Box Is Done!

We took the newly refurbished trailer out for two weeks in California, Nevada, and Utah. It did great! A little water leaked in through the locking handles but that should be easily fixed. I'm so happy.

I still haven't installed a bar to hold the lid open.

That orange stuff is fire proof stop gap foam that I used to repair the melted insulation on the water heater. It seems to be working great.

It looks great doesn't it?

Attaching the Box

The box doesn't have a bottom so I added L-shaped aluminum to the bottom edge. This will provide something to attach the box to and help protect against water damage.

I used big washers to keep the weight of the box from pulling through the heads of the screws.

I waterproofed the joints with metal colored silicone caulk.

Jared took these pictures of me attaching the box to the frame. I used #10 hex-head screws spaced every 2 inches.

We made sure to give the metal manufacturing place the old side from the trailer so that they could cut the opening for the water heater to the exact right size. It was really easy to just slide the water heater back in and attach it using the old screws. I used heat resistant metal caulk (rated to 400 degrees).

I wasn't able to figure a way to make a new door for the water heater so I just used the old one. It attaches really easy and has the right venting. It doesn't match the box, but it does match the rest of the trailer and adds continuity.

The New Box!

Mike was a true professional. For just under $1,000 he built this amazing box for our trailer.

I am SO EXCITED!

Now I just need to attach it to the trailer and then reinstall the water heater and shoulder lights.

Reconstruction II

Here I installed the new bulkhead. So far, it's only attached with 4 bolts and washers (2 on each side). The bolt screw into the metal frame on the side of the trailer. It was difficult to drill the holes in the right places but I did it with careful measuring.

Nothing like a blury picture on a blog! Here I reinstalled the support framing. I rebuilt it out of the same outdoor plywood I used for the floor and ferring strips. I made sure the keep the old pieces to use as templates. I also added some extra supports because I don't have the wooden side panels for the cross beam to rest on.

At this point, it's time to start thinking about replacement body panels. I called Buckleys in Maryland and they had lots of Coleman parts. I guess they purchased parts from the Fleetwood factory in PA when it closed. He quoted me $1,400 for the front panel, the lid deck, the lid, the hinge, the gaskets, and shipping. That seemed really expensive considering that I would still need to rebuild all of the wooden body panels in order to use them. So...I decided to have a diamond plate trunk built. 

I met with Mike at M&M Metals in San Antonio, TX. I made careful measurements and gave him the following drawings. He quoted me a time frame of seven business days.

Reconstruction I

 I cut a new floor out of 3/4" outdoor treated plywood. I made sure to keep the old floor so that I could use it as a template.

I glued vinyl flooring to the plywood. I bought the flooring and the glue at Lowe's. The rolling pin came from the kitchen and helped get out the bubbles.

This plastic gasket was designed to go in between the trunk floor and the cabin floor. It wasn't large enough to accomate the new 3/4" floor so I had to cut off the bottom flange. It was shaped like a "T" when I was done. I applied silicone caulk and then stapled the vertical section to the cut edge of the floor. I applied more silicone caulk when I joined the two floor pieces together.

I cut out a new bulkhead from 1/8" oak veneer plywood. It wasn't thick enough so I had to use two layers. 1/4" would have been perfect. I stained it with a stain/polyurethane combination in what my husband calls "cheesy 90's oak color." It was the closest match to the original cabinets.

The shelf behind the electrical box fell down when I removed the bulkhead. Apparently it was stapled to it. I wanted to prop it up while I still had access to the area (without pulling out the electrical box) so I built this little support stand out of ferring strips.

Demolition VI

Several bolts hold the floor down inside the trunk. They were very rusty.

There are quite a few bolts and screws holding the floor to the frame. You can access them from under the trailer.

Here is water damage to the floor in the seam between the trunk floor and the floor of the main cabin.

Mold under the vinyl flooring. Very stinky.

Trailer with floor removed. I don't have a picture but I also removed the support and the bulkhead.

Demolition V

With the side and front panels removed, the trunk looks like this:

I removed the access panel for the water heater.

Then I removed the screws holding in the water heater. They were coated with the same ultra sticky goo as the screws in the lid hinge. I'm sure it's a way of waterproofing the holes. I think it probably works pretty good.

Here is the gas line connection to the water heater.

The gas line is attached to the floor under the trailer.

I removed this line carefully so that I could reuse it.

Here is the trailer with the water heater removed. The two water supply/return lines were very inflexible and the connectors were attached after they were threaded through the holes in the floor. I couldn't find a way to get them back through the floor with the connectors on so I cut the hoses just behind the connectors. The hoses were so stiff that I decided I would replace them and install new connectors when I reassembled the trunk.