I'm putting together plans to replace the front skin of my travel trailer toy hauler. The front is completely delaminated. Reusing the existing fiberglass would require a lot of elbow grease to remove the delaminated Luan from the fiberglass. At least that's how my last delamination project ended up. The vertical edges of the fiberglass are a bit torn up and they also seem to have been trimmed short. A new piece that is cut the right width will fit much better under the molding. The insulation and underlayment will also be replaced.

The local shop that sells RV parts has fiberglass (aka Filon?) I can buy. Here is their description:

Is there anything I need to finish the fiberglass with? Gel coat?

 

Gel coat is one way to go. But, pot life can be pretty short depending on catalyst concentration, ambient temp and material temp. Maybe only 15 minutes. Marine paint is easier but probably doesn't offer as much protection. I've used both and for a large surface, I'd lean to paint unless you have access to a sprayer.
Del

 

I have a 50 square foot area to finish. I don't think I could do a good job with one batch of gelcoat in 15 minutes. That would require multiple batches. A gallon of good gelcoat looks to be around $100 and covers almost the area I have.

 

It's possible the material needs no finish coat.

 

That would be convenient. I'll have to ask about that.

 

Maybe check out vinyl wraps. No experience with these.

 

I had thought about that. It's going to look a bit nekkid if it's plain white. I have two faded factory decals on there now. A full width 100" vinyl wrap is probably cost prohibitive.

 

You might be surprised.

 

Along the lines of vinyl wrap, you might look into a "clear bra" protective cover.

 

That would work too. I found Filon online that said it has the gelcoat already on it. Now I'm wondering if the fiberglass I can get local has gelcoat also.

 

The corner molding on the front will be replaced when I put on the new fiberglass. When I fixed the delamination of the sidewalls I put on new molding that had a longer leg along the sidewall. The original molding didn't quite cover the sidewall fiberglass. The factory used caulk to cover the gap. Unfortunately, the new molding wasn't long enough to go all the way down.

The section where the two diamond plate aluminum sections come together had a separate piece of molding that was thin, cheap and all broken up, so I didn't put it back on. The new section of diamond plate aluminum I ordered with a clean 90° bend and no curve at the bottom. You can see the curve in the old section of diamond plate aluminum on the front of the trailer. I may have to replace the front section of diamond plate. It's starting to tear where it comes into contact with the tongue. If I replace the front section, I may eliminate the shower box since I never use the shower.

The question I have is, how far down should the corner molding go? The new molding I have waiting to go on came in 16' lengths. I have plenty of length this time to cover the corner, all the way down to the bottom of the diamond plate. But I'm thinking that I'm going to cut the molding off to mate up to the horizontal molding. What do you think?



The other side where I did put trim all the way down. If it was one piece it might look OK, but with the seam it looks like crap.

 

I would just run it to match the horizontal run rather than go all the way down.

Steve