Must be Spring Repair Time in Ohio

[Ganglin]

Spent the time I had late last summer/fall working on the inside and there is more to do (purchased in July).

Ran out to the campground tonight and there are several questions now that I really crawled under her and took a hard and "be honest with yourself look". (yes I was avoiding it). I'll start with three as the other needs pictures.

- the belly is in good shape - just what looks like tar specs from the wheels back - no dents. I notice several rivets have pulled through the skin however and the holes are now the size of the rivet head. The rivets are aluminum. When replacing those would you back them with a washer - if so - aluminum or plastic.

- the axle angle is dead flat level on all wheels and my guess is they are the originals. She tows great and takes bumps and dips fine. Would you replace and can anyone give me a rough idea what new axles will cost (so I don't go into shock when I call Airstream).

- this one really disappointed me given the overall shape of the body. I had a small spot of corrosion on the wrap a foot rear of the door. The PO had rubbed it and put a foot and a half quarter inch deep crease in it. No big deal I thought. That small spot of corrosion is now eaten thru - an inch and a half long - about an eighth wide. That wrap underneath also has white powder corrosion on it - the rest are fine Any suggestions...

Thanks....

[CanoeStream]

The original belly skin is 0.025". That's hard to come by at Metal Supermarkets except by special order. I had several jobs on my Argosy and bought a few 4' x 8' sheets of 0.032" and made it work. I cut a piece of scrap into 3/4" squares with a hole for the rivet in the middle -- those were my washers.

The whole belly wrap is usually going to be thinned by corrosion but fairly easy to patch. Lap your patches like shingles so the inside can drain toward the rear. Remember to avoid sealing the belly skin margins -- it should breathe.

[Wabbiteer]

Whether original or not, my '73 FW drain dumped into belly space and winterizing anti-freeze never really dried out (yuck) from years of usage; I suggest if drain tubes don't already perforate the belly liner to drain down directly onto street make it happen when you've got the wraps off... The lines drain points did perforate the wrap at rear trunk...

Once you observe the inside I kinda of doubt you will want to reinstall those belly sheets as the rivets corroding through is just the tip of the iceberg seen from the surface. I found 5' X 12' .040 (not 2024) for $2.25 a pound for the frame spans & will find the .024 2024 alloy for the wrap - rock guard areas...