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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 4, 2015 19:56:35 GMT 10
Hi all.
im a newbie to this site. Have been watching it for a year or so, and found it to be very informative. I've taken the plunge and have purchased a mid- late 70's 16 ft Franklin Arrow. Front bunks, mid kitchen, rear double bed.
Looks in pretty good condition, till I started to look a lot closer, lol.
Water Damage......the front, the rear...Not game to look any further. (I will attach some pic, when I work out how, lol)
ive removed the rear bed and side drawers, and have taken out the rotten rear ply section, to reveal Water Damage.
Any other Arrow owners out there in the same predicament ?
just hoping to get some guidance on where to start
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Post by Mustang on Aug 4, 2015 20:05:19 GMT 10
Hi Myarrow1,
Go to "Hall of Fame", there are no short cuts to water damage, you will see all Classics are prone to the same problem.
Its up to you how far you want to go.
For most of us its a matter to remove all the rot and start from scratch. At the end of the day you have something that you are proud of & it should be reasonably trouble free & nicley retro.
But it takes a LOT of time.
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Post by atefooterz on Aug 4, 2015 20:05:33 GMT 10
Welcome myarrow. I also have a 16foot 75 Arrow, the date can be obtained by the welded number & letter combo on the A frame, mine is W8566 ditzygypsy.proboards.com/thread/2821/franklin-arrow-1976-16ft-w8566?page=1 so that makes it a 1975 but is registered as a 1977 so i made it a 76 for my thread! Yep water damage to side front & rear areas, i keep meaning to fix it but so far done abot 7000+klm without any real issues. Looking to replace the airspace where timber once was. very soon. It is all about how far you wish to indulge into a restoration/ refurbishment with love and cash Versus adventure & travel... so if you are working plus housebound with pets/kids/elders then playing Mr fixit is the go!, until that reward of the first campout  |
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 4, 2015 20:13:56 GMT 10
Hi Myarrow1, Go to "Hall of Fame", there are no short cuts to water damage, you will see all Classics are prone to the same problem. Its up to you how far you want to go. For most of us its a matter to remove all the rot and start from scratch. At the end of the day you have something that you are proud of & it should be reasonably trouble free & nicley retro. But it takes a LOT of time. Hi Mustang, Still finding my way around this site, lol. Thanks for the reply. Does make a lot of sense. I do like the idea of sorting it out properly, just seems abit overwhelming, as I wasn't expecting the 'surprises'. I reckon I'll start at the rear and go from there |
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 4, 2015 20:26:19 GMT 10
Welcome myarrow. I also have a 16foot 75 Arrow, the date can be obtained by the welded number & letter combo on the A frame, mine is W8566 ditzygypsy.proboards.com/thread/2821/franklin-arrow-1976-16ft-w8566?page=1 so that makes it a 1975 but is registered as a 1977 so i made it a 76 for my thread! Yep water damage to side front & rear areas, i keep meaning to fix it but so far done abot 7000+klm without any real issues. Looking to replace the airspace where timber once was. very soon. It is all about how far you wish to indulge into a restoration/ refurbishment with love and cash Versus adventure & travel... so if you are working plus housebound with pets/kids/elders then playing Mr fixit is the go!, until that reward of the first campout Hi atefooterz, Mine is W3950 welded on the drawerbar. I'm hoping to obviously keep the costs to a minimum. I'm quite keen to have a go at it myself. The rear section doesn't seem too scary (at this stage). Just have to try and find similar ply panels to match. I reckon I will sort out the rear first, and then move onto the front (above the bunks). Got some nasty stuff going on above the bunks on both sides. i towed it back from Echuca over the weekend, and was amazed how well it towed, specially as the van brakes were seized off |
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Post by atefooterz on Aug 4, 2015 20:49:54 GMT 10
The main thing is to find out and stop the leaks before thinking about any internal work, also inspect how much rot and where plus more importantly is it structural! So by the sounds of it repairing the top edges both sides of the roof walls. The shney bit is called a j section that is just screwed on the offending thing is old brittle mastic and that has gone hard and shrunk. Not too expensive but worth doing. Mine has a heap of sillycone over that area and on roof joins, this means it looks ugly but sadly/happily it does not leak. My leak areas are from the rear window and 1 side one. Look around and read a few threads follow links for window/ mastic join repairs and start there. Depending on your location & finished vibe you are after will depend on if you can go for new ply stained close to match original or just paint over. They key thing is to keep weight down so going to a weighbridge to get the before weight now will be worthwhile down the track when you have finished. Mine gets towed by a short wheelbase ford Transit so it is like a toy back there and only parking in suburbia an issue. |
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 5, 2015 16:53:33 GMT 10
Just been doing some asking around today and I think I'm in strife trying to match up internal ply sheeting. Virtually impossible im told. Just wondering what other members have done ? I've removed the rear panel and the front will have to come down for rot repairs too. I was told that painting the front and rear white, to match the roof is an option
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Post by Mustang on Aug 5, 2015 17:37:57 GMT 10
Just been doing some asking around today and I think I'm in strife trying to match up internal ply sheeting. Virtually impossible im told. Just wondering what other members have done ? I've removed the rear panel and the front will have to come down for rot repairs too. I was told that painting the front and rear white, to match the roof is an option When I bought our van, it was an abandoned project, the ceiling & one wall was restored, I had two sheets of ply included, but they will not complete the job. So I have kept the original ply that was not delaminated & will need to try & obtain as near as I can the same grain as the new ply. If you are bothered with miss matching then the only answer is to re-ply the lot, or paint. Painting as you suggest sounds OK. Its up to you what theme you want to persue. Not one person that has seen our van has commented on the multi colours of ply, they do comment on the retro happy feel. (Another reason I didn,t paint is for resale reasons) |
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Post by atefooterz on Aug 5, 2015 17:49:24 GMT 10
Just been doing some asking around today and I think I'm in strife trying to match up internal ply sheeting. Virtually impossible im told. Just wondering what other members have done ? I've removed the rear panel and the front will have to come down for rot repairs too. I was told that painting the front and rear white, to match the roof is an option Where are you based? You will never match old Aussie ply face (paper ply) with any current Asian or renewable pine variations. What you can do is decide is are you after original or a more modern look? Many take the easy paint it approach... but with a bit of patience & minor cash, you can do things like use aircraft ply (Beech) stain it with a similar colour to what you have. Do not ask what colour stain & go to bunnings!!!! Take an old piece without too much darker water stain plus your new ply to a trade paint place that deal with us lot. InspirationsPaint.com.au (no link with them) have a location finder and join the paint club and they will beat or match any green shead prices. I just bought 1litre of enamel gloss that was almost $7 cheaper than the last one i got. 4 years ago from bunnings, the paintbrush almost $2 cheaper on a bristle 3inch one as a bonus! Back to plywood a great marine one is called bending ply, very basic grain but a good base to create the shapes and marine grade to boot use 2 or 1.5mm variant then laminate your fancy stained one on top = an interior to pass down to the Great Grandkids. What is fun with the vintage & classic scene of anything is the experieced Na mate ya can`t do that,, V the have a go enthusiasim of starting fresh or having expertise in other areas! My fave friendly arguments over a beer usually are with boilermaker mechaqnical types about surface finishes & or replacing stuff with modern composites. I cannot find a good pic as they were all on my old Xp 2002-2006 computer, archives gosh only knows where, but the front deck & rear inserts i did in that aircraft ply, 2 sheets one original blonde the other walnut stained. The rear deck is good ol hoop pine with a cedar/ mahogany stain. The hull is 2x 1.3mm bending ply then 1 x 200gsm kevlar then painted.  EDiT: Great advice Mustang, most folks who know timber never expect every piece the same, tiz the darlings that call their classic van interior ghastly or yucky dark brown that seem to love painting it all! |
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Post by planner on Aug 6, 2015 8:48:35 GMT 10
Virtually impossible im told. I tried many, many places to match the ply in our arrow, with no luck. Even the van repairers told me to give up. Just wondering what other members have done ? The damage in ours was confined to the rear corner, so I opted to resheet the "main bebroom" in a different colour/pattern. In 3 years no-one has commented. Planner |
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 6, 2015 21:07:05 GMT 10
Hi, thanks for the replies. I reckon re sheeting in a different color for the front and rear might be the go. Will remake the rear wood frame over the weekend and hopefully sort out where the ply meets the floor. Only a few bolts sticking through, not a lot of wood left there.
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 8, 2015 20:01:08 GMT 10
Hi, thanks for the replies. I reckon re sheeting in a different color for the front and rear might be the go. Will remake the rear wood frame over the weekend and hopefully sort out where the ply meets the floor. Only a few bolts sticking through, not a lot of wood left there. Hi all. Replaced the framework across the back of my Arrow today, and it looks great ! Was hoping to post some progress pics, but unsure how to get started. I'm working from an ipad. Any ideas ? pete |
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 9, 2015 18:20:44 GMT 10
 Not sure if this pic will work, but here goes... |
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 9, 2015 18:27:23 GMT 10
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 9, 2015 19:26:55 GMT 10
 Has been a busy day ! Dug out a section of the rotted rail, took ages, but finally got there. Geez, I just hope I can get the new piece back in !!!! An odd size wood used too so I'll probably have to plane the new piece up abit, as 20mm wide is abit narrow and 25mm Is abit wide for the channel. A few tec screws from underneath and bolt/nut through the side and should be set to go. Next, will be the rotted lengths running across the the floor, where the rear ply meets the floor. (Next weekend), re attach the tailight wiring and then rear ply. - Is a circular saw the go, for cutting the ply lengths , or will that chip/rip the edges  ? |
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Post by Mustang on Aug 10, 2015 8:53:39 GMT 10
Looks like you know your way around tools & construction, great first effort.
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 10, 2015 18:04:12 GMT 10
Hi Mustang. So far so good. Nothing too scary that I can't handle at this stage....
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 10, 2015 20:00:28 GMT 10
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Post by atefooterz on Aug 10, 2015 20:29:38 GMT 10
OK so how bad is that bottom timber really? Using a screwdriver is it soft anywhere? Mine was rather wet where a cushion soaked in water that had leaked in lay over it. After drying it out ( annoying as they silliconed to stop that leak but left a wet thing to rot timber) so while brown/black waterstained it is all structural. so just sealed it. Getting a replacement there of quality would be a mission.
EdiT: Hopefully you have put a light varnish or estapol over that new timber before fitting it? Rot is not an old age thing but happens quickly from moisture especially in meranti and pine type woods. Water based varnish is as good but a thin coat to penetrate of varnish then another to seal will stop a lot of heartbreak down the track for you or who ever. Check other forums for 1-2 year old modern vans needing timber replaced, and that is slightly longer lasting meranti not pine.
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 10, 2015 21:17:55 GMT 10
Hi atefooterz. The timber is still abit soft up to the back of the seat, but it's gonna have to do, as I can't get to it from inside ( I really don't wanna have to remove outside cladding etc). I may be able to putty it up abit, then hoping to join the new piece to the existing wood rail with liquid nails, then tec screw from underneath, in to the rail. It then has the nut/bolt that comes through the side of the van. I'll use a length of treated pine
The 2 lengths that run width ways across the van (up to the floor) look easy enough to sort out. The bottom one that is attached to the cladding underbelly, is non existant and the other has rotted on the ends only, but will replace both with treated pine
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 15, 2015 16:54:10 GMT 10
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 15, 2015 16:55:46 GMT 10
Well, it took abit of manipulating but I managed to get the new piece in place. All secure from underneath too. Nice and solid again. Replace both rear floor pieces too (across the rear floor)
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Post by Mustang on Aug 15, 2015 17:36:36 GMT 10
The beaut part of a forum is how we all have different ideas & ways of fixing things, I would not have thought of this way without pulling out the lining. I mean this as a compliment (not being a smarty). The lining looks so good to have a rotton base piece? Do you think the lining is original? |
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Post by myarrow1 on Aug 15, 2015 17:49:20 GMT 10
Yeh definitely original as per rest of the van it seems. Was a lot of fiddling around to get it in. Elec planer was a winner. Has had bad leaks at all 4 corners of the van, at one stage. Not game to look much further, lol
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Post by Mustang on Aug 16, 2015 8:17:05 GMT 10
Yeh definitely original as per rest of the van it seems. Was a lot of fiddling around to get it in. Elec planer was a winner. Has had bad leaks at all 4 corners of the van, at one stage. Not game to look much further, lol Those edge joining strips!! could it have been so hard in a factory situation to get them sealed? Where new vans still use them, walk around a park & you will see all sorts of goobly goop jobs! |
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