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JoleneAS · 05-13-2019, 01:38 PM

Hello there. So in about 1 week I'm taking a week off of work to hopefully repair my frame and replace the subfloor on my 1976 Overlander. As it stands, I've removed all of the banana wraps and from what I can see, the rust is superficial. The inside if gutted all the way to the subfloor. My plan of attack is to remove all rivets and bolts securing the shell to the frame, all bolts running through C-channel, subfloor, and frame. I then plan to use an underhoist to gentle lift up one side of the shell, slide the subfloor out as intact as possible to use as a template, set the shell onto shims to hold it up, then hoist the other side up and do the same thing. Then I plan to strip off the rust, use POR-15, place new subfloor, lower the shell back down and bolt through to the frame.

I don't have room or help from friends to set up a gantry so this is unfortunately out of the question. I also don't want to piece together subfloor since I worry it'll screw with integrity.

I'm hoping someone might be able to verify that my idea isn't insane and maybe recommend any parts I might need. For stripping the rust, I have an angle grinder that I was planning to use a wire cup on. That sound ok? Any pointers on how many buckets of POR15 I'll need? I have a 27' model of Overlander.

Any consensus on the best sealant to use on the subflooring? I am still deciding on BCX vs marine grade.

Thank you for any help. I just want to order all specialty items I might need to have delivered this week before I start this crazy process. Thanks!

JeffBear · 05-28-2019, 05:52 PM

Hello JoleneAS,

How is your plan going? My wife and I are also in the process of restoring our frame that got pretty rusty. We lifted up our shell by building a frame and then using some car jacks. I don't know if there is a better solution than the other but that was our only alternative :-).

If you couldn't remove your subfloor nicely, you can check on amazon, there are some tools that will let you measure and redo a curve. I've never used them and I'm not sure how good they are but it's worth a trial.

We sandblasted our trailer, it's a bit pricey or tedious but we found it gave the best results compare to an angle grinder.

How much paint did you use? We got a gallon of POR 15 and 2 gallons of both the degreaser and the metal prep for our 31 ft trailer. We are not at that part yet since we are welding some new elements to the chassis in between.

Enjoy the restoration!

TheGreatleys · 05-28-2019, 06:03 PM

Sorry, didn't see this til just now.

I used a quart of the degreaser (plenty), a quart of the metal prep (barely enough), three quarts of the coating (also barely enough), and one quart of the topcoat (plenty)*to do two coats on the frame of our 27' Overlander.* If I were doing it over again, I would have bought 2 quarts of the metal prep and 4 quarts of the coating and so that I could be a little more liberal with the second coat.

We used BC plywood with marine epoxy and we're very happy with the results. My understanding is that marine grade ply has fewer voids, but I didn't find voids to be a problem.