Search the Community

This is a pretty simple upgrade project that I'm working on, one door at a time. Basically, our 91 Warrior is full of these old cabinets that are darkened and weathered, finish peeling and flaking off, etc. We had originally planned on painting them all white or grey, which seems to be pretty common. But, I have to say, I like real wood, and these are quality oak cabinet doors, so I decided to go with a simple sand-and-refinish. Here's what I did: Remove cabinet doors and their handles. (Easy to do just a couple doors at a time, which is a nice thing about this approach—you can take your sweet time, spread it out over a few weeks or whatever.) Sand each door in the direction of the grain with 150-grit. Do it again with 220, and then remove all dust with shop-vac and wipe down with tack cloth or slightly damp, clean rag. Wipe on a light coat of polyurethane (I'm a big fan of the Minwax satin) with a clean, soft cotton rag. Wait 4 hours. Sand the new finish very lightly with 220 again. Remove dust and wipe on another coat of poly. Leave it alone to cure for a day or two. Reinstall doors and hardware. Here are a few photos of the before-during-and-after. (I also decided to clean and polish the dingy old handles, too. Any decent metal polish should work.)

Well everyone, my daughter moved to Tucson and I purchased this for her. She lived in it for 6 months and loved it. We drove from Charlotte to Tucson then to LA and back to Charlotte. Ran like a new vehicle. Absolutely the greatest vehicle I've ever owned. The owner had the engine and trans. completely overhauled - new heads, new cab AC, new belts, hoses, new tires brakes - all completely re-done. But the camper portion was heavily water damaged. I knew that if the engine and trans was good for crossing the country back and forth, I could gut and remodel the inside and outside. I did a quick repair on some plumbing as well as a new hot water heater and leak repair - making it nice and cozy for my daughter's 6 month residence. Now I'm going to begin to overhaul this beauty inside and out so that my wife and I can enjoy it together. I will post pictures and my comments as I go. Hopefully I will get most of the work done before September, 2016. QUESTIONS: 1. ALUMINUM SIDING: Advice on restoring the aluminum siding from those who have done it. What is the best way to repair fairly significant hail damage? If I need to replace some aluminum siding, where do I purchase it? 2. SHOWER DOOR: I'd like to install a shower door to replace the curtain. Has anyone made one of these or retrofitted something? 3. INSIDE DECOR: Should I try to restore the inside original or gut it and go with a contemporary look? 4. BUNK AREA REBUILD: The bunk area is completely rotted from water damage so I must rebuild. Any suggestions here - pitfalls, things to do, avoid etc? As in the above question, where do I purchase the aluminum under-siding. It is rusted substantially with many rust pinholes etc.... 5. ADDING WINDOW: Does anyone have any experience cutting a new hole for a window and adding one? I'd like to add a window in the bunk bed area for better ventilation.