[VAC] Re '56 Safari Floor Repair, my story re my 58 Traveler shell of floor replacement

["Willy Henshall" <willy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Heya Steve

Re floor repair, you might want to look over my on-going saga re the
shell off floor replacement with my 58 Traveler, which is documented at
 
www.airstreamphotos.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=500&user=155&thumb=1 

To save you reading through the whole of my message here - the bottom
line is:

Don't try a shell off floor replacement unless you have 4 or 5 months
spare time and you don't mind struggling with a big floppy 400lb
unstable shell that can get irrepairably damaged in a gust of wind or
one false move. Hey the upside is - you will have an as new trailer
floor and chassis and belly pan! The downside is, well look at my
pictures.

And while you have the shell off you might as well re-weld the chassis
and repair/replace the underbelly skin too eh? This soon becomes a
biiiiiiiiiiiig and expensive job and you can lose sight of what on earth
you are doing this for. 

5 months later I am only just now getting to the fun stuff of fixing up
the upper and inner skin. Heh, every day I reaffirm my creed - "I *will*
have an as new trailer chassis, floor and belly pan that my great
grandchildren will lovingly respect and keep" (Just kidding)

The key questions for your decision as to what to do are:

How bad is the rot? (really, structurally, not just initial pokey
looking)

What is your intention with the trailer? (A showpiece original spec
restoration? A new family rumpus room? A hunting camp base?)

How much time do you have spare?

How long do you want to keep the trailer? (An heirloom for your
grandchildren's children?)

Put the right amount of effort in for what you expect to get out.

Ok - here's more details.

I had 4 significant rot places, by the door, under the water tank at the
rear, under the bathroom and at the front left side where I had almost
no floor, but equally I had a solid core (probably 80% of the floor
area) that was ok that stretched from front to back and side to side.

Several people (some via this list and other Airstream net places and my
brother who is a master construction guy) recommended me to: 

1) "Do it properly" and to take the shell off and put a new floor in
completely. I hummed and erred about this for a couple of weeks. I
didn't want to start a huuuuuuuuuuge project that once I had started I
had to finish. This is what I ended up doing though.

I looked into other alternatives.

2) Cutting the sections out and fixing new bits of ply in, tied
underneath with cleats. We cut out one bad section and looked at how
easy it would be to fit new sections in that were fixed to the frame
with new support pieces etc. 

NO! This is trickier than you think. You will have to drop the belly pan
to access this. Trying to get the new sections under the shell where it
meets the u-channel is utter brain-damage. Tying these pieces to the
good floor from underneath is equally hard. You don't really get decent
access. And you have to get the whole thing structurally sound as one
piece would be. Any remaining rot can spread if you haven't stopped the
leaks.

The other method.

3) Using runny epoxy to slowly rebuild sections using the rotten wood as
an initial former, with temporary pieces underneath to make molds, which
is exactly how old wooden boats are repaired.

I was really put off using epoxy by talking to a few good folk. It is a
dangerous chemical and if not done right is actually not strong enough.
It is hard to get the strengthened new bits tied into the walls
properly. You have to have used epoxy before, you MUST rent breathing
gear and the fumes will off gas for about 2 weeks at least.

If I had researched this avenue more I actually WOULD have used this
method by the way in my case over the complete floor replace. Look on
line for places like http://www.rotdoctor.com/ for more info. Re the
strength issues - hey they use this on old wooden boats - think about
the strength required there and the consequences of failure out at sea.
If you can fix up a boat hull, I figure you can fix up a trailer floor.
I did a lot of fiberglass work as a kid with my dad.

Hope this helps.

Putting my experience back into the knowledge pool is my way of
returning karma to the wonderful and kind people who are on this list
and at www.airstreamforums.com <http://www.airstreamforums.com/>  
 
Best 

Will Henshall

1990 345LE Motorhome
1958 18ft Traveler

WBCC #8048 

PS 7 am Sat morning, off to the trailer for my usual Saturday! Doing the
electricals today. Hoorah!