The Mercury gets a new butt

Having suffered a bit of water damage in her rear end from having been sitting in a field knee deep in snow, the back half of the Mercury has had to be completely rebuilt.  The floor under the bed was completely rotted and needed to be replaced and the timber that connected it to the chassis had suffered from water damage as had done the rear interior panels.

Luckily, the damage was only in the rear of the caravan under the bed where there was no Lino flooring, so it hasn't affected the plan to save the original flooring if we can. The J rails were unscrewed  and the skin peeled back and the old floor, interior panels and perished beams were all ripped out .

Once the chassis was exposed, the caravan was hoisted up and the metal chassis was wire brushed and treated with a rust inhibitor in preparation for a repaint in black Rustoleum.

Once that was all done, the rotted timber floor and support beams were replaced with brand new treated timbers and marine grade ply and glued, clamped and bolted back together.  This van is going to be so solid and waterproof after all this that it should last another fifty years!

My sister's dog Rosie has become quite the "trailer dog" and loves spending time with us out when we are working out in the caravan

So now the next step is to remove all of the J rails and remove the perished old chewing gum type sealant that had allowed the water to come in and reseal the entire caravan with a urethane sealant and brand new screws  - replace all the window rubbers and get stuck into sanding the entire outside back to raw metal - Oh joy!