American Coach: Basement Rust Repair

[Meames1]

Both waste tanks installed. I'll probably continue on in the wet bay and reinstall the fresh water plumbing. I picked up all new drain valves and switching the tank fill from a twist valve to a ball valve. Clean up and attach the tank monitor wires etc.
Also started to reinstall the fresh water tank in the center of the coach. I took it out figuring I would need to access above it for the upright(s) removal. However, it was no help....wasn't wasted though, I repainted the angle iron frame that holds the tank in place.

[cwk]

Thanks again for posting the photos and explanations. They are helping me have a good understanding of the layout and workings underneath and inside the basement of my 1991 American Eagle on a Spartan Chassis.

Thank you!

[Meames1]

Originally Posted by cwk

Thanks again for posting the photos and explanations. They are helping me have a good understanding of the layout and workings underneath and inside the basement of my 1991 American Eagle on a Spartan Chassis.

Thank you!

You're very welcome. The main reason I have taken the time to post is to help others having to do this. When I was researching mine, I found a few posts here and there with pictures and info on the construction that were very helpful. I figured any additional pictures and descriptions on how these coaches were built may help the next person.

[Drewfab]

Cool thread! I actually just finished doing the exact same thing on a 1999 American eagle. Big project and glad it’s done. I reconstructed all the frame work out of aluminum, was a tad lighter but should be way more corrosion resistant and I didn’t have to paint it. Was going to start a thread on here but never got around to it. Your on the home stretch but lots of finish work to do. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Meames1]

Originally Posted by Drewfab

Cool thread! I actually just finished doing the exact same thing on a 1999 American eagle. Big project and glad it’s done. I reconstructed all the frame work out of aluminum, was a tad lighter but should be way more corrosion resistant and I didn’t have to paint it. Was going to start a thread on here but never got around to it. Your on the home stretch but lots of finish work to do. Let me know if you have any questions.

Nice! You should throw some pics up if you have them. I never thought about aluminum until I was 1/2 way through my project, of course that's when I still thought I was going to reuse much of the uprights, I was wrong, lol. I did consider Stainless Steel though, I priced it up and it would have been about 10 times as much $$ in the materials alone, not including the welding consumables.

[KOHhome]

Yep this looks just like my 97 Eagle, definitely gonna do with w he I have some free time for it.

[Drewfab]

Are you replacing all the side structure that the door frames bolt to? Here's one thing that I did that will really help future corrosion and may help some folks prevent this from happening. Basically there is only the mud flaps behind the tires that protect the wheel wells, I bought 4 sheets of .062 ABS, ripped them the long ways and screwed them to the outer structure and build some frames to support the bottom of them. Ditched the old mud flaps. I later cut up the old mud flaps which were about .188 thick and screwed them in the back to hang down. I'll have to get some pics of those. https://www.dropbox.com/s/5fbp71r1jl...25.46.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pznru0tycc...25.31.jpg?dl=0

[Drewfab]

Someone mentioned adding some conduit or something for future wire pass thru, that's a great idea, to take it a step further, I would add a 1/2" fuel line so you can add a return line if you upgrade to a FASS fuel system, something you really want to do with that Cummings CAPS. That's my next project. You can return the fuel to the tank thru the filler hose, so you could incorporate that when you reinstall all those fuel fillers.

[Meames1]

Originally Posted by Drewfab

Are you replacing all the side structure that the door frames bolt to? Here's one thing that I did that will really help future corrosion and may help some folks prevent this from happening. Basically there is only the mud flaps behind the tires that protect the wheel wells, I bought 4 sheets of .062 ABS, ripped them the long ways and screwed them to the outer structure and build some frames to support the bottom of them. Ditched the old mud flaps. I later cut up the old mud flaps which were about .188 thick and screwed them in the back to hang down. I'll have to get some pics of those. https://www.dropbox.com/s/5fbp71r1jl...25.46.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pznru0tycc...25.31.jpg?dl=0

I like the ABS idea, the only thing is there is the area above it where crud can sit (it's amazing how it gets there). My idea is to coat the entire factory wheel opening and exposed frame rail with truck bed coating. I'm going to seal all the seams first with a reinforced urethane product, then coat. I've used a commercial truck bed coating system ...forget the name of it now, expensive, have to use their spray gun that's kinda like the old body shutz gun (I'm dating myself lol), but the coating is great and sealed tight. The Aluminum looks awesome ! Great work.

[Meames1]

Originally Posted by Drewfab

Someone mentioned adding some conduit or something for future wire pass thru, that's a great idea, to take it a step further, I would add a 1/2" fuel line so you can add a return line if you upgrade to a FASS fuel system, something you really want to do with that Cummings CAPS. That's my next project. You can return the fuel to the tank thru the filler hose, so you could incorporate that when you reinstall all those fuel fillers.

I was going to do just that and put it off for now, I hope I don't regret it. After looking it over , the entrance and exits of the fiberglass tubes that run the length of the coach are for and aft of the basement area I had removed. The accessibility was not helped by the basement removal at all. I was going to add an aftermarket pump, but the project has started to cost more than I wanted and taking a lot of time already.
The problem with accessing the tubes, the exit at the rear is just above the axle / suspension tank area and there is no way to get to them easily. I found I can wiggle up there is I first remove the driveshaft and get up above the differential. The front of the tubes stop at basically the rear of the gas tank, and the only way to get to them is to remove the tank, which is tuff when you're working on the ground and the tank is 26" tall, you would need to jack the RV way up to do it. The problem with all this is compounded because AC bound all the wires, hydraulic lines etc together before they shoved them down the tubes. I had to replace the PS hydraulic line and I was able to run a fish tape through and pull a new line, but wasn't easy. The tubes are packed pretty full and I couldn't remove the old line because of how they zip tied it in a bundle before it went in the tube.
Next off season, I plan on removing the fuel tank to get to the tubes and run a new return line down the passenger side tube as there is a little more room in that one, then I can also add a return bung to the top of the tank as I'm not a fan on the add-on return in the filler neck.

[Meames1]

Drewfab, after studying your pictures some more I'm now thinking I may copy that fender skirt. Did you attach the inner part of the angle braces to anything ? Of course mine being all steel, if I were to do it I'd probably run a vertical tube on the inside framework to the frame vertical. How close to the frame is the skirt...looks to be 1/4" or so, any noise or rubbing since you built them ?

On another note, my suspension, frame, etc look exactly like yours. Not enough rust to effect anything structurally, but looks like crap. LOL

[Drewfab]

Yes. I did not add any thing vertically, just a brace for and aft from the bottom of the adjacent compartments. In the front I just left that steel angle that supported the old mud flap and just tied it into there. There’s not much room between the frame and ABS, maybe 1/4-1/2. Don’t know if it rubs yet. I take some more pics and post them when I can.

[Drewfab]

PM me your email and I can share all my photos on drop box for you.

[Meames1]

I'm still plugging along on the rebuild. Sorry for so few updates, my sons college wrestling gets real busy this time of year. So we travel a lot with that and I usually only get to work during the dark, my pictures don't come out well.
I rebuilt the battery compartment. The previous owner had reinforced the compartment with a bunch of angle iron that had been welded in. The correct fix was to remove it all and completely rebuild everything. I also added a Moryde sliding battery tray, new cables, fuse holders, etc. I lined all the new panels with S/S. Pretty happy with how it came out. I still have to repaint the swing out tray for the starting batteries once it gets warmer outside.

I also re-installed the propane tank that I repainted. Slowly coming together !