To Skin or Not to Skin? - That is the Question

[jkreighb]

Just beginning work on my '64 Shasta Astrodome and I have been debating whether or not I will need to tear into the outer shell or not. It does have the typical earmarks (or should I say - watermarks ) of leakage areas. But does that warrant peeling the skin off this puppy? The reason I bought it was that it has a very pristine shell with original paint and very little damage. Is it feasible to do all the repair work (other than resealing windows) from the inside? If I need to replace / repair any of the 1x2 support structure can this be done without the "can opener" approach?

Thanks in advance for responding.

[offspringin]

I did most all my work from the inside. I had to carefully peel back the rear corners of our side skins to get to all of it. At the time i had no cover for it so pulling the skin wasnt an option due to weather. I thought it was fairly easy to work on it with the skin on.

Are you intending to pull all the paneling? or just the damaged areas? paint interior or re-birch it? some of those can play a role in how you repair it.

If i had the money and the skill i would love to tear this whole thing apart, start from scratch from the metal frame up. (but i dont....)

[boandsusan]

Any pictures? You say it has marks of leakage. You`ll have to remove the J rail and clean/reseal the seams to fix leaks anyway, so why not at least remove the lower skin at the same time? The skin shouldn`t get damaged while removing and replacing. It is much easier and quicker with the skin removed to replace/repair any framing.

[Hamlet]

Before we realized that Hamlet had too much skin damage to save, we removed and replaced the skin several times. The most important part is to have at least one other person helping you, otherwise you risk bending, denting, tearing, or otherwise marring it. Other than the care needed, it was not at all difficult to do, and at least you know you have nice, new butyl tape keeping those seams and edges dry!

[cowcharge]

I replaced my entire floor and floor frame, all the wall stud bottoms and wall bottom frames, and half the wall top frames and a couple of rafters without removing the skins, also because of having no barn. I did have to open every skin seam to do it, but since they all needed resealing anyway it wasn't a big deal (except for all the cuts on my hands, and the difficulty of getting them bent back in place neatly).

I did remove the lower rear skin up to the windows to get at the rotten corner frames, and I cut one good rear wall stud in order to get full sheets of ply for the floor inside the trailer. And I did peel the lowest layer of side skin on both sides of the rear off about 6 feet forward from the rear to help replace the stud bottoms. It all depends on how much frame rot you have, and if you have a shop to work in.

[vikx]

I say from the outside in is easier. Greater visibility and access makes for better repairs...

[cowcharge]

Working by myself also pretty much made removing all the skins out of the question.

[61 Shasta]

If you have or are willing to put up a structure to keep the unit out of the weather, take the skin off! It seems like a ton of work but believe me, it will save you a ton of time down the road. It may seem like a daunting task but with just one other set of hands to assure you don't bend, tweek or fold something. it is pretty straight forward. Just keep some kind of diagram or mark the back of each piece to make sure you get it back in the same spot. Many of the interior wall and cabinetry are attached by nailing them from the outside. By removing the skin, you can remove, strengthen or adjust these at your leisure. Also, be aware that the construction techniques in these early units leaves much to be desired. With your trusty pocket hole jig, you can do much to help that out. I could go on and on but suffice to say, you will be time and money ahead to go from skin in rather than from inside out. Good luck and whatever you decide, happy camping.
"Chuck Waggin" will be watching for pictures.

[shazbat]

Thanks, jk, for asking the question I've been debating for some time. My circumstances are the same. But my gut has been telling me the same thing as everyone's responses: Gotta go big or stay home. I look at all the great detailed restoration projects people have posted, and I just can't convince myself it can be done "right" without skinning it.

[safetybruce]

You are in it, now you have to skin it.

[Deleted]

I'm a couple of weeks into restoring our 63. After doing the demo it became apparent that removing the lower skins would make the task of reframing a whole lot easier and also making sure that all the rot issues were addressed. Taking the skin off was a piece of cake, the only difficulty was removing the wheel well trim screws.

Go for it, it's not that much extra work.