For those of you keeping score at home, in our last update from the barn we talked about removing the streetside skin, so at this point we “just” had to remove the roof to see the last of the water damage. As we had come to expect, the edge of the roof was nailed and stapled every few inches, and as we may have mentioned previously, removing the nails and staples was incredibly frustrating and time consuming. We’re serious. Lots of time was consumed. (A fair amount of beer too, but only once we were done working!)
We planned to lift the roof with four people, one at each corner, and carry it forward off of the vehicle. Sounds simple, right? We had enough space in front for the roof to sit flat, with large cardboard boxes underneath to prop it up. We’d need some room underneath it to work on repairs, and the boxes would help keep the aluminum from bending out of shape.
When we had assembled the team of four, we started to lift the corners, but the center didn’t lift at all. The aluminum skin was too thin to support itself with only four people, and it was going to take a little more assistance to safely remove the roof.
One of the many benefits of our workspace was having our family nearby, and in a few minutes we had recruited a crew of eight, including some strong teenage boys. With half of us standing on the lower scaffolding and half on the ground, we lifted the roof and handed it forward, the people at the end running up to the front to pick it up once again. Moving it like a caterpillar, we walked it forward and rested it on the boxes. That was actually one of the smoothest parts of the project, thanks to some much needed help! (Seriously, THANK YOU ALL!)
You can’t beat this crew!
But now, the time had come to see the ceiling damage from above…
1972 Shasta 1400 