Our Aliner Restoration: Update Three

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Update Three

I'm going to stop calling them days and call them "updates" now. Welcome to update 3. Over the last couple of days Mike and I have worked on things when we can. It's hard during the week, he works nights and I work days. But the kids will be out of school next week and I can start going in early and getting out early.

We got the power converter, the water heater and the refrigerator out. I had worked on the front end of the fridge last night, and he had the sense to go from behind and unbolt it back there, disconnect the gas line and unplug it (not hardwired in). The water heater is pushed out from the inside after everything is disconnected. The power converter is easy enough, just tedious pulling out the wire staples. Pictures are on the right sidebar, labeled Update 3.

Advice is coming in from the Yahoo group too. I learned today why everyone takes the top of the bottom and it makes sense. If you take the floor out it is part of the support system (along with all the cabinets and such) then the walls will come down on themselves. So now we are thinking about doing one section at a time.

Oh and the fridge will not fit through the door. Guess we'll fold in the wall and lift it out. I want to clean everything as much as possible before we reinstall them. I want to reuse as much as possible, not just for money reasons, for not being wasteful reasons too :)

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Future Plans

(Written shortly after bringing home the Aliner in June of 2009) I'm hoping at the end of the day to put together these blog entries and photos and publish some comprehensive notes and instructions that will help the next poor bastard out. There is a ton of knowledge out there, it's just really hard to find it in one place. We will most likely publish in google docs and link pdf or doc files here.

Our primary goal at this point is the floor. In our imaginations we can see the potential for this little unit and there is a lot of inspiration on the web. It's really hard (for me, I think Mike has his head on a bit tighter) to not want to look into the cool mods and daydream about crazy efficient cabinets and gadgets.

(May of 2011)

As of today we are working on getting into our second season of camping in the Aliner. Last year we only brought it local to Otter River State Forest in Templeton with plates off of our utility trailer and the old tires. This season after new tires we brought her to Myrtle Beach in April and have since removed the old decals and applied new ones. We love this camper, so don't ask to buy it unless you're looking to forkover 6-7k. It's pretty much a new camper now, even better it's made well....no stapled together cabinets or chintzy counter tops. It may not be the biggest thing but it is just right for the two of us!

Aliner Parts and Pieces

Aliner Owners Club on Floor Replacement

Here you can find the AOC write up on floor replacement with some helpful links, such as to the wood petrifier if you just need to fix a soft spot and links to pictures that show a floor replacement done by lifting the body of the camper and using the old floor as a template. We chose not to lift the camper and to replace piece by piece for a few reasons. The first was because the floor was so far gone it was pretty much dirt. There was no using the old floor as a template and no need to try to get it out in one piece. Second, we did not have the garage or other space to work on the camper and did all our work in our then gravel driveway. And lastly time, we didn't want to leave the camper up and apart for the length of time we thought this would all take. The main reason though was because our floor was so far gone. I think either method is fine but do realize when doing it a piece at a time you need to place the new floor in as you go or you will lose structural support. The walls are wrapped around the edges of the floor and stapled all the way around. When you remove the old flooring it will fall if you take it all off. Also doing it a piece at a time you will need to do the parameter first then the center of the floor rather than what would probably be three full sheets. We half lapped, used liquid nails and recessed bolts. We also did spray a rubberized undercoat and we added reinforcement to the rear of the frame.