WILLY'S FACE LIFE - INSTALLMENT 3

I faced this day of Willy's Face Lift with great fear and trepidation. Today was the day that I had to keep pulling back the aluminum skin to expose bad wood that needs replaced.

I did  start on one of the worst corners. After remove a great many screw and staples that could not be seen until I started seriously exposing the insides, I started working the skin away from the corner. Of course there always has to be at least one screw that doesn't want to come out but, after almost 45 minutes, I was able get the head out enough that I could get a hold of it with a pair of vice-grip pliers. It was important to get it out without damaging the skin because it was near a critical edge.

Once I got started I soon realized my big fear; viz. removing a nearby window. There was no way I was going to be able to pull the skin back far enough to work with the window in place. When I pulled the window out I was so very pleased. The butyl tape was still flexible and obviously doing a good job since there was no sign of water in the frame. As I continued I started worrying that I would have to remove the door, but, thankfully I am able to get in to work on the wood without removing the door.

As I got inside it was a good-new, bad-new situation. Actually the good-news outweighed the bad. Since this is where the front and side frames of the trailer come together, and are probably built separately and put together on the trailer frame, two pieces of 2x2 come together. Only the outer most 2x2 needs being replaced. That means there's no serious structural problem and will be much easier to replace the wood. The bad news was that the outer 2x2 was bad the entire length of the seam up to the roof.

When we got home we found packages on the front porch. The molding, vent, tape and other supplies had arrived from VintageCampers.com. I only ordered them Tuesday.  I think the vent is too big, but otherwise, we're ready. Tomorrow I'll get the wood and start rebuilding the corner.

Also today I got the device people call 'the eraser'. It goes on a drill and can remove a pinstripe from a car without hurting the paint. We were told that, once we get the bulk of the silicone off we can use this device to remove the residue that is almost impossible to remove any other way. I also got the materials to repair and patch the holes and damage done by the TV antenna, awning and rock guard.

Oh, I know I mentioned the horrible use of silicone. Here is a picture of some globs of silicone that I had to dig out from the inside of the wall. There was no way it was doing anything in there except providing balk.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to finish the wood on the prepared corner tomorrow and replace the vent and start doing body work on Sunday. Despite the occasional periods of pure terror, we are having fun! We are so excited to get Willy back on the road.  Pamela has been using an app on her Galaxy Note 4 that allows her to see what Willy would look like painted differently.