Thursday, September 23, 2010

More Than Meets the Eye


I wish there was more to see in these photos, but a good deal really has taken place over the past two weeks.


When I last posted we had a primed frame. Everything from that point on is all reconstruction. She is now being put back together and it feels great. I will highlight some of the things that got us to this point. The exposed areas were painted FTW grey. I prewired all the brake lines through the frame first. The brake wiring included the runs for the break away safety switch to the tongue. A new umbilical cord was also installed while it was easy to work from above.


Marine grade plywood was bolted down to the frame and the outside shape was cut using the template I fabricated during deconstruction. The template assured me everything would line up perfectly. The new wheel wells were also installed and sealed to the frame. I reused the curved extrusion sections of "C" channel for the front and rear curves, but all straight sections were fabricated using new material. There was just no reason to reuse something that was beat up and full of holes. I can now drill new holes into virgin materials when riveting the shell in place.


2 inch of polyisocyanurate foam insulation was carefully cut and glued to the underside of the plywood floor. This gives a full 12R of insulation down there. Mice are not very fond of it as nesting and it does not absorb water. I have used this insulation a number of times now. I would like to go ahead and install the belly pans which have also been fabricated using the originals as templates. The hold up is waiting on the grey water tank. It needs to go in and all the lines run to it before I button it all up down there. It is very important to have all that complete before it is buttoned up.



I also could really stand to get the new axles mounted under these new wheel wells. Axis built them on the 16th so hopefully they are on a truck heading towards me. The tank and waste lines are more important than axles but having things on hand makes me most comfortable for work flow.

I know none of this is very exciting to see, but it is all steps forward toward reuniting the shell and chassis. Hopefully by next posting the belly has been installed and the shell has joined back where it should be. That should offer some visual interest.

6 comments:

  1. It is not very exciting but interesting....and if things are not done right from the get go...you fight it all the way!

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  2. I"m really enjoying the updates Frank... Thanks!
    Marc
    3ms75argosy

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  3. Looking at your fine work is definitely more interesting than reading about dirt being moved around in the yard.

    Tom

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  4. You're looking like a well-oiled machine Frank. Exciting is all very well but behind those 'glam' shots we'd all like to know the foundations are sound and solid with no corners cut. You're clearly as sound as they come and when we see those 'exciting' pictures, we'll know what's behind them. Keep it up.

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  5. I disagree Frank, I think it's VERY exciting. Absolutely beautiful work. My next Airstream is coming to you at FTW.

    -Marcus

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  6. Did you wipe your fingerprints off that b4 the pic Frank (I dont see one)? Wheel Well is so clean you can eat off it!

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