Rebuilt rear luggage door

[RISK]

One thing that bugged me about my Avion was that the big rear luggage door was bent/sagging outwards on the top corners. It was bending where the straight top piece of C channel met the curved side pieces. I suspect the sealant failed and water/moisture/weather got in and caused a sag over time. It was about an 3/4" different than where the handle was. I took off the top section of channel to investigate and it appeared that I'd be able to easily separate the outer and inner skins and either reverse the plywood core or replace with new. If the old core wasn't rotten I would really rather have used that as plywood was so much better back then...

However...

It was soon evident that to get the outer skin off would deform it beyond repair, I did manage to get the inner off without too much difficulty though. Small victory.

I had a small piece of anodized scrap left over from a patch I did on my SilverStreak and comparing it to the outer skin it was the same gauge and almost an exact match for the finish. I took that sample to the sheet metal shop that I had originally purchased it and asked if they had a piece of drop big enough that matched the piece.
They had a piece that was about 10" wider and 6" higher than I needed and sold it to me for $30.

Found the highest quality exterior sanded ply in 3/4" at Lowe's Depot and headed home.

For the new aluminum, I used a straight edge and a utility/razor knife to score and snap the straight cuts and shears to do the rounded corners, I left about 1/4" all around as thats how it was on the old one.

I used spray contact cement to reattach the skins and clamped the the thing dead flat overnight to effectively laminate it into flatness.

When I reinstalled the C channel I liberally applied Trempro under the seams, outer edge and along the entire bottom as that was the most rotten of the old door. I threw out the clutch head screws and replace with SS, the Trempro squeezed out to for a barrier and to seal up all screws. Cleaned up with mineral spirits and reinstalled the handle and hinge.

What I thought would be a 2 hour fix ended up being a solid day and a half but the door is perfect now.

[silverloaf]

Nice work.

Fortunately, when I rebuilt our hatch door, I was able to peel both skins off the rotted core without damage.

[RISK]

Thanks Bob,

I now have a nice anodized work surface...

As a side note, the bumper you see in the pic is just sitting there, I had to take it off my Airstream anyway and my old one on the Avion is pretty banged up. I kind of like the look but may end up welding on something more substantial.

Does anyone know what car the late 70’s bumpers came off of? This is what it’s supposed to look like:

Thanks,
Ian

[Razorback]

Good work on the rear door!

I am thinking of getting a treated 6x6 and make a new rear bumper. Thought of coating it with a rubberized coating (black), and mounting it with angle iron.

[RISK]

Years ago I put a 4x6 on my dads class C motorhome as he was really adept at backing into things and mangled two bumpers. A couple coats of exterior enamel. Several years later he’d let the coach rot and couldn’t sell it so he offered it to me. I flew to Seattle, got it running and limped back to Texas. Spent a couple weeks fixing it up and sold for enough to cover all my costs and buy my Avion. Bumper was still there, it just needed a new coat of paint.
Easily replaceable though much hardier than the cheap metal versions...

[KYAvion]

Nice work on your luggage door. Looks great!

[RISK]

Thanks guys,

Another small thing I did was add a SS door holdback for my shore power/water access hatch. Can’t believe it took me so long to do that, no more holding the door open with my head while hooking up power and water.

[Razorback]

Those are super handy.... and easier on the head!

[RISK]

I finally used my head the right way!