Floor Support & Frame

[Raya]

Carl,

Actually, your damage probably came from inside in years past. I don't think road spray would ever cause that. OTOH, the epoxy annuli are a good thing where you will be tightening down, and why not improve upon things since you'll be into "the goop" anyway.

I'm sure I glossed over or left out a few things, or was not able to take your specific project details into account, so if I can help further I would be happy to.

Raya

[Carl G]

Originally Posted by Raya L.

Carl,

Actually, your damage probably came from inside in years past. I don't think road spray would ever cause that. OTOH, the epoxy annuli are a good thing where you will be tightening down, and why not improve upon things since you'll be into "the goop" anyway.

I'm sure I glossed over or left out a few things, or was not able to take your specific project details into account, so if I can help further I would be happy to.

Raya

If I go with the epoxy annuli, I would prefer to have fewer fasteners into the floor, if anything to save a little on the install time. Bigfoot had quite a large number of screws fastening 1x lumber framing into the floor (Almost looked like someone was screw-gun happy). What do you think about reducing the overall number of screws and then supplementing the cabinet frame mounting by using epoxy as an adhesive where the 1x framing meets the glassed floor. I would think that this combination of screws and epoxy as an adhesive for the 1x lumber would be as effective if not more so than just using numerous screws. What do you think? This would certainly save on the install time if using the expoxy annuli method for all of the mechanical fasteners.

Also, I've been thinking about the bolts, which go through the floor from within the trailer and then through factory holes in the c-channel frame below. Producing the annuli for these might be a little tricky. After I have installed the MDO core, adhered the lower glass to the bottom side with thickened epoxy, and then glassed the top, I'll have to drill from the inside of the trailer through the floor, meeting the factory drilled hole in the frame. Because of space limitations due to the c-channel, there will be no way to drill from the underside of the trailer. Therefore, I'll have to have some way of precisely marking where to drill from the inside. I guess I could place the MDO in the trailer, mark it from beneath, drill a small hole, and then install a temporary screw that will protrude on the inside of the trailer. I could then adhere the bottom, do all of the glassing with this screw produding. That would give me a precise center to drill the large hole for the annulus. The only problem is that I will eventually hit the steel frame when drilling this large hole. Will I encounter any problems in completing the hole and removing the material?

Carl