An Original Frolic Fender / Seatocaster

Here's another update on the fast-coming-along Frolic! :-)

Front Seating Bench Pt. 2

I completed the framing and paneling of the second seating bench. After going back and forth on whether or not to put a door on the top of the raised section (like it was originally), I decided not to. The incoming plumbing hookup is in that area, and it's only 7" deep overall, so it's not a huge storage space. In the event we find we want it, I made sure to frame the seat so as to let me easily cut an opening and make a door for it in the future. For now, the seat will be hinged and we'll have access to the storage below (roughly 36" wide, 30" deep, 16" tall).

Below are photos of

1. The framed seat (minus plywood seat panel and paneling topper)
2. The seat cushion "test fit" after framing was completed
3. The painted finished* seat.

*I have some small trim molding to add to it to truly be finished.

My wife worked hard today to finish all of the interior painting. All cabinets, doors, panels, etc. are now painted! Here is a quick photo of the front seating area as of today.

The Original Fenders

This section's credit goes to my father in-law. He is a master fabricator and capable of making anything from nothing. Without his hard work and help, we wouldn't have been able to put the original fenders back on.

Let's flashback to the Frolic on the day we brought it home...

This was one of the fenders. It was the most-damaged as well. Notice the rusty screw holes? Most all of them had broken through the fender (leaving holes in the fender the size of the screw heads) and only a few were actually doing their job to hold the fender in place. Also notice those dirty, rusty, ugly old wheels! :-)

Now let's fast-forward to today... Here is another photo of those nice freshly painted wheels/brake drums, and those wonderful-smelling new Load Range D tires. :-)

I used a heat gun to make quick work of the duct tape. It had been there since the siding was reinstalled several weeks ago. I cleaned up the surface, then laid down a few heavy beads of sealant/adhesive before pressing the fender in place.

Here is the better-than-new fender mounted! Better-than-new, because my father in-law re-fiberglassed the fender, bondo'd the cracks, and then laid several more layers of reinforcing fiberglass on the fender to stiffen it up and support the screw mount area better. The fender was screwed to the camper with 2" stainless screws and stainless trim rings. Nice, huh?!?!  You bet'cha! :-)

That's all for now, I have another update to write about that my wife did over the weekend, but want to wait until I can get good photos of the final result.

Stay tuned...