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Skin Removal

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Taking off the Skin! Now that the roof was off we could get the skin off.  I was excited to get started, then we could really see what was going on with the structure.  I had a good idea but wanted to see it. The siding was in long lengths running across the trailer.  We had to start at the bottom edge and work to the top.  The bottom edge of each piece was stapled into the frame. This was the start of pulling hundreds of staples out of Lettie!   Taking off the first piece. Above you can see how the pieces of siding are tucked into the one above.  The reason for starting at the bottom. Working on getting a staple out.  The first of many! There are always things to find when peeling of parts.  Here on the siding was a piece of masking tape with writing on it. It is the dimensions of the piece of siding.  This was first of many "notes" from the builders in the trailer. Here is a look - from a far.  We will get to more details later about

Roof Removal Part 1

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Roof Removal - Part One The next step was to get the exterior roof off the trailer.  The side skin tucked into the roof piece so the sides were not coming off until the top was off. The roof bent over the sides and was held in place by what else: screws and butyl tape.  We started by getting all the screws out of the sides that hold the roof in place. My son enjoyed removing all the screws - with the electric tool! Next was onto the roof front seam, that went fairly smoothly.  Once is was free the aluminum siding popped right up.  Note the siding sticking up.  Also all the exterior lights are off! On to the roof back seam.  That was a bit tougher.  The framing that it was attached to was all rotted.  The screws would spin and spin but not come out.   Just a peek to see what was underneath! If you look hard you can see the front panel sticking up. All the screws were out now we had to tackle the butyl tape.  That was the only thing holding the roof to the si

Corner Molding

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Corner Trim Now that we have a place to work it's time to really get started.  We know there is lots of water damage and rot going on so the best thing for us to do is to completely dismantle  Lettie down to the trailer.  We wanted to get the exterior skin off first.   We started removing screws from all the corner molding that was holding the skin together at the corners. Yes more screws and more Butyle tape! From the start I knew the back passenger corner had issues.  It was caked with silicone and there were even a couple of heavy duty nails holding the trim in place.   We were able to pry a couple of those nails out with a hammer.  But the last two or three we had to give in and cut the nails. Once the trim was off we got a glimpse of what was waiting for us under the skin.  In a couple of spots we could get a screwdriver in the seam and it just went right in - there was nothing in there to stop it! Back driver side top corner (Tally the Y

Windows

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WINDOWS If you have not noticed I did pull the windows out.  It was one of the first things I started on after cleaning out the stuff. I had two firsts: 1. Just how many screws are in this camper 2. Dealing with Butyl tape  There is a a screw just about every 5 inches around every window.  Thank goodness for Brian's hammer screwdriver, or what I would call it, a power screwdriver. Once all the screws were out these window don't just fall out.  This is where the butyl tape comes in.  It's this sticky stuff that comes in a strip about 1/2 wide like a roll of tape.  You stick it on to the edge of the window and stick it into the opening.  This creates a water proof seal.  A lot of times this tape dries up in older trailers.  Not Lettie.  Her's was still sticky!  So once those screws were out I needed a flat scrapper to get in between then window frame and the trailer skin to pry out the window. Now that they are out I have a winter project of cle

Where to Work?

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Where to Work? I knew I was going to be working on this camper for a while and we needed a place to park it and work on it. First we thought that behind the house would work out well.  We have a tent that we thought would cover the camper and work area.  We set up the tent out back and Brian hooked up the camper to the ATV. As you might notice the camper was a bit too tall for the tent.  So plan "A" was out the window.  I helped to take the tent down and then went golfing! When I got home I found the camper.... in the pole barn! Yes the husband put it there!  All his friends are telling him that I will take over his shop.  We will have to wait and see.