As a extra meshed of secureness I used hot glue gun and placed a bead of glue to hold it in. High heat with all purpose sticks.

[BB 55 Bubble]

Now the guts. First the support bars. With all aluminum, high strength pop rivets I start at the top. No matter how hard I try I always seam to get the screen in too tight. Well with some clamps and some gentle pressure all is good. I place the inside catches with some new buck rivets. I cut the screen strategically with a razor blade to allow the window litters to glide freely. I replaced the slide catches and springs and that is that for the screen side of the frame.

[BB 55 Bubble]

Here are those catches and springs installed. Needle nose pliers are your friend!

[BB 55 Bubble]

Now glass. Once the paint dried, I gathered all if the tools and equipment I needed. I used the replacement bolt and sheet nut from Vintage Trailer Supply (Can I get a dis punt for saying that? LOL). I used a DAP 100% silicone rubber sealant that is for outdoor sealant. My glass choice was a solar bronze reflective glass. It has a tint and also a decent R ratting to reflect some of that sun heat. The glass shop was able to get a thickness for me that was very close to the original thickness. After finding which side of the glass was the most reflective, one side is more reflective than the other. The most reflective goes out. I say that because I almost put the wrong side out. Not good since all I could see from the in-side was myself. I ran a bead of the calk on the inside edge and out a very slight bit. This takes some restraint not to put too much down. If you do you will have it gushing over the edge on the outside of the window. At the urging of my glass supplier I also placed a second bead on top of the glass making a tight seal. Also position the glass so it rests almost fully at the bottom of the frame. Leave a small gap less than a 1/16 of a inch to allow cushioning. On my trailer, the large windows have 6 pieces of metal retainer strips. 2 on the top splitting at the brace, one each side. The small ones have 4, one each side. Don't forget to mark these when you take it all apart. It helps to line up the holes again. Before the silicone dried but after it had a small skin on the surface I placed the clips. I wanted it to not stick to the metal retainer strips, but I also wanted it to have some give to align the holes. When I place the screws in their holes I only put them in loosely. That there is some play in alighning the holes. This makes for much less frustration and no extra drillin. I put in the support bars and tighten in the screws and ta-da one restored glass frame.

[BB 55 Bubble]

Here is a picture of one of the smaller windows I finished. I pre polished the shell with some Nuvite NuShine II. I placed a section of new gasket between the shell and screen frame. This I also bought at VTS. Once that is attached I put the window in it's track on the screen frame and attached the lifter with new stainless steel bolt with a nylon lock nut. Once I had that done I replaced the polished water drip strip with a healthy dose of buttle on the back side.

[BB 55 Bubble]

I also have a polish that works wonders on aluminum. It is a liquid suspended jewelers rouge. Cheep and works great after a first cut with Neuvite medium polish. I still need to play with it. My first impression is positive.

[marzboy]

Wow! That looks like a lot of work, very nice!

[BB 55 Bubble]

Rear hatch was destroyed beyond repair. Just received a new door from interstate metals in Oregon here. Made and cut to fit my existing opening on the rear hatch. I also received a new sheet of 2024 T3 alclad in the proper thickness to replace the mill finish that the door came with.

[BB 55 Bubble]

I replaced the metal skin and matched the lock holes. The polished alcad looks way better than the mill. I found out that the inner insulation was a foam board adhered to the metal skins with spray adhesive. When I re sandwiched the skins to the foam I used a foam friendly adhesive.

[BB 55 Bubble]

All done.

[BB 55 Bubble]

Install of the insulation underway.

[marzboy]

Lookin good! Did you use anything under the first layer of insulation to create an air gap?

[BB 55 Bubble]

2 inch strips of foam board insulation. I'll pic it when I get home.

[marzboy]

Originally Posted by BB 55 Bubble

2 inch strips of foam board insulation. I'll pic it when I get home.

That would be sweet thanks. That is a project in my very near future. I am just waiting on a friend to help me redo the rear lower pannels and buck some rivets.

[worldinchaos]

Originally Posted by marzboy

That would be sweet thanks. That is a project in my very near future. I am just waiting on a friend to help me redo the rear lower pannels and buck some rivets.

I had the same issue- and after my friend helped me buck the rear streetside to replace the cruddy exploding olympics, I then proceeded to do 3/4" deep foam strips 2-3" wide, on all sides adjacent to metal ribs. I also filled the space between to make the air spaces no larger than 8"x12". This was then topped off with the reflectix bubble wrap, using spray adhesive and foil tape. Others can probably comment better, but my lesson learned was to use 1/2" deep strips next time , especially on the endcaps where there is less than a 1" gap in some places.

Just some food for thought.

[BB 55 Bubble]

Here is a roof section with the foam board up. I glue this in on the foam.

[BB 55 Bubble]

With 1/4 inch foam the sandwich is layered like this. Outer wall skin, calk, foam board, calk, insulation, calk, foam board, calk, inner skin wall.
Call is very expensive. Best I have found that attached to metal is the Loctite power grab heavy duty construction adhesive.
I accidentally left some on a pannel and it was very hard to remove.