footprint of the rear end

[nevermoor]

another question to you my esteemed colleagues. an update on my previous post on the refir access door which i lost. i just got the extruded aluminum channel from vts, they are out of the aluminum flat plate, so still waiting.

i've moved onto floor rot. 2 places in the front. i've removed one on the drivers side, now moving onto the door and under refir. HOWEVER, the big question regards the rear end. no subfloor.

is the shape of the front end the same as the rear end? i did get the lino off the front end in one piece, and can use that as a template for the rear end IF it is the same....fingers crossed!

i sure appreciate all you folk. fyi, this is a 64 trotter.

thanks!
diane

[Minno]

Our rear end subfloor was largely gone at the edges due to rot. We slid a piece of 1/8 inch luan under the edge of the trailer walls, and traced it, cut out the shape in our subfloor material, and refined it a little as we worked to fasten it in. The shape was not quite the same as the front, but close. I think the differences are due to flexing and human workmanship. '64's might be a little different, but I'd bet not much.

Kay

[OTRA15]

Here is your other thread for everyone's information and background:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f155...or-163734.html

Good luck!

[ALUMINUMINUM]

Hello again,


Front to rear, side to side isn't very often the same within any particular Airstream trailer, and can vary by inches in the day to day Airstream factory production. You can replicate the curvature by measuring along the outside of the shell, transfer the curve to your sheet of repair product, Coosa composite, plywood, honeycomb aluminum, and subtracting a 1/2” along the inside radius. The flooring goes under the “U” channel, but doesn't quite meet the outside skin.


If you don't already have a curve measuring tool, of which there are many styles, I'd simply bend a stick of soft 3/8” K copper tube along the outside shell, and trace that line onto my repair board. It's not rocket science, there are geometric ways to do it with a story stick, but you may not have room back there, unless you gut the bath. If the rot is significant, you could likely wind up removing the black tank too. It's a big awful job to repair rear rot. Lots of trial.


Yes, getting a thin cheap sheet of luan, masonite, or strong cardboard to make your preliminary measurement transfers onto, and adjusting the fit, is a smart intermediate step.


Here's an image of a very old Starrett curve tool that I check my curves with. Patented 1888, quite a curiosity.



P.S. I learned about clay from an Alfred Graduate. It's an Airstream for the birds....

[nevermoor]

wow thanks everyone. i've got some big cardboard pieces and will use that to get the basic shape. i think i have to remove the bath, sink toilet assembly to make access easier. when you all replaced the back end subfloor, did you do it in 1 large piece or have to break it down into smaller pieces?

i cannot wrap my head around that starratt tool. but it sure looks very cool. i'll do some research.

the bird house is great! you do great work. i teach at alfred, in the sculpture dept! when was your friend there? who did they study with? how do you clean the bird house?

many thanks everyone!!!!!
diane

[Minno]

We had gutted our trailer, and replaced the entire subfloor due to rot. We put the rear piece in as one, doing the back, then front, then middle last. We spanned the width of the trailer with one piece, cutting off 6 inches for size, and using that as our "gusset" underneath to fasten to the piece in the next forward position. The frame is made for that gusset to add strength. People have done it in pieces also - you just want to make sure that the edges of your subfloor replacement fall on a support underneath it or you will have a weak spot in your floor that will flex when you step on it.
LOVE that birdhouse!

Kay

[nevermoor]

thanks kay. i got the shower bath toilet assembly removed, a big whew. the rot spans the entire width of the trailer back there, so will have to remove wood back to metal cross beam.

realizing always the old adage "one thing leads to another" is true, and so readily identifiable as one removes and uncovers...... then appears the world of the univolt system and tangle of old wires...... oh my!!!

well, one thing at a time...this year getting the floor tight and sound, exterior seams sealed, windows caulked, etc. then traveling, and determine what i want to do with the inside layout while driving the miles!!!!!

again, thanks to all. may your days be shiny, your tires full and you got a hankering for the road!

di

[Minno]

We determined that most of our rot was water intrusion through the rear lights. The cams were rusted out almost completely. The old adage "while we're at it" definitely applies to water intrusion. Stop it from happening. Something to look at while you're working back in that area and have it apart.

Kay

[ALUMINUMINUM]

I think that the aft-most bay that houses the black tank is about a thirty inch span of plywood. It can be repaired with one sheet if you can get everything out of the way. Some folks cleat two sheets together, some I've seen done in three pieces. I left all my bath plastic in place and was able to repair using two sheets. I removed the black tank and worked from under quite a bit.


19foot 1964 “door in door” doesn't share much with the 20foot '65 thru '68 which have a side-light window fore of the door instead.. As floor-plans go, the '65 and '66 are sisters, and differ from the '67-'68 sisters.


I didn't restore my interior to original, which was originally designed to discomfort four persons. Didn't like sitting on a gaucho couch and staring at the sink, stove and refrigerator, then when the gaucho converts to a bed, it's nearly impossible to get to the bath. I replaced that with a dinette for two.The front gaucho was replaced with a permanent platform. I re-sawed and used all the original ash interior in the reconfiguration.



There's a 3” square clean out door in the birdhouse floor. Long ago, she was the ceramics department director at a “Local University”.