Exterior questions

[Naio]

For my new rig, I bought a used fiberglass van top and installation, from a guy who does this as a profession. He got sick before he finished the job, so some things are a little funky. I chose to accept the job as is rather than wait for him to recover, and I now have some touch ups to do. And questions for youse guys :B

Any advice is appreciated! Sorry about the blurry cell phone pics.

1. The previous owner screwed some ugly panels to the interior ceiling. There are about 50 screws, but thank goodness only about 5 of them pierce the top, and they appear to be nicely sealed, paint over caulking.



I want to remove the interior panels. Should I a) Just unscrew them, then go up on the roof and assess the damage. b) Attempt to ID which screws pierce the roof and cut those ones with nippers, leaving the stubs in the roof. c) Try one of each and look at results. d) Cut the paint and caulk before unscrewing so it will not tear, then patch. e)Something else.

2. For sealing screw holes, I guess I want Dicor? Leveling or non?

3. The screw heads along the bottom edge of the fiberglass top, holding it to the metal van, are not all covered with caulk. And there is no rubber cummerbund. Is this ok? Guy say screws are stainless, yay.



3. He says I do not need to paint or otherwise seal the cut edges of the metal roof (indoors), that it will not rust. Is this only true in his SoCal climate?



4. What is a good way to get oil based Rustoleum off black rubber? I got some off with rubbing alcohol and fine sand paper but started to feel I was pushing my luck. I have Goof Off, but would it dissolve rubber?



Thanks you guys, always :).

[Naio]

Thanks, MrWiz! I guess it has been a while, I did it wrong. I can mess with it this eve 🙂

[MrWizard]

if i copy your link
and paste it in the browser bar
the whole imgur web page is displayed, with the picture

the link you have posted is for the webpage not for the picture itself

this is the link for the first picture http://i.imgur.com/Md75thX.jpg

[DrewE]

Epoxy should be just fine for small holes. It is very commonly used in fiberglass repairs. Yes, it can be rather brittle, but there's not much movement in a little hole and the filler helps there some. (Fiberglass construction actually is the fiberglass proper held together with or embedded in some sort of resin, polyester resin being the most commonly used one. Epoxy is occasionally employed as the resin.)

The West System epoxy people have some pretty good, comprehensive information on fiberglass work and repair techniques available. The West System products are also quite good but fairly spendy.

[Naio]

Thank you, DrewE!

Would the epoxy do ok with the expanding and contracting of the roof in the heat? I think if it as rather inflexible.

The screws in the roof are small. Little holes.

The screws at the bottom of the roof, holding it to the van, have their heads on the outside. There is a nice fat caulk joint at the bottom, in the gutter. Visible in the pic if I can get the pic to show.

The caulk continues up to the line of screws, covers the heads of many but not all of them. I think there is sealant on the inside of the joint, too.

That is good to know about your cutaway. Yes, I plan to file the sharp edge, and cover it. I am thinking just to use door edge protector strips or similar, rather than upholstery. For now, anyway.

[Naio]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
No pics. You have to put them onto a pic sharing site.

I put them on imgur like I always do here. I can mess with them some more tonight if they don't appear.

[DrewE]

I would probably just unscrew the screws and then inspect the damage. It may work well to inspect in the evening/night and have a fairly bright light inside the van so you can look for where the light is shining through. (I suppose the reverse might work during the day, looking from the inside, but I somehow think it would be easier with the light shining out.)

If the holes are small, a permanent repair could be made with epoxy mixed with a filler of some sort. A boat supply place such as West Marine would have the materials, though probably not for the cheapest possible price. If the holes are larger, it would be well to put some patches of fiberglass cloth or matting in as well as the epoxy. Do take care if you use epoxy as it tends to be a sensitizing agent for allergic reactions: disposable gloves, good ventilation, etc. are recommended. Once cured it's pretty much inert, though I would not suggest eating it or breathing the dust when sanding it.

Dicor self-leveling would not be good for filling holes or for any non-horizontal surfaces; it's self-leveling because it's rather on the runny side. Dicor non-sag would be better, but I'd probably go with a decent urethane (not silicone) caulk such as OSI Quad Max if I were caulking.

Are the attaching screws on the inside or the outside? If they're inside, no caulk should be necessary. It might be good to put a little bead along the outside of the seam between the van roof and the fiberglass, though I do suspect there would be some butyl putty or something similar there to seal the joint. If they're on the outside, a bit of sealant under the heads might not be a terrible idea. I personally wouldn't bother sealing over the heads, but doing so would not be harmful.

The inside edges of the metal will survive fine without paint. If they're exposed, of course, some sort of finishing treatment would be nice, doubly so if there are sharp edges. (The cut away roof on my class C shows no signs of rusting after about 19 years, and I'm sure they didn't paint the cut edges before hiding it behind headliner material.)

[Artum_Snowbird]

No pics. You have to put them onto a pic sharing site.

[Naio]

Umm... are you folks seeing the pictures? 'Cause I am not...