American Coach: Basement Rust Repair

[idoxlr8]

Nice works - thanks for sharing.

[Drewfab]

Nice job, that was one of the last compartments I had to do and just wanted/needed it done so I didn't do nearly as nice of a job as you did on that.

[Meames1]

"In for a penny, in for a pound"
I'm a glutton for punishment. I tore into the forward compartment and didn't like the rust I found on the support tubing so I tore it all out and replacing with new. Had to make yet another steel order. The good part is once I took out the rusted members, the steel at the base of the wall and floor assembly that the spacer frame attaches to were in pretty good shape. Once it's done, it will be a very solid repair. Not taking many pics now, the crunch of spring fast approaching has me somewhat rattled, it will be done in time to hit the road soon. Before anyone comments...notice the 12-Ton jack stand under the cross member. The 3ton jack was just to lift the control arm to get the tire off.

On a side note, I've purchased new Ball Joints, air bags, shocks, and brake chambers to "restore" the front suspension. That will be a new thread.

[Steverino]

Originally Posted by Meames1

"In for a penny, in for a pound"
I'm a glutton for punishment.

Yes, yes you are! But you obviously have the motivation & skills to back it up. She's looking great. Good luck with getting it all buttoned up on schedule.

[NHRA225]

You are Seriously Insane -- Like building a Race Car and Tweeking for ever ! Nice Job ! I admire Your Tenacity !
Your Skill Set is Awesome !

[Dav L]

Awesome job! I just found this thread and enjoyed reading the saga.
You and I are two of the same.
I think I missed: How does the floor attach to the uprights? Did you through bolt them to the bottom of the upright rectangles?

Here is my rebuilding thread you might also get a kick out of
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/mou...ad-394089.html

I see your kids helping - have they been part of this Fix It Passion as they grew up? I think I do too much on my own as neither of my kids have any inclination to building stuff yet. I need to see if they get interested before they get too old.

Great job! Will be better than new.

[Meames1]

Originally Posted by Dav L

Awesome job! I just found this thread and enjoyed reading the saga.
You and I are two of the same.
I think I missed: How does the floor attach to the uprights? Did you through bolt them to the bottom of the upright rectangles?
The floor attaches to the uprights with 1/4" x 3" drill point (Tek-4) screws. The factory installed them 12" O.C. , but I used 410 Stainless Steel, so I installed them 6" O.C. due to the reduced sheer strength.

Here is my rebuilding thread you might also get a kick out of
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/mou...ad-394089.html
Awesome ! I'll check it out.

I see your kids helping - have they been part of this Fix It Passion as they grew up? I think I do too much on my own as neither of my kids have any inclination to building stuff yet. I need to see if they get interested before they get too old.
Neither of my boys are too interested, but they will happily help when asked. My oldest son is in College and his passion is and has been wrestling. So, he did that all through high school and now into his sophomore year in College. His summers have been filled with wrestling tournaments and camps. Last year and again this year he will spend a month at the Olympic training center in Colorado. My youngest son hasn't shown any real interest in the mechanical stuff, but he just decided he wants to take Welding in school, so maybe there is still hope. LOL

Great job! Will be better than new.

Thank You, I'm sure it will be.

[Meames1]

I borrowed an idea from Drewfab on here to fabricate and install some inner fender skirts. These come from the factory with just a mudflap behind the wheels and the underbelly of the wheel wells take a beating from rain and road debris. I was going to paint everything with truck bed coating, but after seeing Drews pics I thought this would be a better way to go to completely isolate the body from road spray.

I built the left front first as this is the side I'm working on now. I used a 4x8 sheet of .070 ABS plastic that I bought from Summit Racing for $38 a sheet. Cut it to 31" wide on our shear at work and got busy. In hindsight, 31" is too wide as I tried to go right to the inside frame and it's too hard to get in and out with very little clearance, so I'm going to trim it down to 30" wide.

I started by making hat channels 3/4" tall to match the height of the outer spacer frame that these will attach to. The hat channels are attached a the front by the seat mounting bolts and the rear by using stainless steel tek-5's that go up through the factory mud flat mount. Now I can screw the inner fender to the channels for a solid mounting spot.






Measured and laid out how I want the skirt to go. I added 45 degree bends at the angle change to help stiffen the panel once it's all screwed down. Then notched it to fit around the supports and it's in. A little trimming here and there and it will be ready to screw together. Might be hard to see by the pictures, it was getting dark so my floodlight was reflecting off the shiny ABS. I'll get some better overall pics in daylight once I have it fully attached.

[Meames1]

Did some more work on the inner fender skirt. I didn't want to add screws to the outer edge of the skirt because I was afraid once the fiberglass wheel surround is installed I wouldn't be able to get to them in case it needed to be removed. So I whipped up these clip retainers from .018 stainless steel. Very happy with how the whole skirt came out. I also added a filler piece to close in the area behind the rear of the skirt to the basement. This area is open from the factory and gets road spray up there. The extension piece closes it off, the holes are to let any water drain that might get in there. There will be a two rows of screws into the hat channels and in the bottom of the front lower part and along the factory mud flap angle in the rear.

[Drewfab]

Looking good!

[Coal Hearted]

What gauge steel did you use?

[Meames1]

Got the left front compartment all wrapped up. Inner fender came out nice, I'm sure it will help protect the underside of the wheel well. While I was in here I rebuilt, cleaned, and painted the front suspension. Rebuild thread here >> https://www.irv2.com/forums/f25/ifs1...sh-481075.html

[Meames1]

Last compartment !!! Yes !
Removed the electrical compartment and started the rebuild. This is the final compartment and it's slowly coming together. Got all the doors re-installed on the remainder of the basement. Installed the slide out tray, tightened all the attachment bolts etc after aligning everything. It's nice when you can actually check something off the list. The only compartment I did not rebuild (yet) is under the front steps. From what I can see now, it's still fairly intact and I want this project done so I figure I'll wait until winter to redo it. Unless this lockdown drags on for quite a while and ruins the summer camping , then I'll just go ahead and tackle it.





The original back plate has seen better days. I could have stripped and repainted it and ground away the rust. But, it seemed easier and definitely more solid to make a new one.


The original was 16 gauge steel, I had some 14 gauge available so I went ahead and made it out of that. A little heavier, but stronger and will last longer.




After all the notching and a trip to the brake.


Mock-up




Fresh paint on the back panel and the new floor done. FRP panel on top like the original, and .018 stainless steel on underside like I have done on the entire basement. Another note. The original floor of this compartment was 1" thick. I did not have enough 1" material left, so I made it out of 1 1/2" square like the rest of the basement floor. Just had to adjust the heights of the side panels.

[Meames1]