Roof length

Finishes, paints and coatings

Roof length

Postby Gwannybear » Sat Aug 08, 2015 3:18 pm

What length of Aluminum did you get for the roof of a 5' wide Benroy?
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Re: Roof length

Postby Nobody » Sat Aug 08, 2015 5:40 pm

For any aluminum clad TD, the ideal length of the roof metal would be continuous from bottom front to the hatch hinge. That said, my TD (not a Benroy, combo of modernistic & Grumann) is 5' wide x 114" total cabin length. I couldn't find (or couldn't afford) a single sheet (local semi-trailer body shop) that would fit my build so I bought 4X10' sheets of mill finish 0.040", & cut the width required & overlapped them from the hatch hinge forward (1 lap) & on lap facing downward on the front (3 pieces total). That still did not completely cover the roof front so I 'formed' a piece of 0.063" diamond tread aluminum for a trim/rock guard at the bottom front. I brought the diamond tread up over the 0.040" skin, used 3 beads of adhesive/sealer, & placed a stainless pan head sheet metal screw every 2" the full length of the lap joint. Did the same for all 3 joints on the roof, making sure each joint coincided with a spar underneath. Every screw hole was also filled with sealant before final installation. Nine years & 25K+ miles later I've not had any leaks at any of the joints...

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