Re: And you thought your RV was ugly.....
Went to Indianapolis, IN Thursday Night for a funeral on Friday and a wedding reception on Saturday. Drove back Saturday night.
This is copied from my personal daily log. Trying to keep track of what we do throughout the year.
9-5-10:
RV Repairs - day 21;
Up a little bit late (11:30) and got to work on the RV. Pulled it up in the drive, plugged it back in and unloaded the basement. Got all the tools and cords out and into the garage. Reached up and went to move the front a/c wire and got popped. Wires touched and soldered together. Main breaker tripped - reset it.
Drug the molding strips for the sides out and laid them out in place along the RV. They need to be cleaned and then put on.
Started on the front a/c. Unplugged the shore power. The wire is too short, since electric connection is on the opposite side. Got a piece of new wire and crimp connected it to the old wire. Ran the new wire around the back edge and connected it to the ceiling unit. The boot for the supply is too short. Put the ceiling unit in place, plugged in the roof unit and screwed it up. Put the filter plate. Went out and plugged the shore power in. Back in and turned it on. Cool air coming out. Done with it for now.
Back a/c unit. Can't find the female plug, so I got another one from the garage. Went out and unplugged the shore power. Put it on the wire and plugged the unit in. Put the ceiling cover on and put the knobs on. Shore power pluggged back in. Inside and turned it on - cool air again. That one is done.
Ryan came out and started cleaning the side molding pieces. Carla Did some measuring, took some of the cutains and headed for town.
Time to get the bathroom vent hooked up. I cut the wired to get it out so splicing is required. Had to cut the wires again and resplice in a "Y" to feed the fan with. Got a couple of the screw together connectors and hooked the fan back up. It is running and in the right direction. Took the crank handle off, put the screen up in place, put the handle back on and put the ceiling trim back in place. Vent done.
Ryan and I went to work putting the side moulding on. We started on the passenger side strip in front of the door. Ran a strip of bytle over the edge of the hinge and put the molding in place. Screwed it on, being carefull to align it with the "dirty" line from before. We did the drivers side front long strip next. Butyle and screws again. Ryan did the short strip behind the passenger side door while I pulled all the tool boxes out of the inside and vacuumed the floor.
Pulled the old rear valance out of the back of the truck and pealed the siding and metal backing off of it. Laid some boards out to try to figure a way to frame it. Looks like a 2x frame with plywood/luan will be best. Put the valavce back into the truck and slid the 2x's under the Cougar for the night.
Unplugged the shore power and backed the RV back into place, getting the leveling board under the passenger tire so it sits level again. Plugged the shore power in and hooked the water up.
Went to plug the phone charger in and the outlete above the table isn't working. The 110v power for the frig is off, too. Turned the propane on and turned the water heater on - no start up. The power for these must run through outside outlet that is not in yet. Will need to get the box and install it.
Closed everything down and put the stuff in the garage. Got the TV put back in and hooked up with the antenna. Carla came back with pizza and beer. We ate in the RV.
Shut down for the night.
9-6-10:
RV Repairs - day 22;
Up early and off to Home Depot for an old-work outlet box and caulk for the front roof molding. Got the box and caulk and stopped by McDonalds for breakfast. Got a cappachinno at Lake of the Woods and headed home. We ate and to work on the RV we go.
Pulled the RV up in the drive so the rear is almost clear of the building - had to roll back a hair to get the shore power plugged in. Carla started moving clothes in and I went to work on the outside outlet.
Started by getting the box to fit in the hole. Had to trim some on the sides and bottom to get it in. Unplugged the shore power. Pulled the wires out and popped out the correct plugs for the wires to come through. Had to crimp-splice an extension onto one of the ground wires to get it long enough to use. Pried some foam out for where the flip-out tabs go, pulled the wires out and slid the box in. Tightened the tab screws and it is in.
Plugged the wires in the back, screwed the ground wires in, shoved the outlet into the box, put the cover over it and screwed it in place.
Got the original dor stop and hook out of a bag. Got 2 new screws, 2 washers and some butyle. Put the butyle on the washers, washers on the siding, hook on the washers and the screws through it all. Trimmed the excess butyle from around the washers. Now the door hooks open again.
Pulled the old valance out of the truck and laid it on the driveway beside the RV. Did some measuring and drug the 2x's, a partial piece of 1/2" plywwod and a partial piece of luan out of the garage.
Carla is moving more stuff back in and put the doors back on the cabinets.
Sat 2 saw horses up and laid the 1/2" plywood on them. Laid the siding on top, lined the top and one end up and traced the outline onto the plywood. Used the skill saw to cut it to length and width and the jig saw to cut the bumper cut-outs.
Decided to rip the 2x's in half and use the 1 1/2" x 1 3/4 strips to frame the valance. Put one along the top, one down each end, pieces (3) along the bottom and then pieces up beside the bumper slots. Glued all the pieces to the 1/2" plywood and screwed the plywood to the boards. Added some 3" long galvanized screws to tie the boards together at the ends. Ripped 2 pieces of 2x to fit above the bumper slots and glued screwed them in place. Added 2 vertical 2x4 pieces at the spots for the roof ladder connection.
Flipped it over and sat the siding on top. Scraped some junk off of it, wiped it down with water, brushed the wood off and sat it up for glue. Got the FRP out and trowled it onto the back of the siding. Flipped the siding into place, lined it up and rolled it down hard. Wiped up the excess glue and sat 3 cinder block on top the hold it down. Cleaned the trowel up in the sink.
Used the 1" foam and some 1/2" foam to infill the open spots. Glued them in place and laid it on the ground, foam down, with the cinder blocks on top. Cleaned up some of the scrap wood pieces off of the ground.
Storge lady showed up. Wrote her a check for the rent and cut the lock off of #9 for her. We went in and looked around. She took a shop vac and a skill saw. I looked around and ended up with a storage tote full of wine and an RV size ironing board. We closed it up. She will be back later and some people are moving the junk out tomorrow and moving there stuff in.
Back to the valance. Sat it back on the horses, foam up, and laid the luan piece on it. It is too short by about 4". If I cut it at one of the ladder boards, I can splice it and make it work. Cut the pieces and glued and screwed it in place. Sat down and pulled all the staples out of the metal backer piece. Cleaned it up, glued the boards and foam with FRB and sat it in place. Rolled it down and stapled the edges like the did before. Measured and added a piece of 2x4 at each end to use to screw it to the frame from underneath. Screwed the bumper slot covers in place.
Took a coule of screws out of the rear strip and pulled them off to the side. Got Ryan a we sat it in place. Wouldn't fit, so I took the bumper slot covers of and it dropped into place. We held it up and I screwed the siding to the upper place. This is not the way it was before. Looks like they hung it off of the side pieces that go behind the rear basement doors. Took the screws out, pulled it out and sat it leaning aginst the bumper.
Took the "good" drivers rear side piece and cleaned it up. Glued a piece of wafer board to the inside of the siding and clamped it into place. Used it as a guide to build a new one for the passenger side. This one was destroyed before we got the rV. Biult a new one using 1/2" plywood, cut to shape and then laminiated to thickness. Glued and screwed. Glued the siding (piece) on the outside and we are ready to fit.
Held the passenger side one up in place and if needs another 1/2" thick laminate to fit. Added a piece and test fit again. Trimmed the edge and it will fit. Added an edge trim, using the drywall "L" we got for the roof edge. Looks close to the original trim.
Drill new holes in the steel frame for screws to go through. Drilled hole down for the new blocks on the back side, too. Put the passenger side piece in place, left a gap for the door and put the 2 screws in. Sits pretty nice and looks good too. Will need to cover the wood with bondo and paint it.
Put the drivers side piece in and it needs a 1/2" spacer, too. Cut a piece and glued and screwed it on to the side. Put it back in and the screw wont't go in. Got alonger one and it won't go either. Drilled a new hole and it goes in. Got the edge lined up and out the bottom screw in. Looks okay.
Sat the valance up in place - had to push it into the passenger side and then pull the drivers side out to get it to drop in. Got it into place, pried it up with the wonder bars, pushed the bottom forward to align with the side pieces and screwed the side pieces to it to hold it in place. Put the rear strips back in place and screwed them all the way down. Ran the butylr across the back top edge and put the molding on. Screwed it down. Put the bumper slot covers back on and screwed them down. Rear end done.
Need to get underneath and screw the blocks in.
Measured out and popped a chaulk line down to align the RV with the warehouse. Had Ryan and Carla help me get it back up and in place on the block. Plugged it in and hooked up the water and sewer. Turned water heater on and it flamed to life.
Picked up all the tools and wood, put the horses away, swept up the saw dust and staples and threw the old valance away. Shut down and went in for the night.
More Pictures added..........
http://s674.photobucket.com/albums/vv101/70Cougarkid/RV Roof and Side Repair/