Drill, dowel, glue, clamp, wait. That’s been the rhythm for the past few weeks as we glue the wood roof structure together and subsequently attach the ceiling. Dowels connect all the wood pieces together, and after they are glued they must cure for 24 hours. It’s another 24 hours after the ceiling gets glued and attached with plastic rivets. So 48 hours minimum per panel, and there are 6 of them. Thankfully, all but one is done, and it will be finished up once the other 5 sections are in place. That one will be used to take the “slop” out once the others are secure. The largest section over the kitchen and dining area took some ingenuity to place on the vehicle, utilizing two extension ladders.
The next step will be to complete all the direct current wiring and to add the 3/4″ insulation, which involved a trip to the metropolis of Salina, KS, to acquire. That will be bonded to the ceiling, and the thin plywood will go on top of that. The engineering department is working out a plan to do most of the gluing directly on the vehicle. We’re expecting a report soon after tests are completed.
The weather has been characteristically uncooperative, with occasional pop-up showers and near 100-degree temperatures. The vehicle gets tucked into bed each night via a large tarp, and the trapped heat has done some interesting things to the PVC ridge pole underneath.
I’ll be very glad to get this phase of the restoration done and move on to other less drudgerous parts of the project!