floor question

[air66stream]

I am replacing the rear section of floor on my 66 Overlander due to a neglected plumbing leak. I noticed that the outermost flooring bolts (red circle) on the crossbraces were upside down. Since I haven't completely gutted the interior yet, I was wondering if these bolts connect the wall ribs to the floor? And if this is the case, this sound like a tough piece of plywood to replace. Many of the floor bolts are rusted and bent like the one in the pic. Since the rest of the plywood flooring is in good shape is it worth my time to replace most of these to tighten the floor up ? Any thought from someone who has been there? Thanks, Tom

[FreshAir]

Airstream purposely bent the flooring bolts to prevent them from working loose. They knew these coaches were/are going to last! So you will have too cut, break or drill them out. On mine where the floor rotted the old ply was easy to pull up over the bolts. Now along the outer wall the bolts go though the body C-channel, through the ply floor and through the outriggers and or frame. You will have to remove the inner skin to get at them or create access panels that can be patched later. I would use access panels where they will be hidden in closets or behind cabinets.

[byamcaravanner]

Tom,

I'm in the process of doing the exact same thing on my '67. I have gutted my trailer (really doesn't take that long) and have removed the bottom interior skins. Take a close look at the entire floor from the top. Nearly all of mine looked good from the bottom but after I got access to the top edges from the interior I found that the wood at the perimeter is pretty punky. I am now replacing the entire floor.

I found the best way to remove the floor bolts is to use a saws-all. I use a 9" fine tooth blade and cut the bolts between the frame members and the floor. The space occupied by the sandwiched insulation allows the blade to easily fit between the frame and floor.

Good Luck!