Keep/repair or replace my belly pan?

[KCN]

The more I look at this, the better it looks to me...at first I was sure I was gonna get a new belly, but the prices I'm getting are making me look closer... I need to replace the rear banana wraps and add the back section that disappeared altogether, but the rest?

Some pics of the pan, plus a few of the residents I disturbed...sure glad I had gloves on...

Kathy

[Belegedhel]

I assume we are seeing your bellypan from the top (interior) side. Looks a little ratty to me, but I suppose it is really a matter of how corroded it is around rivet holes. Mine was pretty corroded around these holes, especially in the main section,so I replaced the whole thing. Since doing this, I found a local aluminum sheet supplier, where I can buy a 4' x' 12' sheet of 6061 T6 in .032" thickness for around $80. I think to completely redo my 21" GT, it took most of two and a half 4x8 sheets, and I had to get a little creative with the center section, as it is wider than 48".

As mentioned, i could have gotten the job done for under $200 in materials, but it does add a fair amount of work recreating all the panels, redrilling rivet holes, etc.. I was happy with the results, though, and since I installed the new pan with the trailer frame flipped upside down, it was nowhere near as painful a process as it would have been if I had done it from underneath.

good luck!

[KCN]

Originally Posted by Belegedhel

I assume we are seeing your bellypan from the top (interior) side. Looks a little ratty to me, but I suppose it is really a matter of how corroded it is around rivet holes. Mine was pretty corroded around these holes, especially in the main section,so I replaced the whole thing. Since doing this, I found a local aluminum sheet supplier, where I can buy a 4' x' 12' sheet of 6061 T6 in .032" thickness for around $80. I think to completely redo my 21" GT, it took most of two and a half 4x8 sheets, and I had to get a little creative with the center section, as it is wider than 48".

As mentioned, i could have gotten the job done for under $200 in materials, but it does add a fair amount of work recreating all the panels, redrilling rivet holes, etc.. I was happy with the results, though, and since I installed the new pan with the trailer frame flipped upside down, it was nowhere near as painful a process as it would have been if I had done it from underneath.

good luck!

Thanks - I agree it's ratty so I'm probably going to end up replacing it - the pan is 5' wide, so the main issue has been finding anything in that width. I've found some 5052 .050 in 5' but I don't think I'm tough enough to work with that.. Since I'm adding tanks and boxes to hold them, I'll probably end up piecing the belly up to the boxes so I can access the tanks in the future without having to drop the whole thing. Trade-off between the smooth belly line and the functionality of the design.

I have to replace most of my interior skins as well - they were made of 7078 and I have serious corrosion issues on nearly every one. Should have decided that before I stripped them all, but I was hoping to keep the originals.

Back to the drawing board..

Kathy

[Belegedhel]

Yes, the width of the center section is an issue. I think mine was about 58" wides, and most suppliers of sheet sell it in 4' x 12' sizes. I ended up with several sections to mine so that I could use the "long" dimension of my sheet to address that 58" section. It worked out pretty easy since I have a 48" x 52" panel covering my fresh water tank, and two 24" x 58" panels covering the grey tanks. The cross members are 24" on center, so there are a few panels in there that are 24" x 58", which will be nice if I need to access a certain area.

My old belly pan material was probably only .025" thick. I replaced it with .031, and even that much of a difference made it tough to work, particularly getting the material to take a smooth curve at the side wraps. I would say that .050" is way too thick.

See the attached pic for my sectioning of my 21':

[KCN]

Originally Posted by Belegedhel

Yes, the width of the center section is an issue. I think mine was about 58" wides, and most suppliers of sheet sell it in 4' x 12' sizes. I ended up with several sections to mine so that I could use the "long" dimension of my sheet to address that 58" section. It worked out pretty easy since I have a 48" x 52" panel covering my fresh water tank, and two 24" x 58" panels covering the grey tanks. The cross members are 24" on center, so there are a few panels in there that are 24" x 58", which will be nice if I need to access a certain area.

My old belly pan material was probably only .025" thick. I replaced it with .031, and even that much of a difference made it tough to work, particularly getting the material to take a smooth curve at the side wraps. I would say that .050" is way too thick.

See the attached pic for my sectioning of my 21':

Thanks for the picture - I'm very visually oriented so that helps a lot. I am now coveting your gantry hoists. Had to laugh at an earlier thread of yours where you were using faux foam tanks because I'm doing EXACTLY that, trying to determine which tanks I want and where to place them. I am curious to know what you ended up using and whether you have pictures posted somewhere? Direct me to that thread?

Kathy

[Belegedhel]

I ended up using two of the Vintage Trailer Supply tanks in tandem. I really pined over the decision, as it seems a very common solution is to use a single tank that hangs well below the frame. I think I posted a picture of my tanks in place on some grey tank thread, but let me hunt for it. Aerowood used three 10 gallon tanks mated together, and that was a very attractive option as well.

The faux tanks REALLY helped me to decide where to order the fittings on the VTS tanks.

[Belegedhel]

I had posted a picture of my tanks installed on a thread that was just call Grey Water Tank started by user gemakai. I'm trying to put the link here, but this mobile app is not cooperating. Maybe tomorrow.

[Belegedhel]

There is a picture of my tank installations on this thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f416...ank-93709.html

[KCN]

Excellent - thank you! If Aerowood reads this thread he will probably laugh that I'm still hand-wringing over my gray tanks - I was over at his place Sunday looking at his stuff and taking pictures and learning..always learning.

I AM going to flip my frame - I have it in a bay in my pole-frame garage and I have a 36' Double Howe truss directly overhead and parallel/on center to the frame so I think I think I can easily rig up some pulley's to it and flip it (okay, rotate it slowly.)

Kathy