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The choices of replacement siding material


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The Odyssey is ripped apart and near ready to begin work on new siding.  This leaves the question of what to use.  The current siding is the outdated fiberglass corrugated siding.  

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(camper chaos pic just for fun)

Switching to a filon type of siding would certainly update the appearance of the truck but at a hefty price.  

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Other than a filon type, there is aluminum corrugated siding (which would dent very easily, not something I want on a 4x4), or keeping the type that's on it now but I'm not even sure where that type of siding is sold.

Can I hear some thoughts and opinions from the community?  

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How about 3/16 aluminum sheet , google wothahellizat  home built expedition rv. He used an epoxy ? That they glue airplanes together with. He did use diamond plate. And you have to get it right the first time because once it's on, it's on.

I don't know about the weight though. But it wouldn't rot or need paint.

How about wood strips and epoxy? Like a canoe. But the maintenance and upkeep.

FRP glued smooth side out ?

In the end you probably can't beat corrugated fiberglass or filon.

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a possible alternative to filon would be trying 1/8" x 96" x 48" plastic sheets. i am NOT talking about FRP. the plastic sheets i am referring to are solid, flexible and are available in colors. you may need to do some internet research to find a supplier. i became aware of these when i worked in a cabinet shop. the large units of cabinet grade plywood called "bunks", had these sheets on the very top of the bunk as a protective cover to prevent scratching and tow motor fork marks during shipping from the plywood manufacturer. i would assume that the cost of these sheets were nominal, since they were a one way use throwaway. i collected a few of these sheets from the company dumpster and used then as wall covering on the inside of my garage. with filon costing about $45.00 a lineal foot, it may be worth investigating. good luck, joe from dover.

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I'm going to keep it looking as factory as possible.  This basically comes down to the corrugated material or a filon type of material.  The composite panels are very nice (google the company "total composites"), but they are super expensive and out of my budget.  

I saw Ben's build when researching, I mean no offense but the finished product looks pretty rough.  I will hopefully have minimal visible seems and definitely no screws down the side of it.  The filon material available for purchase is a bit pricey but the most professional looking option.  It looks to come in 8.5' x whatever length you need.  This means I could have the entire side done in basically one piece with no seems.  The trick is to get it to adhere really well and have no waves or early delaminating.  

The plastic siding sounds interesting but any damage taken during travels or off-roading would be a pain in the butt to repair.  Although being cheap to repair would be nice, it would be a pain to have to take the entire siding off again to replace the entire sheet and have to re glue it all or whatever adhesion method is used.  

I'm going to continue looking into the filon, it looks beautiful (as shown in the photo at the top of this thread), but it comes at a hefty price.  I assume about $1,500 by the time glue and everything is purchased.  

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42 minutes ago, Odyssey 4x4 said:

...I'm going to continue looking into the filon, it looks beautiful (as shown in the photo at the top of this thread), but it comes at a hefty price.  I assume about $1,500 by the time glue and everything is purchased.  

The added value of a good-looking, reliable product will be well worth the outlay, if you can find a way to swing it and then do a nice, tight install. I say, go for it!

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Agreed!  It seems the most crucial variables are using a proper adhesive, and getting a strong tight clamp on the side of the rig for the curing process covering as much area as possible.

 

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Not the answer to your question, but some ideas on gluing and bracing you new siding.  http://www.delamrepair.com/

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Welp it's looking like I'm going to take the plunge and do filon.  Imagine how beautiful she's going to be when finished ? I find it really updates the look of the rig and this rig is pretty special to me so I might as well spoil her.   I'm thinking a desert sand type of tan (I'll repaint the cab of the truck as well).  Once done I will have some custom graphics made to keep a factory look.  I like the simplicity of this style from the sunrader, I'll do something similar to this.

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The entire walls are steel framed from rear to front.  I believe there are only maybe 20 screws on the front end holding the walls to the fiberglass front cowl.  We decided we are going to pull the entire walls off of the rig so that we can do the filon application on flat ground.  This should be fun!

I'll keep the forum updated once work starts.  

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I know in your intro you had contemplated building an RV from scratch and decided against it, but it looks like your going to. Ambitious project at least you'll get it the way you want it. I'm watching closely, as the previous owner on my odyssey used latex caulk on all the seams (by the case) and I'm finding rotten plywood and the screws are not holding the trim on. But I don't know if I could do what you are doing. But your making good way.

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7 minutes ago, Oldgriz said:

I know in your intro you had contemplated building an RV from scratch and decided against it, but it looks like your going to. Ambitious project at least you'll get it the way you want it. I'm watching closely, as the previous owner on my odyssey used latex caulk on all the seams (by the case) and I'm finding rotten plywood and the screws are not holding the trim on. But I don't know if I could do what you are doing. But your making good way.

We will get there.  I am basically starting from scratch now but I have the floor framing to go off of.  The walls are also all framed out and welded steel so that is something to go off of as well.  At this point its really not much more work to just do what we are doing.  It's one of those things where you take one piece off and find rotted wood and begin fixing that and find 5 more things that need repair.  It would be dumb to do the amount of work I'm doing and not address any and all other issues.  It will essentially be a new camper when done and I will know it down to every screw.  

I'll be happy with it when done and it should be a nice rig that should hold a decent value (being "new" and a rare 4x4).  My dad and I have been looking forward to this build for a while (years), and we planned on doing this amount of work regardless, or should I say looked forward to it!  

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My samples of Filon came in the mail today, I think I will be going with the classic white.  It looks like nice stuff. 

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Look at my avatar, think 2 tone.  A 2" overlap will make it waterproof.

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14 minutes ago, WME said:

Look at my avatar, think 2 tone.  A 2" overlap will make it waterproof.

Do you mean overlap of siding?  Filon comes in lengths wide enough to do entire side of rig in one piece 

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Didn't know consumer level Filon came in full width. Still 2 tone helps visual, so good auto quality paint would do the same.

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5 minutes ago, WME said:

Didn't know consumer level Filon came in full width. Still 2 tone helps visual, so good auto quality paint would do the same.

Yup I see it in 8 and 10 foot widths at whatever foot length is needed.  The white is clean and classic.  I’ll likely have some OEM style vinyls made to give it some personality 

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...

So how did it go with the Filon? What adhesive did you (or anybody else)use? I replaced the back wall on my '86 Dolphin and have Filon that I want to put on the outside but I tried Weldwood water-based contact cement (that's what I used for the EPS insulation) but it didn't do squat with the Filon. I bought an 8' x 10' roll of Filon and cut my pieces and layed them out to "relax" but they still have a slight bow to them and wouldn't stick. Any suggestions on what type of adhesive to use would be GREATLY appreciated!!! Especially since I'm up against the colder temps now and need to get it done ASAP.

 

Thanx

OregonSteve

"Never never doubt what nobody is sure about." -WIlly Wonka

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