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HiJoeSilver · 10-15-2015, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigFulton

I tried everything you said. I can assure you I don't just give up. I give it everything until the death. The airstream win. It just would not go back down to the same holes. So I just had to let it do what it wanted and pull it back as hard as we could and drill new holes in channel to bolt it back down. Gotta love unibody construction.

At this point I'm using the thread as a way to help others learn from my mistakes. I'll keep posting pics and updates until it's done.

So it sounds like things are going normally well! Keep on plugging!

CraigFulton · 10-16-2015, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiJoeSilver

So it sounds like things are going normally well! Keep on plugging!

Yep, I'm feeling good about it. I just got the plumbing roughed in. I'm finishing that up this weekend along with the final floor bolts. Also have to get the brakes wired. The new belly pan is going on next weekend.

CraigFulton · 10-16-2015, 09:17 AM

The previous owner got a little of of control with reinforcing the floor framing in the front. I decided to leave it...wish I would've removed it. He welded angle iron on top of the frame rails in the front and it has lifted the subfloor just enough to be a problem re-securing the channel to the shell.

twolanehwy · 10-16-2015, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigFulton

New floor going in! But occurred to me I can't do the belly pan until all the drain plumbing is ran! Haha belly pan waits two more weeks.

Wasn't this thread "Refuse Shell off"?

CraigFulton · 10-17-2015, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twolanehwy

Wasn't this thread "Refuse Shell off"?

I gave in. There was no other choice. I still wish I didn't do it. It has slowed things down by a month.

cwbiii · 10-18-2015, 06:29 PM

In the end you will get to enjoy it longer and with fewer issues to deal with.
A month isn't really that long... I was expecting mine to take "about a year"
ten years later it is usable again. Now I did take it on as a project and I had a relatively new AS motor home I used as often as possible. What prompted me to actually finish it was the MH wore out and I did not have anything to go camping with for about 3 years. The trailer won't wear out in 15 years like the MH did. The wait will make the trailer just that much more trustworthy and more enjoying to use. Putting the bellypan back on is a weekend job or less.
I put my front portion on and went camping in good weather with the rear portion off just to make sure everything was perfect before I finished closing it up.
The wife an I are absolutely in love with the finished product and I see us enjoying it for along time to come with very few issues to deal with. And when the do come up I will know exactly where to look and how to access everything related. We get a lot of compliments from people whom come in to see it.

Chin up... it will be done soon enough.

Chuck

nickclifford · 10-18-2015, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. Morgan

Use wedges at the edges of the wood and replace one sheet at a time by splitting the sheet down the center.

I didn't have time for a shell off either, we went on our first trip 120 days after purchase with this in the middle.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...ps1a2f2fc2.jpg

Brevi tempore!

WOW! looking at your pics, that's quite the custom machine, without asking a silly question, what's motor device under the frame there?

and what is the heater unit ? thx

can you come and fix mine now ? !

CraigFulton · 10-19-2015, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwbiii

In the end you will get to enjoy it longer and with fewer issues to deal with.
A month isn't really that long... I was expecting mine to take "about a year"
ten years later it is usable again. Now I did take it on as a project and I had a relatively new AS motor home I used as often as possible. What prompted me to actually finish it was the MH wore out and I did not have anything to go camping with for about 3 years. The trailer won't wear out in 15 years like the MH did. The wait will make the trailer just that much more trustworthy and more enjoying to use. Putting the bellypan back on is a weekend job or less.
I put my front portion on and went camping in good weather with the rear portion off just to make sure everything was perfect before I finished closing it up.
The wife an I are absolutely in love with the finished product and I see us enjoying it for along time to come with very few issues to deal with. And when the do come up I will know exactly where to look and how to access everything related. We get a lot of compliments from people whom come in to see it.

Chin up... it will be done soon enough.

Chuck

Thanks Chuck. You're posts convinced me to do it. I know the pay off is worth it. I'm tired of crawling around under it though. I think the belly pan will mark the end of the worst of it...unless the interior panels put up a fight. I suspect they will since the shell is now a little out of whack.

cwbiii · 10-19-2015, 05:43 PM

Probably not as bad as you think... Every dismantling is going to lead to some
misalignment's... but I had very few on the inside skins because you have to tweak the shell out of place and that is not very easy if you do not remove the outer shell sheets. In other words...don't fix any outer sheets until the shell is back securely on the frame. I don't remember any outside repairs in your plan so you should be golden. It was pretty remarkable how everything went back in with very few alignment issues. My biggest problem was a body misalignment in the back where it had probably been whacked and fixed.
It did not show up until the end when I was trying to get the bathroom right and noticed that the shell was a bit out of whack. My fix??? A 2x4 as a pad against the shell/frame and a 15 lb slide hammer that I used to "tweak" it back into reasonably correct alignment. That tweaking was a pretty noisy process.

Chuck

CraigFulton · 10-26-2015, 07:04 AM

This painful shell-off I refused to do is now done. Never doing that again!

It didn't out perfect, but it's better than it was; I got a few dents I'm not happy with and the bottom didn't seam up as I hoped. I still have some details to finish under there but I'm giving myself a break from the ground for a couple of months.

twolanehwy · 10-26-2015, 10:16 PM

congrats on that milestone.
I'm hoping to have mine done by spring. Not completely done mind you, but on the road.
I have a few panels need replacing so that will be fun.

J. Morgan · 10-27-2015, 07:18 AM

Congrats on the expedient repair.

Now all you have to do is finish the rest!

Nice job.

Brevi tempore!

cwbiii · 10-27-2015, 05:22 PM

Looks damn good to me. You will probably be doing little things for a while,but enjoying it while you do. Don't you just love to sit back and admire where it has come from where it has been?

Congrats!!!
Chuck

CraigFulton · 10-27-2015, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwbiii

Looks damn good to me. You will probably be doing little things for a while,but enjoying it while you do. Don't you just love to sit back and admire where it has come from where it has been?

Congrats!!!
Chuck

Thanks Chuck!

Well I can't sit long! Haha. Wouldn't believe the new one. Today was the first rain since I tore the interior down. Holy $h!+! Leaking everywhere. All but two windows leak. Random seams are leaking. It's unreal. I will spend the next two weeks putting vulkrem on everything. Seriously I've never seen so many leaks. It must be mostly due to lifting the shell and tweaking everything. New floor is wet in a lot of spots. I threw a dehumidifier, buckets, and towels in there to help absorb it.

HiHoAgRV · 10-27-2015, 05:34 PM

Like a coworker used to say, 'all you lack now is finishing it'

CraigFulton · 10-27-2015, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

Like a coworker used to say, 'all you lack now is finishing it'

The worst is over though, right???

HiHoAgRV · 10-27-2015, 07:41 PM

Sure...

;0)

Aerowood · 10-28-2015, 07:25 AM

Yup, all done except finishing it up. Leaks really show up with no interior skins installed. That's the reason I opened up every lap joint and sealed the seams. I also removed every window frame and reinstalled with sealant. It's all detailed in my thread below

CraigFulton · 10-29-2015, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerowood

Yup, all done except finishing it up. Leaks really show up with no interior skins installed. That's the reason I opened up every lap joint and sealed the seams. I also removed every window frame and reinstalled with sealant. It's all detailed in my thread below

Wow, nicely done! A bit more work than I can handle. Looks so nice!