Time to gut this thing
I stood up the gantries in preparation for the lift. These were awfully easy to build. I only needed help to stand them up.
I removed all of the roof appendages because they were either damaged by something falling on them, or just beyond the capabilities of industrial degreaser to get them clean. Once i had the gantries and chain falls placed, I pulled the inner skins and insulation out. It's at this point when I realized in real time how much insulation affects the comfort of being inside this tin can in FL. I could feel the heat radiating from the skin as soon as I pulled the first piece out. It was somewhat tolerable prior to me doing that.
Remember that rear end separation I was telling you about? Gross.
It's hard to tell from the photo, but I took two 2x4s and attached them horizontally across the upper part of the frame - one in front of the opening and one in the rear of the opening of the front and rear most vent openings. I then braced vertically to the ribs on each side of the openings. In the middle of the body, I attached a 2x4 to each side rib to eliminate any bowing or warping from the flex and then tensioned it all with ratchet straps tying the braces around the vent openings on each end to the brace in the middle. Don't know if it was needed, but it made me feel better.
With the body off, I could finally get a good look at the frame. It was pretty bad. As a matter of fact, when I cut the left frame rail off, the right one just fell to the ground with it. I think the belly pan, bumper and spray foam were holding that side up.
You can see the sag to one side at the rear of the frame here.
Next time, let’s start making repairs…