'70 Caravanner restoration

[Jeremy9107]

tomorrow hope to tackle the front end cap. will be nice to get those wires out of the way.


going to follow rugjenkins thread and will hope it comes out as good. using same 1/8" Lyan ply as rear end cap. will not use buck rivets however, just don't have the right size rivets or as many clecos as will be required.

the one question i have is how to trim out the window frames. the prior fiberglass end cap had molded inserts that trimmed out the windows and covered the rivets. trying to think of how that can be accomplished with wood...

[ALUMINUMINUM]

Anything here??
http://www.flexwood.com/


Funny how random one's collection of clamps can become eh? Watching the woodworking shows and seeing their vast arrays of state of the art clamps, neatly indexed along a back wall, compared to my random fifty year collection of "whatever-however" clamps, hmmmmmm...

[TouringDan]

I really like the way you are building your cabinets- very light weight and strong, great looking too.

Our you going to be installing an ice cooler or an electric fridge?

Dan

[dbj216]

Your galley is starting to look like a galley. It is fun, but time consuming to build such cabinets, and the overhead lockers are even harder to make. Cabinet making is a specialized skill, and one that is quite marketable. I don't have the necessary skills.

David

[Jeremy9107]

Aluminuminum. Thanks for the link. Believe that is the way to go as need to match the curve of those window frames and want to stick with wood. Going to call them and price this out.

David. Skills are at a low here too. But does not stop me from trying.

[Jeremy9107]

Snowed today...so did not feel up to building end cap as would have had to be in and out of trailer a bunch to make cuts.


Need to ponder more about what to do about trimming out the windows before getting to end cap anyway. Will check out Aluminuminum's suggestion.

Realized there remained a mysterious leak around those same windows.


It seems there was damage in the past to the entire front end as this is the only place on the trailer with olympic rivets. Every now and then would notice water on the window frame. Have sealed the seams on the outside, and yet there were still leaks. Believe the culprit is the olympic rivets...so applied loads of Sikaflex. Nothing precise about this.

[Jeremy9107]

Dan. Purchased a Norcold fridge. Upside is that it is DC/AC/LP. Downside is that it is smaller than the original Dometic. The wife was a bit concerned about not having enough cold food/beverage storage, so came up with idea of creating an "ice box". Basically will have a 70 qt cooler in the lower cabinet on the street side (the fridge sits opposite on the curb side) that will pull out like a drawer.



Looked up cooler options and decided Yeti and the other high end coolers were too expensive. Went with the Coleman Xtreme. It keeps ice for 5 days (tested this out during the summer with a friends cooler and was impressed). Cost was only $30.


Yeti and the others keep ice for 7 days so thought would try to equal that by insulating the cabinet where the cooler will sit. Had left over 1" Rmax foam board insulation that was used in the belly and lined the walls. Used left over Lyan ply for the faces. Plan to put some ply on the back wall as well and will insulate the top and bottom of the space once the shelf is installed. Maybe that will get another 2 days of ice time??




The bottom of this space is where the pump and water filters will be. The hoses are coming from the fresh water fill on down to the fresh water tank.

[Toolmanbt]

wow Jeremy9107, very nice cabinets build. Thanks for the pics and ideas, I hope to be starting the interior soon on my rig.

[chrisetmike]

The cooler is a great idea. We used one all the time when we had our Apache. We would freeze 2 pop bottles of water and everything would stay nice and cold for a long time .

[TouringDan]

Your answer is exactly what I was hoping for. The cooler, super insulated, will be perfect for keeping drinks in.

Dan

[Jeremy9107]

Worked a bit more on the lower street side kitchen cabinets. Covered all the insulation with 1/8" Lyan ply left over from the end cap builds and sectioned off the wheel well tub with it too.

The "ice box" is in the front half. The pump and water filters will be in the bottom section with some storage there, there will be a sliding shelf in the center which will hold a 70 qt cooler, and there will be a small depth drawer at the top.


The sink will sit over the rear half and there will be lots of storage below. The water lines will run underneath the ply covering the wheel tubs but it will be removeable in case need access. Still need to build shelves and drawers and recently got idea from David to have shelves slide out as well so will need to get more drawer slides.

[Jeremy9107]

Weather dried up so got to work on the front end caps according to Rugjenkins instructions. Was thinking how nice it was going to be to get all those wires out of the way.


Used the same 1/8" Lyan ply that was used on the rear end cap. He was right on with cutting pieces at 12"x48". Marked a line 1" back from where the inner Aluminum skin ends in front of the end cap space and started each piece square with that line, then just allowed it to bend naturally until it reached the window frame. Clamped and marked where to cut.


Cleco'd and riveted in place one piece at a time beginning from the bottom up.



Used 1" overlap for each piece. It took 12 pieces to complete, although the last piece was cut at 18"x48". All the wires running along the center roof line to the control panel will be under that last piece so will make it easy to access if ever need to.






This was a 2 man job for sure as had to hold the ply against those compound curves in order to mark edges, drill holes, cleco and rivet. The ply seemed to be at its max bending capability as there were times when it wanted to crack.

As with all other things on this project, it took more than one attempt to get it right. As can tell in photos, started first few pieces on each side with grain running horizontally, then for some reason started cutting them vertically. Was going to leave it that way but it just did not look right. Had to buy more ply and was worried would not be able to match the color and grain, but got lucky with the same batch still at the wood store and remade the pieces. Definitely looks better with all the grain running horizontally.

[Jeremy9107]

There was a plastic extrusion previously trimming the windows in the fiberglass end cap that was warped a bit presumably from water leaking and sun exposure. Without that trim, the rivets holding the window frames together are exposed.



Could not tell how Rugjenkins trimmed his windows out so stepped into this project blindly. Decided to just use some of the remaining cherry board that was given and ripped and planed it to a width that would cover the rivets and fit the frame. That window frame curves in multiple directions so it was not an easy task cutting those pieces and fitting into place. Actually was quite frustrating and don't recall how it was eventually accomplished but think it was multiple attempts at scribing, tracing, guesstimating, cutting close to the mark and sanding down with 60 grit sandpaper on a belt sander.



Will continue to trim this out next weekend...

[Iansk]

Endcap looks really nice.
What to plan to seal the wood work with?

Ian

[TouringDan]

Jeremy

Your end cap looks great.

Nice explanation of the installation process, including the trials and tribulations, with a complete set of photos.

I suppose you would install aluminum the same way?

Dan

[dbj216]

The wood end cap covering looks very nice indeed. There is a lot of craftsmanship in that project. It will make your trailer look very dramatic inside.

David

[Jeremy9107]

Hey all. Thanks for the end cap compliments. Kinda like the wood look vs the fiberglass look.

Turns out, the ply was the easy part. The hard part has been trimming out the windows. So many curves in so many directions. Probably would help to have better wood working skills. Has taken much time and many attempts. Nonetheless, have made progress.

Many trials and errors to get the frame pieces right. Tried to scribe with a legit scribe tool but it was an epic fail. Used styrofoam and pressed a mold as best it would, but think in the end it was just take a little off at a time until it fit. Made 4 pieces like a frame. It was a bit like a puzzle fitting them in though.




Had many gaps in the frame, so decided to make an insert to cover the gaps and the aluminum of the window frame too. Found this was a bit easier. Just traced that frame on computer paper and cut it out of cardboard.




These pieces went in nicely, but had to put some screws in to help them hold the curve.




Trim led to more trim. Partly to cover the woodworking mistakes, and partly to cover the ends of the end cap pieces.



Also put trim on the rear edge of the front end cap. Used a 2" wide piece that was back cut with a notch deep enough to cover the ends. The thinnest part of this peice was 3/16" and bent easily to the curve, but the notched part was more like 5/16' and did not bend so easily. The first piece cracked in several places while putting up, so on the second go around we soaked it for 2 hours in boiling water inside a 4" ABS tube. Had to get creative to get water in that 10' tube. Worked out well though, no cracks when bending in place. Seems to bring everything together nicely.

[Jeremy9107]

Looks nice from afar, but up close there are gaps. Wanted to fill these in and have read many woodworking tricks. Sawdust mixed with glue, wood putty, etc. Wondering if anyone has any DIY suggestions for the amateur.

[Jeremy9107]

Read through many resto threads before starting this project. Mainly to get an idea of what to expect, but also looking for ideas. Found Aluminuminum's kitchen to be very impressive. Particularly liked the aluminum wall and hood he created.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f427...ew-126474.html



Hoping he wasn't going to mind borrowing the idea (imitation is the best form of flattery right?!).

Got rid of the professional scribe tool when it failed for the window trim, but tried again with a much more primitive tool for this wall (yes those are child training chop sticks with a marker taped on). Don't laugh, it actually worked...probably just got lucky.




Traced and cut it from left over belly skin aluminum and it fit quite snug.





Glued and clamped and buck riveted in place. The buck rivets were more for look. At some point will clean up the metal.




Will begin working on the range hood next. Gonna borrow same design concept as Aluminuminum but will have to modify a bit to fit in between the upper cabinet and closet.

[dbj216]

You are making good progress. The wood trim for the front window looks nice. But way beyond my woodworking skills. Just think how much you have learned in this project.

And Aluminuminum won't mind a bit if you fabricate a similar range hood. All you have to do is send him the royalty check. Won't mind a bit.

I'm going back to making flat shelves. Easy peasy.

David