Sorry to have been off-message for so long - work (a lot of it Stateside, which has allowed a few orders from Vintage Trailer Supplies to be brought home in my luggage) has just got in the way.
Gentle work with a rubber hammer and the very occasional use of a metal hammer & dolly. The risk always is to use too much force & stretch the aluminium - as in SO much of life; less is more !
Before we re-fit the floor, time to remove the front end-cap and look at that DING.
Mainly pop-rivets to drill out. But where the end-cap joins the front window they've used self-tapping screws.
Maybe to pull the end-cap tight into the window frame. Once those screws are released it pops back against the outer skin.
A bit of a fiddle to get the end-cap out as its riveted in place before the ceiling panels are put in. But with a bit of devious drilling those rivets can be popped & the end-cap will drop down leaving the ceiling panels in place.
Lots of tar and rockwool...
... and the inner bulge of the outer end-cap DING (not sure if DING is a word you use Stateside but here in Blighty it means a bit of an error parking up !).
Gentle work with a rubber hammer and the very occasional use of a metal hammer & dolly. The risk always is to use too much force & stretch the aluminium - as in SO much of life; less is more !
A few curbside scrapes are also teased out. Its a lot easier to get your arms to both sides while the body is in thin air !
The end-cap is in good shape, though interestingly there is one panel with the ALCLAD print lettering on the inside.
The end-cap removed is both naturally strong in one axis, though the curves of aluminium but also fragile in the other, so I think we'll brace her to stop any accidents while she's out.
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Fabulous photos there! That's quite an operation you have going. Dings - yes, that's one of the words used, among others. :-)
ReplyDeleteChis I think you are doing a fabulous job. Good to know you have experts over there that can come by and lend a hand. I would have loved to see the customs man's face when he saw a suitcase full of rivets, gaskets, and vulkem....
ReplyDeleteThanks Sugarfoot - very glad you like the photos - sort of what I do so they SHOULD be good!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Frank - Yes, Pete of 'Vintage American Trailers' (see link) is brilliant with all the metalwork I don't have the skills in. Sadly he's not as 'on hand' as I'd like - its a 4hr drive - but well worth it to get the work done so well.
Luckily those cheery folk in customs (???!!!) we're distracted by lots of Hi Def TV equipment to bother with a package from Vintage Trailer Supplies wrapped up in my dirty laundry !