Ive seen mentioned here on some threads about removing the body from the floor frame, is that necessary on the 63 to replace the floor??? If so I think Im going to be sick. I know on the earlier models some people have removed the body and rolled the frame out etc. Im just wondering if anyone has done this on a 63 tradewind and if so what worked for them.
Thanks in advance.
Mitch
Hey Mitch,
...on how much floor you're going to replace. If it's the whole thing, then I think you could still get away without removing the shell by installing a 2' to 4' increment at a time. But I don't think you can expect to remove all the floor at once and just let the shell sit on the frame. So to what extent is the floor to be replaced?
From what I can tell its the rear 1/4 and front 1/4. What do you think, can I get away with doing this without removing the shell???
Thanks again
Mitch
I am one who thinks and did replace my entire floor without removing the shell - sorta - had the whole floor removed and lifted it a bit to slide the new floor in - did this because I did not have a place to lift/store the shell.....
If you do a search for 58 overlander restoration, you will see what I did - by the way, most years the floor installation is pretty much the same, so you should be able to find lots of pros/cons of on/off shell floor replacement.
From what I can tell its the rear 1/4 and front 1/4. What do you think, can I get away with doing this without removing the shell???
Thanks again
Mitch
Sure, why not? Are you sure its that much area? I redid 2' of the rear and about 18in. x 4ft at the entry. When you say 1/4, that's close to 6ft by the width. Get your ice pick out and start pookin'. Hopefully it will be smaller than you think. Regardless, you'll at least have to remove most of everything to get to your work area. Here's what you're gonna get when you get to it.
I am also one that believes you can replace the floor without taking off the whole body. I replaced the entire floor in my 1973 31' unit without lifting the body off the frame. There are indeed lots of pointers here in the forums to all sorts of techniques that people have used to replace part or all of their floors. I personally do not see any compeling reason to lift your shell off if you are just in need of doing a partial replacement.
Malcolm is correct. The main reason people (like myself) do a shell-off floor replacement is that we need to do other work at the same time, such as adding a greywater tank or doing major frame repair.
well this makes me feel better. Ive been doing some poking around and see that I will have to replace the area at the entrance and forward along the edge towards the front on both sides, I will do this fall I think, dont want to get into it now.
Thanks for your replies
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