Tale of a '55 FC Whale Reno

[MattB]

Bubba, this looks remarkably similar to mine, albeit without the Alex comments. I have found other mistakes though, corrected some, and made a few of my own to hide.

I too had the exact same wiring remnants. Scary.

I have been very selectively removing the black sealant based upon locations where I need to reseal. Though I have seen others do it, it does not seem very practical to take it all off. The heat gun followed by some kind of solvent, seems to work best, but is on very persistently. I will be interested in hearing if someone has the quick and easy solution to removing it, but this is where I am thus far.

Looks great otherwise.

[Jakattack]

Now I am eagerly watching for an answer to this question: how to proceed with the old black sealant covering interior seams of outer skin? Remove it? Coat over it? Leave it?

Hey Bubba, amazing progress! Looks great!!

On the black sealant I found a mild brass wire wheel and a brass cup brush did great for me, I will be removing all the sealant and using a professional grade bed-liner or rhino-liner material instead.

I say the professional grade because the big box stores sell subpar products. A professional grade will have a higher solids percentage and will out last the cheaper stuff every time.

I had the black sealant failing in areas at both end caps and it was flaking off... and worst of all leaking! I'm going to spray the entire end cap and then the seams only on the rest.

Hope that helps, and your local automotive paint shop should carry a good quality bed-liner or kit that comes with a unique spray gun for application.

[Bubba L]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm willing to try all the above to keep moving forward. Like Alex was told, don't give up.

[Bubba L]

Many exterior skin panels were dented, torn, punctured and/or corroded, so we have started to replace some. Replacing panels is alluring because the more you replace, the more you want to replace. It is not difficult and the gratification is pretty instant. As Toastie mentioned in post #7, it may save time and money in the long run. So far, we have replaced the streetside front and side panels.

In preparation, we removed affected windows and old panels one at a time. We polished around the window and where old panels would butt up to new ones. The exterior end cap was completely stripped and polished because the roof had originally been painted and we wanted to make sure none of the end cap parts had to be replaced.

We bought new rolls of 2024 T3 Aluminum from Westbrook Metals in San Antonio. Using the old panel as a pattern, we had little trouble cutting and fitting new ones. There was an interesting H shaped support assembly, made from 1.5" c channel, on the inside curve of each corner that lent quite a bit of rigidity to the curve. I reused the H support on the curved panel and the original horizontal stringers on the side panels and transferred their locations to the new aluminum. Note: the original horizontal stringers were let into the rib, but not attached. I added a rivet to attach the stringers to the rib to keep the stringers in their original locations when the exterior skin was removed.


The original streetside wheel well was quite mangled from a PO blown tire mishap, but the curbside was good. I used a piece of masonite to trace and transfer the curve of the wheel well to the new aluminum. To attach the wheel well to the new skin, I drilled the existing wheel well rivet holes from the inside out with a 12"x1/8" bit. We put a bead of Trempro 635 between 2 abutting panels and a spot of Parbond in the buck rivet holes. Since we're using some of the original 1/8" rivet holes, we drilled them to 5/32" and used modified brazier head rivets from VTS.


Something we have to start thinking about are the window frames; we have several that will need replacing. At this time, I am planning to fabricate them from 3003H14 aluminum (per HiHoAgRV). The original backframe gasket required the gasket to be sandwiched between the skin and window frame so that replacement could not occur without removing the window. I would like to replicate what others have done by using flush rivets & butyl tape to attach the frame to the skin, then use a D gasket on the backside of the operable panel. Another consideration is the original screen. I don't know if I can replicate the window frame curl that originally held the spline and screen; I may consider eliminating the curl from the frame and fabricating more conventional removable flush screens.

Thanks for your thoughts/ideas and appreciate any new ones!

[Aerowood]

Nice work, replacing panels is not as hard as some make it out to be.

[Boxite]

Why did you choose to install the panels with factory-labelling outside where it is visible...?..?? is that because you planned to polish regardless...? Wouldn't the polishing be easier/lesser if you'd faced the labelling inside?

[bwoodtx]

Originally Posted by Boxite

Why did you choose to install the panels with factory-labelling outside where it is visible...?..?? is that because you planned to polish regardless...? Wouldn't the polishing be easier/lesser if you'd faced the labelling inside?

That should just be a piece of protective plastic that will peel right off without any lettering being underneath.

[Aerowood]

Not all aluminum sheet comes with the plastic coating. None of the metal we order for our aircraft has it. The alloy numbers wipe right off with acetone. The numbers also come off with the Alumaprep acid etch that we use prior to alodining.

[Bubba L]

Boxite, Bruce and Aerowood are correct. I have to pay an extra dollar per foot to have the PVC placed on one side from some suppliers. That's twelve dollars per one 4 x 12 foot piece, but to me it's worth it. We don't strip the plastic until we start bucking. It sure does keep the incidental scratches at a minimum. Some of the lettering does bleed through, but easily cleaned. But at the end of the day, we will do a light polish
with the cyclo. Bubba

[mimiandrews]

It's looking good!

[Boxite]

Originally Posted by Bubba L

Boxite, Bruce and Aerowood are correct. I have to pay an extra dollar per foot to have the PVC placed on one side from some suppliers. That's twelve dollars per one 4 x 12 foot piece, but to me it's worth it. We don't strip the plastic until we start bucking. It sure does keep the incidental scratches at a minimum. Some of the lettering does bleed through, but easily cleaned. But at the end of the day, we will do a light polish
with the cyclo. Bubba

I've handled a lot of 2024-T3 working on airplanes and I've never seen the alloy/mfr'r printed on peel-off plastic. It was always stamped in ink (yes, usually removeable with acetone or mek...but not always).... but depending upon the age of the sheet, sometimes erasing it was a problem, and might leave a shadow that must be polished to remove it.
So... the answer, BubbaL ...is that the Alclad 2024 stencil was printed on peel-off protective plastic? Thx.

[Bubba L]

Boxite,

You are correct, it appears the lettering is stamped on the metal and the pvc cover is on top. When the pvc cover is removed, some ink stays on the aluminum and the rest comes off on the cover. The lettering now is easily removed from the aluminum; however, it does not appear the old lettering was. Here is an interesting article about how the lettering on some old aluminum may have made itself permanent. See:
As the ink wore away it caused a differential in the degree of corrosion in this particular spot resulting in the preservation of the letters’ shape.
in this article:
https://tighar.org/Publications/TTra...9/Markings.pdf

Interesting subject - thanks,
Bubba

[Boxite]

I'm familiar with TIGHAR, as I've hosted Rick Gillespie at convention as an Emelia Earhart speaker. The "shadow" (as I call it) is indeed caused by the differential of corrosion/erosion of the AlClad (pure aluminum cladding) surface of the sheet.

Kind regards
George

[DFlores]

Bubba,
I hope that all that "buck riveting" does not weigh on your relationship with your riveting partner. I remember it stressed my dear wife's carefree disposition.

[Bubba L]

David, so far, so good. In this Texas heat it's hard not to get a little stressed. But I think seeing progress outweighs the stress. if Diane is free, they could switch off on the bucking bar. Nothing but fun. Thanks

[Bubba L]

Yesterday, we replaced the streetside back panel.

There were two items of interest here. First, it is not a straight shot from the bottom of the whale tail to the bumper; there is a dogleg at the bottom of the window as seen in this photo.


Next, note how the H support on the interior of the back panel was notched on one side toward the bottom to allow more curvature.


Curbside next!
Bubba

[DFlores]

There is not going to be an original piece of aluminum left on that trailer

[Bubba L]

Mr. Flores, I wouldn't touch the end caps except for a little Nuvite or Caswell. Bubba

[HiHoAgRV]

That is beautiful work.

[Bubba L]

HiHoAgRv, I appreciate the compliment. Our attempt at this project would not have been considered if not for you and others on the forums that have logged their experiences on their projects and offered suggestions to others. Thanks, Bubba