Long weekend was a relief because we got to both work hard and rest hard. Peter got a jump on me getting to RI, so the A/C was 98% removed when I rolled in Thursday night. There were at least 25 screws and most were so badly rusted that he turned them into flat-head screws with the diamond blade. He set up a ratchet inside the Airstream, pressing on the inside bottom of the A/C unit to give it some tension, so when the last three screws were done, things happened fast! We slid the A/C off the roof onto the scaffolding and then Peter gave it the old heave-ho.
Friday morning we got to work on the left-behind sealant with scrapers and mineral spirits and Goof-Off. Peter got impatient and put a wire brush on the drill (we had used for getting rust off the frame) and BOOM, like magic, clean mounting surface. We enlisted some help to lift the new A/C onto the roof and four giant bolts later, tada! It was like, too easy? Ease of installation is the reward for what a pain the demo and prep is.
I put sealant and Flexseal in the old screw holes and shortly after that it started pouring, so we went to Home Depot and bought some #12 and some #14 wire. Our external indicator LED lights came, so we popped the orange ones off and installed those. They didn't come with ring terminals for grounding to the shell, so we bought some of those, too. Most importantly, we bought some Plexiglass, weather-stripping and jigsaw blades so Peter could make a skylight cover. I drilled out rivet stubs in the frame to prep for skin reinstallation while Peter tested and installed his handiwork.
Our Fantastic Vents had arrived also, and I was anxious to leave the Airstream as watertight as possible, so our last project for the day was to drill out the old vent and install the new fan. This task we actually felt the most prepared for, thanks to all the installation videos available on Youtube, this one being our fav. Peter's tip: be sure to drill the rivets all the way out the first time, not just the heads. He ended up having to drill twice. It took us approximately 90 minutes--our weekends feel so short, I am more cognizant now of the need to work quickly.
So pleased that the two major holes in our roof (the skylight and the front fan) are now plugged! And thankful for all the rain we got after the A/C install to test whether the sealant and Flexseal tape actually worked--it did! I still want to patch the hole left by the TV antenna mount (it has flashing tape over it at the moment--watertight but not longterm) but Peter is hoping to invest in an Olympic rivet grinding tool, and wants to avoid using pop rivets on the roof for the time being.
Next time: second Fantastic vent, external powerwashing and final leak inspection, wire mapping and running additional wires, and maybe beginning insulation??? I didn't inspect whether two weeks sitting out on the lawn had done anything to speed the remainder of the paint removal on the interior skins--but we bought some Citrastrip for next time. We also have clecos and, whoops, the tool you need to use them. The guy we were hoping to hire to weld the lift kit, axels, and outrigger repair sustained a tragic injury, so Peter may be tackling that task all by his lonesome on a more distant future date.
Next time: second Fantastic vent, external powerwashing and final leak inspection, wire mapping and running additional wires, and maybe beginning insulation??? I didn't inspect whether two weeks sitting out on the lawn had done anything to speed the remainder of the paint removal on the interior skins--but we bought some Citrastrip for next time. We also have clecos and, whoops, the tool you need to use them. The guy we were hoping to hire to weld the lift kit, axels, and outrigger repair sustained a tragic injury, so Peter may be tackling that task all by his lonesome on a more distant future date.
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