Have a 1973 13ft.Scamp that has about an inch gap at the bottom when you shut the door. The door shuts well otherwise. Doea anyone have idea on fixing this? Thanks in advance.
Sat, 04/02/2016 - 17:23
#1
Front door problem
Best to contact the factory for,this question, sounds structural.
<p>Doug Allen 2016 Ford F-150 2018 Lance 1575</p>
I can empathize with you! We have a '74 SCAMP 13' that we have owned since 1975.
Some 20 years ago, the door gap had increased (like yours) to the point it got caught on and was damaged by some road debris. At that time, we were able to buy and replace it with a new door from SCAMP. Unfortunately for you, I do not think they still make/have doors for these older trailers (the 13' SCAMPs built post the factory fire have a taller door corresponding to the higher roof line). But here's a possible fix...
When we restored our SCAMP in 2014-15, the (second) door had a 1" gap (not as bad as yours, but still not good). One day, while working around the trailer, I got "a bright idea." The interior "structure" of the door (between the fiberglass skin and the interior covering) is 3/4" plywood. I asked myself, how do they bend wood? By applying hot water, while putting/holding the wood under pressure in the direction of the desired bend.
Opening the door half way, I used a floor jack to lift and pressure it and increase the bend in the desired direction. I then heated water and poured it down the lower portion of the door on the interior side, spilling quite a few gallons onto the door. I left the jack in place overnight. Sure enough, by morning the gap had decreased. So I repeated the process. (I recommend not overdoing the pressure; it's probably better to do this process in steps.)
By the third time, the door looked pretty good: it wasn't perfectly conformed to the body, but the gap had been entirely eliminated.
I next drilled too small holes at the bottom of the door just above the trim line, one in each corner. I purchased two short rubber bungee straps, and nailed two large staples into the plywood floor underneath the trailer: One end of each bungee is inserted into a door hole, and stretched, and the other end inserted into a staple. That snugs the door up real tight.
I left these bungees in place all winter, while the trailer has been in storage. The door now conforms tightly to the body...like new!
Interesting. I've seen folks take the doors off and re-core them to get them back to conformity but first time I've seen the McCown door on, hot water trick. Makes perfect sense though.
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