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dbj216 · 12-05-2014, 06:39 PM

Forum members have talked about water proof flooring systems. There is an outfit in Florida called corsa (?) that makes a material people have talked about favorably. Alas, I do not know it's weight or thickness. For me, good old exterior grade 5/8 plywood, urethaned and sealed around the edges, makes an acceptable subfloor. It is what is still in my 1966 Trade Wind, except for the last 4' of it under the rear bath. I had to replace that due to rot.

David

dbj216 · 12-06-2014, 04:34 AM

Good Morning Submariner. I was surfing the Forums as I have nothing better to do! I came across this thread that has a great picture of the Liner pulled by a bicycle. It is a famous Airstream promotion way back when supporting how easy the Airstream is to tow.

ALANSD posted this photo. I'm glad he did. I thought you and your followers might enjoy the link to it.

David

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f161...ow-128541.html

MsRivet · 12-06-2014, 05:12 AM

WOW Sumariner! I just happened upon your thread the other day. You are a great inspiration to us. After many,many years of searching we just landed a '48 Liner this week. I have to keep looking out the window to make sure it wasn't a dream.

The initial interior cleaning will begin in a week or so ... after our return from a camping trip in the '04 International. Yeah ... the '48 looks like a toxic waste dump inside. The major work on the '48 Liner won't start for about a year ... maybe sooner! Also just acquired a '61 Chevy Apache Pick-up truck. For now the '61 Chevy has priority. I think these two will make a great rig together.

It was never our intention to have both these projects happen at once. Guess you can say this happened at the best/worst of times. Is there ever a good time? Oh well! At least she ('48 Liner) is safely in our hands and will be ready for us when we can get to her. I said our heads are spinning. MrRivet said that doesn't even cover it! LOL

Please keep up the amazing and inspirational work that you are doing. Keep the posts and pictures coming as well. You will be a life saver for us and will save so much foot work to start us in the right direction. I am so impressed with your progress and quality of work. There are many of us out here watching your progress for not only your progress, tools used, how did he, and what's next BUT just knowing another American Icon has been resurrected to enjoy for another 66 years plus to come.

Thanks again!!! We are here ... cheering you on!

dbj216 · 12-06-2014, 08:03 AM

Hi submariner, I stumbled on to MsRivet's picture of the serial number plate on the new Liner. I hope we have pictures of it soon, both inside and out "as found". Here is a link to that thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f138...ml#post1550155

Another Liner thread to watch. You've really started something here.

David

MattB · 12-06-2014, 10:46 AM

Submariner, I have enjoyed your restoration process for months. My own continues although I have not been able to update the thread for some time. I just finished checking out about a dozen different options for the floor in my '55 Flying Cloud, specifically focused on aluminum or something that would not rot. I see about four basic options:

1) Ideal-the airline industry uses some honeycombed aluminum plywood sized panels in various thicknesses from 3/8 - 1" in thickness. I have not heard of anyone getting their hands on any since the Boeing scrap shop closed its doors in Renton, WA (or whereever, just south of Seattle) in about 2008. New, I would expect this stuff to cost $1500-2K per 4x8' sheet.

2) Aluminum alternative. Not a sheet, but interlocking planks IIRC. This company makes very nice all-aluminum trailers (frame, floor, walls, cabinets and furniture): LivinLite All Aluminum Ultra Light Campers, Ultralight Campers, Lightweight Campers, Ultra-Lightweight Campers They have a proprietary flooring system of 1x4" (or thereabout) aluminum planks that they use for the floor/subfloor. At the last RV show I attended, the rep explained that they would be happy to sell the component parts from a dealership. You may be able to call one. I don't recall what the price was on these, but I think it was cost prohibitive for me. With either of these options, you would still want to put some kind of barrier to corrosion between the frame and floor.

3) Nyloboard or some other composite, nylon/vinyl type sheeting. These have the advantage of mostly being made from recycled materials that won't rot. I have noticed that with age and use, many folks have reported more flexing that they liked. As with almost anything, you can buy the top of the line stuff and overcome the limitations for the most part, but this becomes expensive as well.

4) Plywood with urethane and the edges sealed. This is the option I ultimately chose. Price, quality and workability won out. For a much more reasonable price, I was able to get marine grade plywood for essentially the same cost as the regular grade at Menards. I then used outdoor deck urethane in three coats, and it has sealed very well. Then I used Trempro around the edges to seal the first 4" or so from the edge of the sheet. Stole this idea from Colin on the VAP. Smoothed with a scraper, it works like champ, and made it easy to touch up when I put on new C-channel. The workability of wood was a key advantage that I did not anticipate. Since these have a certain hand-made character, I had to have the ability refine and trim precisely. My subfloor was 1" wider forward of the wheel wells than behind. (?!--Oh yes, I measured the original floor and my templates about 12 times before I believed it. And thank you to Mr. Frank Yensan for his ideas to keep the original sheets as a template, and to make a template--utterly invaluable.) When I dropped my shell on, it went on like a dream--actually about three hours faster than taking it off. I was shocked. Finally, in order to countersink your bolts for the subfloor the wood is easy to drill into and make work.

You will be able to see which I favor, but as with anything, YMMV, as will your preferences. Good luck whatever you decide.

Matt

KZOO · 12-09-2014, 07:37 PM

Thank you Matt. That was a great synopsis.

submariner · 12-17-2014, 02:15 PM

well, it has been a few days that i posted an update.

We are finally complete with the exterior shell work, except the roof hatches and the rain gutters over the windows.
I ordered today new window seals and will be ordering new glass on friday. we will be using Lexan for the from and the rear window and Tempered glass for the side windows.

As for the interior, we been playing around with layout ideas and decided, we will be going with twin beds. Galley will be on the curb side , a hanging locker on the opposite side and a wet bath just fwd of it. front area will be kept open with center table and two chairs / recliners.. it will be nice..

as usual , here some more pics.

KZOO · 12-18-2014, 05:16 AM

thank you for the update. I have a question. Why did you decide not to have the ladder frame extend externally so you could use sway bars and/or equalizer bars? Thank you for your thoughts.

KZOO · 12-18-2014, 05:21 AM

Is that a Southern Magnolia in the background? Any Spanish Moss? There are some things that I miss from Florida and the trees are definitely one of them.

submariner · 12-20-2014, 07:55 AM

Kzoo,

The Liner came with a pipe frame and not an a-frame. i wanted to keep the look on the exterior as original as possible. Due to the Trailer being very light,i believe you do not need an equalizer hitch. if one would be desired, it could be a bolt on bracket. a weight distribution system does not need the spread of the a-frame, and custom brackets could be adapted to the frame.

As for the Trees, no idea..

btw i will be ordering the windows on monday.. once they are in, i will try to get a detailed description on replacement.

As for the Interior.. we have decided to built it a very unique way, but this will be kept a secret until i get started... got to insulate first and run all wiring.

KZOO · 12-20-2014, 09:02 AM

Thank you Stefan. Mine is a pipe frame as well, but I grew up with an a frame trailer and my dad put everything on it. old habits die hard. I greatly appreciate your willingness to entertain my questions. These are the types of issues that I want settled before I begin. Have a great day and I am looking forward to the surprise.

submariner · 12-20-2014, 03:23 PM

I have been working for a couple of days on another trailer, that i had to completely re-skin.

. enjoy the photos..
this one is a christmas present for some good friends.

dbj216 · 12-20-2014, 08:02 PM

Stefan, your slipping! Get to a doctor soon! You've got aluminum-ites real bad.

Tell us, what kind of subfloor did you put in your "little trailer"?

David

submariner · 12-21-2014, 06:44 AM

LOL.. you should see my other projects :-)

the little one is a standard mailbox, that is covered with the aluminum skin. I made the skin first, with the windows in and aluminum support where the divest are.
than covered the box and made the endcaps. the Box will be sitting in front of an RV Dealer Ship to be used as their regular mailbox :-)

submariner · 03-16-2015, 05:59 PM

Hello Guys,

it has been a while since i posted and progress was slow on the Liner.
Did a partial restoration and modifications on my Truck and we had too much rain..

well, here is what we have been up to lately:
we started disassembling the window frames and bought new gasket from VTS. The glass we ordered is tempered. The problem however is that the factory glass was very thin and the frame was manufactured accordingly. In order the utilize the tempered thicker glass, we modified the gasket slightly by cutting one side of the lip off and set the glass in with silicone. this worked great.

Unfortunately doing those windows takes a lot of time, since the frames are in terrible shape..
here some pictures :

submariner · 03-16-2015, 06:03 PM

The very first window is done and hung.
so far it turned out pretty good.
the inside support is still not complete, as we plan on getting the new window screen in first. Probably will be using copper screen on all windows.

submariner · 03-16-2015, 06:04 PM

WANTED:

Does anybody know, where to find one more window set???

We have the outside frame but missing the two inside windows.. any condition..

thanks

submariner · 03-16-2015, 06:10 PM

Another item we been working on was to pre-install all lights.
Thanks to VTS (as Usual) we found the right side lights. The tail light was a find at tractor supply and is the closest we could match.

dbj216 · 03-16-2015, 06:32 PM

Hi submariner, nice to see you're back at it. Restoring your old Liner is very tedious for sure. There is just not a quick way. One window frame at a time, one exterior light at a time. But just think of what you'll have when done.

Send some of the rain here if you would. We're quite dry.

David

submariner · 03-22-2015, 05:28 PM

David, i wish i could send you some rain.. I about had enough

Update: It took me about 10 hrs of sanding and polishing until i got the rest of the window frames polished.. Now I wish I would find one more window set somewhere.

After the frames were clean, I installed the new seals and fitted the glass.
Two more windows are done now. Unfortunately i know have to order more gasket. For some reason, I did not have enough to do the next two windows..

anyway, as usual here some pictures: