Anybody replaced the front cap with RV Fiberglass

ksbowman wrote:
Kevin, Google Replacing front rv caps and building teardrop camping trailers. There are some very informative videos on the under layment and attaching the filon to it. It is amazing how you can bent the 1/8" plywood around some pretty tight radius. I am getting ready to tackle my front nose in about a month (I lost a clearance light reflector and water got in). I am going to use a 1/8 birch plywood. Like you I am going to make additional supports including one in the middle out of 3/4" plywood cut to match the existing radius and laminate them together in pair to get extra bearing width to attach the plywood to. My filon is 8'x8' so it will require 2 - 4'x8' sheets of plywood for a backing. I refuse to use the cardboard again. Might even cover the plywood under layment with an epoxy to prevent water intrusion.

If you are looking for epoxy resin, I just ordered some from US Composites for a repair on my boat floor. Seems to be the cheapest place to buy them with a good system for mixing it accurately.

http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html#epoxhard

Kevin, Google Replacing front rv caps and building teardrop camping trailers. There are some very informative videos on the under layment and attaching the filon to it. It is amazing how you can bent the 1/8" plywood around some pretty tight radius. I am getting ready to tackle my front nose in about a month (I lost a clearance light reflector and water got in). I am going to use a 1/8 birch plywood. Like you I am going to make additional supports including one in the middle out of 3/4" plywood cut to match the existing radius and laminate them together in pair to get extra bearing width to attach the plywood to. My filon is 8'x8' so it will require 2 - 4'x8' sheets of plywood for a backing. I refuse to use the cardboard again. Might even cover the plywood under layment with an epoxy to prevent water intrusion.

valhalla360 wrote:
Filon is so thin it's tricky to repair small holes and cracks using traditional methods. Often it's simpler to just replace the whole panel.

That's part of the reason that I am planning on replacing the whole panel. The main reason is: I had a leak on the corner and the cardboard is now in terrible shape. I could probably re-use it but it wouldn't last much longer. I'd rather fix it and be done with it now while I have the top off of it. The leak is the reason that I tore into this project in first place. Once I pulled up the front trim and the rubber roof, I found that the front cap was falling apart on the bottom.

westend wrote:

Thoughts?

If it was me, I'd use PVC coated aluminum panels. Two 8' x 4" should be darn close. There would have to be some sort of frame to attach the aluminum but once installed, good for a lot of years.

White both sides 4' x 10' This coated aluminum holds paint real good if you have another color to match.

With 4x8 panels, I'll end up with a seam to try and hide. I need a 8 x 10 sheet and then I have to worry about things hitting it down low. My camper is curved at the bottom and I don't think that can put a piece of diamond plate on it.

Thoughts?

If it was me, I'd use PVC coated aluminum panels. Two 8' x 4" should be darn close. There would have to be some sort of frame to attach the aluminum but once installed, good for a lot of years.

White both sides 4' x 10' This coated aluminum holds paint real good if you have another color to match.

Yea. I'm trying to avoid filon because of my current delam problems. The OEM front cap from Keystone is less than $500 plus shipping plus the pain to install it. However, I don't want to have the same issues in a couple of years because its a pain to replace.

I think that I could use a substructure of luan in the flat areas but I have a curve at the top and bottom of the camper. So, I'm thinking that in those areas, I can make curved 1/2" plywood pieces to place on 16" centers. I can make a template from a piece of cardboard and cut all plywood to match the template. I will install the substructure first. After using the existing front cap as a template to cut the new fiberglass, I will glue the new fiberglass to the substructure clamping the fiberglass on at the top and bottom. It will take some time and add a little weight but I think that it will be worth it in the end.

Thoughts?

Chris Bryant wrote:
That is Filon- not true fiberglass, rather it is fiberglass reinforced plastic. It must be laminated to a backer- usually luan, but azdel is the current choice.

It is true fiberglass. In fact what is commonly refered to fiberglass is more correctly known as GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic), which is exactly what it is.

This is just a special fiberglass product intended to be laminated over a substructure.

I see a fair number of OEM end caps using this product but you need that substructure to attach it to. Personally, I would avoid it as the ones I've seen tend to have frequent delamination.

The traditional end cap is maybe 1/4" thick and shapped to be largely self supporting. It's actually pretty straight forward to repair small holes and cracks with standard fiberglass repair techniques.

Filon is so thin it's tricky to repair small holes and cracks using traditional methods. Often it's simpler to just replace the whole panel.

That is Filon- not true fiberglass, rather it is fiberglass reinforced plastic. It must be laminated to a backer- usually luan, but azdel is the current choice.

Why not use PVC Material?

I have a fiberglass front cap on my Super C. The cap got severely damaged in a hail storm. Front cap clear coat also started to peel.I took it to a local body shop that did RV repairs,they applied almost 2 gallons of a fiberglass putty used to repair Corvette's. Prior to this the front cap was very thin and could be pushed in with the pressure of your thumb. After the fiberglass repair it became rock hard. It was block sanded, primed, repainted, and clear coated with PPG clear. Job turned out better that expected with a total cost of $1,100 dollars. I live in S. Calif.