fulltimin
Home is where we Park It.
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Joined: 12/14/2003
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Somehow, when an rv manufacturer builds an rv, I don't think that this had entered their mind, that this should be part of their recommended maintenance, just like the "roof sealant" repair needs to be.
However, over the course of time, sooner or later this will have to be done.
Those of you that own these rv's, know that there are a lot of seams all over these things that are indeed held together with aluminum rivets.
And sooner or later, that caulk will fail.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/drillingrivets.jpg)
If you want to do something, you will find a way.
If you don't, you will find an excuse.
-------------------------------------------------
Good judgement comes from experience.
A lot of experience, comes from bad judgement.
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fulltimin
Home is where we Park It.
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Joined: 12/14/2003
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This piece at the rear of the cap at the bottom is now removed. Beautiful sight, isn't it? Or not....
Then again, the trim is split, like you can see, because it changes directions. This top piece of trim runs all the way up the side of the rv, and yes, it's all riveted in place, just like the lower portion.
If the siding was flat, it might have a little better chance of not leaking, but I don't think it would help all that much in the long run.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/rearcapbottompassenger.jpg)
By the way, all these rivets are drilled directly through the fiberglass into the steel tubing that is used for the side walls.
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fulltimin
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And another of the same area, just a little lower.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/rearcapbottompassenger1.jpg)
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fulltimin
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Yes, the screws and rivets run down around the bottom, and as you can guess, they did not come out well.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/screwsandrivets.jpg)
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fulltimin
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Oops, just a little bit of scraping going on here....
Bottom of the rear cap on the passenger side.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/rearscrape.jpg)
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fulltimin
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Removed all the pop rivets that were holding that small piece of trim on, and this is what it looked like, underneath said trim.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/passengersidetrim.jpg)
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fulltimin
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Close up of the side. You can see the bottom piece of fiberglass is overlapped on the outside of the piece above it.
This is done because it is much easier for the factory to assemble the rv, during its build.
The 2 green circles are nails, that are nailed into the steel framing, and hold the bottom piece of fiberglass in place, while additional screws and so forth are put in place.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/passengersidetrim1.jpg)
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fulltimin
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As you can see, not all the rivets came out like they are supposed to.
The 2 circles are the screw holes that held the bottom bracket of the awning in place. One of the screws went into the steel framing, and the other only into the 1/8" plywood inside and out.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/passengersidetrim2.jpg)
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fulltimin
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And this is what the rivet heads look like after the heads are drilled off, and one that just pulled out, without having to have the head drilled off.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/rivetheads.jpg)
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fulltimin
Home is where we Park It.
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Remember those steel braces that hold the fiberglass, the other end of which is screwed into the wood on top of the aluminum in the floor?
Here is what happens when you try to remove those bolts at the bottom of the braces. Sometimes it works, and other times, not so much.
This is the beauty of using an impact driver. It only takes a couple of seconds, and they either loosen, or twist off.
![[image]](http://paddleupstream.com/mohorebuild/fiberglassbracebolts.jpg)
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