Pressure Washing, Window Felts, and Banana Wraps

I finally got around to pressure washing the exterior yesterday.

The two above pictures really give you an idea of how dirty it was.

I installed the window felts and cleaned the windows also. I was really surprised at how easy it was to replace the window felts.

Here is the window channel without the felts in it.

The old felts were so rotted they fell apart and about the only thing left was the bead.

It was just a matter of removing the four screws that hold the top felt in and removing the window. then I cut the new felt to size and popped it into the track.

The windows are now weather-tite.

Here is a before and after of one of the windows.

It's amazing how well the windows cleaned up, aside from a small scratch here and there and a little bit of bubbling at the edges in the laminate they look brand new.



I also worked on the last of the banana wraps. First I took measurements and cut the aluminum to size, then I bent the bottom 5/8" over for the lip. To do this I made a homemade brake out of some plywood strips, a 2x4, and some hand clamps.

I then bent the piece by hand to give it it's curve.

I then made a smaller one for the part under the door.

Here is the section before installing the wraps.

Here is the section with the two pieces in place.

I still have to get the curved piece back into place then rivet everything together.

Air Conditioner opening

Today I worked on the opening for the air conditioner. I used the center vent opening. This worked out well because the center vent cover wasn't original, it was galvanized metal, rusted, and broken.

I drilled out all the rivits holding the vent frame in.

The opening is 14x16 but the air conditioner boot is made for a 14x14 opening so I needed to close it in by 2". I cleaned up the opening and cut two strips of aluminum. Then I riveted the strips down, one on the front, one on the back. I used Dicor under the strips to seal them. Then I put Dicor liberally on every rivet and seam.

I test fitted the air conditioner on the opening and it fits perfect.

Metal Work

I spent the day doing miscellaneous work on the camper. There are a lot of small things left to do before I can put the flooring in and the walls up.

The first thing I worked on was the U channel near the rear of the camper under the roll down windows. They were completely disintegrated from corrosion.

I was able to make some U channel out of the aluminum countertop. It had already been hacked up so I wasn't going to be re-using it anyways.

With that done I was able work on the banana wraps in the same area on the outside of the camper. These were completely corroded too.

I cut the new piece from the countertop as well and installed it.

Next I installed the thresholds in both doorways.

The last thing I had time to do was one of the roll down windows.

You can see how gunked up the mechanism is. I pressure washed everything, dried it, and greased all the gears and the sliders.

Here is the window ready to be reinstalled.

Here is the window installed.

The window crank works much better now.

I didn't get a chance to work on what I really wanted to work on today.

The flooring is Engineered  wood, it's called Natural Cherry. I will get it installed sometime this week.

Rear Door Lock

I scored three sets of Bargman L-66 door locks for $100 at a small RV shop. They are used but in perfect condition. One is a complete set, the other two have a few parts missing.

I was able to make another working set out the the two minus the interior locking mechanism and a hold down bracket but I was able to replicate both out of some metal I had. I'll try to get some pictures of that later.

The set that was missing pieces had a set of keys with it but they dont work so I'll have to get a new tumbler set for it. I installed it on the back door so the complete working set with keys can go on the front door.

The measurements for the rough opening are 7" x 2 1/4". I used a scrap piece of acrylic as a template and used it to make the mark on the door.

I cut it out with a jigsaw then installed the lock.

It's going to need a lot of adjusting to work perfectly.

Other front side window

This window went in MUCH easier! Turns out I cut the other window 1/8" too big which is what made it so hard to get in. I may take the other window out, trim it down and reinstall it.

We installed this window in about 45 minutes compared to about 4 hours for the other one.

I'm holding off on installing the center window until I get the couch in. The center window is 26" tall, the doorway is only 24" wide so getting it in through the window is my best bet.

Front Windows

I installed one of the front side windows today. Let me tell you it was the biggest pain in the ass!! It took hours to get it installed.

NOT looking forward to doing the other ones.

I also installed the 7-way trailer plug.

Tomorrow I'll work on the other front side window.

Tail Lights

I got the tail lights installed yesterday.

One thing I want to mention that is very important. Be VERY careful how tight you install the screws for the trim piece and what you use to install them with. I used my little Ridgid impact to install the screws, the combination of the impact and torquing the screw down too much caused the lens to shatter. At $75 a piece for originals that's a very costly mistake.

I also began working on installing the front wrap around windows. I clamped the piece of lexan directly to the camper and traced out the window shape on to it. Then I cut along the line with my jig saw,  then I used a scribe set at 1/8" to make a new mark because the gasket takes up that much all the way around. Then I cut along the new line. I intalled the gasket in the window opening to get the proper length for it.

I will install the window today when I have a second set of hands for help.

Trailer lights

Yesterday I worked on the trailer lights, they were in really bad shape but I have both original tail lights and three out of the four original KD-540 running lights.

As you can see the bases are completely rusted out. There are reproduction bases for the KD-540 but I cant afford them right now so I decided to make my own.

First I had to find some light sockets that would work, I got these for $2 each.

Then I traced the pattern from the trim piece.

Then I put the cutout up to the side of the camper to locate the holes I needed to drill into it.

Then I rivited the bulb socket to the cutout.

Not as elegant as the reproductions but it works.

Next I screwed the new bases to the camper using stainless screws then attached the lenses.

Once I find some flathead stainless screws I will replace the phillips head ones.

I ran all new trailer wiring to all the lights. I didn't get a chance to finish installing the Bargman no. 2 tail lights but I did get them and the new center license plate stop light wired up.

I also finished up on the tongue. First I sanded it down with a wire wheel.

Then I sprayed it with a rust inhibiting sandable primer.

Then I sprayed it with a high strength enamel gloss black paint.