Continued working on the emergency door, stripping off all the old aluminium cladding. It now fits, more or less and should be ok when the locking clamp is refitted which will pull in the bottom. The natural tendency for it to spring outwards is probably intentional so as to aid its opening. I found that many of the the joints on the door frame had loosened, so I reinforced these either by adding a new screw or drilling and gluing in a 6mm x 30mm dowel. I ordered the aluminium and the some 5mm dowels for the rebuild. Whilst waiting for these to arrive I created the template for the emergency door window frame and started to build it. I got as far as welding the first corner flange onto the base for the rubber by the end of work this week.
Monthly Archives: July 2024
21/7/2024
Started the week by continuing to strip the emergency door. Firstly removing the beading, trying to save the half-round horizontal piece but that may not be usable. Next, the window frame – this is definitely not repairable and was well rotted, especially around the bottom. Next job was the removal of the locking mechanism for the door, then the plywood inside panel. This revealed the frame was in excellent condition and apart from a few holes to fill will need no work. Collected the first batch of seat cushions from Ifor on Wednesday, very pleased with them. Rehung the emergency door to investigate where it was sticking, it soon became clear that it was at the top; this required the removal of the internal wood cappings around the door aperture which in turn required the adjacent light fittings to be removed and they were quite stubborn. After doing this, I started to relieve the top of the door aperture and got it to the point where it will close properly without sticking. I turned my attention now to removing the corroded outer panel so I could see where it was catching at the bottom. Slow progress but forwards!
15/720/24
Started the week by applying a second coat of grey paint to the back of the new window frame. I noted that the weld-thru primer did not adhere well to the bare metal on the frame so I had to to rub it off. At this point I decided to glaze it, then repaint it with red oxide. Before I started to put the glass in, I removed the remaining seat cushions, cleaned them and loaded them in the car with the moquette for delivery to Ifor, which I did on Wednesday. Attempting to put the glass in revealed that the pane was just too big, so the original template was adjusted and a new piece ordered from Dunmow glass. I sprayed the frame with Jenolite red oxide then started on dismanting the emergency door; this gave me some difficulty with screw removal, requiring some drilling. It also revealed how rotted the emrgency door window frame was.