sunnywater
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1959 Shasta Airflyte (Connie)
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Post by sunnywater on Jun 10, 2020 19:03:16 GMT -8
Hello, We are doing a frame off restore of our 1959 Shasta Airflyte. We are getting ready to replace the subfloor. Of all the million measurements I took during disassembly I cannot find the measurement of the subfloor. One issue we had was the layer closest to the ground (homasote?) was disintegrating and compressed in many places. I have attached a picture of the two original layers. I believe the floor was either 7/8" or 1". I know it is critical to have the floor be same thickness as original. We are replacing the skins, is the 1/8" as important? Would anyone with a '59 Shasta Airflyte happen to know what the thickness of the subfloor is? Thanks!  Posted from Flickr |
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Jun 11, 2020 3:45:36 GMT -8
If you're replacing the skin it makes everything easier. 1/8" here or there is a non-issue with new skin.
With that said, the floor sits inside the walls on the Airflyte so thickness shouldn't be a problem. My 1959 Airflyte (if memory serves me) had 1/2" soundboard.
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sunnywater
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1959 Shasta Airflyte (Connie)
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Post by sunnywater on Jun 11, 2020 6:26:46 GMT -8
Thank you so much for the help! We are thinking of going with solid plywood (7/8 or 1 inch) for the floor and not doing the soundboard layer. Of all the documentation we did, neither of us can remember how the wheel well cover was attached although I have great pictures of them when the floor was still on the frame. I think it was attached to the underside of the plywood with the tabs between the plywood and the soundboard layer. Does that sound right? If we go with a solid floor that will move the wheel well down a half inch and I am not sure if that is a problem. I have probably taken 1500 pictures so far and now I wish I had taken 5000. Thanks again for any help! Gwen  Posted on Flickr |
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shastatom
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I can chase women or fix campers, I choose to fix what I understand........... campers.
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Shasta 54,57 1500 58 Airflyte
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Post by shastatom on Jun 11, 2020 6:42:33 GMT -8
1/2 in soundboard with tar on one side and 3/8 in plywood on top. You will see some of that in my pictures if you look at the links in my signature.
I was thinking the same thing about not doing the sound board but some smarter people then me on the forum convinced me to stay with what worked back then. I think the main thing is to make sure the seams don't match up with the plywood and soundboard and add some more reinforcement under traffic areas of the floor.
Wheel wells were under the soundboard and plywood on mine. I used a good automotive bonding agent for the part of the wheel well that sits on top of the C channel and nailed the rest down on the sides.
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sunnywater
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1959 Shasta Airflyte (Connie)
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Post by sunnywater on Jun 11, 2020 7:10:57 GMT -8
Those links and all your photos are very helpful, thank you! Beautiful trailers.
Gwen
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shastatom
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I can chase women or fix campers, I choose to fix what I understand........... campers.
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Shasta 54,57 1500 58 Airflyte
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Post by shastatom on Jun 11, 2020 9:38:27 GMT -8
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Post by vikx on Jun 11, 2020 20:28:54 GMT -8
I agree and thick plywood is very heavy. It "might" make a difference on the wheel well height. My Deluxe tires were rubbing the top when I got it. You really have to be careful with tire clearances.
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bigblue
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1962 Shasta Airflye
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Post by bigblue on Jun 18, 2020 8:33:25 GMT -8
On mine the wheel well tabs were below the floor, tucked between the metal chassis and the subfloor. The corners were between the outer wood frame the subfloor. I don't recall anything securing them, just pressure. 
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theresa
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from Northern Maine ~ Proud new owner of Lola, a 1960 Shasta Airflyte and Pearl, a 1962 Mobile Scout
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Post by theresa on Jun 19, 2020 8:54:14 GMT -8
I went with two layers of plywood, one layer going in each direction, with the bottom layer painted with black sealant on the bottom. I had my new wheel wells recreated from the old ones, but I believe they ended up taller because when I put my cabinetry back in, my wheel wells sat much higher than the old ones.
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sunnywater
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1959 Shasta Airflyte (Connie)
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Post by sunnywater on Jun 19, 2020 10:24:21 GMT -8
I went with two layers of plywood, one layer going in each direction, with the bottom layer painted with black sealant on the bottom. I had my new wheel wells recreated from the old ones, but I believe they ended up taller because when I put my cabinetry back in, my wheel wells sat much higher than the old ones. I like the idea of putting the plywood layers on in different directions. Our wheel wells sat on top of both layers (3/8 in plywood and the 1/2 in sound board layer) and was nailed in. The nails did not fare well and I think it let a lot of moisture in that area. It just doesn't make sense to me because then you have the edges of the subfloor exposed. Has anyone with wheel wells mounted on top (or even sandwiched) used sealant or flashing of some sort to redirect the water away from the exposed wood? |
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Post by vikx on Jun 19, 2020 10:56:18 GMT -8
I use putty and screws when the wheel wells are on top. The wood edges can be sealed with Black Beauty fence paint (very goopy). It's sold at Tractor Supply.
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sunnywater
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Post by sunnywater on Jun 19, 2020 13:17:10 GMT -8
I use putty and screws when the wheel wells are on top. The wood edges can be sealed with Black Beauty fence paint (very goopy). It's sold at Tractor Supply. Thank you, that sounds like a great solution! |
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speak
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by speak on Jun 23, 2020 17:27:56 GMT -8
Hello, We are doing a frame off restore of our 1959 Shasta Airflyte. We are getting ready to replace the subfloor. Of all the million measurements I took during disassembly I cannot find the measurement of the subfloor. One issue we had was the layer closest to the ground (homasote?) was disintegrating and compressed in many places. I have attached a picture of the two original layers. I believe the floor was either 7/8" or 1". I know it is critical to have the floor be same thickness as original. We are replacing the skins, is the 1/8" as important? Would anyone with a '59 Shasta Airflyte happen to know what the thickness of the subfloor is? Thanks! Posted from Flickr |
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speak
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1959 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by speak on Jun 23, 2020 17:28:12 GMT -8
I'm going through replacing the front side of the sub floor. I originally replaced with new 1/2 in. "sound board" , as they call it now, and 1/2 in of plywood. With some help from Mobiltech, I have decided to redo this fix and go with 1/2 in CDX plywood on the bottom and 1/2 in ACX on the top (for the flooring finish). I have the pieces cut but I'm dealing with some other issues I won't go into at the moment. I'm piecemealing my camper together so it's not a frame off. It usually isn't good to use this "soundboard" as it flattens and causes other issues for the camper. Hope this helps.
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sunnywater
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1959 Shasta Airflyte (Connie)
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Post by sunnywater on Jun 23, 2020 19:24:01 GMT -8
I'm going through replacing the front side of the sub floor. I originally replaced with new 1/2 in. "sound board" , as they call it now, and 1/2 in of plywood. With some help from Mobiltech, I have decided to redo this fix and go with 1/2 in CDX plywood on the bottom and 1/2 in ACX on the top (for the flooring finish). I have the pieces cut but I'm dealing with some other issues I won't go into at the moment. I'm piecemealing my camper together so it's not a frame off. It usually isn't good to use this "soundboard" as it flattens and causes other issues for the camper. Hope this helps. Yes, me too Steve. I am going to use two plywood layers as well. Our original floor was 1/2 inch "soundboard" and 3/8 inch plywood so 7/8 inch all together. The "soundboard" was really crushed in places. |
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