1983 Coachman

[Kevin]

This is the camper.  Not bad looking!  It really is a nice camper.  But as mentioned it needs some work.  I plan to remove and reseal each of the windows.  All have subtle leaks. 

I have to thank my Friend Kevin & Colleen for giving me this camper.  They had many good memories in it.  I'm honored to be able to restore it and get it back on the road.  Huge blessing! 

Here is the inside front.  It's hard to see by the picture, but i've removed the floor and what your looking at is the laminate that was stuck to the galvanized bottom.  As mentioned in my earlier blog, this is 1/2 inch CDX plywood laminated over 1-1/2 inch high density foam followed by another layer of plywood that is sitting in the pan.  I'm not sure of the thickness of the inside layer of plywood as it's in such rough shape. 

Notice there is no beams structure.  You'll see in the following pictures that this is supported by the two main beams that are the frame of the camper.  I appreciate the comments to my questions regarding how people may have secured this floor to the to the outside wall while providing structural support.  You will see in the coming slide that the outside wall is seemingly unsupported, and cantilevers beyond the primary frame by a foot. 

This is the front of the camper looking to the rear.  You can see that the front corner has an angular metal support that meets the outside of the cantilever.  There is a bolt here that holds the bottom of the wall plate.  This again juts out (you can see by the rear wheel if you squint) and supports the outside wall.  The distance between these two supports is just over 12-feet.  The outside wall is not otherwise supported by anything further from below, and will be my challenge to beef this up some, without adding weight (or little weight). 

I will be replacing the bottom plate of the wall where the studs connect.  It's in rough shape.  I have some ideas how to tie it into the floor for added strength. 

This is the undercarriage.  You can see the two metal beams.  They are about 72 inches apart.  You can also see there is a cross brace which is four feet from the front.  The laminated plywood with the high density foam sits in this pan.  It was not fastened to the beams by any fastener.  I suspect it was glued.  otherwise there is no other support. 

You can see where i accidentally poked a hole into the galvanized pan.  Oops! 

The galvanized metal and frame are in good shape! 

[Lakota Wolf]

With a stretch floor plan,,,, VERY COMMON in NOMAD RV's... the main flooring is GLUED.

I solved that problem after ripping the flooring up by, running cross Ribs, Glued and (water heater) strapped to hold while glue cured, Now yes it did raised the floor 3/4 of an inch, but had a floor that could support a car. There are several ways you can incorporate cross joints,, you have to use your imagination.  The foam they installed was for insulation purpose and deadens vibration.