The Hatch is Covered, At Last

After the glue failed on the last attempt, we successfully peeled the Filon off and removed all the glue.  Sunday morning, having procured some Liquid Nails FRP glue, we reattached the skin to the hatch.

Monday (yesterday) we removed all the clamping and trimmed the Filon to the hatch.  The glue appears to be working out well, although we had some issues at two or three corners.  These will be addressed later by re-gluing them, and in the end all of the edges of the hatch will be secured by metal strips.

Here is a view of the covered hatch:

Okay, I forgot to take a photo before we covered it with a tarp.  Previously we had stored it in the shed, on edge.  But now that we have covering on it, storing on edge risks peeling the cover from the edge.  That led to the above arrangement, which will persist only until we finish the balance of the covering.

Today we fit the top/front piece.

You can see the vent fan curb poking through the covering on top.  We first located that opening, cut it, then put the covering over the trailer to fit the front edge and trim the back edge roughly to size.

Our next challenge is to devise rigging to hold the Filon above the trailer while we apply the FRP glue, allowing us to drop the vent fan area onto the trailer first and work forward/backward from there.

This frontside is really calling out for something like a window, but it is too late for that!