Matt Colie wrote:
Bill,
Git-Rot is little more than a laminating epoxy (very low viscosity)
that sets much softer than most epoxies you probably familiar to you.
Now, to your situation as I understand it.
You have a typical aluminum skinned RV. You have removed a good
portion of the degenerated wood. The 1/4 plywood paneling that
supported the skin is gone as well as some of the structural framing.
Repair processes:
You can safely use Git-Rot to recover the stability of small sections
of frames you choose not to replace.
Epoxies do not bond well to untreated (etched) aluminum. Filling
that much volume inside the RV shell will not be simple. I could do
it and I know how, but I would still not suggest it be done. The
heat of the cure may discolor the skin and there are other
considerations.
If it were my job, I would fit the paneling back in place. In pieces
if I have to. I would then use a urethane adhesive to bond the skin
to the plywood. Finally, I would join those pieces with either more
panel and epoxy or glass cloth and epoxy. You can then recreate the
missing frame pieces. As you will not be able to nail the plywood to
the new frames from the outside, epoxy the frames to the inside.
Both West and System 3 epoxies will do most of what you need to do
very well. Go to the West System site or a West (no relation) store
and get the books that company sells. www.westsystem.com/
http://www.systemthree.com/
Which ever epoxy you choose to use. Get the mixing pumps, a light
weight filler, a filleting blend filler and what ever other tools you
think you might need.
It sounds like you are doing a job that would probably cost 2k in a
shop. They would rip the skin off replace all the bad wood, put new
skin back on and paint it all to match. (And let you worry about the
water leaks that started the problem some time down the road.
Advice from a BTDT..... Don't try to save money on tools and
material. This job will be hard enough to get right even if you
only have to fight the repair.
Good Luck Guy
Matt Colie
Bill wrote:
I know this is a boating forum but most of the posts I've seen on
Git- Rot seem to be be in the boating arena so here goes.
Does Git-Rot harden without being soaked into wood like a normal
epoxy??
What I'm dealing with is an RV that has some rotted frame members in
the overhang above the cab. I've removed most of the really bad
wood and will be drying out the rest over the next week or so with a
humidifier. I was thinking of soaking all of the remaining wood
with Git-Rot to stabilize it then replacing the missing structural
members or sistering in new frame parts if the pieces are still
there but not as strong as I think they should be. All this is
well and good except that the skin of the camper was placed over
1/4 paneling and nailed or screwed through into the frame. I had
to remove much of the 1/4 paneling and now have a 1/4 inch gap
between many of the frame members and the aluminum skin. What I
was thinking of doing is filling that gap with an epoxy so it will
bond the skin to the frame and fill in the gaps so I wont have
holes if the skin gets pushed up by wind when I'm driving. My
first thought was to use Git-Rot to soak the wood and then another
type of epoxy to do the filling, I'd have to find one with a high
viscosity so I can pour it into the cavities and let it flow under
the frame. I figure that if I pour a 1/2 inch of epoxy that is
should do what I need. I then got to thinking that maybe Git- Rot
might be all that I need, I could cover all of the bad wood and
then keep filling in the cavities until it stopped being absorbed
and puddled but I wasn't sure if it would cure hard enough or bond
to the aluminum.
Anyone have experience with something light this using Git-Rot??
Bill
I used a System 3 product called FixRot on my pickup camper to fix the
rotted wood frame. It soaks in and sets up hard. I didn't have to
replace the wood I used it on. Jim
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