Ice in exterior seams

[putback]

Has anyone delt with exterior panel seams expanded by ice? Found an early '60s I'd like to restore, been out side awhile, some seam leakage through to the interior. Right now with the spring freeze/thaw you can see ice is expanding some overlaps. Could they be "streched" beyond repair? She's a little sweetie, I'd like to save her!

[Mrs_RedSHED]

Not my area of expertise but I'm betting those "in the know" here on the forums might be able to more easily answer your questions if you could supply a few pictures of the areas for which you are concerned.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by putback

Has anyone delt with exterior panel seams expanded by ice? Found an early '60s I'd like to restore, been out side awhile, some seam leakage through to the interior. Right now with the spring freeze/thaw you can see ice is expanding some overlaps. Could they be "streched" beyond repair? She's a little sweetie, I'd like to save her!

Don't worry about the ice.

That's why the seams have considerable overlap.

If ice indeed caused leaks as you describe, then there would be at least 100,000 Airstream trailers and motorhomes, with the same problem.

That is not to say you cannot have water leaks, but not likely from ice.

Andy

[bertro]

Andy just a quick shout out to you, Thanks for all of your good old school advice. Robert

[safari62]

Originally Posted by putback

Has anyone delt with exterior panel seams expanded by ice? Found an early '60s I'd like to restore, been out side awhile, some seam leakage through to the interior. Right now with the spring freeze/thaw you can see ice is expanding some overlaps. Could they be "streched" beyond repair? She's a little sweetie, I'd like to save her!

Ice in the seams? If you can add photos that would help. Better yet, tell me the location of this frozen forgotten one with stretch marks and I can check it out for you.

[putback]

Darn it safari 62, now where did I misplace that trailer! Thanks folks, May not have ice pics, serious warm up right now. Been following A.S. forums quite a while, learning. Was hoping for advice from someone like Andy. Told me just what I'd hoped to hear. Any and all advice is welcome. Waiting for the end of "mud season" to bring her home.

[johnb1]

do the rivets leak? how do you seal them?

[johnb1]

andy,how do you seal rivets that leak?

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by johnb1

do the rivets leak? how do you seal them?

Guess it depends on the rivets and what sort of access you have to them.

The real question is whether the rivets are the cause of a leak or just a result of an exterior seam that needs to be resealed. Are the leaking rivets "interior rivets"? If so, I'd venture a guess that you have seam leaks from the outside which allows water between the two skins...then the water is coming through the interior pop-rivets. The rivets do not go all the way through from the exterior to the interior...and the interior rivets shouldn't need to be watertight if the exterior skins are sealed properly.

On the other hand, if the exterior rivets had washers that have deteriorated away or are just loose, I would say, drill them out and replace them with new Olympic rivets, each dabbed it a bit of vulkem when re-installed. Or if the rivets are still tight and you have access to the back side of them, just dab the vulkem on the backs...this is assuming the interior panels are removed.

Shari