Maybe I'll work on my..... something.

Skinned the inside of the Airstream door tuesday. Still need to make a toe plate to dress up the bottom of the door. Interior is going to be skinned in aluminum with the front and rear OE caps cleaned and painted to match.

 

Starting to skin the inside. Have to do a bit of fiberglass work on the back cap, but it shouldn't be too hard. Have to extend it about a foot. Still not sure if the cap will be the wall or if will just be a base to rivet aluminum to (not really liking the idea of pie cutting a crap load of aluminum to get a curve). I should have a bunch of cleco pins arriving tomorrow and then I will start putting panels in correct order and start working my way to the other side and then up.

Cut the second panel wrong. Thankfully it will be behind the third panel and also behind a cabinet.

 

Still skinning the inside. Making use of a bunch of Cleco pins. Left side, lower panels 1,2,4 are riveted in but 3 is held on by Cleco pins because we ran out of rivets. Panel 2 in the picture while we were measuring for the area we needed to cut out for the window trim.

Tomorrow, we'll finish up the left lower row then put on the right lower row.
More panels should be in tomorrow sometime. After those get picked up, we'll start on the middle rows then maybe have the top rows finished by the weekend.

 

The corners are compound curves and are a royal PITA. Fronts were not as bad as the back because we had to add 5" to the top of the back corners to fill the gap the original plastic bathroom covered.
Using BlueSea USB and 12v sockets, they require a 1/4" spacer (forward of the Cleco pins in the pic) and flag terminals so they don't hit the body. I made it so the sockets attach to the spacers then the spacers attach to the skin (and backing plate) with screws so they can be removed/replaced without having to remove the skin to access the nut.

 

A couple more pics. At the point now that I need help to put up any more panels. Panels left are two 4'x8', three 2'x8', two 4'x10', and three 2'x10'.
I have to extend the bathroom endcap. I think I will use a couple pieces of thin plywood and wrap it around the back to get the curve then fiberglass over it to seal it and give a uniform look.
Center pieces on the bottom are cut, just have to build some removable access panels. In the front, the IV plug goes past the skin and will have a cover. In the back, the AIRSTREAM letters are below the window and I want an access panel over them for removal for any future polishing/painting.

 

Cleco pins galore.


Have to build a small kickout box for the wiring. It needs to be removable. Eventually, I'll have to remove the panel and cut a big hole in it for an AC that will be in a cabinet and will slide out a door that I will put in the front. That way, the AC can be pushed out when in use and pulled inside when not.

 

Man, getting 4'x8'+ panels level and getting rivet lines level when the support structure isnt turns a great idea into a pain. That, and working inside what is basically a giant thermos on a hot day.

And the "workshop"

 

OE tranny crossmember removed. Cut and tacked in some spacers to fill the space between the OE rail and the new one. After those are fully welded, I'll finish boxing the joint in.

 

Got a pic from the fellow who is punching louvers for me. Going to do one more row on the big panel. Then he will be dropping them off next week. Look like I found the shop that I'll be taking my hood to for louvers. One thing to note, the panels are only .030" thick aluminum.

 

Got the inside skinned almost completely. Last sheet of aluminum should be here on tuesday. That one will be cut to fit around the front windows, instead of using plastic trim.
I'll be working on fiberglass for the back cap and modifying the front cap. That will be a PITA, so I'm not looking forward to it.....
Have to order different trim for the fans. Need curved, not flat. Flat leaves too much of a gap.

 

Light test.

 

Cut a hole in the front.

Then put an access door in it.

Will be installing the air conditioner in a cabinet at the front instead of on the roof.

 

Installed the custom louvered access panel. I like it, I like it a lot.
Put it as a hinge down. That way the back of the fridge can be accessed without having to hold the door up. Also drilled and tapped the hinge rod, so it cant work its way out.

 

Impressive! Taking shape.

 

Nice work!

 

Thanks. Just got done installing the kitchen overhead lights.

This is the last aluminum panel that has to be fitted. It will be in the front and I will have to cut out the D shapes for the corner windows. Once its up, I will mark it at the correct angles to cut it to give square ends when installed.

 

Made the last aluminum panel today. Cutting out the D corner windows was a PITA. Had to make a duplicator using a couple of pieces of wood and a piece of 2" foam insulation.

Cut out most of the hole then used the duplicator to transfer the shape of the window to the aluminum. Still have to do a little work with a file to finish up the cut outs and make em look good before I fill in the gaps and build trim for it.

I have to wait for the AC to get here so I can finish the lower front panel.

 

I also worked on my frame/exhaust a little. After I took these pics, I drilled and tapped the frame for 7/16" bolts that I will use as hangers (4 per pipe). I have some 7/16" rod that I am cutting & bending for the lower hangers which will be welded to the pipe clamps. That way I will be able to unbolt and remove the exhaust in the future if I decide to run Super 44s instead of the auger mufflers that I have in the pipes now. Everything is being built to allow easy removal in the future. I still need to get flanges for the H pipe.

 

Rear cap installed with cleco pins. Will get sanded down and riveted up along with adding wood paneling below and forward of the cap, then the entire bathroom will get fiberglassed.

Had to cut the edge at the window corners to get it to fit better. Cuts will eventually get reglassed to seal/set them.


I had to cut the fiberglass to get it to fit the radius without having big gaps. These cuts will also get glassed later. I cut the edge back so it is even all the way around instead of wavy like it was from the factory (black line on the tape).

I also cut the bottom edge down to make it straight, get rid of the bend it had for the factory counter and to get rid of some water damage it had in the paint. I cut it even with the edge of the lower skin overlap.

 

And the re-framing begins.....