Outriggers protruding through pan in several areas

[crazycuda]

I am thinking ahead to when I pull the Belly pan for my full Monty renovation. walking around the trailer there several areas where the skin looks torn right where the outrigger contacts the belly skin. upon further inspection the aluminium is not torn but rather a perfect example of galvanic corrosion. When I am to the point of replacing the belly pan has anyone come up with an effective way to isolate the 2 materials so they do not make contact? my first though was some sort of rubber seal similar to the stuff sold to prevent door dings. basically the U channel stuff that would just go on the edge of the out rigger and give a buffer between the 2 pieces.

Thanks

[Bubba L]

Don’t know the design of your year model, but we addressed that on our 55 renovation. We cut a piece of 16 or 18 gauge metal and tack welded it onto the end of the outrigger and painted everything with Por 15. Right before the belly pan went on, we covered the outer side of the plate with ice/water shield. This helped on corrosion, outrigger punch-thru on the banana wrap, and made it easier to bend the belly pan at the banana wrap. I show this somewhere at the beginning on our 55 rebuild thread. Good luck

[perryg114]

Here are several options. It is from corrosion and also vibration. Putting some of this stuff along the edge would pad things and also provide insulation between the outrigger and skin. It might be necessary in some instances to take some metal off the end of the outrigger to bring the contour back to where it was to take up for the thickness of the trim. I would paint all exposed edges. If you put this trim on and you don't have a good coat of pain on the outrigger, you are still going to have corrosion issues.



https://www.mcmaster.com/edge-molding


Perry

[crazycuda]

thanks everyone. like I said I am looking ahead to when I lift the shell in the spring and just want to get a plan in place before that time comes

[57Vintage]

Another option is a product from 3M. It's almost like the VHB tape it doesn't want to come off once its made contact. It's called Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW) Polyethylene Tape. It's available in several thicknesses (mils).

I used it between any area where steel/aluminum/sub-floor meet.

[bdirkx]

Thanks for the advice! Where exactly did you put this tape? Between the subfloor and the frame? Between the subfloor and the belly pan? It would be great if you could elaborate a bit more. I am renovating my '68 AS and all the experiences I have read on this forum have been really helpful.

[bdirkx]

I am renovating my '68 AS Caravel and I have one outrigger protruding through the belly pan. I added some pictures to this post. I put in an aluminum sheet from the inside to prevent further damage, but I would be interested in your thoughts on how to fix this. There seem to be several options:

1. Welding
Can it be welded? I was told that TIG welding might be possible, but I also found some nice examples where people have successfully filled holes in aluminum using low temperature aluminum welding rods and a torch. On the other side I read that the 2024 material of the belly pan cannot be welded.

2. Patching
This is of course an option, but in my opinion this always gives a suboptimal result.

3. Replacing the belly pan
This is a last resort for me. For the '68 Caravel this would probably mean the shell has to be taken off to do that properly. This would be a lot of work and very costly.

Looking forward to your thoughts!

[azflycaster]

That type of damage is often caused by axles with zero bounce and/or frame damage. The later is often caused by the frozen axles. The first thing to do is find out why this is happening and correct the problem.

[57Vintage]

I put the UHMW in several areas:

Between the bottom of the frame and the permanently attached belly pan.

Between the perimeter frame (I added 1.5X1.5 tubing to the frame to carry the shell and get the subfloor out of the 'sandwich') and the aluminum channel.

The tape wrapped around the perimeter frame and the outside edge to separate the top of the belly pan. (frame upside down on rotissarie)

Here's the finished frame with the perimeter added.



Between the top of the frame and subfloor. Basically between dissimilar materials.

I added pieces of aluminum trim on the ends of the outriggers to added better support of the belly pan for the curve. I had slits in the original belly pan and the outrigger edges. Not sure it was all from corrosion, some of it look like it was caused by vibration as the belly pan was loose in some areas.

[bdirkx]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

That type of damage is often caused by axles with zero bounce and/or frame damage. The later is often caused by the frozen axles. The first thing to do is find out why this is happening and correct the problem.

Hi Richard,

You are right. In my case this was caused by a rotten subfloor causing the shell and frame to bounce. I am replacing the subfloor now. This also gives me also full access to the frame and belly pan, which I am treating now too. If welding is an option, this would actually be a good time, because once the subfloor and insulation are installed I guess welding would be a no-go.