Our Aliner Restoration: Update 9....The Floor is in!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Update 9....The Floor is in!

The floor is in! And I love it. It just needs a edge of caulking (poly) around the walls. Then I was motivated to clean the walls and start working on replacing the exterior caulking and rusty screws. Billy removed the rock panel (maybe there is another name for it....?) and we got some paint made for plastic to freshen it up a bit. I'd love to put diamond plate stainless steel there, but we just don't have the money for it. Maybe down the road. Mike and Billy picked up some plastic rivets to put the rock plate back in. And we got some screws with anchors to replace the ones that really aren't catching anything. Partially why the drivers side tail light caulking cracked, because two of the upper right screws were just there. We'll also squirt some poly caulking into the screw holes too. We picked up some panels for the end walls, 10% off at Lowes because some of the edges are a bit tattered, which is not going to effect the project anyway. Tomorrow Mike and Billy will cut and install the end wall panels and probably start putting in the cabinets. I will work on replacing caulking and cleaning things up. It's really starting to come together now that the floor is laid. There are more pictures on the sidebar in the Album called Update 9.

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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.