Just noticed the latch that locked the engine door in place has broken loose , the rivets have broken through the fiberglass mount , there is nothing behind the thin fiberglass to fix
To, anybody solved this problem
This may be better photo
Ouch, Looks like you will have to remove the present latch and rebuild the Fiberglas on the panel, I would consider glassing in a back up of a piece of aluminum and then screw the bracket into the metal. It looks like FT glassed in some kind of reinforcement that the rivets went into. On my Engine hatch they had glassed in a piece of what looks like fiberboard of some kind and when the fence jumped into me we had to glass it over to act as the stiffener for the hatch.
Gary B
Gary
I think like yours there was something under the glass mat , I am considering glueing ??? A piece of plywood then glassing over it .
Again any ideas on bonding agent wood to mat and resin / mat I would be most grateful
The body shop that repaired my hatch cleaned off the surface as best they could, applied a coat of resin and then added glass mat in what looks like two layers, this was over the fibreboard that FT used as reinforcement.
Gary B
A two part epoxy used with glass cloth would be better than std polyester resin. search the forum, others have done these types of repairs.
Good luck,
Rick
This past April on I-81 had a trucker get my attention with his Hadleys and he was pointing back. Stomach instantly knots up but when I pulled off the next exit I found the engine hatch was open and the curbside latch was hanging by the cable.
Got out my trusty cordless and some fine thread self tapping screws and secured it back in place by putting the screws just inboard of the existing ones. Added a couple to the other latch as well. They grabbed very well and are holding nicely.
I think it was the fasteners (mine had screws) that failed. I am keeping an eye on it in case I have to replace the substrate like you are looking to do.
Dean
Cut away the glass mat and found the plywood was completely rotten , it looks like water had been leaking in through the ladder fixing screws. I have cut a piece of 3/4" plywood and plan to install tomorrow
We used some fatter screws and JBWeld. Did the job 2 years ago and holding well.
Took Kent's advice and bought a glass fiber kit , eventually got everything back together . Learned the lesson and sealed around the ladder fixing screws when I reassembled .
Jimmy,
Since yours is also an '03 and you're working around the ladder, check the plastic ladder ends for cracking. Brett Wolfe pointed this out on ours last year Rear ladder plastic ends (was What did you do to your coach today) (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=15371.0)
Michelle
Thanks Michelle , I keep hoping the "to do" list will get shorter but it never does
You can say that loud. It never does ??? ::) :-(
I decided to oil the woodwork whilst I was waiting for the glass fiber to cure , it's only now I realize how much wood there is to treat .
The list extends again !