Well I’ve been unable to work on the trailer. First we had visitors for Thanksgiving. Then rain. Then down to San Francisco. Then more rain. I can’t pull the skin off when it’s raining. I’m trying to dry things out, not get them wetter. I’ve been ordering parts, and I disassembled a couple of the windows and prepared for painting. But no real trailer work.
Yesterday I went to the DMV to register the trailer, and it turns out I need to bring it in for inspection. Since the the back skin panel was off and the tail lights wiring is cut, that’s not good. I have to get it back together at least enough to tow it safely and legally. Today was supposed to be non-rainy. The only non-rainy day between now and my appointment next Monday. So I pulled off a second back panel. Here’s what it looked like:
And again after pulling all the rotten wood on the back:
When I’m working on the interior I’ll need to do some work on the lower sides. But the wood that’s left is sound.
Except at the very bottom where it connects to the floor, and a little on the left side. That’s damp and discolored but still solid. I should be able to stabilize that and maintain strength. You can see the new cross-member.
And here’s with new wood.
All the new wood is tied in with aluminum angle clips I made, like this. All stainless steel screws of course:
Everything is sealed with this stuff
Which it should never need. All day I’ve been dodging the rain. I removed the lights from the rear panel and disassembled to clean, rewire, and reinstall. That’s it for today. Would have gotten more done if there had been less rain.