8. It's what's inside that counts.

 As documented already, at some point while driving, a hard pointy object (probably a tree) smashed through the fibreglass roof, tearing a 2 metre hole though the back passenger side. All of the exterior damage has been repaired, and the area primed, painted, and clear coated back to normality. Now we're fixing the inside... We have a lot of work to do today!

1. Repairing the tear in the roof fibreglass.

Today we're looking at the interior repair of the roof damage, as well as some other fibreglass-related things. So let's take a look at what the damage looked like before the paint etc was applied to the outside...

...I warned you it was a long tear! 2 metres long. You're seeing sunlight shining through 6 layers of fibreglass that has been applied to the outside. The thickness of fibreglass that was lost in the accident has been replaced by the new layers, making it as strong as it was when it was made. Because the structural integrity has been recreated, there's no need to add more fibreglass to the inside. So instead of layers of fibreglass, polyester bondo with fibreglass fibres in it was used instead. Here's the area after the first application:

The idea is to fill the gap, then do another layer over the whole area. This is so the tear is sandwiched between fibreglass layers on one side, and thick bondo with fibreglass on the other. It's incredibly messy stuff to work with, and it has to be used quickly after mixing, before it goes hard. Luckily all of this will be covered by the ceiling and cabinets, so it doesn't need to be sanded back or made to look pretty. Here's layer 2:

Despite how bad it looks, it dried to a rock hard consistency, and the panel has no flex when pushed. This part of the repair is completed.

2.Cracked cross beam repair.

The accident caused fractures in the fibreglass in areas that weren't near the tear. One of those places was the cross beam at the very back of the cargo area (now the bunk area).

None of the roof cross beams need to be load-bearing, because new wooden beams are being made and installed, 'sistering' the fibreglass ones. The ceiling will be hung from these new beams. But I wanted to fix whatever I could, just because more strength= better, so an access hole was cut in this damaged beam.

Bonjour!

I had a few pieces of angled fibreglass lying around, so I sanded off the gel coat, and installed them into the hole in the beam with resin and layers of fibreglass.

Unfortunately it was impossible to get a camera in the hole to show how the angled fibreglass pieces were used to reinforce the beam, so I can't show that. The beam was sealed up again with fibreglass matting, and the next day, it passed its stress test with flying colours.

3. Soft roof insulation.

The fibreglass roof sits on top of a galvanised steel body. It has 2 layers- an inner and outer, that are folded into one shape for extra strength/rigidity. Where it mounts to the steel, there are empty pockets which will heat up in the summer and make the interior hotter, and I wanted to fill these areas with R4 Earth Wool insulation. The problem is, there's no way to get it in there. Here are some pics to show what I mean (pics from Google):

So I elected to cut access holes into them and fill them up with insulation, like so:

Once all 4 holes were cut, and the entire length of the van was filled with insulation on both sides, I needed a way to seal them up again. Using some fibreglass offcuts and an angle grinder, I cut some tabs.

The tabs were then sanded...

Then they were glued to the inside of the holes that had been cut previously, like so:

Then the covers were glued back on...

... and bondo with fibreglass matting was used to fill the gaps. 

Then, when dry, 3 layers of thick fibreglass matting was applied over the top. This is when wet:

And these are when dry:

Again, because all of these areas will be covered by more Earth Wool insulation, then wall panels, then upper cabinets, the fibreglass won't be sanded or dressed. It was a lot of effort (and some money also!) just to fill the roof void with insulation, but my attitude to this build is: If I can make something better, rather than just ok, I'm going to do that. Repair complete!

4. Radial fracture strengthening.

Another damaged area is a radial fracture emanating out from the rear roof cross beam. 

The entire area was sanded with 36 grit sandpaper to get past the gel coat on the fibreglass. 

Then 6 layers of fibreglass matting was layered on top to return strength to the area. The damage was on either side of one of the panels I was repairing, so I worked on them all at once. There was a little sagging on the last layer at the top, over the panel repair, this was removed with an angle grinder and flap disc.

Repair complete!

5. Bunk area extrusions/mounting points.

In a camper build, every bit of space matters. So when I saw these boxy fibreglass extrusions in the bunk area, I knew they had to go.

There is one on each side of the van, as well as a set in the middle, and another at the front. I don't care about the other sets, as they will be covered in cabinets. But the two at the back take up way too much space where I want flat wall panels. The problem is, they also hold the hardware that connects the fibreglass roof on at the back. So it was obvious that this hardware has to stay, but in a different configuration. Let me explain. Once I cut the boxy extrusion out, the steel mounting sat like this:

I want to change it to this:

That way, the panel can be replaced, and sit flat like this:

A quick note: I have run a seam of silicone adhesive all the way around the roof where it meets the van body. This adhesive is very strong (it's strong enough to hold vehicle windows on), so these bolts and brackets aren't really necessary any more, but I want to keep them just in case. I marked each panel to show where the mounting bolt needs to go, drilled the hole, sanded off the gel coat, then glued the original fibreglass mount and steel spring clip into position.

Then encased them in 6 layers of fibreglass matting.

Then the panels were flipped over, and put back in position in the roof. The hole for the bolt aligned on both.

The panels were removed again, and replaced with pieces of cardboard. This is to hold all the insulation back, and also to give the fibreglass something to stick to. The fibreglass panels aren't big enough to completely fill their holes, so this cardboard will bridge the gaps. The panel faces were sanded back to the fibreglass, as were the areas around the holes.

The holes for the spring clip assemblies was marked and holes cut out of the cardboard so the assemblies can sit back in the hole.

Then the panels were replaced, and pieces of plastic were hooked into the holes so I could pull the panels out toward me while laying fibreglass down on them.

Then polyester resin was painted on and around the panels, and layers of fibreglass built up. This is how one of them looks now it has dried. (The top bracket will be removed, it's just there to prevent sagging while it was drying):

All of the repairs so far have been stronger then the fibreglass they are replacing, so strong you can hit them with a hammer without damage. When tapped on, the sound is deeper than the surrounding fibreglass, which means the repair is thicker.

It's time to mount the brackets in their new orientation.

The weld area was cleaned up with a flap disc on a grinder, and the bracket was placed where it's going to live. The welder was set up and ready to go.

After welding, cleaning up, and a primer was applied to keep the part from rusting, the bolts were screwed in. In conjunction with the adhesive running all the way around the edge of the roof, it is much stronger than it was when it was first made. A lot uglier though!

As mentioned before- The entire roof, brackets, walls, and floor are going to be covered in panels, floorboards, cabinets, etc. So even though it all looks rough right now, soon all of it will be built over.

6. Another roof beam patch.

This is the last of the roof damage. A crack formed across the area, and the fibreglass piece was isolated and broke off. I made a cardboard plug for it with a plastic tag I can pull to keep the cardboard in place, and sanded off the gel coat in the surrounding area.

After sanding and fibreglassing using exactly the same method already shown, the area was patched, and strong again. It looks pretty yucky, but the strength has returned to the roof. I tested it by standing on the roof once all the repairs were dry, and there was no cracking sound at all. Repairs complete!

It's such a relief to finally be done with the roof repairs (especially because there are more repairs in other areas to be done next). There still will be some more roof painting to make it all the same shade, adding a custom made roof rack, installing solar, cameras and 2 types of floodlights, as well as a Satellite internet dish; but that's all later on down the line. The van is waterproof, the exterior repaired and painted so it all looks clean, the interior repaired, so... sigh of relief. 

I never want to do another fibreglass repair for the rest of my life, so this is a milestone moment in the build. Very repetitive and messy work, but necessary before the actual build can get underway.

See you next time!