Gimme some skin, baby!
Now that most of the repair work on the framing was done, it was time to get the Wilderness some skin. Bless her heart, she had sat naked through some of the coldest days we have had in a long time. Side note, a north-facing shop is just cold. If I shut the doors, I blocked my natural light and I love working in natural light. Brother loaned me an LED shop light, and I had some funky orange nightmare shop lights, but it is just not the same.
Before I started, I had laid out the aluminum panels and tapped out a few of the dents. I used a 2 x 4 and a rubber mallet to reshape the bottom where it turns under the camper. Aluminum is so soft, you can't just whack it with a hammer. You WILL ruin it. Just don't.
Before putting the skin back on, we had to replace all the Styrofoam. Not a big problem, but I wish I had labeled each piece as I took it out. Labeling and pictures are your best friend. When I first started demolition, everyone laughed at me when I would stop and take a picture. Then, when we were trying to fit something back, what'd they say? "Hey, let me look at that picture on your phone again." Ha! Winner.
One of my purchases was an electric staplegun just for this section of the project. I had a $15 off coupon at Ace Hardware (sign up for their Ace Rewards, it's worth it). It has come in pretty handy. It also shoots brad nails, so I'll be able to use it when I do the trim work.
My Ace store (Weathers in Oneonta, AL) is really helpful. There is one guy there, you walk in, tell him what you need and he walks you to it, no fail, every time.
If you notice around the windows it looks wet, well, that is my never-ending fight with silicone. I don't know how many tubes of silicone was used on it, but there was an unbelievable amount. It had to be peeled off. I went to my trusty friend, the internet, and there were so many different suggestions. I tried them all. I tried denatured alcohol, brake cleaner, WD-40, carburetor cleaner (Lord, the smell, I hate it), stripper, lighter fluid, and Goo-Gone. What finally (sorta) worked was Goo-Gone, let it sit for about 48 hours, then I used a polishing disk on a drill, low speed. I didn't want to get it down to bare metal. I hated this part. It was like it never ended. It was in bead about half an inch thick around every thing, the compartment doors, the windows, the J-rail, the fenders, on top of the screws, the lights, the door, and random splotches just on the side.
Just google "why you don't use silicone on a camper" and you'll get tons of horror stories. I agree wholeheartedly. It doesn't flex and the moisture will just get trapped in behind it. Slathering a ton of silicone on a place that you "think" might have a leak is a terrible idea. Don't do it.
We've got the 1964 Chevy sitting back there, ready to get fixed up to pull this cutie.
I was really pleased with how well the back aluminium came together. The front was a little more tricky, I'm sure from the replacement of the entire front. I'm not going to say we were not off a little bit in our measurements, because guess what? Not a professional.
But, I think it looks pretty snazzy at this point and now she's ready to paint.
Once I get the silicone off.
Just for laughs, I posted on the Facebook asking if anyone knew how to remove silicone from aluminum. One of the more hilarious answers was "it should just peel off". Oh, honey. No, just no.