Plywood - How thick is the original?

[Marlboro Mafia]

Repairing my floor and had a problem with matching thicknesses of plywood. ANybody know the exact thickness of the original floor plywood on a '61 Safari?

Thanks oh Karma filled veterans.

[Paul Mayeux]

My 62 was 5/8". When I did my floor repairs I purchased marine grade fir. Good luck.

[TomW]

My '67 also had what appeared to be 5/8 inch plywood. I replaced it with 19/32 inch oriented strand board (OSB). I plan to level the floor with compound before installing the new non-carpet flooring (can't decide on the exact type yet )

A 1/32 inch difference should not present any problems.

[Gordon Watt]

New plywood could very well be metric.

[markdoane]

My 24' '59 Tradewind was 5/8". I plan to replace with Struc1 plywood (plyform, 7 ply) for higher bending strength. Not sure, but I think longer trailers may have used 3/4"?

[Marlboro Mafia]

I am patching at the door and had everything ready to go when I realized my 23/32 plywood was too thick.

One item of interest, I replaced the thin aluminum under the stairs/door with thicker stock and wedged it under the original floor at the seams.

Why? so that when I bolt it down, the old and new will be resting on an equal platform. I decided to do this when I saw that there was a compressed thin layer of insulations between the old floor and the beams near the door.

For the new aluminum I used a "Wrong Way" sign. It is nice and shiney on the back and worked well.

One question---I intend to drill and tap the frame to accept stainless tapered head screws to hold the plywood down. Anyone try this before?

[uwe]

i think the frame is too thin and too soft to drill and tap successfully.
Maybe a caged nut would work, if you want to use machine threads.

[Marlboro Mafia]

It appears that near the door there is a thin plate tack welded on top the frame rail. Is it steel or aluminum" In your opinion woudl that be sufficent enought to thread?

Otherwise I will have to use toggle bolts or drill all the way through and then put the nuts up from the bottom(which makes another hole to fill).

Thoughts?

[markdoane]

I think the welded in piece you're looking at may be a stiffener that was used to reinforce where the frame was bent toward the tongue. It's not any thickerer than the frame (mine is 14 ga), so I wouldn't try drilling it.

You can barely see it on the frame between the two outriggers that support the step in this picture.

[uwe]

Can you remove or loosen a section of the belly cover?
You could reach around the wrap part and put nuts on bolts. Take out enough rivets so you can push up a bit on the sections you need to get to, this will lift the insulation as well.
I am not sure how your frame runs, in the area to be repaired.

[Marlboro Mafia]

As opposed the photo above where the frame bends to the tongue, my is straight.

I thought about sheet metal screws, but you face the same problem as tapping.

I think I have two options:

1) use toggle bolts(larger hole in metal to accept toggles which they butterfly open and hold), or;

2) a hole in the bottom of the frame to reach up with a deep wall socket to put a nut on it.

I'm open to suggestions.

[jjonesnc]

Heres a shot of what I found under my 1980 Excella II after removing the belly skin and (nasty) insulation.
I do not know if this size applies to all years....
Jason