57 Sportcraft Rebuild

The rolling is key. We roll it off and on every time so that any water left on the tarp never touches the trailer. This tarp I have now is pretty much toast after sitting outside in a very windy yard all winter. Which is a shame because I thought I had invested in a good one. I guess if you're spending $100/year on tarps a trailer port makes even more sense. 

We put in yet another full day yesterday. We spent half the time cleaning off and patching up all little nail holes in the aluminum siding.




Then we got to installing all of the old skin, minus the roof. It went really smoothly! We even had time to put in the side windows temporarily (waiting on gaskets so I didn't use putty tape), the door, and the baggage door. Here she is reflecting the sunset.








We replaced all the screws with stainless steel and putty taped the seams

NICE!

We have a new roof!

Yesterday was a long, strenuous, tedious day. We drove a half hour away to pick up some tractor-trailer roofing material. Then we managed to get it up on top of the camper and strap it down. We were on edge through all of that, especially with the wind, but once we had a few straps in place and screws along the edge it felt pretty good.





Then we got to trimming with tin snips. It was very, very difficult. The place I got the metal from only had a handful of sizes to choose from, so the width was a full 2ft wider than what we needed for my camper. And I've never worked with a smaller gauge of aluminum, but I think the .040 is just really tough. Our cuts were jagged, but we did manage to trim it down to 1/2in.




Today went a lot better. The folding over of the edges went smoothly, and I actually enjoyed it. It was helpful having four hands. My dad held the block against the edge while I went at it with a rubber mallet. Then I'd go over again with a small hammer to smooth things out. When it was good and in place, he'd put a few staples in it. Unfortunately our stapler couldn't quite get through the thick metal. Or maybe it was the staples? I never took mobiltec's advice to order some Porter-Cable staples. So we ended up putting two crumpled staples in there to hold it in, then replaced those with carpet tacks afterward. We didn't have any big issues with buckling. Around the vent we just used the "split the difference" method and it worked like a charm.

The trailer gods were similing on us, because on the way to pick up the roofing, we found this for free on the side of the road. Perfect for two people working on the same spot.


Turns out it's really hard to take pictures of a super shiny roof, but here are a few:





Unfortunately the metal wasn't the best quality, and came with a dent all the way across what's now above the back window. It's not that noticeable, and picking this metal up instead of having it delivered saved me more than $300, so I'm ok with it.


We also had time to fix up a few things here and there around the camper and install the front an back windows (temporarily for now, until I figure out the gasket situation) before the thunderstorms rolled in.



Feels so good to have this step done! There's definitely a lot I would do differently next time: maybe pay more for the right material and a better stapler, a few of our braces got in the way, etc. But overall I'm pleased. Tomorrow we're going to put in the vent, then clean out the disaster that my dad's garage has become with all this fast work we're doing, then if there's time I'm towing it home!!

Thanks mobiltec. We really wouldn't have been able to do it without your videos. When I realized I needed to replace my roof I almost gave up on this project before I even started. Then I found your 4 part series on putting on a new roof (several times) and realized we could probably get it done. A donation is certainly on the way, once I stop spending my whole paycheck on my rebuild

It's been a long time since I updated this thread so I thought I'd check in (mostly for my own sake -- it's nice to have it all in one place). I haven't been putting in full days now that the trailer's parked at my house, just a few hours here and there. But I'm moving ahead slowly...

The first thing I did when I brought Willie home was to put up a tarp tent since she's not watertight yet.



Then I worked on sealing up little holes with JB Weld and screws, gutter seal-ed all the staple holes on the roof fold-over, sealed the vent, etc.



I cleaned up the eyebrows, which were SO dirty. Still need to pop out a few dents




Rebuilt the bench and installed the bunk. Still need to recover the cushions, but it's nice to have them in.



Fixed up some rusty light fixtures with Rub n Buff, my new favorite thing



I painted the inside of the icebox with Appliance Epoxy. The dust from this stuff went EVERYWHERE. In hindsight, I should have done this earlier in the process (before I put new walls in). Luckily nothing's too bad except the stovetop, which I stupidly had on the floor next to the icebox, and it seems as if mineral spirits will do the job there. It's hard to see in the photos, but the spray paint made the icebox so much more inviting for food. It was looking pretty nasty before.




And today I finished up painting the rusty old doorframe. It's a tiny detail but I'm really happy with the way it looks.