Boler floor replacement

[MaryaM]

Hi there,
Thank you all for the wonderful contributions to this forum, the information here has been so helpful so far.
My husband and I are restoring my great uncle's '72 boler. We have removed the frame and are getting a new one built. The main/biggest problem was a break at the rear drivers side just in front of the wheel (and several other small cracks that didn't look worth patching).
The plywood floor under the kitchen and drivers side dinette has rotten and weakened so we are replacing the floor while the shell is separated. I understand that some boler floors are fiberglassed in completely on the underside, however ours just has a lip of fiberglass on top and bottom of the ply wood. I have seen a couple videos of people fiberglassing the top of the new floor, but what is the suggestion for the underside? I saw one guy tip the whole shell on its side and slide it into his garage to work on covering the bottom. Is this the only option?
Should we trying jacking/blocking the shell up high to get in underneath and work upside down?
If anyone has experience or suggestions for how to tackle re-fiberglassing the underside of the new floor your help is very appreciated!!

[MaryaM]

Thanks for your reply. You make a good point about the fully glassed in bottom acting as a bathtub for inside leaks. The old leaks from the window (which I assume is where the original moisture came from) has been fixed and it doesn’t seem to have gotten any dampness in there over the past few years being left outside. We plan to remove and clean up the windows once the floor and frame are all in working order again, but for now there doesn’t seem to be any leaks

As for the fibreglass lip that holds the floor in place; I have attached a drawing of how the existing floor is attached to the shell with the fiber glass on both top and bottom with about a 3inch lip.

We plan to cut the top fiber glass lip to take the plywood out and leave the bottom lip intact as best we can. Then when we install the new ply wood, I have seen the top (inside lip) get refiberglassed in. However I’m not sure the best plan to attach the bottom fiber glass lip to the new wood or is the top fiber glass enough to hold it’s strength? I think just the top lip attached would make me nervous but maybe that’s all that is needed??
Thank you again for any help!

[Gilles]

You know this site?

All Posts Archives - Boler.ca

It could be useful for your renovations.

[MaryaM]

Yes we have been using the info on boler.ca
Thank you!!!
It has been a lot of help with our frame and axle plan so far. Is there info specific to replacing the plywood floor? I haven’t been able to find that info.