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06-30-2004, 03:19 PM
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#1
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3 Rivet Member
Commercial Member
1968 24' Tradewind
Fort Myers
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 178
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HELP!!! On a tight schedule, need to replace floor from front to rear...
I need tips and information on replacing my floor front to rear. I have a limited time frame as I am in between jobs right now, and have thge next 2 weeks to straight work on it, then i have after work, and 4 weekends before i hope to be able to attend the Region 1 rally. Any help is appreciated.
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06-30-2004, 03:26 PM
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#2
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Rivet Master
1977 Argosy Minuet 6.0 Metre
1964 26' Overlander
1977 25' Tradewind
Eastern
, Washington
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 865
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JeepinAudiophile
I need tips and information on replacing my floor front to rear. I have a limited time frame as I am in between jobs right now, and have thge next 2 weeks to straight work on it, then i have after work, and 4 weekends before i hope to be able to attend the Region 1 rally. Any help is appreciated.
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Jeepin
You'll have to be a little more specific, are you talking carpet, or tile, or vinyl?
If you are talking the plywood base flooring I don't think two weeks will do it.
A job like that could be as big as body off the frame.
Please explain a liitle bit on what the condition of the floor is. You may not need to replace it only fix it with an epoxy fill.
__________________
Peace
Gary
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06-30-2004, 03:44 PM
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#3
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3 Rivet Member
Commercial Member
1968 24' Tradewind
Fort Myers
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 178
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plywood
I am planning on doing marine grade plywood from fron to rear, i am assuming a shell off at this point, and i'm looking for information to help speed along the process. Pointers as to speed taking the shell off would help, as well as the rest... thanks for the quick reply.
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06-30-2004, 03:52 PM
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#4
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Patriotic
1973 23' Safari
North of Boston
, Massachusetts
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 4,546
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I think he's talking about "the full monty"
and Chad, I agree...sounds a bit amitious to me. Its a big, fat, hairy deal to do the whole floor, frame-off or not. all kinds of prep work, bracing...facilities to acutally lift the thing off the frame...and if the floor is that bad, surely, the frame will need work, too.
Think about it...it takes a week to build an airstream, with a slew of skilled workers that do it for a living. and that's essentially what you're proposing, with a complete gutting, rewiring, insulating, etc...what else is left? all in 3 week's time. well, if you have lots of energy, go for it. me? takes me all weekend just to get the stupid thing washed.
good luck!
__________________
Air:291
Wbcci: 3752
'73 Safari 23'
'00 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 QC
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06-30-2004, 03:55 PM
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#5
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3 Rivet Member
Commercial Member
1968 24' Tradewind
Fort Myers
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 178
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Well, its gotta be done... whether i make my time constraints or not... it's just gonna take a bit longer if i have to finish the major work on the weekends..
As for the floor, it's not all that bad everywhere... really bad in the bathroom due to a leaky toilet, and front section to about the door (aboiut 8 feet, but it's solid in the middle) But i figured i'd do the whole thing while I had it up somewhat.
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06-30-2004, 04:04 PM
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#6
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Patriotic
1973 23' Safari
North of Boston
, Massachusetts
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 4,546
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JeepinAudiophile
Well, its gotta be done... whether i make my time constraints or not... it's just gonna take a bit longer if i have to finish the major work on the weekends..
As for the floor, it's not all that bad everywhere... really bad in the bathroom due to a leaky toilet, and front section to about the door (aboiut 8 feet, but it's solid in the middle) But i figured i'd do the whole thing while I had it up somewhat.
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Well, then, I say "Go for it!!". Get Chuck and Pam out there to help. I'm sure they're just dyin' to roll up their sleeves and dive right in! Tell them if they don't help, you're coming with them to the rally!
__________________
Air:291
Wbcci: 3752
'73 Safari 23'
'00 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 QC
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06-30-2004, 04:06 PM
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#7
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Rivet Master
1967 26' Overlander
Huntsville
, Alabama
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,018
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Forget a shell off unless you have a BUNCH of people with decent mechanical skills helping with the task for looooong hours. The only exception would be if you had at least someone on your crew who has done this before & can point out where the problem areas will be.
Are you sure you can't just work the worst areas until you have a less-tight schedule to address the big enchilada?
Oops - everthing above is just my opinion.
Tom
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06-30-2004, 04:07 PM
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#8
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3 Rivet Member
Commercial Member
1968 24' Tradewind
Fort Myers
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 178
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In that case, we're parking the "Big Mother Motorhome" in vintage... They've been out there digging right in with me, so that's not a problem anyways...
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06-30-2004, 04:12 PM
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#9
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Rivet Master
1967 26' Overlander
Huntsville
, Alabama
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,018
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Oh, and marine grade plywood? Can you get flat, dry pieces where you are?
I have ranted in another thread on this, so I will spare you. IMO, OSB would be better. But do whatever you are comfortable with. Although Ward Cleaver never said it, I will say, "Do your research, Beaver"
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06-30-2004, 04:14 PM
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#10
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3 Rivet Member
Commercial Member
1968 24' Tradewind
Fort Myers
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 178
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tcwilliams
Forget a shell off unless you have a BUNCH of people with decent mechanical skills helping with the task for looooong hours. The only exception would be if you had at least someone on your crew who has done this before & can point out where the problem areas will be.
Are you sure you can't just work the worst areas until you have a less-tight schedule to address the big enchilada?
Oops - everthing above is just my opinion.
Tom
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I would agree, exceot that I would rather do it all at once... I have Carpentry, Metal Fabrication, Electrical experience under my belt, as well as being very mechaincally inclined (Mechanical Engineering Student), and my father is a born tinkerer... I would love to have a list of do's and don't to refer to from the veterans though. I appreciate your concerns, and would agree with that is- if wasn't so sure i could handle it, with a little bit of picking others peoples brains...
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06-30-2004, 04:17 PM
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#11
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3 Rivet Member
Commercial Member
1968 24' Tradewind
Fort Myers
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 178
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tcwilliams
Oh, and marine grade plywood? Can you get flat, dry pieces where you are?
I have ranted in another thread on this, so I will spare you. IMO, OSB would be better. But do whatever you are comfortable with. Although Ward Cleaver never said it, I will say, "Do your research, Beaver"
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We have used it before here and it was dry, try this place.
Alabama Distributors
Georgia Pacific Corp.
4300 Wild Wood Parkway
Atlanta, GA 30339-8401
800-839-2588
got that on this site. http://www.plumcreek.com/products/pl...te=al&sec=dist
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06-30-2004, 04:31 PM
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#12
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3 Rivet Member
Commercial Member
1968 24' Tradewind
Fort Myers
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 178
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So anyways... back to the topic... I need to make a list of do's and don'ts, any advice from the veterans of this process is appreciated.
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06-30-2004, 04:41 PM
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#13
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Rivet Master
1967 26' Overlander
Huntsville
, Alabama
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,018
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JeepinAudiophile
I would agree, exceot that I would rather do it all at once... I have Carpentry, Metal Fabrication, Electrical experience under my belt, as well as being very mechaincally inclined (Mechanical Engineering Student), and my father is a born tinkerer... I would love to have a list of do's and don't to refer to from the veterans though. I appreciate your concerns, and would agree with that is- if wasn't so sure i could handle it, with a little bit of picking others peoples brains...
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Chad,
Your goal is attainable, but you will find that reading about problem areas, and experiencing them are different time-wise. I think you are more than up to the challenge itself, I just question the timeframe. The last thing you need is to show up in a half-baked repair job.
As part of your chosen career, I will point out that engineering is based more on meeting schedule than anything else. Choose a reasonable schedule now.
Good luck,
Ward
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06-30-2004, 04:41 PM
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#14
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3 Rivet Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 163
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JeepinAudiophile
So anyways... back to the topic... I need to make a list of do's and don'ts, any advice from the veterans of this process is appreciated.
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You can put in a new floor without doing a shell off, and it can be done in two weeks.
http://www.airstreamphotos.com/photo...sort/1/cat/500
__________________
Leonard
LotalaborAZ
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06-30-2004, 04:48 PM
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#15
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Rivet Master
1967 26' Overlander
Huntsville
, Alabama
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,018
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Quote:
Originally Posted by upallnight
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Your frame appears to be sandblasted awaiting paint.
Chad will probably find frame...situations...that require attention.
Tick-tock
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06-30-2004, 04:51 PM
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#16
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3 Rivet Member
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 163
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No, thats the finished product. Floor already in and camping in it this weekend, Just using it as a bunkhouse, but I need a break!
__________________
Leonard
LotalaborAZ
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06-30-2004, 05:12 PM
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#17
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Rivet Master
1973 31' Sovereign
Portland
, Oregon
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 1,255
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Don't do a full body off...
You may not need to do a full body off floor replacement. There are various threads in the forums here about replacing the floor with the body still in place. A lot really depends on what condition your frame is in. If it does not need much attention you could conceivably replace the floor without even taking the belly pan off if you really had to. You can certainly do it without a full body removal as long as the frame does not need major rebuilding. I think the fully body off is mainly needed if you need to do a lot of work on the frame that the body would be in the way of. The main problem that I have run in to is that you don't really know what you are going to have to replace until you peel back some of the layers and find out what is underneath. For example one of the things I found was that there is a crack that I did not know about in my grey water tank.
One especially good thread to look at is:
Shell Off vs Shell On
I also suggest that you go to the forum area and cruise the postings in the "Repairing or Replacing the Floor" sub-category. There is a lot of information there.
I am hoping to get my plywood all out and replaced over the weekend. It has taken me a while to get everything out of the way to do so though. In my unit there are a lot of holes of various kinds in the floor that I have had to carefully measure and document. I have also had to disconnect the various wires and pipes that passed through the floor so that the plywood can be removed. I am also making a point of using my digital camera to document everything I take out so I can look at the photos if I forget how something looked before I took it out.
Once you cruise some of the postings you might want to put a list of questions here in this thread that you still need answers to. There are a lot of us that are either in the middle of a floor restoration or have done one. There are also a lot of different approaches too I might add.
Malcolm
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07-05-2004, 10:46 PM
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#18
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3 Rivet Member
Commercial Member
1968 24' Tradewind
Fort Myers
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 178
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thanks all, i've been busy workin on the trailer... took a few days off for the 4th to have down time and get out. I have started disassembling the inner shell from the top down, since I am going to repalce all the wiring and insulation, and whatever else comes my way durring the process...I am going to take the advice of trying it with the shell-on, then if i've got frame rot... i'll have to change the game plan from there. Any examples of what i'm looking for on the frame? (aside from obvious cracks, holes, etc.)
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07-06-2004, 08:47 AM
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#19
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Rivet Master
1956 22' Flying Cloud
Durango
, Colorado
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: 1975 25' Tradewind
Posts: 3,491
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You are looking for rust - poke an ice pick around the frame, also look for chips/flakes. Is you frame a "c" channel or box?
Ken
__________________
1956 Flying Cloud
Founder :
Four Corners Unit
Albuquerque National Balloon Fiesta
Rally
Vintage Trailer Academy - Formerly the original
restoration rally
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07-07-2004, 12:20 PM
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#20
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3 Rivet Member
Commercial Member
1968 24' Tradewind
Fort Myers
, Florida
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 178
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darned if i know...
__________________
Tow Rig: 2005 GMC Sierra Denali AWD, 6.0L HO- LOTS OF UPGRADES to help Towing (and Fun)
Trailer: 1968 Tradewind 24', Land Yacht trim (Shell-Off Rebuild and upgrades)
***Missing from my life***
WBCCI # 13657
++Take a look at my restoration photo album++
https://picasaweb.google.com/ChadsAirstream
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