Re: [VAL] Frame Seperation / Oops forgot the link

["Mr. Joy H. Hansen" <joytbrew@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Ja Co,

I'm up all night this morning, kind of an insomniac.  I practiced my shotgun
shell grab until I got bored and then tried to sleep.  No luck!  I'm into
Cowboy Action Shooting and the associated reloading of ammo.  The Argosy
will house me at Pigeon Forge at the end of this month.  Fortunately, it has
a modern pizo furnace that just requires electric and propane.  The plumbing
is PEX and I won't worry about frozen pipes, but I'll evaluate the use of
the holding tanks with regard to weather.  If the weather is really nasty,
I'll leave the RV antifreeze in the pipes.

Well, to your question.  My reply is pretty wordy, so you can use the
down/delete key as you wish.

Much of the drawing is accurate, but .  .  .  you show the bolt securing the
monocoque through the floor to the outrigger. The 1/4-20 bolt only secures
the floor to the outrigger.   All bolts I encountered were bent at an angle
to prevent loosening.  Another error is the skin stop.  The skin usually
stops just above the floor and sometimes along the bottom edge of the floor.
This is what prevents just slipping replacement floor in place from the
outside front and rear and keeps the floor wet if the trim strip isn't
caulked.  The diagram seems to view the side, not the front and rear
construction.  Again, the 1/4-20 bolts only bolt the floor to the out
riggers.

IMHO, the Airstream factory did many flips of the unit during construction.
You'll see from disassembly, that the uneven frame areas under the floor
were filled with plastic wood or something like that and the entire floor
was bolted to the frame.  I think cut outs were made and holding tanks, etc.
and insulation (my '69 used sprayed in polyurethane foam that was later
discontinued to the risk of formaldehyde exposure) were installed with the
frame upside down.  My '74 has the pink tiger fiber stuff! :)

At the front and rear, based on the year of manufacture, an aluminum or
steel angle had one leg under the floor.  As the end caps were placed,
upright of this angle would slip between the inverted "U" at the base of the
monocoque and the outer skin.  Eventually, this angle was riveted with a
couple of exterior rivets at the front and real to hold the monocoque tight
to the frame.  (These rows of rivets can be compromised by using two stiff
equalizer hitch torsion bars.)  Later, the clinch rivets passing through the
"U" and the frame up front or a cross brace in the rear pulled everything
together and held the floor pinched between.  Because the floor was
compressed by this operation, a new floor cannot be slipped into the space.

Most likely, the belly, etc. was also installed with the unit inverted.  The
unit was flipped upright and the several sections that were constructed on a
jig were moved into place on the wood floor that was cut to shape.  Most
likely, there was a jig to assure alignment of the monocoque on the
installed floor.  The monocoque was secured to the FLOOR only with phillips
head zinc coated screws.  The only direct connection to the frame is at the
front and rear.

Then, insulation was placed against the inside of the skin and held with
spray adhesive.  I read where some of this adhesive is a black gunky mess.
Of course, all wiring, etc. would be installed and then the entire inner
skin.  Finally, all the interior plumbing and appliances, etc. would be
installed.

The reason I've gone through all this is to point out that knowing how the
stuff went together gives restorers an opportunity to decide how to effect a
repair.  Knowing that the ABS plastic drain lines include fittings that are
no longer available means that fittings must be saved and reused.  Also,
even the Airstream assemblers screwed up and made poor or non-existent ABS
joints that must be corrected before final assembly.  You can only get at
some of this stuff by removing the entire furniture covering the utilities.
Whew, you really got me wound up!  Been out of the threads for a long time.

But, I'm driven to continue and hopefully stop before breakfast. :)

With regard to the '74 Argosy, the floor is not sandwiched between the
monocoque and the frame as it is in the '69 Safari.  If I recall, the
monocoque is bolted/riveted directly to the cross frame member in the rear.
However, the up front construction didn't change and the sandwich was still
used.  The floor attachment to the frame didn't change either, nor did the
water entry to the floor from failure of the owners to caulk.  This Argosy
is a rear door entry and the awning directs the water from the roof to the
hinge side of the door.  The faulty installation of the roof AC caused
separation of skin/body rivets and allowed water to enter and rot the floor
along the entire curb side under the shower pan.  The failure to caulk the
bumper hatch jam again, allowed water to flow into the floor and rot
substantial areas.  Fortunately, there is still enough floor to keep the
black water tank in position.

The '69 has the black water tank entire below the floor.  The '74 Argosy has
a gray water holding tank that runs lengthwise on the street side and behind
the axle and entirely below the floor.  The black water tank is above the
floor with a section that protrudes below the floor to connect the gate
valves and join the gray water tank below.  The commode sits on a platform
that is supported by the tank that rests on the floor.  Certainly a better
arrangement than the '69.  In fact, I had thoughts of taking a corner black
water holding tank that sits above the floor with the commode on a raised
platform  and dropping the outflow through the floor outside the frame, but
inside the outer skin.  The existing gray water would be used as a gray
water tank.  I've removed enough weight in the rear to accommodate the
hundred pounds of black water waste.  The old charger weighed in at about 50
pounds and the Intelli Power replacement weighs in at less than 5 pounds.

Well, it won't happen with this '69 as I think I have two wants.  Tandem
axles and  black and gray water holding tanks.  The Argosy has taught me the
value of both these wants.  But, as with all Airstream owners, it's time to
move up to a 25-27 foot to accommodate the Mrs. and two dogs.

Regards,

                                                               '69 Safari,
Joy