Forester fixup by newbie with questions

[Foresterfun]

Good to see there are many that enjoy yesterday’s trailers. I am in the process of fixing up my 1967 Forester 14' travel trailer. I recently acquired it and have been nothing but happy with the purchase and knowing that anything is possible (my new mantra!).

I knew it had a bit of issues. In my opinion, a 60's trailer without issues does not exist. So with the extreme north woods weather we are having, it's 40 degrees and raining currently, with no snow on the ground or in the forecast, the construction began. More correctly, close inspection and deconstruction began.

I have created a blog- http://forestertrailerfun.blogspot.com/ - for those interested in checking the progress. I have joined this forum as I have viewed it for several months and all the members seem to have very good insight and info, something I am in need of tapping if you would be so kind.

I have a list of to-do items and the first through ??? are questions. Hoping that all of you in the forum can assist me in these items. Some have more detail than others and they are in no particular order. Also, since I am a newbie, my verbiage may be basic at best so I will likely create questions. I may talk about thingies, do-hickies, and dealy-bobs so I am all for learning terms and practices. No questions are bad questions right? Here it goes.

I have roof damage on the inside and need to replace the entire inside roofing materials and replace and/or add roof beams for proper support. I'd prefer not to remove the entire roof metal though I do need to remove the back part at/below the back window in order to rebuild some rotted frame and window supports. With that in mind,...

>How do you secure the roof beams to the sidewalls where there is no room to work?

>Besides weight being a factor, should the beams be evenly spaced over "x" inches (I do live in an area of heavy snow and do plan to use it for winter camping) and should I install any type of center beams? I do have low spots in the roof and am planning to beef up the supports in those areas specifically.

>Since on the subject of beams - any type of wood preferred?

>How do you fit the roof panels between the wall panels and roof beams from the inside when it comes to the radius portion at the front and back? Can you bend it into place in a flat portion of the roof and slide it down the radius? Do you have to notch the paneling first in order to get the radius to fit?

>I realize I have to remove the screws/attachment points from the cabinets to the ceiling in order to remove and reinstall the roof materials. Do I have to *completely* remove those items? I can easily remove the front cabinets but would rather leave the kitchen cabinet (with bracing) and closet in place.

>Now as for the removal of the back skin. How in &%$() do you remove all those staples without losing your own skin or fingers? All screws have been removed but between the nails, staples, and goo, it is still firmly attached. I wear work gloves but am running out of bandaids.

I thank you for your time of reading and replying. I hope your Christmas, Hanuka, and Holidays are all you wished they would be.

Happy Trailering

[Wallaby Dan]

Ok, first, welcome to the forum!! There is no such thing as a dumb question! The only dumb question is the one not asked. You may have to remove the cabinets as there is a piece of plywood above the cabinets that is nailed or screwed to the overhead rafters. If you need to replace the ceiling all the way, Then you may have to remove all the metal on the roof to replace the rafters. The rafters usually are screwed to the walls. On most, there is a trim piece that goes all the way around the roof of the trailer. remove that and the roof is just a single piece of sheet metal. There are ribs that are spaced for a 4X8 sheet of Headliner. Its usually wood with a plastic coat. Make sure you have the new rafters at those spacing and you just use liquid nails to glue the ceiling to the rafters. The interior walls and closets are actually the main support for the ceiling. but there is plastic runners to join the panels. I will add a couple of pictures for you at the picasa site. I would get rid of the metal roof over rubber membrane. That's just me. You asked about the snow and weight, If you have a ladder on the trailer, then it most likely has 16" spaces on rafters, and wood roof under the metal. If not it still may have plywood which could still support you and any snow that is on the roof. But the metal is not supported and by itself is not capable of supporting much weight,(including you!). It would look like it sags in between the rafters. If that latter, I would add a plywood roof under the metal or rubber membrane. That's a start and all i can say is have fun!! If its not, then i would go a different way. Dan

The pictures are in a folder marked Ceiling Pic's. I put them on line for you and i used the Nikon instead of the phone camera so you can blow them up. if you notice there is a bit of waviness to the ceiling but that's because the walls are the only thing holding it up. I could have used more support when glued. Sorry, My fault...also need to be vacuumed again. The dust is showing up again from the heater fan on the a/c unit. later....