Hi all,
My wife and I recently purchased a 1972 Cardinal TT that looked in excellent condition.
Anyway, to make a long story short, we found some rotted wood
in some of the walls near the rear corners of the trailer. We ripped out some of the panelling to see what we had to contend with. The water seems to have been coming from running lights that were replaced
and the old holes not sealed properly.
Before we start really taking it apart here are some of my questions...
1. Is there any Butyl tape or other sealant in the joints of
the skin, or is it just the overlap of the upper skin section that
keeps water out?
2. Should we use stainless steel screws to replace the originals as we remove them?
I need to know these things to determine how much to order.
Also, can anyone recommend some good sites about restorations?
Any other suggestions will be very much appreciated.
aluminum screws might be better but stainless is good ,i would not use anything that would rust or corrode over time,depending on how bad the rot is they have some stuff called get rot that you mix up and paint the wood with that soaks in and hardens the wood then you can add new wood beside it or replace if its to far gone,theres some resteration done here with pictures if you can find them from earlier post.
1985 Class A Holiday Rambler Imperial 33 +1979 Class C Holiday Rambler Statesman 1000 = 24 ft
From what I have seen, the skin panels slip up into the panel above then stapled at the bottom. So to fix one at the top you need to remove from the bottom upward which can become expensive. There should be no caulk between the panels.
tincantourists.com has some real restoration "geeks" who do fantastic work....I'v Googled "travel trailer restoration" in the past and come up with thousands of hits.......and a lot of good info......
J
The panel overlap is dry, no caulking. I would also use aluminum fastners or SS.
NCH
2000 Ford F350 4X4 PSD,CC, DRW
4:10's, BTM Muffler, Isspro Gauges,
Coolant Filter,CCV Mod
FTVB , Ford AIS
6.0 Cooler,SCT2 W/DP's 40 tow & 80 econo,Zoodad mod
2005 Keystone Hornet 30BHSS
Reese Dual Cam
Family of 4 saved by Grace!!! MY TRUCK OUR TRAILER
As mentioned, if you need to remove a top panel, you will need to start at the bottom. The bottom panel will be folded under and stapled in place. Remove the staples at your own risk, they will be embeded deeply in to the panels. You will need to remove ALL exterior items such as door, windows, access doors water heater and so on. When the bottom panel is removed it will reveal the staples on the next panel.
The OEMs use galvanized staples, you could sub in aluminum, stainless, or zinc type screws. Any screw you use will need to be a low profile head so it doesn't push the panel out.
If you like to see my rebuild click THIS LINK it is a PDF file.
RoDnSuE wrote: Hi all,
My wife and I recently purchased a 1972 Cardinal TT that looked in excellent condition.
Anyway, to make a long story short, we found some rotted wood
in some of the walls near the rear corners of the trailer. We ripped out some of the paneling to see what we had to contend with. The water seems to have been coming from running lights that were replaced
and the old holes not sealed properly.
(snip)
RoD
a point on leaking outside light fixtures. The screw holes new a dab of sealant and also the hole through the skin needs to sealed also with the putty tape. The fixture/lense has a drain hole that should go down as any water can drain on out the bottom. Sometimes the fixture get turned upside down upon installation and will fill with water.
Jim
'03 2500 Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs
'97 Park Avanue 28' with two slides
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