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

Back last summer, while working various things on the camper during "found moments", and while determining best ways to run systems through the cab-over step-up cabinet - which houses the fresh water tank and is my only "warm-side" hidden place for connecting the left and right sides of the camper - I decided to locate the more rigid and non-forgiving runs in an order of install, i.e. first the copper propane lines, then the 120V electrical cables and finally the 12V wires.

And I could have! I have 95% of the propane materials! I have the 120V cable! But I kind of wanted to run those, when I do, as a complete install, and that meant first getting the sheet metal up to place things like shore power inlet, water heater cover, etc.

Plus I think I wanted some visual completion and I was in a mood to do something else. Like run the roof wires (clearance/marker lights and interior ceiling lights) and insulate the roof, etc. But I needed to locate the clearance/marker lights on the new wood first to see where wire run holes would be, and that meant transferring existing holes in the metal to the camper's new wood surfaces.

So I enlisted DW, climbed the ladder and brought down the metal odds and ends. I still wondered about my re-shaping of the front cab-over wall and how its shortened height would effect my metal and exterior trim needs.

I positioned the front cab-over wall metal to the camper and clamped it in place.



You may recall, in order to effectively install and seal the new huge escape hatch I had to flatten the mounting area, and that required pulling its top arch downward, in effect shortening the height, and bulging the sides. I hadn't changed the circumference, so I was pretty confident the roof metal would still fit fine, but what about the front wall? I knew the metal would require trimming on top, but was there enough to cover the side bulges? Yes! That bulge was minimal. The holes for the original clearance lights were another matter; those were close to - or right on - the new edge. (Scratch head).

And you can see in this next photo from the back side, just how much higher (lower?).



And here's a closer view from the front.



I penciled all the openings and removed the template.



Here's an example. You see the original clearance light on the left. To its right is the original location, with screw holes and wire cut out hole.



The original wiring method daisy-chained the 12V positive lines (ground is through the sheet metal), so two line wires came into the light from a hole drilled in the 1x2 edge, folded over and stabled to the plywood surface (inside a short piece of electrical cable plastic housing cut from scrap 14 gauge 110V wiring originally used in the camper).

That installation method created a bulge at each light which prevented a nice flat surface for sealing a cab-over light. Additionally, the center light was placed directly over the vee point. These methods created water infiltration concerns right from day one. It was not the only design flaw for potential leaks. I would need alternative methods and/or higher attention to detail.

Here's another thing. When the original worker cut the front window holes with his trusty router tool (maybe the same after lunch drunk who cut that wild router path on the driver side wood - remember that?) he plopped the router bit right into the wrong spot in the metal and wood and went "whoops"! Thank goodness the boss didn't see that. Tell the window guy to use some extra caulking. Ship it out!



You can see just how close the window mounting screw holes are to the outside edge of the window. Not a lot of room for fudging left or right (and still cover the sheet metal holes on the other side by shifting it all slightly left).

Something else I found interesting was that all the clearance lights and the two front windows were "eye-balled", I mean little in the way of measurement. If you look close, the window openings are not exactly level/plumb or the same exact distance from the centerline vee. In fact, the window opening with the router oops is already 1/2" closer to the centerline than is the other unit. And when one compares my clearance lights to other TQ camper pictures, you can see that these are mounted various distances from the roof edge, depending on either the worker, the particular factory, or both.

So at this point I made quite a study of how to place the sheet metal, how to cover the holes and how to place the lights and wiring.

This meant a thourough evaluation of my exterior trim/molding metal and what sorts of exterior trim are currently available. It's rounded! That means "formable". No I don't want plastic/vinyl edge molding. Hmmmm.

Tomorrow let's look at the original trim and see just what might be usable. It seems the only commonly sold aluminum is the rigid extruded stuff. My application needs form-able, malleable, soft stuff! Annealed? And depending on location, up to 15'4" long (back wall - including camper jack corner areas - which isn't how I'm doing it - but it illustrates the product for the design). Not exactly shipped in 8' lengths!

To get the aluminum skin high enough to be "out of the way", and to more easily bring it down, and back up, and down again, so as to work on it at bench height, I determined the best way to store it, would be flat.

By measuring a few locations on the rounded roof I found that I'd need 14' flat boards to do the job. I chose 2x4x14' because later I could convert them to longer runners for running the camper in and out of the garage over the gravel driveway, instead of the eight footers I had used before, requiring a sort of "jack shuffle" to clear the garage eave. (Some day I'll get a concrete pad in front of the garage).

Off we went to the home center, as DW needed more materials for her garden as well, and beside the boards, I needed some rope and a bit o' hardware.

On our way out of the store we found this truck and camper in town from another county (it turned out the high schools were in town for state championships).





Due to the dimpled type of aluminum and the pronounced scroll work at the bottom front corners, I guessed it to be a 1964 of 65. Once again I was glad ours is the eight foot (8.5') model and that I'm not just starting the build. :E

Back home I put the rigging together. I had some eye bolts I fastened to the 2x4s at 9' on centers. I ran new eye screws into the overhead garage trusses at 8' on centers side to side and 7' front to back. These were placed at a choice location on the ceiling to allow the garage door to open and close, as well as to let the metal clear any side obstructions (I had to shift the fridge over a tad).

I also mounted four rope cleats to the wall where we could get to them. Running new nylon rope through the eye bolts I brought four lines down to the eye bolts attached to the boards, which I got under the skin with DW's help.

Then it was a matter of pulling the front and back boards up a little at a time, helping the metal to flatten as we went up. I forgot to take pictures until reaching this point.







Then we hoisted it up to the highest level it would fit.











Incidentally, note the furnace flow more or less blocked. But we are at the end of heating season. Even so, I tried the furnace and was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of flow out the dinette window opening! It seems the sheet metal is acting as a funky form of ducting!

Hear are some closer details.









Also, before all this manipulation, I clamped the 3" tear at the left rear corner of the rear vent opening in an attempt to keep it from worsening.



Now we can hoist the whole thing up and down by moving whatever is below it.





For long-term or standard setting, I liked neither the feel of Lil' Queeny in the center bay, nor Lil' Willy not being in his rightful place at the far bay; the feng shui was off and that could adversely effect work on the camper. Correcting the balance would even allow me to pull DW's car out out of it's center stall, move Lil' Queeny to there while either working on the metal or even pulling the truck inside for work. I shuffled the positions.





Ahhhh, that feels better. Can you feel it? That's nice huh!?

Oh, I also got the second coat of bronze on. :) Moving forward!

I'm not yet ready to put the aluminum skin back on Lil' Queeny, and I don't want to be rushed in doing so. In fact, I think I may want to almost finish the interior before enclosing the outside, but summer Jeeping season is here!

This weekend, for example, is the Memorial Day car show and while our driving top down to it isn't exactly a tradition set in stone, the grandson does have some memories, if not expectations, for this beginning of the season Jeep ride.

And I think I've been hearing a few grumblings lately coming from that side of the garage that sound eerily like Lil' Willy. I think I heard a, "come on Dave, serious? Six months and now more?"

So I came up with this idea to move the shop around. If I could get the Jeep and the aluminum skin over to the tall garage stall with the single door I could hang the metal higher and pull the Jeep in and out as needed this summer. I could also rig it to bring the metal down to a height where I could work on it, then raise it back up to put Lil' Willy to bed!

That way I could put DW's Little Yellow Angel over where Lil' Willy was and place Lil' Queeny right smack dab in the middle.

So yesterday I played Dominoes.

After cleaning up the area around Lil' Willy and preparing for a drive-out, I remembered I had to unload the pea-gravel in the utility trailer for DW's garden paths, but the wheelbarrow tire needed filling (it seeps).

I needed air in the Alaska souvenir tires too (small utility trailer that may be next winter's project) so as to first move it and put the boat trailer over there, out of the way from the hard-water sprinkler spray.

But the son needs the bigger utility trailer for a sand and gravel job so I first needed that emptied. I aired-up the wheelbarrow tire and on the first load - it blew out. Dang cheap Chinese rubber. But it was getting old and it showed it. It was over to the store for a new tire.

So I got the gravel unloaded, the souvenir tires aired up and the gravel trailer tires checked and aired.

The I had to raise the stern-drive on the boat to move it, so pulled back the boat cover and installed the battery for the beginning of the season, raised the drive and moved the boat trailer.

Then I opened the garage bay doors and moved the Little Yellow Angel out. Then we moved Lil' Queeny (on that super handy camper dolly) over into the middle bay and shuffled the benches and other stuff.

Then DW held the aluminum skin up while I crawled into Lil' Willy and then held the skin inward while I drove it out, just like a little covered wagon.

Then I cleaned up what I could and broomed it all out, moving Lil' Willy's cardboard over to the new spot (With his age -1954 - he has a little bit of a leaking issue. We try to be discrete about that by the way).

Then we pulled Lil' Willy into the tall bay and closed all the doors.

Normally we don't keep firewood in the garage, but it's been so wet lately that we had to share space for that too.

Okay, here's some pictures.





























Now if I can just figure out how to raise the metal!

While applying multi-coats of finish to the cab-over bunk, and puttering around with the grey water drain system over in Bathroom Remodel and Waste Water, I've also been working on the cab-over structure and the installation of the cab-over escape hatch.

It's a Heng's brand 26" by 26" and it came quite some time ago. It looks white, or translucent, but it's actually opaque for the sleeping area.





Somehow, I have to shoe-horn it into this 14" square hole.



Here I am standing on the ladder escaping from the 14" hole. So why do I need a 26"?



Oh yeah! The roof damage!

Exactly 7.25" from the edge of the 14" cut out, on the right front corner of the area, there is this repair from a tree branch run-in from vacations past. Ouch!



I don't know what this stuff is, but it has a darker green cast, is just a little pliable, but has quite a brittle quality too. Gas tank repair? I don't know.



And what I could see before ordering the hatch from below, is now visible from above. I think I can flatten a good portion of the damage, and stop the tear while placing it under the flange of the escape hatch, sealing it away for good. (The tear would remain, 1/4" outside the center placed 26" square rough opening, leaving it under the screw flange.)



So I have to open up this.



To make it look right, I have to more or less center it - front to back - in the sleeping chamber. That means it has to be placed further back than is optimal when trying to make a flat opening so close to the rounded roof arch support between the two rooms.



So the archway has to come out after all and be re-arched to a flatter curve, in addition to the front wall of the camper getting a flattening as well.



Place a brace.



Remove these four screws.



Remove the three screws on the right side of this photo.



And gingerly remove all the little nails holding the roof to the arch from outside.





8d where they go through a 1x2, 4d or 6d where they go through just paneling into the arch.



And Voila!





With some close measurements and double checking, a saber saw and various other means, here's how it turned out.

Good idea. It's easy to forget how many things can be interchangeable between boats and RVs.

Maybe try a marine supply parts place like West Marine for a boat hatch in the proper size? You could configure screening and latch openers as tricky as you are! Even one that's made for the deck could work. And they're usually always white.

As described under "Finishes and Finishing", I used a tough, sanded deck-over paint in OD green for the exterior of the wing assemblies. I really like the stuff. Almost one coat coverage, even over white primer.

In today's other post under "Galley and Greatroom", I showed one door receiving the same OD green paint on it's back surface. That's an access door to the left front wheel-well I'll be cutting yet in the camper box.

But with plans to open the paint can, I decided to do a little exterior work. The sub-boxes hadn't yet been finished. The construction of these were explained in detail throughout the "Structure and New Wood" thread, and they were further abused as various components were screwed to them from the inside. Where screws protruded, I ground their tips. Now I filled and sanded, then primed and painted.













I can see where I'll still want to hit that plumbing run with the OD spray paint used on the jack grids.

Solicitation for help in the last paragraph.

{Edit next paragraph 2/1/16. I don't work in metal gauges much so didn't recognize my original post mistake. Here is a more correct statement: Originally I measured 26 thousandths of an inch. After sanding I'm measuring 24 thousandths or .024". Using online tables, that means the siding gauge is probably 24 gauge, not the 2 or 3 as stated below.}

As stated previously somewhere, Lil' Queeny's sheet aluminum skin measures about 26 thousandths of an inch. I only measured it in a couple of places, and that included the exterior paint, so the metal itself could be somewhat thinner. An online conversion table based on that measurement indicates the metal is gauge 2 (or gauge 3 if I measured paint. Either way it's a pretty good thick aluminum and I prefer not to replace it. My plan is to re-use the sheet metal skin. Therefore I carefully removed the skin and draped it over a sort of PVC archway built on Lil' Willy (our classic Jeep).

In the metal there are a few small imperfections that I'm unconcerned with. There are also some "almost punctures" caused right from the factory when a few interior screws found their way out of the framing during initial installation and their points pushed out against the metal. I plan to carefully flatten these.

The greatest damage and/or concern are two places right on top by the vent openings. One, a gouge with puncture about seven inches from the right front corner of the forward vent, the other, a three inch tear rearward from the left rear corner of the aft vent. I prefer to cover both of these areas with "new rough openings".

First let's discuss the forward area. Here is a photo of it.



You'll note the damaged area, or at least the hole (which is a front to back "cut" about 1/2" long near the inboard edge of the repair) has been repaired by some sort of substance; I don't know what it is. I've never had much experience with such repairs and I don't want to trust this repair for my resto-mod. My intention is to cut it out and extend the rough opening out to meet it!

Here is a picture showing where that hole is from the inside, right at the 7" mark and almost even with the right front corner (in the picture that would be the left side closest to the viewer).



Our camper uses two standard 14" by 14" roof vents. There is no emergency escape hatch in the overhead bunk. I'm not overly concerned about that fact myself, but if we can install one AND repair a roof concern, then it seems quite appropriate to do so.

My research has revealed a "largest escape hatch" in a 26" by 26" rough opening size. As it happens, 26" wide will extend my current rough opening out 7" on BOTH sides, keeping a new opening both centered, AND extending it out far enough to cut out the damaged roof metal. There is also enough room front to back to make such a change.

The next issue to consider is how such a large opening might affect the rounded roof. The new opening size will need to be flattened enough to prevent future leaks caused by an ill fit. And too much flattening will adversely affect Lil' Queeny's classic looks, not to mention the fit of the skin.

My plan is to build the front cab-over wall slightly shorter, and sloped back at the top a 1/2" more than original to accomplish my flattening needs for the proper seal. It's my belief this minimal shape change will be almost unnoticeable and yet the eye will pick up something ever so slightly different, a sort of modern or streamlining effect if you will. I hate to say "chopped and channeled", but if you know what that is in auto customization then you have a sort of understanding about what I'm kind of proposing. But again, it should be so slight that a classic camper novice would probably not notice it at all. And it won't adversely effect the headroom or sheet metal fit enough to be concerned. So that's how I plan to fix the front area hole!

The 3" tear at the aft vent is another matter. It's kind of hard to see in this photo but here is a shot of it.



Almost a worthless photo, but I have additional metal stored over the photographed area.

That tear from the current rough opening corner to 3" backward would need a new rough opening of at least 17" (14" plus 3" tear). But so far, I've been unable to find a vent of a size other than standard 14 by 14. Is anybody aware of a source for something larger? I've found skylights, or escape hatches, but no basic roof vents, or Fan-Tastic vents that would accommodate this need. Any ideas?