Everything on this camper is being examined for suitable re-use and/or replacement. And along the lengthy way, much is being almost subconsciously accepted without further thought as to how! And then I get to the "how" stage and sometimes a gasp will elicit.
That's kind of what happened the other day when I was sanding back-wall metal on the bench and somebody had commented about the sad corrosion. Yeah - I kind went, "oh man, what am I gonna do?"
I had actually been giving thought to this for a long time and had come up with and discarded numerous potential solutions: covering with diamond plate aluminum sheet (too much bling and too expensive), covering with increased aluminum trim dimension as part of the lower corner bumper (yeah maybe - perhaps too much width {height?} for good aesthetics), purchased aluminum siding in some kind of pattern (I wasn't real excited about adding a third - more modern looking - pattern).
I wanted good function, but was trying to obtain original look as much as possible, especially on the exterior.
I finally resolved myself to replace the absolutely necessary portions while retaining most - and was seriously considering using in part, that roll of home-center aluminum flashing - until my last measurements where I re-discovered it was half the thickness of the original aluminum (.013" versus .024") and I was really uncomfortable with that. Even doubling it up would leave a first layer as a thin exterior surface, and that meant it would be much more prone to dings and other ugly marks.
Here are my problem children.
The worst corrosion is at about mid height of the small access door opening and below.
First the piece on the left, (which is now on the right).
See those three holes in a vertical line near the bottom? Placed by a PO while trying to shore up the flimsy (1/8") sub-box side-wall wood by installing a HUUUUGGE 2x6 (complete with concrete film - I think he was a cement worker) on the inside of the camper. He also loved construction adhesive. That's all way back ago in the early stages of "Structure and New Wood". So I wanted to try and eliminate the holes. I could probably do it, and that would keep the replacement piece small and remaining below the top edge of the access door opening.
Now let's look at the right side piece.
Same kind of shoring up done over here, and "Oh No!" - one hole is above that top edge mentioned. Replacing the hole meant replacing a large enough piece of metal that I'd have to purchase it and accept the pattern or get smooth stock and make a pattern, ($4 square foot for "fall off" pieces in stock or about $160 for a full sheet in 4' x 10').
Or I could buy some powder-coat painted galvanized in a much heavier gauge for less. Ugh. I didn't want particle board in the camper and I didn't want galvanized! Much less in a modern style mobile home siding look.
For an example of how the wrong pattern gives the wrong look to the whole camper, take a look at our
donor camper's front vee-nose wall and lower half of the back wall.I wish I had THAT metal back, but I ain't gonna cry over spilt milk. It was the right choice at the time to get rid of it.
With more research I could have gotten the perfect replacement aluminum sheet, but cost was a detractor.
Could I just leave that one hole and pop a screw in it? There are other holes in this piece receiving screws: original factory placement fastening screws (as found elsewhere on the camper) and four additional PO placed screws to mount his license plate in arguably the ugliest and most imbalanced place on the back wall (I would have chosen to center a license plate on the access door - but that's just me). See the same link above and a couple of more pictures down.
And whatever replacement plan I chose, I wanted it to look like it was meant to be there, not just some "patch". I felt a big piece would cause seams in such a way that would detract from the aesthetics of the back wall - and that's an important surface. That's what people first see on the highway as they pass you and say, "what is that?!" and that's part of the desired end result right? Making people look? Made you look!
So what did I have on hand that could suffice? By this time I had already discarded the roll of flashing idea. At least for the main pieces (you'll see later why I say this).
You may recall another post in "Propane" where I rebuilt an existing access door frame for the new propane cabinet opening. That's shown here again on the left. Still doesn't have a suitable metal sheet to go with it (those louvers are in bad shape). Still doesn't have a lock, just an old style latch. It has more faults too.
To the right in the foreground (above photo) is the rear access door. Fair condition, but not insulated. The big door above it is for the lower fridge vent. It's rough. That's the original horizontal propane tank access that got its bottom edge destroyed along with the wing. I tried slamming that bottom aluminum in the right ways with a rubber mallet, but it wasn't going to fully straighten, and it wasn't going to look new again. And they all needed metal insert attention - and locks.
I made a command decision, if I was going to spend money it was going to be on new custom doors, and that's just what I did. They should be done in a week to 10 days.
And that gave me some extra original gauge aluminum metal to play with (from those doors). The design section of my brain shifted into second. What if I made the replacement patches look like a factory original color band (with seams) - as found on the sides of the camper?
Some dents and dings and tears at the ends of louvers as well as crushed louvers and pop-riveted support pieces, etc. But there was enough metal in these to give me my pieces!
I made a series of marks and lines in pencil to help me "see" where the folded metal would become a new seam, hiding at least the second highest hole and creating an 8" color band - beginning at the height of the rough opening, and ending at the bottom.
And here is the waste (I don't say scrap because you can still use scrap).
And here is what remains of the original lower wall metal.
I'm sorry about the lengthy explanation, but I think days of sanding are coming around soon and you're going to catch up to my work. So we might as well slow it down a bit and enjoy ourselves. Sure, I'll take a refill.
Tomorrow I'll show you why I bought that metal bending brake.
