After much fitting, trial and error, the lower panel was glued into place on Wednesday. The cut made at the metal supplier was perfect for the lower end.
Lower panel glued in place and curing.
The shims and 2x4s are to hold the panel against the wood studs while the glue cures. The objective is to have a tight panel with no fasteners except in the trim strips. Shortly after this picture was taken, the upper 10 inches was bent inward following the shape of the front panel. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.The next view is the finished lower panel shown by my lovely spokesmodel Connie.
Lower panel after curing 24 hours.
We went to Clearwater for some business on Thursday. It rained heavily during the night and was starting again as we left - a good day not to be working on the RV.
Along the way I went into a Harbor Freight store and purchased two different power metal shears (electric and pneumatic). Connie bought a quilting based novel at Barnes and Noble, "The Union Quilters" about what the women were up to while the menfolk were out killing each other in the Civil War.
Connie picked up a quilt that was being "quilted" at a shop in Hudson. This was a "find" that was made of fabric from the 30s and in remarkable condition. The pattern is a "Dresdon Plate" design. I got to watch the owner of the shop do the last row of quilting. Pretty remarkable degree of precision for free-hand work. It was put together without batting and has a flannel backing for use on our trip as a light summer quilt.
Quilted by Pat at "Quilt till you wilt" in Hudson Fl
Friday we got an early start on placing the upper pre-painted panel. Good neighbor Gerald came over to lend a degree of precision to the process that might not have been there in his absence. The darn panel was also too heavy for one person to glue up and fasten in place.
We started with the intention of using the old panel as a template for marking the new one for cutting. It was still wet from the rain on Thursday and we decided we were men and didn't need no stinkin' template. We took measurements of the roof to the where we needed the bottom of the panel to end up each foot and transferred the data to the back side of the panel. The electric shears purchased yesterday worked great once we figured out to not run it at full speed. When we slowed it down it walked through the metal in a controlled fashion leaving very little sanding and smoothing of the edge to remove burrs and sharp places.
Upper panel cut to fit and holes made for the clearance lights.
There are two amber clearance lights on the panel. We used an electrician's hole punch (from Harbor Freight of course) to make the opening without distorting the metal.
Finally we glued the studs, RTV'd the overlap bottom section and placed the panel. Looks pretty sweet to me. We used the same method of bracing using shims and 2x4s holding the metal tight while the glue cures overnight.
Top panel fastened in place and curing.
Tomorrow we will fasten the rubber roof to the top and the side trim and finally have a finished exterior. After that I still have to put the shower and tub back together. More about that tomorrow.
As always, thanks for reading my blog.
Ron
Is this a hint of what you might do in your next career? It looks really great, and where did you find that cute chick to be your spokesmodel? Take Care.
ReplyDeleteThanks sis,
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention this, Steve's RV needs the same repair only to the side instead of the front. I plan on getting to IN in time to help him fix his before heading to the BG festival in Columbus OH. It took a bit of coaxing to get my bride in the picture but she's a keeper.
TTYL
Ron