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the foil wrap squeazes down to practically nothing once it's tight. you can hear a few bubbles popping when you thighten the bolts. as for the aluminum channel, it's pretty badly corroded, but not too brittle, really. i was thinking about cleaning it really good and trying to seal the area where it touches the steel plate at the rear. that's what causes most of the corrosion. i may see if i can get it fabricated, though. it would be a shame to go to this length to restore the trailer and leave such a bad piece at teh center of it all.
now if the SUN would only come back, i can get some stuff DONE around here!
Wrapping that insulation like that scares me. When I put the floor down I planed on it leaking. I sealed with an epoxy resin both sides and then put a sheet vinyl floor down before the C-Channel.
My though was this:
Eventually its going to leak and its a given that it WILL happen. Hell it leaks already. So I wanted to prevent water from getting to the floor from above at all and the sheet flooring should do the trick. When it leaks it will have to go to the edge of the trailer and leave over the edge. The flooring should also form a gasket where cabinetry is bolted to the floor to further aid in keeping moisture from the top.
They way you have that wrapped if water does get in it will have to run between that insulation and the wood floor to go down hill. The insulation looks mighty water proof and retaining. I would think it would keep the water trapped against the wood instead of allowing it to drain down.
I decided I didn't want any insulation between the deck and frame at all. Some of the worst rot in the frame I had was from water wicked into the fiberglass between floor and frame. Don felt the same way as I did. Right now I have no floor insulation at all but I really don't plan to do any winter camping. If that changes I can add it back and install it the way Don did. He put some stingers out of aluminum bar stock to hold up the insulation without it being between the deck and frame.
Actually I am digging this break for the sun and heat even though the rain came. I need to run just a couple more wires in the ceiling today and I can pretty well button it up except for when I put in the new TV antenna when I get that. So One drain line, one running light wire and one 12v Circuit and an and done pulling wire! Yee HAAAAAA
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1959 22' Caravanner
1988 R20 454 Suburban.
Atlanta, GA
Wrapping that insulation like that scares me. When I put the floor down I planed on it leaking. I sealed with an epoxy resin both sides and then put a sheet vinyl floor down before the C-Channel...
I had thought about the water-proofed insulation working against me. i hope that's not the care, but it may be a good idea to cut some breathing holes in the insulation... but then, the water would get in... catch 22! the floor has 2 coats of olympic on it on the underside and edges. HOPEFULLY the wheel wells will come back early in the week so i can finish installing the floor, and start on the belly. i'm planning on sealing the crap out of the edges of the belly pan, where it wraps up to the C-channel. there will be plenty of weap holes in the belly pan, so i'm not too worried about moisture retention in that area.
i tell ya, the area i'm MOST worried about, and plan on aggressively addressing is the area of the belly pan between the front frame rails. my frame is really thick "C" beams, and the original belly pan went straignt up on the inside, leaving an open area in the frame rails, direct to the belly pan. as you might imagine, the floor was totaly rotted 12-18 inches back from the nose. that was the worst of the rot, in fact. i'm not certain of the best way to address this yet. learn as ya go!
Ours was rotten in the same place and it is a box frame and sealed there by a cross member. I think between water tank leaks, window leaks, water riding the top of the frame rail that is a tough spot all around.
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1959 22' Caravanner
1988 R20 454 Suburban.
Atlanta, GA
Ours was rotten in the same place and it is a box frame and sealed there by a cross member.....
i wish i would have thought of that before the welding was done on mine. now i'm going to have to come up with something different. i've been thinking about making a filler panel out of aluminum, folding tabs back, and sealing it to the inside of the frame channel with vulkem or something similar. then, when i wrap the front belly back on, sealing and riveting it to the filler panel. just an idea. i'll be tackling that this week, hopefully.
The floor is coming along nicely, although slow. I decided to use Ny-Locks instead of normal nuts, to make sure the floor wouldnt loosen over time. The problem is, its almost impossible to keep the heads from spinning while i tighten the bolts from beneath! Ive tried a number of different approaches, and the best seems to be DONT smack it home with the hammer until you get the nut almost tight. Up until that point, I hold the top of the bolt with a pair of pliers, then smack it home with a hammer and hope for the best.
At any rate, 3 out of 4 floor panels are in, and with them, the new wheel wells i had fabricated. they look great! A local shop did them for $125 a pair. I couldnt say no to that. They built them out of galvanized metal, as the originals were. My big problem with the originals is the tabs were rusted pretty badly (obviously), but more important than that, the inboard tab at the bottom of the wheel well was only 1 inch, BUT the distance between the outside edge of the frame and the back of the wheel well was 3 inches, leaving a 2 inch gap, that the factory filled with a piece of scrap aluminum. As you would expect, the floor was rotted there as well, since the belly pan didnt cover that section. Look at the picture from beneath for a better view of what I mean.
The tail panel is going in tonight, then I have to replace the straight channel pieces on the side, before working on the belly. Im planning on picking up the aluminum tomorrow ( .025 3003h14 mill finish).
the prices of aluminum vary widely, based off the alloy. i don't totally understand all the numbers yet (beyond the thickness). for basic belly aluminum (mill finish), i'm eaither going to get ours from Metal Supermarkets (770.218.0550), or Wrisco Industries (404.622.1066) their prices for .025 ranged between $30-40 a 4X10 sheet. i think for our belly, we're going to need 5 to start. a 10 foot piece will be perfect for the front up to the nose on each side. on the rear, i'm just working around the edges until i get my tank mounts finished. the tanks i've got hang down a little more than i'd like, but the capacity is probably more important (32 G Fresh, 27G grey, Black not yet decided), and i like the fact nothing will take up valuable floor space up top.
now for the Alclad stuff, that's a lot harder to find. most of the people i talked to wanted huge minimum orders. you can try Aircraft Spruce in peachtree city. they want $210 a 4X12 sheet for Alclad .040 2024-t3. does that price sound about right? i wish i could get it in 8 foot sheets. that would reduce my waste considerably. the side panels are exactly 8 feet long, and i'll be replacing both the lower and upper panels (4 sheets). the front and rear are something like 41", and the 4 corners are closer to 50" on the front, a little longer on the rear. i'm definitely going to need to lay all this out before i buy. (2) 8', (2) 10', and (2) 12' would be ideal.
I got my aluminum from http://www.airpartsinc.com/ they can ship UPS ground a 32 foot roll which minimizes waste.Most other folks only ship sheets flat.Sime like Wicks are cheaper at first but with freight get very expensive.I found metal supermarkets way too pricey.I got about ten sheets at the recycler near the airport for about 30USD each.In aircraft we say scratched aluminum is scrap aluminum.Most of the sheets actually came from my work.I would not use anything but 2024-t3.For metal info go to http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...s/aluminfo.php
Instead of using nylock nuts I used a plain nut with Locktite .Much easier to put together just don't try to take apart after.
i just got back from Wrisco Industries with the aluminum for the belly. 024 3003 mill finish, to the tune of $26.80 a sheet (4X10). not bad at all, really. they don't carry the 2024, but i'm going to check out a few salvage yards around atlanta before i commit to buying it new. i agree, Metal Supermarkets was WAY more expensive. they wanted $69.14 for a 4X12 sheet of the .024 3003. that's more than DOUBLE!
i can't wait to get the floor wrapped up, and the belly back on this weekend.
i've managed to get the front street-sidecorner of the belly installed today. tomorrow i'm planning on getting the curb-side and center pieces at the front in. it went in really smoothly, actually. 024 is DEFINITELY the way to go. be sure to get the right tools from Home Depot to fold the edges down nice and crisply.
before i get too far, though, does anyone know if i need to seal the edges together on the belly pan? i wasn't sure if it was better to leave them unsealed so the area beneath the floor could breathe a little better or not? i had planned on sealing the body panels to the belly when i get to that point.
I just sealed the shell over the belly pan and left the rest alone. It wasn't sealed originally and I figured if I sealed then if water did get in it might pool. Just make sue that when you make the cut to angle up at the corners that you overlap so that as you drive down the road your not forcing air and water into the overlap.
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1959 22' Caravanner
1988 R20 454 Suburban.
Atlanta, GA
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