AIRSTREAM PADAWAN
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Episode II
A New Hope

Sealing Up the Roof

8/30/2015

0 Comments

 
Whenever I think about the project as a whole, I get overwhelmed. It's just so big. Back when I led wilderness canoe trips, I told kids to focus on each paddle stroke or each step of a portage. If you put enough of the small steps together, you end up going quite a ways. I feel like that applies to me here.

My focus has been sealing up the roof so that when winter comes the snow stays outside. There are still some big holes, but I completed a milestone today. I filled and sealed the old AC hole with a brand new Fan-tastic Fan.  

In the photos below you can see the progression from old monstrosity to sleek technology. I'm planning on stubbing in 110-VAC and a drain line to the hole between the skins, just in case I want air conditioning in 10 years.  For now, the old had to go! 
The HUGE old AC.
Cover torn off.
Ugly, huge, & heavy AC.
Reinforced plate had to go.
The PO used tar to seal it.
Fan-tastic Fan installed.
Rivets sealed from the underside.
The old roof profile.
The new roof profile
I'm sealing everything with Trempro 635 - it is the modern version of Vulkum. A polyurethane-based sealant, it is supposedly better than anything else for aluminum. (I'd like to shake the guy who used tar.) I put new rivets in all the old, unneeded holes from the AC support plate that I removed from the roof. Then I caulked the inside with the Trempro.  I think this is the best way to fill those holes.  If anyone knows a better way, please let me know!

I have the front astrodome hole to fill, the fridge and heater vents to cover and/or patch, and several plumbing vents to recover. Then all I need to do is seek out and caulk every last seam leak. No problem! (Ugh. One paddle stroke at a time.)
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Author

    I'm not an Airstream Jedi, yet.  Airstream Jedi would have sounded presumptuous, like I know what I'm doing. That couldn't be further from the truth. Padawan is a title I can hope to live up to.


    Favorite Links:

    Knots Per Hour
    ​
    My friend Mike is building an airplane. Check it out.

    Archives

    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    October 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

    Categories

    All

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact