Good day everyone,
My wife and I are part way through a complete overhaul of our 1985 Excella 32 . We have binned the old chassis and built a custom off-road chassis with extra axel ,complete with independent air bag suspension , for traveling outback Australia , We have to move the door from the USA footpath side to the Australian side - so now the shell needs to be cut we are also extending the chassis by another 900mm+/-.
Has anyone cut the shell before as Im interested to know how it was done and what the results looked like. At the moment I plan to make the cut between the lounge windows.and install the door between .
So far I have come up with a mini grinder on some sort of track/guide to make the cut .
Let me know your thoughts .
Thanks
Louie
You might try contacting Disco Stu here on the Forums. He has done this to one trailer that I know of and I think is doing this modification on a trailer that he is currently working on. I believe he is located in Victoria, Australia.
You might try contacting Disco Stu here on the Forums. He has done this to one trailer that I know of and I think is doing this modification on a trailer that he is currently working on. I believe he is located in Victoria, Australia.
Safe Travels!!
Thanks mate I'll drop I'm a message .
Cheers
Louie
QUOTE=Louie C;2763531]Good day everyone,
My wife and I are part way through a complete overhaul of our 1985 Excella 32 . We have binned the old chassis and built a custom off-road chassis with extra axel ,complete with independent air bag suspension , for traveling outback Australia , We have to move the door from the USA footpath side to the Australian side - so now the shell needs to be cut we are also extending the chassis by another 900mm+/-.
Has anyone cut the shell before as Im interested to know how it was done and what the results looked like. At the moment I plan to make the cut between the lounge windows.and install the door between .
So far I have come up with a mini grinder on some sort of track/guide to make the cut .
Let me know your thoughts .
Thanks
Louie[/QUOTE]
Have you considered turning the shell around 180 degrees to put the door on the opposite side? You could then drill one of the endcaps rivets to be able to add the length you want.
Have you considered turning the shell around 180 degrees to put the door on the opposite side? You could then drill one of the endcaps rivets to be able to add the length you want.
Hi Steamracer,
That was our original idea, thought it would have been a simple operation and worked out a treat. Then it became a little more complex with the wheel arch spacing etc (this was before we ended up ditching the original chassis). Then as you mentioned, the plan was to remove the front end cap and just add the door in-between. However doing that impacted the plan for the pull out deck as the drawbar interfered with the under floor space, meaning as you opened the door you were missing the deck completely. So now the project has grown a bit (as they always do).Its quite a bit of extra effort , but we will be happy with the end result.
Cheers
Louie
QUOTE=Louie C;2763531]Good day everyone,
My wife and I are part way through a complete overhaul of our 1985 Excella 32 . We have binned the old chassis and built a custom off-road chassis with extra axel ,complete with independent air bag suspension , for traveling outback Australia , We have to move the door from the USA footpath side to the Australian side - so now the shell needs to be cut we are also extending the chassis by another 900mm+/-.
Has anyone cut the shell before as Im interested to know how it was done and what the results looked like. At the moment I plan to make the cut between the lounge windows.and install the door between .
So far I have come up with a mini grinder on some sort of track/guide to make the cut .
Let me know your thoughts .
Thanks
Louie
[/QUOTE]
Hi MrStreamer,
Several reasons .
We have to move the door to the kerbside in Australia, regardless of where it is positioned (we had considered a central door and one at the rear) - as we will not be able to register it on QLD plates.
We want a pull out deck running from the front to the first wheel. Having the deck impacted the position of the doorway as the drawbar interfered with the space under the floor. this meant that the door had to sit further back.
Not wanting to loose one of the windows, which was another option , meant the shell has to be cut between the windows and an extra section added.
Certainly a lot of extra work, time and money, but I'm going to be happy with results.
Cheers
Louie
So the door when open will be in front of one of the lounge windows? If so you will always have to remember to close the window before opening the door or else, broken glass.
2018 27' Globetrotter
Mooresville
, North Carolina
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 1,296
I don’t know how it is done but I know someone who took a larger vintage airstream, say a 33’, cut out the middle and made a 25 or 27’ out of it. All I’m saying if you’re going to cut, there are many opportunities for what the result can be.
__________________
2018 GMC Sierra 2500HD Duramax
Equal-I-zer Weight Distribution attached to the Gen-Y Torsion Flex Weight Distribution Hitch
"Roadrunner"
Have you thought of adding a rear door and another entry door to your AS?
I have an entry door with screen door and frame and a rear door with frame (screed door was not an option) from an AS Radio Soda Shop also referred to as a Diner.
My thought was to create an AS toy hauler using the rear door and sealing the bulkhead between living space and toy space. I sold my AS before starting the project and the doors are in my shop and do not intend to proceed with another project.
I have attached a picture of the doors and a link shows the rear door on an original unit.
If you have an interest, please let me know, I am in Daytona Beach, FL. Good luck with your project.
Latest update on the rebuild,
I managed to get a month off so spent quite a bit of time working on the van.
The chassis painting with Raptor coat is now complete, the suspension arms had 2 coats, I’m glad it’s now completed. The paint to the A frame needs to be done again as I’m not happy with how it looks, it may well be that we find another product other than the Raptor coat to finish this part that will be seen.
The DO-45 hitch has been installed
I installed the remaining suspension arms, airbags and the shock absorbers – now running 6 airbags and 12 shock absorbers. I still need to make the connections to the air bags, mount the compressor, air tank and control station. The control station has 3 main setting: Offroad -maximum extension, road for normal use, and lowered for when the van is parked up, in addition the air bags can be controlled left/right to level out the van when parked, or when driving down uneven camber tracks. The control system also has a remote control so it can be operated underway (at a walking pace) from the Unimog. I have seen several YouTube videos where this system has been successfully manipulated to avoid trees /obstacles/ washouts etc on some tracks in Australia.
I plan to run some cable trays the full length under the main part of the chassis to have some sort of order with power cables, air lines, water lines, high pressure washing line and the hydraulic lines for the brakes, keeping everything in place.
I’m waiting to find out about the wheel offset so I can order up some new rims. We are looking at 17” light truck alloy rims with a load rating of about 1200kgs. We could go lighter rated, however not having any components stressed should help with longevity – in addition the outback is a hard place to break down, so a little thought now could save some pain later.
The floor was manufactured during my last hitch at work, and I was very impressed with it, A single piece of composite floor 32mm thick 10m x 2.5m fiberglass/high density foam, vacuum infused with resin. Extremely light coming in at just under 65kgs for the whole sheet. This has been loosely laid on top of the chassis so that I can accurately mark out the curves at the front and rear of the van, then cut it to shape. I have the option of sending the floor to the manufacture (100m up the road) and they will CNC it for me, along with cutting any openings for the power cables, drains water entry etc. As the floor is fully infused with resin, I will not have any issues with water ingress in the cut /trimmed areas- so no delamination
Internal height increase
I purchased a sheet of 2024 T3 aluminium 2.0mm thick and cut and formed some extension “legs” for the ribs – We decided on a 250mm lift (our original plan was for 300mm) we dropped it to try to keep our overall height to about 3.3-3.4m with the roof mounted AC and solar panel arrangement
These I attached to the main ribs by buck riveting them and using an automotive bonding agent (Sika flex 252). The ribs were cut short on the original frame around the side openings (Refrigerator vent hot water vents and the 2 small hatches at the rear) as I will be re skinning this, I am also able to extend the ribs down to the floor/chassis – providing a little more strength in these areas.
It feels quite airy inside now and I can exit the door without bashing my head.
I have been looking for additional windows to install after we have cut and extended the van, it seems that I can get the windows that I need, but I’m finding it difficult to find the actual frames. On the path side of the van (original roadside in the USA) we would like to include one small window with a stacked window – to match the original, this will be in the short “corridor” section. In the bathroom we would like to include 1 opening window. If anyone know how/ where I can get the frames that would be great.
Plans for next hitch home will be to look at rear recovery point installation – install the Aluminium angle for the floor placement and rough cut the floor.
Complete the installation of the extension legs
Install the cable tray
Hopefully find some rims/tyres
Cut the front section off install ,the extension piece, install the door opening , and get at least one side re-skinned.
Cheers
Louie
Side view : this is the type of window we are looking for to install on this side, I can find the windows but no the frames - Any ideas?
My first attempt at buck riveting - at least no one will see them on the inside .
This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Airstream, Inc. or any of its affiliates. Airstream is a registered trademark of Airstream Inc. All rights reserved. Airstream trademark used under license to Social Knowledge LLC.
Linear Mode
