Floor Repairs

[hardie johnson]

> Well, the floor's in. Lessons learned:
> 3. Stainless sheetmetal screws don't tolerate pilot holes that are undersize.
>
> Now to find either someone who can weld the plastic sidewall

The aluminum in the coach is very resistant to selftapping screws. The best I have found is pilot holes and self-drilling self tapping screws. Same problem in the firewall.
A lot of our interior plastic panels are ABS which is easy to solvent bond or hot air weld. You can use ABS pipe cement for big joints or acetone or a similar solvent. You can even add in glass fiber cloth or batting.
"some is good, more is better, too much ought to be about right"

--
Hardie Johnson "Crashj"
1973 26 foot Glacier, White Thing
Raleigh NC

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[randy1]

Is only aluminum along the sidewalls, right? The floor is steel?
--
Randy
1973 26' Painted Desert
Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ

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[gordon & the "tin gerbil"]

Hardie;
A local boat guy pointed out that vinyl ester resin works as well as epoxy
on SMC and cost mucy less.
Gordon
1973 Canyon Lands 26' "Tin Gerbil"
Nanaimo, B.C.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hardie Johnson"
To: "gmclist"
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 2:44 PM
Subject: Re: [gmclist] Floor Repairs

>
>

>> Well, the floor's in. Lessons learned:
>> 3. Stainless sheetmetal screws don't tolerate pilot holes that are
>> undersize.
>>
>> Now to find either someone who can weld the plastic sidewall
>
> The aluminum in the coach is very resistant to selftapping screws. The
> best I have found is pilot holes and self-drilling self tapping screws.
> Same problem in the firewall.
> A lot of our interior plastic panels are ABS which is easy to solvent bond
> or hot air weld. You can use ABS pipe cement for big joints or acetone or
> a similar solvent. You can even add in glass fiber cloth or batting.
> "some is good, more is better, too much ought to be about right"
>
> --
> Hardie Johnson "Crashj"
> 1973 26 foot Glacier, White Thing
> Raleigh NC
>
> To unsubscribe or change your settings -
> http://www.gmcnet.org/settings.htm
> Donate to support GMCnet - http://www.gmcnet.org/support.html
>

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[gordon & the "tin gerbil"]

Randy;
The cross frames are aluminum "hat section" and the floor is plywood.
Gordon
1973 Canyon Lands 26' "Tin Gerbil"
Nanaimo, B.C.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Randy"
To: "gmclist"
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: [gmclist] Floor Repairs

>
>
> Is only aluminum along the sidewalls, right? The floor is steel?
> --
> Randy
> 1973 26' Painted Desert
> Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ
>
> To unsubscribe or change your settings -
> http://www.gmcnet.org/settings.htm
> Donate to support GMCnet - http://www.gmcnet.org/support.html
>

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[hardie johnson]

> Is only aluminum along the sidewalls, right? The floor is steel?
>
> Also, why didn't GM use a vapor barrier in the sidewall as they do in the doors of cars and trucks to protect the door panels?

Ummm, maybe not much in the way of steel parts in the walls?
The floor is plywood and some protection is needed on the backside which is generally undercoating.
The spray in insulation would be a pretty good vapor barrier if it had been done right.
--
Hardie Johnson "Crashj"
1973 26 foot Glacier, White Thing
Raleigh NC

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[randy1]

The decking of the floor is plywood, but there is a steel structure to which the plywood is riveted, right? (Where they get huge 1"+ blind rivets I don't know)
--
Randy
1973 26' Painted Desert
Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ

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[george castleberry]

On my 73 Painted Desert it was plywood over an aluminum frame. I screwed
the new plywood to the frame with a bead of sealant between the wood &
frame.

George Castleberry
73 Painted Desert
Flagstaff, AZ

----- Original Message -----
From: "Randy"
To: "gmclist"
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 8:45 PM
Subject: Re: [gmclist] Floor Repairs
>
> The decking of the floor is plywood, but there is a steel structure to
> which the plywood is riveted, right? (Where they get huge 1"+ blind rivets
> I don't know)
> --
> Randy
> 1973 26' Painted Desert
> Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ

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[hardie johnson]

> The decking of the floor is plywood, but there is a steel structure to which the plywood is riveted, right? (Where they get huge 1"+ blind rivets I don't know)

At the Big Blind Rivet Store.
Mcmaster has them 3/4" heads, up to 5/8 long, your choice of colors see item 97526A526, page 3219. Longer/bigger ones are probably available from them, too.
"the truth is out there"
--
Hardie Johnson "Crashj"
1973 26 foot Glacier, White Thing
Raleigh NC

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[wally anderson]

> The decking of the floor is plywood, but there is a steel structure to which the plywood is riveted, right? (Where they get huge 1"+ blind rivets I don't know)

All of the cross beams and outside angle pieces that the plywood floor attaches to are aluminum on my 75
HTH
--
Wally Anderson
1975 Glenbrook
Omaha Nebraska
Greater Midwest Classics

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[randy1]

> > The decking of the floor is plywood, but there is a steel structure to which the plywood is riveted, right? (Where they get huge 1"+ blind rivets I don't know)
>
> All of the cross beams and outside angle pieces that the plywood floor attaches to are aluminum on my 75
> HTH

Really? That's good to know when choosing the type of rivet or screw to be driving in. I'd hate to be the guy that caused his structure to corrode away.
--
Randy
1973 26' Painted Desert
Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ

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