Today: Drip mold/J-mold/rain-gutter install along the cab-over bunk sides. Molding install over "staple oops" - bottom front edge of the camper box.
This will complete the installation of exterior aluminum molding on the camper. Thereafter, tail lights, clearance lights, and whatever I finally decide on the clearance light bezels - and I think that will complete the exterior chapter! Except for "manufacturer labels", and other fine tuning such as some caulking, etc. Not real sure how detailed I'll get on some of that. And I think those are items I would put into the "Finishes and Finishing" chapter anyway.
The moldings I report on today were pulled off of Ta-Ton-Ka's roof edge, where these had been covered with some sort of fabric-like tape and then a rubber paint on stuff. I've never used any of that kind of product, so I don't know what it was - some of you may recognize it. It was tough, it was stuck, and it required work to clean up.
I started with a scraper, kind of cutting it off in little strips. Eventually getting the small remnants with a small screwdriver enlisted as a scraper, and finally a small wire brush with Naptha. Then finished with the same process of polishing a little, as done on any of the pieces: steel wool, wire brush, etc. Some elbow grease, but less work than many of the jobs on this camper.
I checked over the screw holes and picked a spot to cut the sloped front wall angle, putting that in just forward of the last mounting screw hole.
Then took the negative bend in the molding, and tried to shape in a positive bend.
This was going to be difficult, without distorting the profile. What to do? I slept on it.
In the morning it was bent into all SORTS of strange shapes from my tossing and turning - I suppose.
Seriously, I figured I needed a solid form. So I penciled a template over at the camper and screwed it down on the bench.
I heated the aluminum with a heat gun, then with a steel hammer and a piece of aluminum flat, I hammered the bend in a little at a time while keeping distortion under control. That required screwing it down to the table from front to back as I went.
Again, using the water-pump pliers to help keep the gutter edge straight when required.
I did both sides.
Close ups.
This shows the "staple oops" on one side.
And on the other.
Those who have been along for the ride, may remember this area is a 90 degree box joint with void, and a 45 degree (about) angle placed by a section of plywood across the camper. That resulted in the rear over-cab curve. Then each end received an end-cap board, which is what the staples went into.
I ran the first butyl tape layer with its edge tucked tight against the molding and butyl edge below it. Then a second layer over that with a little more toward the top.
Looking like this at the other end.
Then I aligned the molding and placed screws from front to back, getting this sort of thing on both sides...
Where I carefully cut off the excess with a hack saw.
Now here are some more close-ups where you'll see some dings and marks. Some may find these un-appealing, and might prefer that newer look, such as moldings with vinyl insert screw covers or something. I think that's the wrong look for this camper.
It also dawned on me that after the first molding maintenance: removal, cleaning and re-application of new butyl, ANY of this aluminum molding will take on the "used" look.
And that look doesn't bother me at all, any more than "scratches caused by use" on my Jeep. As long as the molding is mounted solid onto the camper, screws are in snug and butyl seal edge looks worthy, I'm just fine with purposed marring on the seal covers. To me it looks more like "someone cares", and less like "plastic surgery perfection restoration". Let the specialty shops and owners with more money than time have that category.
Here's one more pic of the process. This shows the screws in, but not yet tapped into final shape between screws.
Once that was tapped (sometimes a little, sometimes more forcefully), the edge straightened (less screw caused wave), and the butyl squeezed to the edge.
Okay, here's the close-ups. If you think these look bad, just look at your face in one of those convex mirrors. You'll come back to Earth pretty quick.
Oh yeah! Life always looks better when you step back huh?
Okay - now the front bottom edge of the camper box to cover the "staple oops".
The original aluminum angle I bought was too small. I put it up anyway. Much later I bought a longer length of larger angle for Tow-Mater's front bottom edge of the forward bunk, where it had been run into a truck camper of day's gone by. I thought about removing this one and putting on the larger piece to cover the staples, then decided it wasn't necessary - I'd just fix this with the other small flat I bought for this purpose before we even got Tow-Mater. Time to get it up.
So that leaves us with Lil' Queeny looking like this.
