Battery compartment face frame 100286

[TheVagabond]

I'm renovating a 1978 Trade wind. Prior to my acquiring it, there appears to have been a small accident to the front right side of the trailer. In said accident the Battery compartment door face frame was damaged/broken. the door itself is still in fine shape if I can find a new frame.

It would appear that the part has been discontinued and I do not see it listed in any of the normal go-to vintage parts sites. Has anyone found an aftermarket replacement door/frame that will fit into a similar size opening? There is not much space for expanding the width between the aluminum frame members and I haven't found any aftermarket doors/frame thats are the same size. Any help would be appreciated. Here is a link to the discontinued part at Out of doors mart.

https://odmrv.com/catalog/index.php?...oducts_id=1413

[ROBERT CROSS]

Do you have a photo? It may be a candidate for welding and refinishing.

I de-scrathed ours after removing the clear.

Bob
🇺🇸

[TheVagabond]

Here is the damage to the frame.

[richard5933]

You're lucky in that you still have the broken piece. My suggestion would be to take it to a local fabrication/welding shop and see if it's something that they can braze. If so, then you'd probably have to remove the frame, get it repaired, and then rivet it back on.

[ROBERT CROSS]

^
Yes A good fabricator could do it, convincing them on such a small job may be the hiccup.

Or...now don't laugh. Clear Go-rilla glue and a new rivet.

Bob
🇺🇸

[richard5933]

There are some aluminum brazing rods which claim to be suitable for use with a propane gas torch. Can't verify that they work, but I've seen it on YouTube so it must be true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqkceLrH9Ao

Getting the pieces clean is going to be vital, and I'd want to practice on some scrap pieces for a while till I got the hang of this.

[TheVagabond]

Yall are amazing haha. Will try some gorilla glue on some other pieces and see the bond strength.. I will also look into playing around with some brazing rods and will report back! Perhaps a local fabricator will take pity on me and throw me a bone.

[CBWELL]

JB Weld works very well fixing damage like you have. I carry some with me all the time in the trailer. Not much that it won't bond, and bond well!!

[JCWDCW]

Take it to a welding shop They can weld aluminum and you can grind/sand it back to shape if necessary. Cost ....maybe $20 cash....easy and cheaper than locating an original. Otherwise there are complete battery compartment doors and frames available that you can adapt to your trailer
JCW

[A W Warn]

A good welding shop can repair that frame, if you have all of the perimeter. Though, the frame will have to be removed from the trailer to be repaired.
After the welder is done it will still need detail work. You will need to file/grind the frame face back to the original profile. Then sand, with some extra fine sandpaper, to restore the surface finish.

another option -
There is a place called "National Recovery Service" in Liberty, NC. He had a dozen or so old wrecked Airstreams behind his shop. Last time I was there, about 10-15 years ago, some of those trailers had the battery box door/frame still attached. At that time he was selling parts.

Another possible source -
I have no experience with - "Colaw RV" salvage in Missouri.

Good luck!

[ROBERT CROSS]

With the door frame riveted to the AS, it might be prudent to try less aggressive methods first, brazing may be problematic with the frame attached, and removing all the rivets may create unneeded work...KISS & ex-spurt opinion first.🤔

Bob
🇺🇸