The project begins (1971 Voyager V-25)

[Salty]

Edited for clarity. 3PM CDT
Skins are attached to a C channel that is periodically bolted to the floor with carriage bolts, passing through the floor and frame. (Correct me if needed anyone)
The beltline has screws that pass through both layers of the skin at the floor line, and is secured to the floor.
How many places the floor is secured to the frame - ie, just around the perimeter and door or in other places as well - is unknown to me at this time.

[wirelessguyny]

Hmm, I was going to try and leave the belly pans in place and just work from above.

Sounds to me like it might be a requirement to get access underneath and bolt the C channel, plywood and skin together somehow as I go.

[Salty]

When I replaced my rear floor, the elevator bolts, the nut end, was accessible from the compartment areas. The issue though was that, due to wood rot (allowing the square end of the elevator bolt to turn) and rust, removing the nuts was impossible, so they had to be cut.

I wish to correct what I said in an earlier post. The fasteners are elevator bolts, not carriage bolts. Subtle difference.

[mcoreyjones]

I tore my flooring completely out. Through the excavating process I found multiple areas where bolts were binding together frame, floor, shell. I used a oscillating tool with a metal blade to carefully remove these bolts. This was a tedious process but I was able to remove the complete subfloor and then rebuild and reinstall without dropping the belly pan. These bolts were not as hard to remove as the multiple staples that were applied around the seem of the belly pan and the top outer skins. (I had to remove the bottom trim rail as it was screwed to the subfloor. All the bolts were rusty on the exterior and I found what worked best was to use a thin cut off wheel making the head of each screw usable with a regular screwdriver bit.) For the staples I then carefully used the same oscillating tool and worked small sections at a time.

I would echo the advice to take your time and not cut corners. Last week I reinstalled the front seem rail. Had I not taken my time removing and storing the rail properly I could have easily damaged it. It went back on perfect with no issues and now looks like it has never been off the trailer.

[Avion nut]

Any pictures of your progress. I have the same trailer and I need to do the same thing. Were was your main leaks. Was any of your windows leaking. Thanks

[wirelessguyny]

Welcome.

Covid has put a serious damper on my project since I’m not heading out to the hardware stores at this time and I have a lot of plywood I’ll be needing.

Overall, I don’t believe that I have any existing leaks in the trailer at all. The windows seem fine. I have one large ugly piece of patch on the roof but it’s holding so I’m not going to mess with that yet.

Large areas if the floor were squishy in the front and back and so I made a quick decision to just gut the entire thing and start fresh. Also, I’m hoping that resolves any old smells.

I bought the clutch bit set off of amazon and proceeded to remove the cabinetry and appliances. Many of those screws were rusted and snapped. Total pain.

Anyhow, I proceeded to remove all the upper cabinet doors and we sanded and painted all that white; for a simple clean look. I don’t really intend on going vintage/original. I actually got the trailer for extended storage more than travel. I hope to build shelving where the beds are and free up some space in my home. I will try and keep things in a state where it could be converted back. So I will ensure that the plumming and electric all works and likely keep the shower and toilet area.

Edit: one piece of data I learned recently is that the floor on these models has a 1/4 plywood bottom - 1inch foam mid and then another 1/4 on top. I did measure to verify. (Others had a 3/4 top i think). A FB user had a real nice example of the work he did and i hope to try and replicate that.
Sorry about the mess but here are some recent shots.