Demolition Begins - Page 3 - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

garyk52 · 03-11-2012, 10:01 AM

I cut the groove for the AC wire in the new Styrofoam with a Weller Soldering Iron and a piece of .035 welding wire.

Cheers
Garyk

sam · 03-11-2012, 11:53 PM

This warm weather is giving us all a break for outside chores.Never thought 55/60 degrees would be considered a "heat wave."

garyk52 · 05-25-2012, 12:53 PM

Got the roof sealed with KoolSeal, just finished stripping the vinyl from the paneling that is left in the camper. Camper has set since October with a heavy duty tarp that doesn't leak, and I still had wet spots on the paneling and ceiling after I stripped the vinyl from it.

I suggest anyone doing a wall or ceiling repair think seriously about stripping the vinyl so the paneling can dry. Tomorrow I will start removing the windows and fill in with foam and lauan where I removed the rotted and loose paneling and foam.

Cheers and have a good Memorial weekend
Garyk52

garyk52 · 05-26-2012, 08:21 PM

All you need is a small piece of 1/2 plywood, 2 amp battery charger, some 16 or 14 gauge wire, 5 ft of .035 welding wire and about 6 inches of Nichrome wire, couple of screws and a straight edge, then make yourself your own foam cutter

Cheers
garyk52

sam · 05-26-2012, 10:17 PM

Gary,good to know you are back on the job. I read an article in the paper where the weather is predicted to be hot all summer. This can be good and bad. Should help with drying out things. I need to repaint my entry steps,touch up the tongue with hammered paint. sick and tired of having to repaint the black chains each year. Bought a can of spray black rubber to do the job. I did a chain for my back fence gate and it held up beautifully over the winter. Decided my candle style interior lts. did look a little shabby. I used Krylon Metallic gold on two of them and they lookvery "rich". Love the HiLo,so glad our restoration is done. I don't do so good in extreme hot weather. Keep us posted on your progress.

garyk52 · 05-27-2012, 04:50 PM

Cut slots in the foam for Mirror fasteners and cabinets, rather than just screwing them to the paneling. I had a problem with the wall bowing badly in that corner, that is why there are 3 vertical 1/2 x 2 strips jacked and glued to the styrofoam to help straighten the outside wall. (2 of the strips where measured for the mirror) Something else I did which you can't see is I put a 1/2 x 6 x 10 inch piece of plywood on the upper back corner of the styrofoam to take some of the stress from the filon where the bracket for the awning sits.

Cheers
Garyk52

sam · 05-27-2012, 07:48 PM

Seems like you are doing a good job. You are correct in reinforcing the area where the awning bracket fasten to the fiberglass wall. We had to do this and their is a previous post by Sam Shields on this. I remember DH used pop rivets to fasten the underlay to the steel frame where possible. This is available so why not use it. Just curious as to why you are just taking off the vinyl covering and letting old paneling dry out? What section of the trailer would this be in?

garyk52 · 05-28-2012, 05:10 AM

Sam, 3 reasons for me to remove the vinyl from all the paneling. One, check for leaks after roof repair. Two, make sure all the old paneling is dry which it wasn't until I removed the vinyl, now it's completely dry. Three, when I glue the new 1/8 inch paneling to the old I will be gluing plywood to plywood and not plywood to vinyl coating. I only replaced styrofoam and paneling that was coming loose or rotted in the camper which ended up being about 1 1/2 4x8 sheets on the ceiling and 2 sheets on the sidewalls.

Cheers
garyk52

RCREYES · 05-29-2012, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garyk52

Got the roof sealed with KoolSeal, just finished stripping the vinyl from the paneling that is left in the camper. Camper has set since October with a heavy duty tarp that doesn't leak, and I still had wet spots on the paneling and ceiling after I stripped the vinyl from it.

I suggest anyone doing a wall or ceiling repair think seriously about stripping the vinyl so the paneling can dry. Tomorrow I will start removing the windows and fill in with foam and lauan where I removed the rotted and loose paneling and foam.

Cheers and have a good Memorial weekend
Garyk52

The tarp probably caused condensation. You need a cover that breathes.

garyk52 · 06-03-2012, 06:59 PM

Finished rebuilding the Refrigerator wall today. Couple more photos of my progress. Hope you guys don't mind me posting photos, if you do I'll stop.

Cheers
garyk52

sam · 06-03-2012, 10:50 PM

I vote for you to keep posting the pictures. It is good to see progress.

jcurtis95 · 06-04-2012, 06:48 AM

garyk,

Keep the pictures coming! I think it is good for all to see first hand various processes used in repair work. Your job seems to be coming along nicely.

Jerry Curtis
2406 T

garyk52 · 06-05-2012, 10:33 AM

Finally I'm at the last section of wall that I need to repair, the window area over the kitchen. Sam is giving everyone good advice about pulling the windows and recaulking them asap if you haven't done it yet. Looks like a lot of the damage I have to the sidewalls came from leaking windows. Another thing to pull and recaulk would be the vent for the rangehood, especially since nothing is holding it in except the outside skin. Mine will have 1/2 inch plywood to bite to when I'm done.

Something took up residence behind the trim ring of the window at some time or other. Lots of little tiny pieces of styrofoam all around the trim and holes bored in the foam in the top left hand corner.

Cheers
garyk52

sam · 06-05-2012, 02:29 PM

Thanks for the pictures and updates. We didn't have to tear out the portion of the wall where the stove vent is. Does the stove vent effectively vent out the cooking moisture to the outside.? Do the newer models still have a stove vent/light? I read where it is highly recommended that you remove your windows/replace with butyl tape /reinsert and put lexel caulk on the exterior. Do this if your windows are ten years old. I have three more windows to do when my left arm is completely healed up. Dh showed me one window where to old black sealer has pushed the silicone caulk away from the window. Silicone caulk is almost a swear word as far as RVS go!! Never use!!!! on windows or roof.

garyk52 · 06-24-2012, 08:47 AM

Got the Kitchen side wall paneled on Saturday going to panel the Door side hopefully Sunday.

Garyk52

sam · 06-24-2012, 09:33 AM

Lookslike you are coming along nicely on your restoration. Won't be long before you will be reinstalling your curtains and going camping.

garyk52 · 06-24-2012, 09:06 PM

Finished paneling the Door side Sunday, on to the ceiling next.

sam · 06-24-2012, 11:40 PM

Nice fab job! After you do the ceiling are you near completion? What glue did you end up using to put the paneling in place?

garyk52 · 06-25-2012, 08:06 AM

Sam, Thanks I went with what you did, heavy duty Liquid Nails. The reason for this is you had good luck using it. When I first asked you about Liquid Nails eating foam, I didn't realize they had changed the formula from a solvent based product to a water based product. The old style Liquid Nails used to eat foam for breakfast because of the solvent used back then. Now it doesn't seem to grip quite as quick but there is no smell either. Once dried I don't think it will be a problem.

After the ceiling then it's on to making the trim for the top of the walls and around the perimeter of the bottom of the top wall. Thinking of using plywood covered with marine vinyl at the bottom as the fake oak is not in very good shape, then a small amount of wiring and mounting a new converter, fix a small hydraulic leak in a fitting, and pull the wheels and check date codes and inspect brakes and bearings. Then I think I should be about done. Yea right

forgot the curtains and blinds.

Cheers
Garyk52

sam · 06-25-2012, 08:30 AM

The work never seems to end. This week the weather is cooler,so I'm hoping I can get some of my outdoor chores done. Finally had a chance to go to our HiLo. DH changed the door knob on the tan slider part of the door. The old one was wooden and the finish was peeling. Much better with a porcelin one. The best part was he got the knob at work for free. DH had a chance to Spray paint the edges of the step where the rug doesn't cover. Going to make it a priority to reseal the last three windows. This is the last week DH has to work fulltime. Then just twenty hrs. a week,semiretired at 66 years of age.