1991 Flair

Today I managed to get the cooker and fridge unit out and can't believe the absolute bodge that autosleeper had done when installing everything in this van! There are holes everywhere! And not just screw holes, but big cut out sections that were left to the elements. It must have been freezing to sleep in there! How do I start the process of patching up the holes? I don't have access to any welding equipment etc so what would be the alternatives? I'll get some pictures tomorrow to show what I'm working with.

 It also looks like I'm going to have to replace the windows or at the very least get them resealed as the rubber has perished on the outside. Where can I get new seals or alternative windows? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Hope you're all having a good weekend. Many thanks 

Dan

Unfortunately that's the way they do things which are out of sight! I can remember taking the fridge out of our 1982 Frisky, and seeing that the dropout vent through the floor looked like it had been made with a tin opener! We tidied that up by putting anti-rust primer on the exposed bare metal edges and then pop-riveting a deflector panel to reduce the amount of road crud that could get thrown up into the cavity behind the fridge.

In the case of the fridge, is it possible that someone has removed it previously, and put it back without the sealing panels, that are supposed to be there to isolate the outer part where the burner is from the inside of the van? Our '82 van didn't have any such thing, but later vans are supposed to, and they were (in my experience) very poorly implemented by A/S. I can recall baffle panels held in place with Gaffer tape - I think that was on the Flair.

If it's out of sight, I've never had any problems patching up with pop-riveted panels, provided you can rust-proof any exposed steel. I've always put something like waxoyl on the blind rivets because they are usually aluminium, so you could in theory get differential corrosion in steel panels - though it shouldn't really be an issue, as that area shouldn't be damp anyway.