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Kintscher · 09-03-2006, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by safari57

I'm having some problems with my software allowing me to shrink a picture to the size required by the forum.

Barry-

If your using Windows try Picassa software from Google. It is a great free photo database, viewer and tool.

http://picasa.google.com/

Brad

NorCal Bambi · 09-03-2006, 05:44 PM

Well the internal frame work for raising the shell was worked on yesterday and completed today. Claudia and I also managed to raise the shell this afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow the frame will be slid out from underneath the shell.
Don

S C Streamer · 09-03-2006, 06:17 PM

Lookin' Good Don,

In other posts I've seen a lot of shells being braced all over the place, horizontal,vertical and 45 degree kickers. I thought some of them were overkilled. I like yours, with only 17' of shell, I'll do the same.

NorCal Bambi · 09-03-2006, 11:26 PM

I'm going to post more pictures tomorrow on how this structure is bolted together.
Don

ya-ya · 09-04-2006, 02:37 AM

Wow you look like just the right guy to get her done. Off that subject but I'm not computer savvy How can I repair a smal crack in the shower pan of my 80 excella 11? I cant afford a new one right now. I gutted a house once its a great way to get your frustrations out! Keep us posted
Ya- Ya- and PApa Foxworth

NorCal Bambi · 09-04-2006, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ya-ya

Wow you look like just the right guy to get her done. Off that subject but I'm not computer savvy How can I repair a smal crack in the shower pan of my 80 excella 11? I cant afford a new one right now. I gutted a house once its a great way to get your frustrations out! Keep us posted
Ya- Ya- and PApa Foxworth

Repairing Fiberglass: The first question would be how small and where is the crack located. Second did something fall on the fiber grass or is the crack the results of stress. A stress crack will require more work to repair properly. Can you include a picture? If you look at my thread on restoring out 63 Bambi it will give you some ideas on Fiberglas repair. I also repaired the Fiberglas toilet and shower pan in the Bambi.
http://www.airforums.com/forum...mbi-17925.html

Look at post numbers 361 - 366. The post number appears in the upper blue strip of a post on the right hand side. This repair is on the refer door. If you would like more information after looking at this, let me know.
Don

cloud55 · 09-04-2006, 09:53 AM

Don do you need a pattern for the floor? If you want a copy just pm with address to send it to.

Lynn

malconium · 09-04-2006, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S C Streamer

Lookin' Good Don,

In other posts I've seen a lot of shells being braced all over the place, horizontal,vertical and 45 degree kickers. I thought some of them were overkilled. I like yours, with only 17' of shell, I'll do the same.

Mark,

I think the main thing you really need to brace for when lifting the whole shell is to maintain the overall shape of the bottom edge of the body. Once it is detached from the floor there is not all that much to hold the shape. So your bracing mostly has to make up for what the floor would ordinarily provide. You need enough structure to lift the body while keeping the bottom edge reasonably straight. The good news is that the body is not really all that heavy. The body frame members themselves do a pretty good job of bracing everything else.

While I did replace my floor without taking the body entirely off I did essentially support the whole body in a sort of floating mode above the floor to keep it from dropping while I took out the old plywood. Check out the following thread and especially my posts #74 and #76.

http://www.airforums.com/forum...y-11814-6.html

There is some detail there about the way I supported the bottom of the shell with side to side cross-members and lengthwise strips of plywood along the edges of the body. There are also some notes about how I made templates for the floor. I was pretty pleased with the results and the structure was pretty easy to build too. There are some photos in my photo area of the technique and "Remove_floor_09".

I definitely agree that the full body off aproach is the most comprehensive way to do the job but would have had trouble doing it with my space constraints and especially my sloped driveway. Also my AS is a 31' footer which would have been more trouble.

Malcolm

malconium · 09-04-2006, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

Well I used the Sawsall to remove the belly pan. I'll say one thing it was fast. I'm sure that I will be demoted for this move. Probably form craftsmen to butcher. Now I will try to justify my move. The belly pan was junk (see picture). The original floor that was there was rotten to the point that I was able to rip it out with my bare hands. And I will never qualify as a super hero. The one solid piece of floor in the front was something a PO had put in and it did not go under the C channel. In fact there was only one piece of wood under the C channel and it was only 20 inches long. I learned about the Sawsall thing from my Son-in-law. He loves to tear up houses with one.

Don

Don,

I certainly wouldn't fault you for using your Sawsall. I sure put mine to good work on getting my old floor out. I remember that I had some bolts through the floor I actually had to use an abrasive saw blade to cut off because they were so hard.

I found an amazing amount of aluminum rot on my belly pan pieces, especially the ones behind the axles. Interestingly enough the ones in front of the axles were the ones that I left in place when I replaced the floor because they were in such good shape. I wonder why the back ones would be rotted an the front ones OK? I wonder if the original grade of aluminum used for the belly pans should have been different. I don't have that level of rot anywhere else except for the strip of aluminum that was attached to the back edge of the door on top of my bumber storage area.

Malcolm

S C Streamer · 09-04-2006, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malconium

I think the main thing you really need to brace for when lifting the whole shell is to maintain the overall shape of the bottom edge of the body.

Hi Malcolm,

That's what I was thinking, create a temporary "floor" to keep the shell rigid.

Thanks for the link, with the help of these forums and those that have gone before me, I feel confident I can get it done as well.

cloud55 · 09-04-2006, 03:38 PM

Our shell came off on Saturday! Looks like your came off on Sunday! Wahoo!

And there definately is a storm brewing Don...one of our neighbors just bought a 56 FC today! His is all original... so if we need any measurements etc. it will be nearby after he brings it home next week.

FYI we are not up to a race but we sure like watching your progress. I will start a little thread on ours even though its all been said and done. This is all new to us...our first trailer and we are not that handy. Uwe is walking us through this.

So far the shell is off and the frame is bare and ready for Uwe to stop by and help us figure out where to have welding done for tanks.

NorCal Bambi · 09-04-2006, 06:01 PM

Cloud 55, Congratulations of lifting the shell and removing the frame. You are right this is not a race. It's just fun to make comparisons and see how others are doing. How cool you have Uwe to look at your trailer. Sounds like it's clouding up in your neighborhood. Would like to see pictures of your neighbors trailer when he gets a chance. We got the frame out today. I was able to spend some time inspecting the frame. I'll have to clean it well before I know how much welding is required.
Don

ankornuta · 09-04-2006, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

Cloud 55, Congratulations of lifting the shell and removing the frame. You are right this is not a race. It's just fun to make comparisons and see how others are doing. How cool you have Uwe to look at your trailer. Sounds like it's clouding up in your neighborhood. Would like to see pictures of your neighbors trailer when he gets a chance. We got the frame out today. I was able to spend some time inspecting the frame. I'll have to clean it well before I know how much welding is required.
Don

Nice work Don! Looks like you have a pretty good shop there too for this kind of work. In a way I kind of miss having the body off of my trailer already

cloud55 · 09-04-2006, 09:26 PM

We ...ok John...I cleaned up and stuff...got the floor and bolts off of the frame today. It all looks pretty good...to us anyway. Rusty but no holes and still had some black paint on the frame. One bent outrigger near the wheel well...possibly from a blowout.

John wanted me to ask you if you have one less outrigger on street side. Second one behind the wheel well. He thinks they were made that way for some reason...as it obviously was never there. I think it was made on Monday or Friday. We don't have a large wager on this but thought you might be able to settle it.

Lynn

uwe · 09-04-2006, 09:39 PM

Geez, Lynn, I go for a little motorcycle ride and when I come back you got the whole thing torn apart! Very good progress! You and John are definitely on your way now. Remember, it's uphill from here - everything will be like new and perfect!

NorCal Bambi · 09-06-2006, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cloud55

We ...ok John...I cleaned up and stuff...got the floor and bolts off of the frame today. It all looks pretty good...to us anyway. Rusty but no holes and still had some black paint on the frame. One bent outrigger near the wheel well...possibly from a blowout.

John wanted me to ask you if you have one less outrigger on street side. Second one behind the wheel well. He thinks they were made that way for some reason...as it obviously was never there. I think it was made on Monday or Friday. We don't have a large wager on this but thought you might be able to settle it.

Lynn

I have only 2 outriggers on both sides of the frame after the wheel. There is no sign of any outriggers ever being welded any further back. I'm considering putting a small outrigger back behind the two existing ones. Similiar to the two short ones in front. What do you think.
Don

NorCal Bambi · 09-06-2006, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uwe

Geez, Lynn, I go for a little motorcycle ride and when I come back you got the whole thing torn apart! Very good progress! You and John are definitely on your way now. Remember, it's uphill from here - everything will be like new and perfect!

A motorcycle ride right now sounds like a great bresk!
Don

cloud55 · 09-06-2006, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorCal Bambi

I have only 2 outriggers on both sides of the frame after the wheel. There is no sign of any outriggers ever being welded any further back. I'm considering putting a small outrigger back behind the two existing ones. Similiar to the two short ones in front. What do you think.
Don

We have two outriggers behind curbside wheel and one after streetside wheel. This is not including the one directly behind the wheel that the well attaches to. Our thoughts were exactly like yours...putting short outriggers farther back beside that last cross beam. That is where our bed and trunk will be and it seems we could use the support as our water heater may end up under the bed.

Lynn

uwe · 09-06-2006, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cloud55

We have two outriggers behind curbside wheel and one after streetside wheel. This is not including the one directly behind the wheel that the well attaches to. Our thoughts were exactly like yours...putting short outriggers farther back beside that last cross beam. That is where our bed and trunk will be and it seems we could use the support as our water heater may end up under the bed.

Lynn

I think that a few additional outriggers are a grand idea. They will not only stabilize the floor without adding too much additional stiffness, but also give additional support for bolts through the floor channel.

safari57 · 09-06-2006, 08:20 PM

don

Here's the pics I promissed. The picture of the twin beds - the one on the right side behind the bathroom is the one the solid waste tank is under (as well as under the toilet itself).

The picture of the counters and then the next one shows the doors open and the grey waste tank on the floor. HOpe this helps and it sure works slick, easy access if there's ever problems, and they are up and competely out of the way.
Barry