Drain plugs in the body panels

[pengyou]

Do skoolies have drain plugs in the body panels? Not sure if I am using the right word...but I do know that my astro had plastic strainer things on the bottom or the walls that let water leak out of the body.

[tugboater]

I haven’t seen anything like that on my bus, but I don’t think the bottom of the space between the outer skin and the chair rail is water tight. Guessing excessive moisture would drain out there if it somehow got there.

[Native]

No, no drain plugs. There is no seal. The bottom of the inner wall terminates at the bottom of the floor pieces. The skin continues further downward. There is a piece of metal tacked at an angle between the bottom of the floor and the skin, tacked to the floor. The place where the metal strip comes in contact with the skin is open and is lower than the place it is tacked to the floor. This allows for water to drain and helps keep water from splashing into the gap between the wall and the skin. It is not sealed.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Native

No, no drain plugs. There is no seal. The bottom of the inner wall terminates at the bottom of the floor pieces. The skin continues further downward. There is a piece of metal tacked at an angle between the bottom of the floor and the skin, tacked to the floor. The place where the metal strip comes in contact with the skin is open and is lower than the place it is tacked to the floor. This allows for water to drain and helps keep water from splashing into the gap between the wall and the skin. It is not sealed.

I think it might have been you that pointed this out to me not long ago, but it's interesting that the back wall (at least in Internationals) does not seem to allow for drainage of any water that gets in. My bus solved that problem on her own by rusting holes in the floor, but I'm wondering the best way to deal with this. I need to find some kind of drain plug that I can install.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I think it might have been you that pointed this out to me not long ago, but it's interesting that the back wall (at least in Internationals) does not seem to allow for drainage of any water that gets in. My bus solved that problem on her own by rusting holes in the floor, but I'm wondering the best way to deal with this. I need to find some kind of drain plug that I can install.

I think we were discussing this a week or two ago.
The back wallfloor can rust due to not having anywhere for the water to go.

[Sleddgracer]

there is more than one car manufacture that has drilled holes in the floor boards of new cars to solve a wet carpet issue - car doors often have holes to allow water to drain - no reason drain holes couldn't be made in a skoolie

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I think it might have been you that pointed this out to me not long ago, but it's interesting that the back wall (at least in Internationals) does not seem to allow for drainage of any water that gets in. My bus solved that problem on her own by rusting holes in the floor, but I'm wondering the best way to deal with this. I need to find some kind of drain plug that I can install.

Fix the leaks. You won't have 60 wet kids bringing water in every time it rains.

[Native]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I think it might have been you that pointed this out to me not long ago, but it's interesting that the back wall back wall and (at least in Internationals) does not seem to allow for drainage of any water that gets in. My bus solved that problem on her own by rusting holes in the floor, but I'm wondering the best way to deal with this. I need to find some kind of drain plug that I can install.

Our back walls and outer skins were rusted to the point of holes. When I removed the walls and panels I found a few rust holes in the bottom of the "wall" floor. Like yours, nature made its own drain holes. When I reconstructed the floor, wall, and skin in this area, I drilled a 1/2" hole near each end of the wall ... on both sides. I did this "just in case" of future leaks. I do hope we got all of the leaks because we are having a ton of rain today! [Note: I did go out in the rain and check ... all is fine.]

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Native

Our back walls and outer skins were rusted to the point of holes. When I removed the walls and panels I found a few rust holes in the bottom of the "wall" floor. Like yours, nature made its own drain holes. When I reconstructed the floor, wall, and skin in this area, I drilled a 1/2" hole near each end of the wall ... on both sides. I did this "just in case" of future leaks. I do hope we got all of the leaks because we are having a ton of rain today! [Note: I did go out in the rain and check ... all is fine.]

I'm planning to make my interior back wall easily removable so in the future I can easily check on it and make sure it's still watertight. Right now every opening in the back is letting in water to some extent, so it's an obvious permanent concern.

[Ninjakitty]

In my bus (1990 Bluebird), the bottom/floor between the outer skin and chair rail had a factory drilled hole for drainage

[Native]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I'm planning to make my interior back wall easily removable so in the future I can easily check on it and make sure it's still watertight. Right now every opening in the back is letting in water to some extent, so it's an obvious permanent concern.

In our rebuild, I attached the back wall lower half with self-tapping hex-head screws to allow for relatively easy access. This also allows me to get into the wiring for the lights as well as check for any corrosion. I did paint all of the back section (including all the hat channel) with PP&G two-part polyethylene enamel implement paint.