Help! Please.

[Re-Pete]

Help! I’m deep into a shell off of a 29Ft 1992 Excella Twin bed with a center bath. I’m looking for advice and guidance from someone who is either been there or is very familiar with the process on this later year model. I realize most rebuilds and restorations usually are done on the early models. I’m going to be saying I a lot but it’s actually we. My wife and I are doing this together.

To Date: I’m doing this backwards, I think because I polished it last year. Hahaha

All interior demo has been done and the shell is off the frame (We have saved everything thus far). The frame has received welding repairs, and it has been scraped, sanded, and painted. I installed new upgraded axles just two years ago, so I’m keeping those. Currently the wheels are off and the frame with axles attached is sitting on blocks. I’ve had new water tank pans made as the originals were in poor condition and I’ve dry fitted those. They are not attached. I’ve replaced the fresh water tank with an identical new one. I’ve replaced the paddle valves and dump plumbing on both the gray and black tanks. They are but for a few tweaks ready to be attached. I have new, belly pan aluminum which we’ve laid out, cut and dry fitted to the bottom of the frame. It has not been installed yet. I have new gray aluminum belly wrap but as yet I have not done anything fitting with it.

I have removed the vents and the air conditioner from the roof and also intend to remove the crank up TV antenna. I do not intend to replace the TV antenna with another crank up model. One vent is a three year old Fantastic Fan, it will be reused. The other Fantastic Fan is quite old and is being replaced with another, as is the bathroom pop up vent / fan. Except for the antenna which is still in place we’ve cleaned up all of the caulk from the removed units. I have new perimeter channel that connects the shell floor and frame. The old channel has some issues.

I need to do some repairs to my shell. The list could go on and will.


Here is a pictorial history to date: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qb7HRoLyW1DTbfAG6

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Re-Pete

. . .
I realize most rebuilds and restorations usually are done on the early models.
. . .

A "shell off" rebuild lives a world known mainly to other "shell off" rebuilds, regardless of age IMO.

You seem to have a good self-deprecating sense of humor, and therefor might enjoy the following Love Shack thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f227...ck-183431.html

Good luck,

Peter

[AlinCal]

Wow Pete! The two of you have been busy, that's a rare find you have in your partner for sure.
Keep it up.
My wife only goes near our trailer when it's time to go camping.

[Re-Pete]

Peter and Alan,


Thanks, Phyllis is definitely a great partner. She keeps me on track and out of the weeds which I head toward on a regular basis. Thanks for the link to the Love Shack thread. Eric has been pretty busy himself and is certainly doing a wonderful job. If I wasn't such a humble and self effacing person as I certainly am, I might even be extremely jealous and resentful of so much progress in such a brief amount of time. Thankfully that's not me! Really! Darn it!

Okay maybe I’m a bit envious of Eric’s progress. That said, he's doing great work and such admirable attention to detail. I actually picked up some useful information just looking at his pictures. One of the things I've been struggling with is whether I'm proceeding correctly in terms of the the installations I'm beginning. So thanks again, this was very helpful. Keep it coming.



I see that his thread has been cold since early October, I hope all is well. On that note, I can empathize that doing the rebuild and trying to keep up a running thread documenting progress can get to be a bit much. Phyllis and I have been doing this also, but mostly on Facebook for family and friends. I wish there was a way to mesh posting locations together.

Currently I'm in a bit of a funk. My mental dilemma began when I thought the major repair to my frame had left one side ½” shorter than the other. I was seriously worried that the shell would not line up properly with the channel and frame. Fortunately this was just the result of measuring the cross member spacing while the frame was flipped upside down. Once I flipped it back to right side up I found that it was actually due to the way the cross members were all slightly twisted top to bottom, originals and all. This along with lots of rain caused me to step back for about a month.

As a result of this drastic rebuild, I'm planning to make a bunch of changes, improvements, to the Earthship. Instead of just fixing all of the structural problems and then building out a nice looking interior, my goal is to do some serious upgrades as well. Actually this has begun with the frame and where I installed stainless steel rivet nuts (rivnuts, for short) into the frame to be used for fastening the water tank pans to the frame. It’s been a bit of trouble, but I feel it will make working on them in the future, if or when, that becomes necessary much easier. I did this because the original pans were a real beeyotch to remove.

As I progress I’m hoping to get some good feedback and hopefully tips and best practices on next steps and ways to proceed.