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john hd · 03-21-2005, 04:52 AM

juel

try an impact screw driver.

it is a tool that you loosen screws by hitting the back of it with a hammer!

they are available at any good hardware store. it is a tool of last resort before drilling. i have been able to remove phillips head screws that are completely stripped with mine.

tell your hubby to get you your own tools (or just go get them yourself!) when he gets back from the land of beer and cheese! what's he doing up here anyway?

i gave mrs. HD her own set of tools for her projects, and NO they are not pink!

john

Rog0525 · 03-21-2005, 05:58 AM

Judy, there is insulation between the floor and belly pan. You won't get a good look at the whole frame by cutting a hole. Dropping the pan is the best way to get a good view and to have room to work, if necessary.
The job is much easier with two people.

norbert · 03-21-2005, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balrgn

Hey! Looking great there! Just remember we can't decorate to save our souls! Least wise I know I can't. It's that colors thing...........

who needs color when you have a-lu-min-i-um,num,num...
norby

fireflyinva · 03-21-2005, 06:11 AM

I've actually tried these things.

I only wanted to drop the pan in the front. I drilled out all the rivets in the front rim, dropped the trim and realized that I would have to drill out rivets holding the front frame members to drop it.

I really don't want to go down that path to just inspect the front edge. I had a couple of experienced airstream restorers from my unit by and they confirmed my instinct not to proceed down that path, at least for what I want to accomplish. As far as dropping the whole pan, I don't want to have to try to reattach it at this stage.

So, I started replacing the rivets (I still have to reattach the trim) and considered what I wanted to do. Access panels appeal because they could help in the future if I need to work underneath ever again. I already used a drill to start a hole (well, actually a series of holes) to start using tin snips, but at least on my belly pan, the metal is way too thick for tin snips. A saw is the way to go. It's just pretty darn intimidating. But I don't need to do it right now...

No, btw, there's no reason to drop the belly pan unless there's a reason for doing it! It's a pain in the neck to drop and from what I understand, very awkward to reattach. I noticed last year that there was a battery leak at the front of the unit that dripped down onto the frame. From what we can see, the damage appears minimal (there's a bit of non-sheet metal at the front that held the skin out that is partly eroded). It also hasn't shown signs of wierd flexing inside. Still, I want to look at the guts, cover the affected parts with Por-15, and get any neccessary welding done. So when things warm up, the saw is going to cut!

Mary

LuminumTraila · 03-21-2005, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john hd

tell your hubby to get you your own tools (or just go get them yourself!) when he gets back from the land of beer and cheese! what's he doing up here anyway?

i gave mrs. HD her own set of tools for her projects, and NO they are not pink!

john hd -- I like your thinking! I can see that Mother's Day gifts are going to be totally different now that I'm working on our Airstream.

Can I butt in with a question about rivets and tools? I noticed lots of little interior rivets when I was cleaning the vinyl off the interior panels yesterday. Is there a good way to take these out and replace missing rivets? What kind of tool do you use? Where do you get these rivets? If this has already been discussed at length somewhere and I missed it, could someone suggest some search words? Thanks!

-Jamie

juel · 03-21-2005, 07:18 AM

By the way FireflyinVA. Have you ever tried to use a sawsall? Well I have and it's a challange. I ended up doing more damage than good. I tried to cut out the rotted floor in a rental trailer I own (excuse me-mobile home) and it was a nightmare. Those things will beat you to death. I bought a really good, small Porter-Cable one, but I just could not handle it. Good luck

Hey John, tell me about those little rivets too. I want to remove some of them and then replace when I've fixed what I'm after.

fireflyinva · 03-21-2005, 07:28 AM

I once used a rented sawzall a couple of years ago, when we put a hole in the roof of our house to put in a chimney...We took turns with it and it was tough. I don't like the idea of using this on my back, either! That's why I'm trying to find a better kind of saw. I'd like to use a small rotating saw, but I don't know if that would work. The other thing that occured to me is whether there might be a large enough dremel-type tool to do this. It would take longer, but I'd feel much more in control. Plus I wouldn't be fighting it.

Mary

hotLAVA · 03-21-2005, 08:43 AM

How do you spell blasphemy? And is it really a word? Oh, I won't worry my pretty little head about that......

(please place tongue in cheek)
You're blowing our cover! IF men catch on to the fact that we ARE capable of "man's work", well, then we'll be expected to do it! Please, ladies. Sit on the couch, eat bon bons, whine a bit, struggle to lift that jar you ask your man to open for you and enjoy being the smarter sex who is more than capable of performing menial tasks (like spelling perhaps? Tehe).......if we have to. They get done much easier if we convince our men that we couldn't possibly lift that, unscrew that, or have the intelligence to operate a power tool. (you know how difficult those are)

Hats (or tiaras) off to you ladies doing beautiful work on your trailers! Well done.

Foiled Again · 03-21-2005, 09:12 AM

OK, Airstreams are an American icon, but Makita makes wonderful "woman sized tools" Those wonderful little men who brought us Pearl Harbor are smaller than American men .... in ways which I can only imagine

... but this is about power tools.

The grips on most Makita are just a tad smaller than Craftsman, etc., so they are a lot easier to control.

Makita makes small orbital sanders, a small circular saw that is easy to handle and control and a lot of other tools that seem unusually well designed from an ergonomic standpoint. I'm left handed, so I'm especially concerned with finding tools that aren't biased toward right handed people. Browse and enjoy, and get some big dumb blond (male) to show you around the hardware store.

By the way, my one rule is DON'T BUY CHEAP TOOLS! A very experienced person can use poor tools. The less experience you have the more you need the tool to compensate.

As for men, they have their uses. Put one in cowboy boots and he can kill the cockroaches in the corner.

Paula

juel · 03-21-2005, 12:00 PM

I love the sense of humor of women who will attempt working on an Airstream. We are pretty neat people aren't we? God gave us so much to be thankful for, just wish some of that had included upper body strength. Oh well, multi-tasking and common sense are pretty good trade-offs.

fireflyinva · 03-21-2005, 01:14 PM

I'll have to check those tools out. I don't plan to buy a tool for this, since I only look on it as a one-time-use concern--and really I don't want more to store. I'm also planning to rent a face mask, protective clothing and if I can, a wheely board to scoot under the thing. I'm getting to be really friendly with the rental center these days!

Right now that seems far off. I'm pushing hard these days just to complete my current projects...

Mary

kayelm · 03-21-2005, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john hd

juel

try an impact screw driver.

it is a tool that you loosen screws by hitting the back of it with a hammer!

john

Wow, that is great. I wonder what other tools are out there that I can't live without, but don't know about.

Kaye

05ModPod · 03-21-2005, 02:49 PM

This thread is great!

Could be time we had an all ladies vintage working rally/gathering/rendezvous or what ever!

How many can hook up their rigs? if Yes then lets go for it! Only problem look at the posters we are all over the map from the west coast to the east coast up north in CND and south in Florida.

Maybe we should start requesting some seminars to meet our needs - those long lonely days and nights the Hubby is working - and yet so much work to be done on the Coach.

PS don't replace that flatehead with another flatehead - worst invention made - go for a phillips or robbie - minimal upper body strenght required! Oh and don't sell yourselves short ladies - with have more upper body strength than we know what to do with - for example we can render a man sensless in one split second with our upper body strength

john hd · 03-21-2005, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Hey John, tell me about those little rivets too. I want to remove some of them and then replace when I've fixed what I'm after.

juel,

those are easy! two methods:

one, use a sharp drill bit to remove the "head" of the rivet. this is the most accurate way to remove them, you just need to know the right size of bit to use. most interior rivits on an airstream can be drilled out with an 1/8 inch bit.

you will find this task a bit tricky because the remainder of pop rivets tend to get stuck on the drill bit. just get a pliers, grasp the head of the rivet stuck on the bit and put the drill in reverse. this will spin the rivit head right off!

two, use a sharp small cold chisel. you can place the chisel under the head of the rivet and give it a whack with a small hammer! the head of the rivet will pop right off! the remaining shank of the rivet can be removed by driving it through the ribs with a small drift punch.

this method is fast and best left for areas that cannot be harmed by marring the surface. you will slightly scratch the underlying aluminum some with the chisel.

hope this helps!

i have to go put my lineman boots on and go squash some bugs now.....

john

john hd · 03-21-2005, 04:04 PM

jamie

to install the interior rivets you need a "pop" rivet tool.

again they and the rivets that go with them are available at any good hardware store.

a nice pop rivet tool looks like this:

john

john hd · 03-21-2005, 04:45 PM

how do them rivets work?

here is a page that explains how the tool pictured above works and what the rivets look like!

http://www.emhart.com/products/pop/rivets2.htm

here is a little secret, if you master the use of the pop rivet tool on the inside you can repair items on the outside too!

olyimpic rivets that everyone mentions here are just fancy "pop" rivets!

you just need yet another fancy tool to finish them off, we can get into that later.....

john

balrgn · 03-21-2005, 05:03 PM

Don't fergit ya gotta use Aluminum rivets. Those Stainless steel ones will damage the back side, or possibly crack the plastic, too much pressure required to snap.....

Foiled Again · 03-21-2005, 05:23 PM

Don't forget, man is a creature designed with two heads - and only enough blood to circulate to one at a time!

Seriously, I don't have a husband (and his new wife doesn't have a good one) so we could have a ladies only forum, but lets spend it constructively. Of course, we could let the men come as long as they wear kilts and show us a little leg!

I'm in Virginia and I have a new unit, but I'm very impressed with what some of the renovaters and restorers have done. So if I'm invited I'll make every effort to show up.

Tin Lizzie

**Stefrobrts** · 03-21-2005, 05:31 PM

Good link, John, that does look like a good rivet tool. I used your basic one from ACE and the grip is too wide for me to comfortable use, and it's harder than h*ll to squeeze tight enough to put the rivets in. My hands were sore and bruised by the time I got done. I would have rather had a better designed rivet tool! Maybe I'll look for a better one to keep in my trailer toolkit, along with the extra rivets just in case.

juel · 03-21-2005, 05:49 PM

Ok, I'm going to go tool shopping. Actually I had my own tools when I married Bob two years ago, but he loved them so much they ran away with him to some distant job site. I'm going to also try to put a picture of my Argosy in the post. Hope it works. Judy