RE: [VAL] Demo project

["Colin Hyde" <chyde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Louis,
Do yourself, & all future owners of your trailer a favor & do it right the
first time. Perimeter floor rot needs to be replaced, not just doctored with
epoxy or "more screws". Airstream floors are an integral part of the overall
structure. The structure is a "Semi Monocoque" which means that the body,
floor & chassis all act together to create the overall structure. This was
Wally's original concept. The plywood floor sits on top of the steel chassis
& chassis outriggers. The bottom of the aluminum walls & "C" channel sit on
top of the plywood. This sandwich is bolted together at each outrigger end &
along the rearmost cross member & the forward most cross member. When you
separate the body & the chassis, the chassis can actually sag under its own
weight (depending on the era). This is critical. We have a line up of
trailers in our shop for floor repairs at the moment & 90% of them require
the interior to be removed in order to gain access into the walls to install
plywood & to re-secure it to the chassis. Often times the steel "elevator
bolts" have pulled through the bottom of the aluminum "C" channel wall base
due to overstressing & corrosion from dissimilar metals. You can not access
this area without removing the lower portion of the inside exterior walls. I
have read posts about pouring epoxy onto the rotted floor & tilting the
trailer from side to side to get it in there. It doesn't address the actual
problem. It just makes the floor area just inside the wall feel more solid.
Epoxy is a great product, but it is not going to create wood that is not
there or re-create bolts required to sandwich the "C" channel, plywood &
outriggers together again. Not to mention the fact that we often have to
re-fabricate the "C" channel because people have left things so long that it
is virtually completely corroded away. I have also seen the famous "elephant
ears" that are sometimes used to help these situations. This certainly
helps, but it still doesn't address the fact that the floor no longer exists
where it once was. The body ultimately starts to sag over the floor & flex a
great deal. Popping interior & eventually exterior rivets will also be
noticeable with issues like this. It is not rocket science to repair these
issues correctly, however it does need to be done in a methodical manor. We
have done several shows on the Vintage Airstream Podcast www.thevap.com
about floor rot & how it is repaired. If you document your floor
restoration/refurbishment with pictures etc, you will be rewarded
financially when you sell it in the future as virtually all of the vintage
Airstreams out there have some degree of floor rot in them. The rest of the
time you will enjoy your trailer knowing that it'll be solid & reliable for
years to come. The newer Airstreams (early 80's through at least the mid
90's) are built with OSB floors (particle board) which turns into mush,
looking similar to paper mache when leaks occur. Done right, your 64 will
outlast any of the current offerings.
Off the soap box now.
Colin Hyde
GSM Vehicles Inc.
www.theVAP.com