1968 Travel Queen Resto Mod - 13. Exterior, Skin & Openings

So I didn't get to painting yet. And I didn't even sand. But I think sanding is next!

You can't just hitch up a cart ahead of your horse. There's a proper order to things. I mean, how you going to paint a proper color band at the bottom of the door if you don't know where white becomes brown?

Yeah, the first job was to locate the changeover line. But with things like aluminum framing around the door and another around the door opening, and hinge heights, and door swing and such, you can't just make a guess, you have to assemble things to find the right spot!

But we'll get to all that. First let's look to those lock-set/dead-bolt needs.

I cheaped out and didn't spend 10-12 bucks on the door lock drill kit, which includes a bracket that fits around the door edge, and can be set to either 2 3/38" or 2 3/4" back set (that's how far the center of the door knob is from the door edge). It also includes the small hole-saw for the latch part, and the large hole-saw for the lock itself. Instead, I decided to see what hole saws I already have at home and planned to use the paper template that seems to always come in the lock-set instructions.

Sure enough, I had what I needed, barely.



Note several things in the above photo. The white hole-saw (they have a brand name I forget) are much higher quality and capability than are the black types. But I didn't have a 2 1/8" white, so used the black (I have up to 4" in white for specific jobs I've done in past). The little one is 7/8", but in a test scrap, that was too small for the 1" required to do the job right, specifically for the dead bolt, so I used a 1" spade bit. Those require greater control to prevent a real screw-up, but can be done if you watch yourself.

Also note the the aluminum frame/banding in place to locate the right drill spots (back set, etc.).

And finally, the folded paper to center punch the proper places.

It all works fine, you just have to be more exacting and careful than using the jig.

Using the paper template, and the door holes and placements. I located my spots and started the cuts.



Then I finished the larger holes before moving on to completing the smaller.



Remove pieces as needed and then go in as deep as possible, being careful not to bugger the other side with too fast or too much pressure.

Then when it won't go deeper, and the center drill hasn't yet marked the opposite side, continue with a separate drill bit making a clean hole out the back.



Once that's marked...



you can finish from the opposite side, getting a nice clean cut all around without jags.



Then moving on to the 1" spade bit, keeping it level and straight (stop, change angle of your head, look at it from another direction, etc.) finish the small hole, being very careful at the end to keep from tearing out the wood with too much pressure.







And with the latch/bolt mechanisms temporarily in place.



You see, I don't have the right words and names for stuff, but that's the general idea on the job. If this area gets good attention and is done right, you'll see the results in many years of good service out of the door. I can think of few things that will receive more stress than this area while using a camper.

I had to use the hammer and anvil to straighten out some places along the aluminum parts, and I pulled the old seal from the channels (I'll need to find some replacement), and then got those wrapped around the new door. Corners like this.



That was before the lock-set drilling so as to properly locate the existing holes in the aluminum.



But I found the hinge side had a 1/8" gap at the top corner. Couldn't pull the aluminum corners together. Sure enough, when measuring, I found the door 1/8" too wide at the top. I removed the three aluminum segments and ripped the door to proper width on the table saw.



And then I could get the aluminum all on with a good fit.



I also added the little foot on the latch side of the door. This sits on the threshold to help support and align the door when closed.



And with the door complete, it was time to work on the jamb. That's the part that screws to the camper wall, top, bottom, left and right.

My bottom piece (threshold) was kind of ugly, with all the extra holes in it. The donor door didn't have those same holes, so I assume they were PO added. Maybe to help hold the floor from falling off. :)

In fact there was quite a bit of difference between the two doors, they both used the same jamb aluminum stock. However, the top frame looked better than the donor's bottom frame, so I chose it and pulled it all apart.

I compared the replacement piece (donor top) to the damaged threshold (Lil' Queeny's bottom piece).





Pay no attention to the optical illusion. The donor piece was about 1/4" longer. I set up the table saw on miter with the metal cut-off blade and trimmed it back to a correct length. Then I had to clean the excess up. I used a utility knife blade because you can throw those away.



I had kind of planned to use the donor hinge-side jamb too, but discovered the two doors used different distances for hinge placement. So I needed to make do with this damaged bottom attachment area on the existing hinge-side jamb piece.

Note the two screw holes. Both are broken, the top one has just been bent back to "best looking".



Instead of using those holes, and in that angle of screw placement, I drilled new holes in the companion piece and drove screws into the damaged jamb piece. In other words, every corner has an opportunity to get fixed from this problem, but only one time.



And you have to put the hinges, bushings and hinge pin back together before screwing the corners together. Thereafter, you can mount the door in the jamb frame like this.



Oh, it all centered up sweet! And the latch side lined up like this.



Then I put the unit into the door opening on the camper, enlisting DW's help to hold it in place. I plumbed and leveled, then laid the four foot level across the top of the color band on the camper, and made two pencil marks on the door that looked something like this.



Then we took the whole unit back out and laid it on the bench. Now I have to take it all apart again, sand and paint the metal, and polish up aluminum. Ugh!

But the door will not go back together as a unit until Lil' Queeny is painted! Because while I can paint the door interior (probably today) and the color band (which also needs to be done on three access doors), I have to wait on the exterior white color until I'm ready to do the door, three access doors, and the entire camper!

But it gets closer everyday.

So here are the metal surfaces.





The pebbled metal has some small dents and dings. They are harder to see. Any smooth glossy metal is going to shows marks much clearer. And I wasn't at all certain I could hide them completely.









I got to work hammering gently and harder, with a piece of flat steel underneath, turning the metal as needed. There were some stretches that couldn't be fixed and the main exterior lower dents now look better, but are still visible. I'll probably make some sort of "kick plate" like is found on many residential doors. Perhaps with a Lil' Queeny name tag or something. ;)

Now what about the wood frame?



Well, the metal firms it up of course, but I wasn't real excited about the staple fastening, especially as some were rusting at the bottom. And the wood wasn't real bad, but it did have some weaker appearances.



I wondered, did the window need wood framing support? Probably not. Too much wood might make the door heavier than necessary.





I decided against a larger frame, instead keeping the same basic dimensions as original, but with a few strength improvements.

These tops and bottoms could be one board.





And I should use one board for this whole run: lock-set, dead-bolt, and door hold open.



So I found some suitable boards that were just cluttering up the shop anyway, and ripped them up on the table saw.



It felt good to get back into the wood. :)

Here are the new boards laid out on the old frame template.



The pieces are not a full 1.5" like a 2x4 or other 2-by dimensional lumber. The aluminum frames are 1.5" and they need to span not just the door wood frame, but also the thickness of two sheets of metal. Therefore, the wood frame was 1 3/8". Table saw work. And these things had to be very straight, as well as an absence of twists, bow, warp and knots.





I measured and laid out center lines for door hold open bolts, dead-bolt, and lock-set.

Then marked top and bottom of the support board and marked it.



Then after checking the aluminum frame screw hole placement, I marked for the framing screws, so as to not interfere with the door hold open bolts and lock-set drill holes.



Did the same at all four corners.



Then I drilled pilot holes, glued surfaces, and screwed the joints together. Looks like I forgot to get close-ups, but here is the final product.



Then I got this thing up on the bench and checked square and flat. To check square you measure kiddi-corner both ways and even out the difference. In my case, the distances started out 1/8" different from each other. So I had to squeeze one kiddi toward its corner by 1/16". Which added that lost 1/16" to the other kiddi, or to the corner, I forget which one it went to. But to help me do that I screwed blocks to the bench, made a framing jig in other words.





The flat was also out a little bit. One corner came off the bench by about 3/16". In the tight jig, it held the frame flat. Then gluing the metal in place and allowing it to set-up good overnight kept it flat, once it was removed from the jig.

I also squeezed the center of the framing by 1/8" to get a proper width for the overall door, and placed a screw into the bench where it wouldn't interfere with drilling my lock-set center-line hole later.



I used a basic brush-on contact cement for the metal edges and the wood framing and had DW help me lay it down in proper placement.

Didn't get pictures of that.

Next day, I cut foam board to fit and assembled the rest.

The other day I bought another full sheet of 3/4" polyisocyanurate (the store label calls is polyiso and I've called it polycyan, but in essence, it's the same stuff I've used throughout the rest of the camper. It has a much higher R-value than does regular or other lesser and various foam boards, making my door just above R-value 9, which is kind of cool being metal and all. It really isn't 3/4", it's a little less, which fit my needs well as I was filling a cavity just under 1.5".

I doubled it up and cut my pieces. Leaving this much left over to finish that last bathroom wall.



Here is the first piece contact cemented in place.



And how it looks doubled up through the window opening.



And my finished door.





With close ups.







I think today I'll drill for the lock-sets, and sand the metal, maybe paint. And I'm going to put on my Merle Haggard's Greatest Hits CD. He was one of my defining heroes - may he rest in peace.

In the above photo you can see where the door exterior has received some hits in its bottom half. Like with the dents in the roof and wall metal, I kind of wanted to see about getting those out.

Also, I wanted to see the inside of the door. How was it made and what is its condition?

So up on the bench it goes.





The dead-bolt prep.





Styrofoam core.



Now with the aluminum banding and framework removed.

Bit of a split in this area. Not too bad. The wood looks pretty good.



Top of the door.





Bottom. Dirty, but not rotted.





Okay let's look closer at the door knob region.



Okay, now I see why the metal is collapsed a little here.





And the mounting location for the door hold-open. This had been kind of a mess on both doors, like it had always been troublesome to POs. Lil' Queeny had some large washers with the carriage bolt heads. There's surface metal distortion. I don't think the door was built to receive the item right there. It was an add-on by Travel Queen to a door obtained from the door manufacturer. I might give this area a little special attention. During general use, there are great forces applied to places like this and the knob. You know how we owners are.





The metal on both surfaces was contact cemented to the door core, which was made up of the wooden framing, and the styrofoam board. Let's get it apart so I can at least get to the back side of the door dents, which were found on both interior and exterior surfaces, albeit a relative minimal amount, considering how doors get used and how old this little camper is.







And that gives us this...









I have to admit, I found the builder's choice of small wood blocks for the dead bolt prep to be humorous, while at the same time being infuriating. That's quite a talent!





I think we can make some improvements here.

Alrighty then - with the windows done, let's see what I can do with the entry door.



The first thing I did was get the eye-brow down off the shelf. I guess these might be called a rain or water diverter; I don't know exactly. Old RVs had them over the windows, as you likely well know. Somewhere along the way I read how my style of windows had the diversion designed into the upper aluminum framing and so they were eliminated. The entry door framing doesn't have that feature. Most of the Travel Queens I've seen have the combination like mine.

After washing off the dirt in warm soapy water with a brush, and a Naptha rap to get the butyl tape residues, I straightened the edges and hammered out the dings, then steel-wooled it up good.



So now let's get this window out.



Back when I did the window screens, I used just about every scrap from my one roll. I had just one small piece left over and I was going to throw it away, but DW had other ideas. If you think I'm bad on use and re-use, she wrote the book! So at her request, she took control of that last small piece of screen, and saved it for "something else", then stashed it somewhere in the depths of her sewing room.

So yesterday I went to her with hat in hand and reminder her of that scrap and asked her if I could have it back. She was more than willing and my lesson was learned - again. Yeah, it will fit perfectly. (When I throw away the tiny pieces I trim from it, I will not be consulting DW.) ;)



This is not the original steel screen, but is old enough that replacing is a no-brainer. I'll do it later after polish finishing. Today we are just dis-assembling and stacking.

Window, with curtain rod brackets. Door knob, and two holes for the open door retainer latch part.



But let's get the mounting frame off the door first.







Just like the windows, each framing corner was held with two screws. The bottom hinge side had damaged screw holes and was not holding (seen in the picture above). I'll discuss why and show close-ups.

Here are the frame parts.

On the left, the latch side. Note the "dead-bolt" prep from the factory. On the right is the hinge side. Note the full length hinge pin and the three hinges, each with a top and bottom plastic bushing. In the center are the top and bottom cross-framing. The bottom (threshold) is the dirty one in the fore-ground.



Close-ups.

What to look for here? Well note how the threshold was screw to the camper floor. As the floor weakened and gave way, the screws pulled it downward. With every step as people "came and went" more damage was done.









Eventually pulling the frame to frame retaining screens out of the holes on the hinge-side bottom framing shown here.



I have an extra donor door. I haven't examined it thoroughly, but it is a wider door (I think the same height) and I should be able to get at least two good segments from it for a new Hinge frame and a new threshold frame.

I also made a pile of the two door locks. Note they are the same units (used on my 1966 and my 1968). Both brass and both having weathered differently on the outside knob.



Yesterday at the home center we bought a new "Kwikset" brand lock-set "with dead-bolt" that is brass and matches the knob size and shape almost exactly. It's not the most expensive brand, but it isn't the cheapest, and for $20, it does the job right fine. I kind of wanted to get brass on the interior, and an aluminum-like color for the exterior, but I didn't want to buy two sets and let one go to waste, so I compromised and went "original" style. So the camper back-side will have that little brass ball hanging there with all the other aluminum. Hey - if it was good enough for original!

As many of you probably already know, this door window is more like modern style RV windows than it is like the other windows on these older RVS. The older style has a flange with screw holes that mount into a wood framing on the structure. This door window and the new style RV windows have a sandwiching effect, where the screws mount into an opposite surface framing and squeeze together to hold tight in the structure. For this window, I pulled all these screws...




And set it aside with the interior flange counterpart.



A few close-ups.









You may have noted the glass is clear - not opaque. True, it means we have to have some sort of curtain, but we like having the option. When we did our home remodeling projects, we put windows on every side. We really like being able to look any direction, for whatever!

One of the things that really struck us about Lil' Queeny was the great number of window openings and visual freedom it gave us. That is so important to us for any size space, but it becomes paramount in a small space.

One of the things we hate (and yes I know that is a strong word) about our new Travel Trailer is that front bedroom wall. You can't see out that direction. You can't see the tow vehicle, or anybody around it. We don't want to fix it with a camera. We don't like spending money to try and fix somebody else's poor planning. If we keep it, we'll either deal with it, or find some acceptable solution, but we are expecting Lil' Queeny will give us everything we need.

So this leaves me an entry door like this. Tomorrow we'll go further.

Yesterday in the shop I took lots of pictures. I looked back at a post a few days ago - the one where I showed the oxidation and broken parts and stuff on the big dinette window?

And took some pictures of the finished window from those same angles.

So today we get to do some before and after! :)

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After



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And of course that has now been done to all the windows!

Much of my record keeping (for future what-evers) is accomplished through pictures. And I'm saving these posts as a PDF file and will print to place in a book, as well as keeping a digital copy. So that is one reason why I go into greater detail, and definitely more pictures than many do.

Here are a couple more of the large dinette window. Notice the stamp on the glass panes. ARM-R-CLAD.





Now the side galley window.





You can also see the manufacturing dimples in the glass above the ARM-R-CLAD. These are on every pane, but only one per pane and on this same side.





And the back-wall galley window.







So I stored the long dinette window on the top of Lil' Willy (on a packing blanket to protect his top), and stacked/stored the rest of the windows inside on the back seat. They are all tucked away nice and neat now.

And that includes the fixed windows at the cab pass-thru, as well as both windows for the front Vee-nose wall of the cab-over bunk. Wait what?

Yes, you are remembering correctly, one of those Vee-nose windows hadn't yet been assembled! I was still looking for gasket channel.

Well - here's what I did.

As you know, I was lucky, in that all the other window's rubber gasket was quite flexible. After cleaning it with a stiff brush in warm, soapy water, I had begun assembly, using the original gaskets in the small windows. Then when I had trouble locating replacement gasket, I just reused all the old rubber on the bigger windows too. Adding the windshield silicon sealer at the corners and the butt joints.

And I never took apart the one Vee-nose frame, or the cab pass-thru window frame. But the OTHER Vee-nose window had the glass pane backwards and we know that wouldn't do (for the ARM-R-CLAD stamp). Hey! People can be so judgmental!

But when I took it apart, the rubber was too brittle in many places to fully reuse. So I took apart all my donor windows and frames around the panes. Then I picked through all the rubber and discarded any that wouldn't do - brittle, hardening, not soft enough. And I saved out all that was still good, no matter how short (within reason).

You see, I figured if right from the factory they were cutting a perfectly good solid piece at the corners, to make the frames and panes fit, and then touching those cuts with some sealer, then why couldn't I?

And of course, that's what I already did on all the assemblies at those corners and butt joints.

So what could I do with this? Pay no attention to the big black thing.



Okay so let's talk about the big black thing. That is a sample of non-adhesive, thin, tough rubber I got from the glass shop. It could be wrapped around the glass edge and the frame pressed around it, then trimmed, etc. And I might do something like that if leaks develop in future (but one surface will require a double layer), or if I can't locate the right channel rubber from someplace (thanks again ticki for the link).

But for now, I took those many pieces of rubber and placed them something like this.



This design will create the four corners needing the silicon sealer treatment (as all the windows did). It will also require one butt-joint at top (like all the windows did). And it will require an ADDITIONAL butt joint at bottom. Even so, all joints get the silicon windshield sealer (thin flow-able). And I don't imagine that extra butt joint will be a show stopper, as the top joints are right out there in the driving rain as you roll on down the highway anyway! We'll see.

Here's how they all fit. And you will note two different sizes of gasket!









And the finished window. I may trim the rubber edge but it doesn't look like it's hurting anything right now.



Then I cleaned up all my extra glass and took stock. Let's see, I have three extras of the small panes that fit my three single pane small windows and the back-wall double pane galley window. Then I have two extra panes for the four pane dinette window and the two pane galley side-wall window. And I have one extra pane for the cab pass-thru. None extra for the Vee-nose wall. And that one longest pane is from the larger dinette window in the donor camper. I can't use it, but will save it in case I ever hear of somebody needing one in that size.



Then I wrapped them up and put them under the tree!



Some Christmas in the future I'll surprise myself. Or at the very least, give a descendant some additional information to try and figure out their eccentric fore-bear who just sits there dribbling down his chin mumbling something about his pane.

Thanks!

Here is another good resource .

http://www.pellandent.com/RV_Products_List.aspx?CategoryID=303

Yeah, that would be the best. Unfortunately I haven't found much in the way of companies, just the one company, VTS. VTS does offer a sample pack at almost free...

http://www.vintagetrailersupply.com/VTS-Gasket-Samples-p/vts-2228.htm

And they have this one (that does have a dimension given for the glass pane) and it might work with alteration. But is really for a different purpose and doesn't state the channel width (because it isn't for a channel).

http://www.vintagetrailersupply.com/Jalousie-Clear-Seal-p/vts-363.htm

They have this that is also labeled for glass pane thickness, but is for a channel that is way too wide.

http://www.vintagetrailersupply.com/Rubber-U-Gasket-p/vts-511.htm

But along with the two I've tried, that's about it.

I am fortunate in that my rubber channel is almost all in great condition. I had already assembled the small windows (had planned to take apart and put in the new rubber once I decided on it though).

And the larger windows are quite able to reuse the gasket. So that's the track I'm taking, or perhaps I should say, took - yesterday.

At this point I only have the one cab-over pane to re-frame with an alternate seal. I have a few ideas and solutions to examine that are not using the brittle gasket that came out. And then I'll address individually, any seeps and leaks I get in the future.

Today I'll get the big windows put together fully and take some pictures (oh! - how about some before and afters?). Then I'm going to get to work on the entry door.

I'd like to get it apart and fixed up, polished. And the exterior and interior panels painted. I plan to paint the color band color onto the appropriate portions of the entry door and the access doors, before getting them re-prepped for the camper main color.

And we're going to try something fun with the interior panel too! :)

The dimensions of these gaskets are very subtly different . I found the only way to find the right one was to ask for samples from various companies so I could actually fit the product . Most sent them free , some charged a few bucks for postage . The pictures and dimensions in the catalogs are deceiving .

The past days or a week have been taking a lot of time on another personal family matter, lots of calls and emails and and texts, and coordinating with multiple persons, offices and agencies. No, everything is okay. But I haven't been able to spend a lot of time in the shop.

Even so, I've been getting SOME diversion time spent there, and some days more than others. Like yesterday for example. I finished up the aluminum polishing!

This last chore was the 16 (4 around each glass pane) small aluminum channels for the big dinette window. And over several days prior to that was doing the larger window frame itself. This is how those parts are looking.



So now I have two table tops of window parts, in various sets of assembly.





And the other day, as I had previously mentioned, the rubber gasket small U-shape channel came to the house. Rut Roh! Wrong stuff.



This is an example of how you can lead some people, who may not be absolutely certain of their own ability to read a ruler, as I suppose I did to the sales help the day we verified measurements over the phone. I guess I can understand that - first of all, we all have various levels of self-confidence, and secondly, not all of us have had the life experiences to read those small rule fractions as much as others.

I'll send both products back to Vintage Trailer Supply, ask them if they could please add a dimension that indicates the glass pane thickness these gaskets are meant to be used on - for the next guy. In the previous case, it was for a 1/8" pane. On this small u-gasket, it is for less than 1/8". Had I known that for a certainty, I could have avoided the roughly $10 shipping charges both times, and now a $10 return shipping charge as I'll put them in one box.

The next VTS order should arrive soon, the 8' PVC tube of exterior aluminum trim molding. That stuff has been described (by VTS sales help) to be "very bendable" (for my rounded roof lines). We'll keep a good thought. :)

Now I still have to do some aluminum polishing for the framework around the entry door. But other than that, I think I'm done with the refurbishing of the old aluminum. I hope. That buffing wheel stuff is MESSY!

Now what to do about the gasket? Well, I think my original gaskets are in good enough condition to re-use on the dinette window (with the exception of one area I still need to evaluate in detail) and on the galley windows. The small windows are already done up with the little silicon in the corners. I'll do the same on these bigger windows.

The fixed glass windows will require another treatment. I'm working with a local glass shop for ideas. VTS does have some clear vinyl u-style gasket for 3/16" panes, but at some point it is counter-productive to keep trying out products long-distance. Yes - I'm aware of buying their little gasket sample pack. I haven't completely discounted that idea, but I'm exploring this other side-road first.