Engine Bay Door

[jgsomerville]

Has anyone had the problem of the engine bay door coming off. We last traveled from Arizona to Florida. About half way there, I started having a problem of the engine bay door latches not holding and the door going up. The door seemed to be well secured to its brackets, so I didn't worry about it much. I would close it at every stop and try to get the latches to hold. At almost every stop, it was open again. (By the way, the roads were rough as hell) Finally, on our return in about the middle of Texas, I had a lot of people signaling me there was a problem at the back of my coach. At first, I thought they were just signaling me the door was open, but during the whole trip, only one person had tried to tell me about the door being open. Now I got 4 people signaling me within a few miles. I pulled off the highway and found the door completely disconnected on one side and hanging down, bending the bracket on the other side. I removed the door, stuck it in my tow vehicle, and went on home.
Now, my questions is, what is the best way to re-attach the door. It appears that there is a piece of wood fiberglassed into the back side of the door that the brackets are just wood screwed into. My thought is to epoxy some wood dowels into the screw holes and just re-attach with wood screws. Once re-attached, I will have to figure out why the latches are not working. It's a little difficult to see the closed latch with the door closed. You can see up from the ground, but I don't know how well yet. I had the spoiler on the back at the roof do the same thing a couple of years ago. These rough roads are beating the crap out of my poor coach!!:

[Terry W]

Wow that sucks, at least you didn’t lose the door.

The tabs they latch too are just a little too short. My latches did the same thing when I first bought mine. I removed the two tabs that the latches contact, I believe they’re riveted on. I cut a couple of pieces of metal and shimmed them both out about 3/16”and that took care of the problem. I think I bolted them back on.

Hopefully you will have enough good wood to dowel and reattach too. I’m sure the wood could be cut out and a new piece glassed in. I’ll check mine out and make sure the wood is still solid.

Good luck, Terry

[paul65k]

Originally Posted by jgsomerville

Has anyone had the problem of the engine bay door coming off. We last traveled from Arizona to Florida. About half way there, I started having a problem of the engine bay door latches not holding and the door going up. The door seemed to be well secured to its brackets, so I didn't worry about it much. I would close it at every stop and try to get the latches to hold. At almost every stop, it was open again. (By the way, the roads were rough as hell) Finally, on our return in about the middle of Texas, I had a lot of people signaling me there was a problem at the back of my coach. At first, I thought they were just signaling me the door was open, but during the whole trip, only one person had tried to tell me about the door being open. Now I got 4 people signaling me within a few miles. I pulled off the highway and found the door completely disconnected on one side and hanging down, bending the bracket on the other side. I removed the door, stuck it in my tow vehicle, and went on home.
Now, my questions is, what is the best way to re-attach the door. It appears that there is a piece of wood fiberglassed into the back side of the door that the brackets are just wood screwed into. My thought is to epoxy some wood dowels into the screw holes and just re-attach with wood screws. Once re-attached, I will have to figure out why the latches are not working. It's a little difficult to see the closed latch with the door closed. You can see up from the ground, but I don't know how well yet. I had the spoiler on the back at the roof do the same thing a couple of years ago. These rough roads are beating the crap out of my poor coach!!:

Which year and model is your coach?

[jgsomerville]

It's a 2005 36 FDTS

[jgsomerville]

Thanks for the input. I bought some good rivet equipment when I had to repair the spoiler so I should be able to drill out the rivets on the latch brackets, make some new ones and rivet them back on. I appreciate the help.

[Terry W]

Just curious if you resolved your engine cover issue and wondering if you thought about having a couple of vents cut in while you had it off.

Terry

[DrDaveMA]

Originally Posted by Terry W

Just curious if you resolved your engine cover issue and wondering if you thought about having a couple of vents cut in while you had it off.



Terry

Terry, try putting the vents up high, there is a “pocket” above the access hatch that traps a lot of hot air. I think the higher up you put the vents the better.

[Terry W]

Dave,

Like you said, the top seems like the best place for the vents. I’ve seen a couple of vented doors but I haven’t seen any vents in the upper portion of the rear. I haven’t read on here about anybody doing it, I’d like to see a pic if anybody has done it.

I just figured if he had the door off it would be a pretty easy modification.

Terry

[Howiechamp24]

Can anyone please tell me where I can get my windshields changed?

[jgsomerville]

Still working on the door. I drilled out the locations where the original screws were and used JB Weld epoxy to install wood dowels. I am still trying to decide what type of screws to use. Wood screws don't seem like they would have enough "staying power". Actually, just screwed into wood doesn't seem like that great of design to begin with. I love most things about this coach, but every now and then........

I hadn't thought about installing vents, but now I am. Higher up seems like a good idea. I will start looking around for a suitable vent. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Again, thank you for the suggestions.

[DrDaveMA]

Originally Posted by Terry W

Dave,

Like you said, the top seems like the best place for the vents. I’ve seen a couple of vented doors but I haven’t seen any vents in the upper portion of the rear. I haven’t read on here about anybody doing it, I’d like to see a pic if anybody has done it.

I just figured if he had the door off it would be a pretty easy modification.

Terry

I remember a pic of one years ago, good luck finding it!

[Bruce Anthon]

https://www.irv2.com/photopost/showp...hp?photo=18937

This link has very nice engine vent grills that were added to an Alpine.