Sometimes what you want and what you get are two different things.
I did succeed in this effort. After removing every visible screw inside the thing, I eventually discovered that a lot of the wood inside was stapled together. I pryed and ripped until they all came out. I intend to replace those connections with screws when I attempt to put it all back together.
I opted to leave the panel holding the converter as there were only 2 ways that I could see to remove it. One, I could cut the panel itself in half and remove the converter box or two, I could disconnect all the wires coming from the converter box. I opted to leave it together for the time being. The panel holding the converter box is not attached to the floor so I would still be able to pull the floor up underneath.
I was even able to enlist the help of my daughter in sweeping out all the junk before we started to pull the floor up. She helped me a bit with that as well but quickly discovered that it was fairly hard work and left to play outside until I found something she could help me with that was more fun.
After 2 hours of pulling and scraping, the floor did come up. Notice in the above picture with my daughter how everthing still looks semi-ok. I was at the very brink of having my cleaned out box ready for painting.
The floor underneath seemed ok. There was that bit of black in the back left corner. I wonder what that is? Could it be a slight discoloration due to the camper being 27 years old? Maybe someone spilled some coffee and it stained the floor? *crosses fingers*
Dammit!
Yeah, that white spot in the photo is the outside. I poked at the dark wood gingerly with my wall scraper and managed to poke right through the floor. Assuming the worst, I decided to rip out the two pieces of paneling that covered the length of the back wall. Here is what it looked like:
Double Dammit!
I sat there on the floor with a beer (my first of the day) and pondered the situation. The water damage to the actual floor seems to be limited to about a 1 to 1/2 foot square piece in the left hand back corner. I allowed a few inches past the visible damage in this measurement to play it safe. The wood in the other corners is solid, believe it or not. The lift pole in that corner (the source of the leak by my estimation) is actually sitting on the metal frame not the wood. This has to be a good thing! Of course, there may be a lip in the metal of some sort that the wood fits into but I won't know that until I cut out the damaged part.
The large water stains in the back wall is on the insulation between the paneling and the outside wall. I ripped out a large piece of the insulation on the left hand side which is visible in the above photo. The inside of the outside wall is stained too but, since it is fiberglass *I think it's fiberglass anyway*, the stain is just a stain that can be painted or painted after spraying it with some type of goo.
The insulation can be ripped out and replaced. The insulation itself seems to be just 2 thick sheets of cardboard with a thin layer of something black between them. Surely I can find thin insulation like this or even substitute some other type of insulation if necessary?
The damaged wood in the corner can be cut out and a new piece fit in. If wood was intended to be underneath some metal lip in the frame, why can't I cut a small piece to fit under the lip and jam tap it in there with a hammer? I can cut another piece to fit the larger hole. Attach it to the rest of the floor with screws and brakets, liquid nails, or a combination of the two. Caulk as necessary underneath and inside.
Remember, my workshop is my driveway. I have no way to lift the camper up off the ground or take off the roof. Repairs will have to be made on the camper as it sits from inside or from sliding underneath.
In my mind, this seems possible. The plus side of all this is that the inside wiring to the outside lights is now exposed so it should be easier to get the lights wired correctly.
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