Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Anyone interested in 83 Pace Arrow Tear down and Rebuild?


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fulltimin

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Posted: 11/12/17 07:53pm

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And now on to my non Osha approved setup for cutting steel with my chop saw with the metal grinding wheel in it.

The yellow arrow points to the super, not so safe, temporarily, setup of 2 stools, to hold up the long end of the steel, and the end I want to use, is on the right side.

Many times, the piece I want to use is on the left side, and for that, I just reverse the clamp, (red arrow), and also reverse the stool setup.

The clamp keeps the piece of steel on the right from moving during cutting, and also keeps that piece from falling, after it is cut off.

[image]

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.

fulltimin

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Posted: 11/12/17 08:01pm

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For cutting 2 pieces of steel that are to be the same length, here is my procedure for getting them the same length.

If I was doing more that 2, I would not use this setup. I would attach a fence with a stop, so that I could repeat cutting many pieces, and all of them would be the same length.

I don't like to measure every piece if I am cutting a bunch of them, that need to be the same.

So, before starting, if you are doing this in the month of November, there is one important feature that needs to be followed.

You will notice on the right side, there is a yellow arrow. This is pointing to an inflatable turkey. You need to start with that. You need an inflatable turkey in the front yard before starting... LOL!

So, I then cut my first piece. After I cut my first piece, I laid that on top of the piece I needed to cut, aligning the one end, red arrow. These actually are flush, but the lighting makes it look like it's not.

[image]

fulltimin

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Posted: 11/12/17 08:03pm

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Secondly, I then align the top piece so that it barely touches the grinding wheel, in my chop saw.

The bottom piece is then clamped to the saw, and I recheck the length, remove the top piece, and cut away.

[image]

fulltimin

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Posted: 11/12/17 08:10pm

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Finally, since this is a grinding wheel, after a number of cuts through steel, this wheel starts to wear away.

It started life as a 10" wheel, and it is no where near that now. Just guessing, I'd say it's probably somewhere between 7 to 8" at the moment.

If you look at the red circle, you can see that the very rear of the grinding wheel is not quite meeting up with the back of the fence.

Right now, I can push the saw down just a touch, to cut through the very back, bottom of the steel. However, this blade is just about done.

I have 2 choices. I can put a temporary fence at the back, so the steel I am cutting is farther forward, and I can get more cuts out of this blade, or just replace the blade with a new one.

Either way, this blade is not going to last too much longer, so if there is a bunch of steel to cut, one blade isn't going to make it.

Just like the 4 1/2" wheels on my portable grinder - they don't last forever.

[image]

fulltimin

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Posted: 11/13/17 08:04pm

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So, I've been looking at the entrance door for a while now, and I can truthfully say, I really don't care for it much. It's flimsy, noisy when opening and closing, etc.

So, here is a pic of an earlier time of the original door frame, and how it looked inside.

The left side, shows the distance, between the arrows, that the aluminum frame extended inside the wall.

The right side, with the red circle, is how the frame was partially covered up, with a piece of trim.

[image]

fulltimin

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Posted: 11/13/17 08:08pm

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After tearing this apart and welding in new steel around the door frame, this is what it looks like with the door frame in place.

The distance between the arrows, is the amount that extends to the inside of the steel frame.

[image]

fulltimin

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Posted: 11/13/17 08:13pm

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I pulled out my flexible measuring stick, and proceeded to take a measurement.

It turns out that there is about 2 3/8" from the inside of the frame to the outside of the wall.

The red arrow shows where the aluminum is that covers the fiberglass exterior. That aluminum is about 1/16" thick.

So, that leaves about 2 3/8" being used for the door frame.

[image]

About this time, the light bulb came on. I can use a door that is thicker than what the factory installed, and not take up any more space than what this frame did. Yay!!!

fulltimin

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Posted: 11/13/17 08:21pm

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I proceeded to weld a piece of 1" x 1.5" piece of steel, the opposite way that the wall framing is welded in.

So, what that means is, that I now have a 1" thick wall stud, with a 1.5" piece welded to it.

That give me a door frame that is 2.5" deep. That is roughly the same depth as the original frame.

You will notice in this next pic, that the steel I welded in, stops at the red arrows, and does not continue all the way to the top of the door.

[image]

SAY WHAT?

fulltimin

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Posted: 11/13/17 08:28pm

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You may remember that I said earlier, that it's time to think outside the box a little bit - you know - let's do something a little different.

This is one of those times.

I am not saying that the pic below is an exact replica of what I intend to install. It is however, roughly, the right shape.

I was thinking about this, and since I think that dutch doors are kind of cool, I thought, why not put one in the motor home?

Why not indeed....

That way we can open the top of the door, and let air and light in, while leaving the bottom closed, and still maintain some privacy.

You know, in case we want to run around in our underwear.

Ok, ok, I am kidding about the underwear.

However, with 2 1/2" there, changing out the door, to one with a rounded top, seems like something I want to do. Hence, the top of the door frame needs to be rounded, and that is why I did not run the steel frame all the way to the top.

[image]