|
Post by Teachndad on Oct 5, 2023 5:41:00 GMT -8
Hi Friends, Time for the latest update on the walls. I am pretty much finished replacing the rotted wood on the curbside wall all with new poplar with the exception of a sistered stud. All new wood was pocket holed to new lumber or existing original lumber. I replaced the front radius boards. Below: Old wood. Arrow shows the section that would be replaced. Clamping and marking for cuts.
I replaced the skirt board under the doorway. Before picture shows the old sill board removed with a spacer board to maintain the width of the doorway. Old skirt board was visible in the first picture in this post. I replaced the window framing around the right front window opening. Old wood, though okay with was connected with staples, but not connected on the ends. Damaged paneling all but sealed the fate of the original window opening framing. I replaced the hinge (left side) doorway stud and the latch side (right side) doorway studs and sistered a new stud to it. Originally, it had just a half stud sistered to it. I replaced the half with a new pine wood stud. Below the image shows the original 1 ½ studs before I replaced both. The stud closest to the doorway was poplar and the sistered stud was left over pine I had. I replaced the doorway header. Before After - It fits like a puzzle piece. My worktime with the glue became really short as the fit was tight and it was 85 degrees outside. Despite working in the shade, the board started to set into place quicker than I anticipated. But, I got it. A little added stress never hurts. Next steps: On to the streetside wall with it’s issues… When I was teaching, I had kids with issues. When i am restoring my trailers, they have issues. I can't get away from it. Sadly, it looks like I have to replace all the original ash wood paneling. I wanted to save and match as much as possible, but a lot of it is rotted on the edges and it will be easier to just cut it all off and replace with new oak or birch paneling. Cheers. Rod
|
|
maddan
Junior Member
Posts: 71
Likes: 21
57 Westerner
Currently Offline
|
Post by maddan on Oct 9, 2023 6:03:57 GMT -8
Rod, Thanks for bringing back memories. Glad to see your making progress, one board at a time. There's a little rectangular cutout in the paneling, next to the doorway, close to floor. What was in that space? My Westerner did not have that. Just curious.
Cheers back at ya! Dan
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Oct 10, 2023 4:51:39 GMT -8
Rod, Thanks for bringing back memories. Glad to see your making progress, one board at a time. There's a little rectangular cutout in the paneling, next to the doorway, close to floor. What was in that space? My Westerner did not have that. Just curious. Cheers back at ya! Dan Dan, Dude, my Westerner Buddy! Thanks for posting! I am glad to bring back those memories. So, the rectangular cut out in the wall was from the old days when I had planned to lift the body off the frame, have the frame welded for repairs, and drop the body back down on to the frame and continue with the piecemeal restoration. That WAS the plan... I had to cut a rectangular opening in the wall paneling to place a horizontal 2 x 4 through the wall so that the body could rest on some saw horses. I also used the 2 x 4 to leverage against when I lifted the body. You can see it below. Looking closely, Buzz Lightyear stands on this horizontal support. Obviously, the 2 x 4 is now gone leaving the rectangular opening that's the size of a switch plate. I still have the piece I cut out, LOL. That opening would have been covered by the dinette base. So, I wasn't worried about anyone seeing it. TTYL Cheers, Rod
|
|
|
Post by vikx on Oct 10, 2023 11:39:17 GMT -8
Put a hidey hole shallow box in the hole; cover plate in the dinette. Handy for whatever...
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Oct 13, 2023 5:47:23 GMT -8
Thanks Vik! I wasn't aware they made shallow wall boxes.
Cheers,
Rod
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Oct 27, 2023 20:00:30 GMT -8
Hi Friends, Today, I trimmed the curbside wall with the jigsaw and the belt sander. This wall will eventually be used as an overall template for the streetside wall. First I took the old front wing pieces that I had kept and clamped it over the paneling to use as a template for what to trim and cut. The old set of lumber had the all important notch where the edge board would end. Here is what the wall looked like at the front. I would trim the area below the lowest blue tape strip - Jigsaw first and then fine sculpting with the belt sander.
Below, I trimmed down the light colored lumber to ⅛” of the pencil line to allow for possible adjustment when I match this wall to the streetside wall. After trimming and sanding. I had to tilt back the wall to get the belt sander underneath. I still wish I could keep the ash paneling. It will eventually be removed after I complete the new lumber for the rear wing. I am using the weathered edges as a guide for new lumber. Cheers, Rod
|
|
nccamper
Administrator
Posts: 7,743
Likes: 2,870
1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
Currently Offline
|
Post by nccamper on Oct 29, 2023 17:51:23 GMT -8
It would be a shame to replace the original panels after you made such an effort to save them.
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Oct 30, 2023 5:42:21 GMT -8
I agree with you NC. Still an internal debate for me. Some would say it's easier just to remove the old ash and slam on a new birch panel and route the edge in a jiffy. I don't always do things the easy way. The ceiling and wrap are too far gone, except for the panel just above the dinette down to the top of the front window. The rest of those panels are all unsaveable. I could as an option do what member Getnold did with her Westerner. She was able to keep the ash paneling in the walls and use birch for the ceiling and wrap. It works for me. Most people would never notice the difference in the grain and I haven't seen the ash paneling police ever. So, we will see what I do when I get closer. Cheers, Rod
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Nov 9, 2023 8:41:08 GMT -8
Well, it’s been a slog. My trailer is throwing stuff in my way. I moved the wall to the floor and stacked it on the streetside wall to see how it matched up. I had to go over to where the skins are stored and bring them back to my house. I placed them in the back of my pick up and ran a ratchet strap across tops of the skins to keep them from flapping on the drive home. (Note to self, always tie off the end of the ratchet strap…). When backing into my driveway, I hear this crinkling metallic sound, SUDDENLY. I jam on the brakes. My front end is sticking out in traffic. What’s that? “Doesn’t make sense. That’s weird.” So, lets back up some more thinking it was just a shifting of skins in the back. Same icky crinkling sound ensues! Expletive is uttered. I quickly go out and check and, you guessed it, the ratchet strap loose end has found it’s way under the rear tire AND had snagged on the edge of the skin in the truck bed and thus folded it over. I was able to quickly loosen the strap just enough to get it tossed to the ground and then I could back up my truck to get it out of traffic. I almost cried. With passion comes pain…, One skin had a crinkle in it and formed a pinhole at the crinkle point. I managed to flatten it out on both pieces. New skins for part of the trailer may be in order with a full repaint over the old. I don’t know yet. (sigh) It definitely wasn’t in the budget. I do have one of those arched vintage vent covers I could place over it. I shake it off and go cry into my beer. Mistake #2 - The walls are off, but what I didn’t do was to check with the skin screwed on first to see if my repairs so far were in the right place. I discovered using the old holes in the top of the wall as a guide, and fully inserting the skins in the seam found that the walls are too short by @3/8”. As a result, I glued on extensions to the bottom and used our friend, Mr. Belt Sander to help fit to the skins. I come to discover that one of my extensions falls right at the drop point for the wall on top of the outrigger end. It would never take the weight of the wall, so I pulled out the piece of the front radius and recut and re-screwed in place. PXL_20231106_223007536 Mr. Belt Sander had wandered off to finish the job. You can’t get good help these days can you? While the skin was on, I noticed they never built it with backer boards for the drip cap mounting screws. I added some lumber by gluing it to the top of the window frame openings. I still have to cut and glue a backer board for over the storage compartment door openning. Cheers, Rod
|
|
|
Post by danrhodes on Nov 10, 2023 9:17:37 GMT -8
I agree with you NC. Still an internal debate for me. Some would say it's easier just to remove the old ash and slam on a new birch panel and route the edge in a jiffy. I don't always do things the easy way. The ceiling and wrap are too far gone, except for the panel just above the dinette down to the top of the front window. The rest of those panels are all unsaveable. I could as an option do what member Getnold did with her Westerner. She was able to keep the ash paneling in the walls and use birch for the ceiling and wrap. It works for me. Most people would never notice the difference in the grain and I haven't seen the ash paneling police ever. So, we will see what I do when I get closer. Cheers, Rod Haven't been around here too much, show up and the Westerner is well on his way! Our Ash was trashed, so we replaced all the wall panels with birch and used the ash to repair the cabinets. Gives it a bit of a furniture look which is not terrible.
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Nov 10, 2023 11:20:02 GMT -8
Hey Dan! Yup, making progress on ole Andy. Glad to see you back and sharing your comments and perspective! Cheers, Rod
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Jan 12, 2024 23:05:13 GMT -8
Hi Friends, 2 months since my last update: I have been working on rebuilding the streetside wall but especially replacing the sill boards. I sistered one stud near the window and replaced some of the window framing. Here is the before image I am keeping the lumber that is still good. Some had some blackening, but they were not weakened. So, the wall is Frankesteined together with old and new fasteners and lumber. I first replaced the lower front radius board and then moved to the right as I replaced the sill boards. It turned out, I had a draft piece from the same location left over from the curbside wall and I flipped it and it was a perfect match for the streetside wall. That's what you see in the image. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. I had to work on the wall upright for a variety of reasons. I lifted the front half of the wall a few inches for clearance down below. When I reached the rear half, I supported the wall with a stack of blocks at the fender well opening. Again to gaining clearance and work space. The fenderwell opening will be cut out once the skin is mounted I will admit, this method for working on the bottom of the wall is unorthodox, but it worked. I had a clamped a 6 foot long 2 x 2 piece of lumber to sections of the wall periodically as a stiffener for the wall. This streetside wall has been easier to work on than the curbside – no doorway to contend with and the original lumber had more butted joints which made replacement a easier. Maybe my work was represented by a learning curve? This was the best picture to show the progress "moving across" towards the rear. The last sill board (as seen as brown above) was “a patch” of sorts I had installed over 5 years ago. The original sill board had nearly disintegrated so I had to screw in a temporary piece of lumber that was too shallow and too short. It was a scrap at the time. It did its job until today when I installed the new sill board. The two clamps are clamped to two temporary studs to support that last sill board. PThis is how far I got today. I may take a break tomorrow to work on one of my other trailers. The rear radius boards in the wings will need to be installed next. I will post a question regarding this next step in one of our forums. Cheers, Rod
|
|
PT
Active Member
Posts: 460
Likes: 260
1964 Aloha & 1962 Holiday House
Currently Offline
|
Post by PT on Jan 29, 2024 21:07:34 GMT -8
Attaboy Rod :-)
One of these days I'm hoping to meet you and Andy at a West coast rally in California or Oregon - so keep up the good work!
Allan
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Jan 30, 2024 9:07:06 GMT -8
Allan,
Thanks as always for the ongoing support.👊
Ditto on the meet up.👍
Cheers,
Rod
|
|
|
Post by Teachndad on Feb 10, 2024 11:05:26 GMT -8
Hi Friends, Life continues to get in the way, but I persevere. So, not much to update. My last post concerned the rear radius. I posted here: vintagetrailertalk.freeforums.net/thread/13028/pocket-lumber-leave-originally-built?page=1&scrollTo=122215I thought I was done with the streetside wall until I noticed the... bulge. As seen here when the wall was still on the trailer. I had forgotten about it and missed it during the initial wall rebuild stage. An eyeball check of alignment caught it. Two studs and a crossmember were bent in a bulge. Image below is wall before with all original lumber. After with new lumber. Additional wall rebuild included an increase in the size of the header on the window as the original was partially split. I had the wider lumber so I used it. The shared stud had to be replaced and widened to guarantee purchase for screws and staples from the skin and window framing. The stud to the left which I had previously re anchored with glue and screws had to be removed. (I wasn’t happy) That necessitated a surgery to remove. I became anxious. Would this work? The surgery was successful. Many thanks to my friend Ihava Mulitool. Cutaway of sill Cutta way top of stud.
I am a kindergarten teacher not a wood craftsperson. (Star Trek reference) Cheers, Rod
|
|