out with the old in with the new

[westyss]

After a long hiatus I started working on the rig instead of using it, I was a little bummed out from losing alot of my pictures at the start of this thread, my own fault, I blame it on being computer illiterate.

I have been searching for exterior access doors, and even bought some RV doors, but I just couldnt bring myself to install them, they were just crap, so I have admitted defeat and am starting the arduous process of making some. I need four in total, and I started with the biggest one, the pull out kitchen hatch. Now please dont anyone say "why didnt you just buy them from ________?" Well its too late now so dont tell me where to get them!

The plan is to weld up some frames, on this door I used 1/4" Al angle and some flat bar for the frame, and this is where its going.




Next up was to make the actual door, for this I used the piece I cut from the entry door, cut it down to the approximate size,




and will cut it down the middle along the inside glass section.




Only way to do it was a saw, and needed to keep it spread apart so the saw wouldnt bind up.




I tried to just spread it apart thinking it would rip apart, but no way! Glad about the strength of this composit stuff.




After sawing I am left with two slabs, one with a white glass side and 1" thick, the other 2" thick glass both sides and one of the sides of glass are colour matched with the exterior.




A bit of a test fit!

 

[westyss]

Around the door I am using 1/8" Al angle, it will be Sika'd to the door.
I am using a stainless steel piano hinge. Al angles cut to size.




Hole for the latch cut out,


and dry fit.



Looks like it might work.



Next up is to sand down the rough side of the door and seal it up, let it set and then paint, the inside part of the door will be exposed to some elements and be visible so Ill try to make it look decent.


Still more to do on these, but slowly coming along, I knew they where going to be a pile of work!

 

[IdaSHO]

You are braver than me. Ive been buying insulated compartment doors for my camper.

Doors look great though.

And geat job on the build!! :ylsmoke:

 

[westyss]

You are braver than me. Ive been buying insulated compartment doors for my camper.

Doors look great though.

And geat job on the build!! :ylsmoke:

Thanks for the compliment, but I have to ask, where are you getting your doors?? Are they an RV door? What made me decide to go with a stronger door was thinking about leaving the rig parked some where and feeling good about leaving it, I definately dont feel good about my already installed and soon to be swapped out RV door, that thing can be broken into with a dull butter knife. I sure didnt want to go to the trouble of making doors though, they are a ton of work, but am saving a ton of cash too!!

 

[IdaSHO]

Ive been sourcing them from Ebay. If you have plenty of time to keep an eye out, and know exactly what you want, it really is just a matter of time before you find what you are looking for.

So far Ive paid on average less than $50 per compartment door.

Still waiting for my entry door to find its way onto Ebay. But watching prices it looks like it will cost anywhere from $250-$350 after shipping.

Yes, they are RV doors. Nothing really fancy. Rounded corners, fiberglass door skin, with simple RV locks on them all.

I gave up on "security" worries long ago. If somebody want in, they will find a way. Unfortunately.

 

[westyss]

Ebay is where I bought a few doors, the doors were not well made, large gaps between frame and door, nothing seemed to fit well, cheap hinge with sloppy play, I recieved some quotes from a door manufacturer and they wanted big $$ for them, too much for a flimsy door, maybe a decent, secure, good looking door manufacturer is needed in NA.
By the way, I have three doors of different sizes for whoever wants to pick em up!

 

[westyss]

This weekend I continued toiling away on the never ending access door project,
first up was to mount the door permanently with Sika along with the rest of the corners.

Test out the lock and fits OK, and you can see the gap between the top of the door and the frame, this is the next job, to cut and weld a 1"x1" angle onto the frame to make a lip where the weather stripping will sit and hopefully water proof the door.

I booger welded the angles as they wont be seen! Definitely harder to weld two different thickness of metal, have to spend more time on the thicker metal side to get good penetration and less time on the thin side to not melt it!:huh:

But did a better job on the visible bits, so-so.

Sealed it all up with Sika and let her dry overnight, so all thats left on this door is the weather stripping and final layer of Sika on the door and its ready to install.

Then got on with the next two doors, welded the frames and leaned them up on the cut outs from the windows that are going to be the door, these two doors will be for under bed storage access.

 

[westyss]

A few shots from last years trips

 

[westyss]

Few more

 

[Overland Hadley]

Thanks for sharing the photos.

I know I have said this before, but your rig looks so solid. Very nice.

 

[westyss]

Thanks for sharing the photos.

I know I have said this before, but your rig looks so solid. Very nice.

Hey thanks! And congratulations on your FWC, I am looking forward to see what you do with it and see some pics of your trips. I have found that my plans for the interior changed a little bit while using the rig, so definately a good idea to use it while building.

 

[pods8]

Cool to see you at it again. The doors are looking good so far. I'm using a basic RV door on mine but that is to my propane hatch which will be sealed off from the rest of the camper so I'm not all that concerned about it not being super high quality. Refreshing my memory on this thread just makes me wish affordable composite panels were more readily available. Doing them by hand is taking me a long damn time.

 

[westyss]

Light at the end of the tunnel!
Getting a couple of hours of work a night on the doors I finally finish the first one.

And its going here, but maybe straight though.

Measure, mask, check measurements, then start cutting!

After getting a cut all around, I have to use a rubber mallet to knock it out evenly or it will bind on the way out. I went into the base aluminum corner by around an inch to get the door as low as I can.

Slide her in to see how it looks,

Then get it all Sika'd in there and a quick clean up and final pic while getting dark.

Next on the agenda ,remove that crappy white RV door at the front,


and install this.

I made two of these, one for each side to access the under bed storage area, but to do the install I had to remove the temporary bed and stuff under, on and around the bed and that's where I came to a screeching stop for the weekend!!

 

[westyss]

Cool to see you at it again. The doors are looking good so far. I'm using a basic RV door on mine but that is to my propane hatch which will be sealed off from the rest of the camper so I'm not all that concerned about it not being super high quality. Refreshing my memory on this thread just makes me wish affordable composite panels were more readily available. Doing them by hand is taking me a long damn time.

there's something to be said for buying RV doors, it's way easier than making your own!!

I would think that getting some panels made would be fairly easy no? Have you heard of anyone trying and being denied?? I haven't talked to the people I got mine from , but I would think they could accommodate a purchaser, I do recommend this product, its just pricey. But I guess you are understanding that with the amount of work to build yours up verses buying, like me, some things are hard to justify the cost for if I can make it, it just shows where the cost is once a guy spends lots of hours and money making something from scratch.

 

[IdaSHO]

Your doors came out GREAT! :ylsmoke: