Our Aliner Restoration: September 2009

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Just an Update on the First Day of Fall

We've been busy and haven't done much to the Aliner. We cleaned up the work site and pushed her back into the driveway a bit and have done some other little odds and ends things, but nothing much. We need to test the gas lines for leaks and finish plumbing the sink in. Put the other two small cabinets in and build out around them, plus finish the counter tops, which sounds like a lot more work then it is....at least I think so. I need to finish the curtains. And we need to seal up underneath and check any where we plumbed a gas line in for a good seal. The front rock guard looks like crap and the seal has cracked already. Mostly because it was warped and cracked to begin with and we just tried to make do with what we had. I'm going to seal it up the best I can for the winter and then hopefully in the Spring when we get our tax return I am going to try to get some diamond plate for it. I've seen it on other units, and I think it might come from the factory on newer units and it just looks so much more sturdier than a piece of plastic. Right now though my biggest goal is getting secure for the winter. We need to move it anyway because the plow is behind it, but I like where it's sitting now because it's protected by the fence and the houses from the NE wind.
Mike had some hand surgery on two trigger finger on his left hand and some follow up surgery on his right hand so that has had a big impact on anything getting done, but honestly I think we were kind of burnt out and probably were not going to get much more done this year anyway. We still have several a couple months till the snow really starts to fly. Maybe we will get the most of it done before then, but no need to rush. No more camping this year! We thought about trying to get it ready for Columbus Day, but we know ourselves better than that. Mike took the Jeep up to Maine to visit a friend and found us a new campground that we'll probably go camping to next August. He camped in the Jeep, took a blow up twin bed and a bundle of wood. It proves we can still be minimalist, lol.
Updates will probably be far and few until the Spring. Hope everyone has a good Winter!

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.