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yukionna · 10-28-2007, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InsideOut

Birdy had a busy "ebay week"...she even bought something to share with Maxwell!

Can't wait to start putting things back together!

Great finds on the lights. I was watching those auctions too but the bidding went a little bit high for my budget.

tin sista · 10-28-2007, 05:33 PM

Wow that clock is the cat's pajamas!

InsideOut · 10-28-2007, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yukionna

Shari -- I saw on an earlier post in this thread that you are replacing the floor without removing the shell. How will you do that? I thought the ribs were attached to the top of the floor.

Hmmm...not quite sure how to explain, but I'll try.

The channel that runs around the perimeter does sit on the floor. The ribs sit inside the channel. We removed the bolts holding the channel to the floor and cut out sections of wood. You can see the temporary wood pieces in the first picture in post #158. For each section we removed, we placed a temporay piece of wood on the frame to hold up the chanel...that along with the skins being attached to the ribs is enough to keep everything stable. We will replace 3-4' x width of the trailer sections of the floor starting at the curved sections and working towards the center front to back removing the temporary pieces. At any one time, there is only a 4' section unsupported, which is fine for the trailer just sitting there.

Make sense? Hope so...

Shari

InsideOut · 10-28-2007, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tin sista

Wow that clock is the cat's pajamas!

It is very cool...I love it too! They still make & sell these new, but there is nothing like the patina of the older ones...

Shari

InsideOut · 02-29-2008, 05:24 PM

Wow! It's hard to imagine it's been 4 months since I updated here. Oh well, with the holidays and being c-c-c-cold most of the time, we weren't able to get as much done as we hoped to over the winter. We have been able to make progress on the woodwork and totally re-built the door and rescreened it. Also learned how to buck rivets and we amazingly put the door back together without any pieces left over! The weather stripping is on order and expected next week along with the re-chromed handles & trim. We'll then be weather tight and able to put things back together!

Things are finally thawing out...actually quite nicely. We had warm enough weather last weekend to warm up the trailer with heaters and paint the frame with two coats of POR-15. This weekend it's supposed to be a flukey 70 on Saturday (but snow on Sunday

) so saturday will be a good time to lay on the ground under the trailer working on the grey tank installation. Feels good to be on the "putting it back together" side of the project. Although, one more demo project is planned...we will be replacing the entire streetside panel 4'x12' (both inside & out) but not until the floor is back in.

I've been taking pictures...will post some updates over the weekend. Now that we are back at it, I hope to maintain webpage better...stay tuned!

Shari

InsideOut · 03-16-2008, 07:07 PM

We've been out working on Birdie today...but it started to snow! So, time to post some pics ~

Back in October, we had a slab poured back by the garage so we could park both trailers at home. We have two sewer dumps (one front & one back), 30 amp electric and water. Sorry, no room for courtesy parking...just us! Shortly after bringing Maxwell home...we winterized and it started snowing. But that didn't keep us from welding in a new back frame member...it was 12-degrees!

Shari

InsideOut · 03-16-2008, 07:21 PM

We had hoped to get the frame welded sooner, so we could paint it before winter hit...thus be able to get the floor in and work throughout the winter. Didn't happen. So we had to wait for a day on a weekend to hit 50+ degrees so we could paint the frame. Finally, the end of February - even though there was snow still on the ground, we had a weekend of nice weather where we could but a propane heater inside the trailer and bring the tempurature up high enough to paint...which we did. Two coats of POR-15...did I mention we are doing a shell on floor replacement? Once the floor is in place and the shell re-attached, we will be dropping the belly pan to paint the underside of the frame.

drag'nwagon · 03-16-2008, 07:28 PM

Shari,

It is a great day when you get to work on vintage units. Glad your back posting again, we will be following your thread.

InsideOut · 03-16-2008, 10:22 PM

In the meantime, we have totally dismantled the door (found more resident yellow jacket nests) to replace the screen and fix the lock. We picked up several broken locks through ebay and ended up with enough pieces to have a working set and a back-up set and a few spare pieces. They are all out at the chrome shop...should get them back this week.

Shari

InsideOut · 03-16-2008, 10:34 PM

We re-screened the door with galvanized screen, fit the new insulation and then put our newly learned rivet bucking skills to the test. The door went back together rather easilt...no extra parts! Clecos are an amazing tool...nothing would substitute! The copper ones are smaller and those are where the pulled rivets go...the black are for the bucked rivets.

Oh yeah, once we got done putting everything back togehter - we polished the inner door a "first pass"...it'll be the only thing polished for quite some time ~ now we're just waiting on the hardware to come back ~ then we can seal her up!

Shari

InsideOut · 03-16-2008, 10:54 PM

This weekend, we finally got two sheets of the floor in! We used 3/4" marine grade A/B plywood. First we cut sheets (measure twice - cut once...especially @ $75 per sheet) then painted the edges with oil-based paint. The front and back curves are each one piece - no seams. It was no easy task, but do-able...each were eased (sloooowly) into place with a hammer. The shell & belly are loose from the frame so the skin is pretty flexible - enough that they could be inched in a little at a time. We used elevator bolts to attach the plywood to the frame where we could access it and get to the back side and self-drilling floor repair screws where we couldn't. Then hammered over the elevator bolts just like the originals were.

Shari

InsideOut · 03-16-2008, 10:58 PM

I didn't take any pictures with all the bolts in place...I will post them later.

We also got the three remaining floor pieces cut and painted ready to be installed next weekend...or maybe after work this week...but we are supposed to get 6-10" of snow tonite & tomorrow, so we'll see ~

Enough for now...glad things are finally moving along again!

Shari

flyfshr · 03-16-2008, 11:05 PM

Congratulations to the both of you. Getting that much of the floor in is a milestone and to be doing it in the chilly temps you guys must be having makes it all that much more rewarding. One question - what's holding the shell to the frame? You guys must be having a few winter winds up that way.

Brad
FF

InsideOut · 03-16-2008, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyfshr

Congratulations to the both of you. Getting that much of the floor in is a milestone and to be doing it in the chilly temps you guys must be having makes it all that much more rewarding.

It does...and now with Daylight Savings Time and warmer weather on the way (not tonite!) we will be able to work in the after work soon!

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyfshr

One question - what's holding the shell to the frame?

Nothing really...the belly pan, c-channel and body are all attached. The belly is attached to the underside of the frame and the c-channel/shell is held up with 3/4" blocks of wood and c-clamps at each outrigger and the front & back of the frame. The ribs come down and rest on the wood blocks which are kinda wedged in there. We took them out a couple at a time to paint. Now that the front and back are in, the blocks have been removed.

Here's an older picture that shows the wood & clamps in place. It's been like that thoughout the winter...no problems, but it certainly couldn't be moved!

Shari

yukionna · 03-17-2008, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InsideOut

...Once the floor is in place and the shell re-attached, we will be dropping the belly pan to paint the underside of the frame.

Looking good! How do you keep all the insulation from dropping out of the floor when you drop the belly pan?

InsideOut · 03-17-2008, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yukionna

How do you keep all the insulation from dropping out of the floor when you drop the belly pan?

Right now it's placed there temporarily with tape holding it up...when we drop the belly we will attach it to the plywood from underneath.

Shari

uwe · 03-17-2008, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InsideOut

This weekend, we finally got two sheets of the floor in! We used 3/4" marine grade A/B plywood. First we cut sheets (measure twice - cut once...especially @ $75 per sheet) then painted the edges with oil-based paint. The front and back curves are each one piece - no seams. It was no easy task, but do-able...each were eased (sloooowly) into place with a hammer. The shell & belly are loose from the frame so the skin is pretty flexible - enough that they could be inched in a little at a time. We used elevator bolts to attach the plywood to the frame where we could access it and get to the back side and self-drilling floor repair screws where we couldn't. Then hammered over the elevator bolts just like the originals were.

Shari

Shari,
I was able to slide whole floor pieces into place last week, while replacing the flor on a client project. The shell is flexible enough to over-extend enough to where the sheet slides in towards teh street side, then past ( slight stretch of the shell outwards) and then back under the curbside c-channel. That way the sheets retain their integrity and strength. No center seams necessary.
Congrats on the great progress.

Aerowood · 03-17-2008, 08:04 AM

Thats the same same way that I did it too.

InsideOut · 03-17-2008, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uwe

I was able to slide whole floor pieces into place last week, while replacing the floor on a client project.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerowood

Thats the same same way that I did it too.

Nice to hear we are in good company! We didn't want seams down the middle and for our own reasons, chose not to do it shell off. So far it's working out fine...

Shari

Ken J · 03-17-2008, 08:29 AM

I did the seam down the middle - you learn things after you do it - if I did it all over again, I would do it as you have done and I would have used 3/4" plywood.....

No need to take the shell completely off - I did mine with just a few rivets holding in the front - scary, but it worked well.

Ken