the saga begins...

This week and weekend I've made some progress on the tent.

During the week, I took the RV out of the tent and parked it between the tent and a pine tree, with almost no room to spare.  This gave me room to put the bus inside the tent.  The RV is now not visible from the street at all.  This is a good thing.

I've also begun the work of cleaning off the wreckage of the original roof so I can begin rebuilding it.  Having the RV right beside the shelter makes this much easier.

This weekend, my goal was to get the door hung on the street end of the tent.  All along, I had planned to have a simple plywood door (1/4" exterior grade) with 2x4 supports covering a basic door frame, and that's exactly what I have.  I used a stanley fence latch to latch it.  It isn't completed yet, but is rather close.  I still have to put a header board in the inside, and carve room for the inside handle to install, then it will be done.  Weather permitting, I hope to finish that tonight.

You would think that hanging a simple rough door would be easy, and technically, it was.  However, it was complicated by the 115 degree heat index weather, and the fact that the tent helps block the breezes.  So, after much sweat and cussing and air conditioning breaks, as well as a gallon or more of water, I managed to get the door hung Saturday night.  Since a storm was rolling in, I just screwed it shut.  Sunday was supposed to be cooler, but I didn't see any difference.  I finished the basic door structure and cut it to fit the doorway, then installed the latch sunday.  Only needed 1 A/C break.  And it turns out sawdust sticks to sweaty skin.

Pictures are here.

I'll be glad to have this tent finished so I can start the real work.

Jim

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you start on a plan of action, only to have it be modified along the way, until you reach a point where you stop and think "umm, why am I doing this again?"

Well, that's the point I reached with the tent structure this weekend.

The whole justification for the tent structure was so I could do extensive roof repairs to the old RV, without having to leave the interior exposed to the elements.

Since that time, I've bought a bus, and I plan to convert it after I raise the roof.  I no longer need the tent shelter, as the bus has nothing inside to be protected from the elements yet, and I won't put anything inside until the roof is raised and the windows skinned in.

So why am I building this tent again?  Inertia.  And why haven't I been making much progress with it lately?  I think subliminally I knew I was just wasting effort on completing the tent, which is why I was dragging my feet and working on any other project instead.

So, this past weekend, disassembly began.  The nice thing about plastic walls is that they cut down easily.  Working on top of the bus to remove the old roofing was quite easy.  I did get a chance to learn new lessons about wasps though.  I still have 2 wasp nests to eliminate.

On the structural side, the rafters and cross braces need to come down, the electrical wiring needs to be removed, the door needs to be removed, then the headers.  After that, the only thing left will be the vertical 16' 4x4 posts.  Some time spent with the come along will get those out I think.

A really nice thing about this is that my parents plan to buy the lumber I had used for the shelter to be used on some deck work around their pool.  That will help offset a lot of the expenses I've had.

So, this story finally comes to an end.  Well, almost.  I still have to finish the demolition.

Thanks for all the support everyone!
jim

So since July 17, I've been tinkering at getting the RV shelter/tent structure down.  I've had a lot of help from my parents.  We've had some incredibly hot and humid weather lately, and it hasn't been much fun working on this.  However, we've persevered.

This weekend, we had the final push.  Friday evening, Dad and I removed the last of the header boards, the rest of the horizontal run boards, and all the vertical 2x4 boards.  This also included finishing removing all the electrical.

Today, we removed the 11 16' 4x4 support posts.  This involved using a 48" tall "farm jack", and some chains.  It took quite a bit of work, and not a small amount of danger, but we succeeded.  At this point, there are 2 piles of lumber (the "dirty" pile, containing screws, etc that has to be cleaned up, and the clean pile, which we've already made safe), 11 holes in the ground, an 11 30" metal strap stakes.  We have to finish cleaning up the lumber then stack it somewhere out of the way.  We need to fill in the holes.  And we need to remove those metal straps.

As far as I'm concerned though, this whole rv tent shelter project is now complete.  And I have to say I'm quite glad.

Pictures can be found here.

Some of the lumber is being reused in the building of a summer kitchen near the pool.  The summer kitchen is basically a deck with walls, an RV sink, rv hot water heater, rv lp stove/oven, and a mini-fridge, which opens up with lots of space to cook out in the shade.  It is still being built.

The rest of the lumber will be used in other projects around the yard.  Waste not want not. 

With the heat wave, we started eating outside, and cooking on the grill a LOT.  After 2 nights of eating outside, the flies found us.  So we got a screen room, and now we can eat in peace.  However, a grill isn't the best at cooking things in a stove-like manner.  Since it has been in the 90s and 100s in the kitchen, we've avoided that completely.  The summer kitchen will do the job quite nicely.

Basically, it is a wooden structure, outfitted much like an rv.  It will have AC power, 12V DC power, hot and cold running water, a small sink, stove/oven, microwave, fridge, and a place to store the grill.  Much of the things will run on LPG.

Anyway, that's all folks.  Hopefully in a month or so I can finally start on the bus conversion process. 

jim

Kinda sorry to hear this saga come to such an end.  But hopefully your next project will suit you better in the long run!

KodiakRV said:

Kinda sorry to hear this saga come to such an end.  But hopefully your next project will suit you better in the long run!

Click to expand...

Thanks Frank.

Today I had a brainstorm.  A length of strong chain and a diesel bus = no more metal anchors 30" into the ground.  ;D

pics here.

The sumer kitchen project is progressing nicely.  I need to finish that and scrapping of the old RV before I can start the actual bus rebuild, and I'm hoping to complete all of that in the next 30 days or so.  yipee.

Anyone wanting to see how far the summer kitchen came along this weekend can look here.  It won't take us much longer to finish that up at this rate.

Again, thanks to everyone here for all their support.  It really is appreciated.  And, I'm still learning lots of good things here *before* starting the bus conversion. 

jim

Well, I finally got the old Cobra out from behind the pool, and in position for final demolition work this weekend.

The propane tank is *still* providing us with good grilling.  I'll need to be careful during dismantling not to damage that tank.

This weekend we plan to finish cleaning out all the tools and misc debris from inside the motorhome.  We also plan to remove both A/C units and do basic maintenance on them, including cleanup, and verify their functionality.  I have a person ready to buy them, so they'll have a good home.  We also plan to remove all the rooftop skylights, as well as the rooftop luggage rails.  Basically, if it penetrates or attaches to the roof, it'll be coming down starting this week.  We plan to put plastic over the holes to keep out any critters.

After the rooftop items are removed, our next plan is to attack the windows and other openings in the sides.  This includes things like the maintenance hatch for the refrigerator, the intake/exhaust ports for the furnace, etc.  At that point, the interior will be an open area.  Oh yeah, the door will be removed as well.  I already have a home for that too.

I'll use a cutoff wheel to cut through the outer layer of fiberglass on the sides, and peel that off.  Time has already done a lot of the peeling work for me, so hopefully it won't be too difficult.  We have plans to use that fiberglass skin on some projects around the house.

If I can get the eternabond off the edges where the roof meets the sides, I might be able to peel the outer layer of rooftop aluminum off of the roof.

I'm hoping to separate out all the aluminum framing from the body and roof so that I can either use it in the bus conversion or turn it in for scrap.  The foam and luan that will be left will just go to the dump.

Once I get the roof and walls gone, I can finally attack the flooring and hopefully get down to the frame.  I plan to leave the platform where the driver seat and doghouse in place, and cut the front cap just above the dash and below the windows to keep that from being a mess, and behind the driver seat will be bare frame hopefully.  This will make it easier to drive it to my uncle's house very carefully (3.7 miles, all back roads) so that he can use the frame for his old truck restoration.

Somewhere in there I also have to remove the generator, and some of the lower skirting and compartments as well.  I'll play that by ear.

Dad and I plan to get the generator serviced professionally, and converted to 240v instead of 120v operation.  We have a place to install it near the house to be the backup power for the house.

In some ways it is sad to see this motorhome being decommissioned.  On the other hand, I can see now even more clearly that this motorhome had not been properly maintained and was not in good shape when I bought it.  The battery mounts all rusted out for example.  The generator and mount are badly rusted and corroded.  The propane tank is corroded.  The radiator is corroded.  The windshield will soon part company with the front cap even if I don't pull it out myself.  The frame is flaking from rust.

I'll post more later this week, hopefully with pictures.

jim

You know what they say about plans... well, nothing about this motorhome has gone according to plan.

This afternoon, I *finally* had a chance to work on this old beast.  I managed to get all the windows except the windshields out, and both the driver's door and the main entrance door out.

I also got the interior portions of the 2 A/C units removed, and one of the two exterior portions is now separated from the roof but still sitting up there.

The interior portion of all 3 skylights have been pulled down, and the last 2 fluorescent light fixtures have been removed.

Dad and I spent some time yanking some of the rats nest of wires from under the dash.  Non-essentials such as the radio, power mirrors, power window in driver's door, and a few others.

Every piece of metal that has been removed shows signs of corrosion or rust.  The bottom of the door frame was held down with a piece of aluminum that was half eaten by corrosion.  It would be easy to suspect that this motorhome had been involved in some flooding.

Also, the passenger side windshield is about to fall out.  The body is twisting.

Found a manufacturer's label, and apparently the GVWR was 15,600 pounds, not the 16,000 that was documented elsewhere.

Anyway, there are a few pictures up here.

I'll be adding to this gallery album as I do more teardown.

Tomorrow night, dad and I hope (nope, won't plan) to remove the front windshield glass and pull the 2 A/C units off the roof.  I'd also like to remove the skylights.

I'll post more as there is more to post.

jim

I'm not sure I caught why you are going to this much trouble to dismantle this coach if you are not going to restore it.  I thought that you bought a bus that you were going to work on...

KodiakRV said:

I'm not sure I caught why you are going to this much trouble to dismantle this coach if you are not going to restore it.  I thought that you bought a bus that you were going to work on...

Click to expand...

You are correct, I am doing a bus conversion.

However, I spent a lot of money when I bought this thing, and I'm trying to get as much money back out of it as I can.

We have plans to reuse some of the windows, and we're hoping to use some of the skin on some projects around the house.  I've got a guy waiting to buy the A/C units.  The fridge is still for sale.  The water heater and kitchen sink and fresh water tank with pump will be used in the summer kitchen.  The black tank has a use lined up as well.  Nothing has been decided about the grey tank yet.  Some of the lights have already been reused, and we hope to reuse more of them.  The furnace is still for sale.

My uncle has expressed interest in the chassis and driveline for an antique ford farm truck he is restoring.  I'm planning to strip it down to the frame, and recycle the aluminum body frame.  The rotten wood and foam insulation will go to the dump.  The aluminum skin on the roof will also be recycled.  I don't know the current scrap value on aluminum, but I'm hoping it'll add up to a nice chunk of change. 

Now granted, I could have just driven this straight to the scrap yard and saved a lot of work.  But then, that would've been wasteful in many ways.  There's $1100 in new tires on this vehicle.  I hope to sell them and the wheel simulators when I don't need them to hold the chassis up anymore.  The tires are about 2 years old now, and have less than 500 miles on them.  They're 8x19.5 if anyone wants to talk to me about them.

My parents are also getting tired of the motorhome being in the yard, and want me to get rid of it asap.  And I have to agree with them, it is becoming an eyesore.

I do often regret buying this RV as my first RV.  However, it was near the bottom of the price pile (with good reason), and it was a learning experience.  It helped me to learn what my real needs were for an RV.  Going through the complete demolition also helps me see to some extent how a factory builds an RV, and how they solve some of the problems involved in building a house on wheels.  This should be helpful when I'm building my bus.

I'll never get all of my money back from this.  But, if I get back 50%, that's money I wouldn't have otherwise.

The bus isn't making much progress at the moment.  My parents want my priority to be the removal of this old RV, and I can understand that.  They're being extremely helpful and supportive.  I have made some small progress on the bus in the past month, and can't wait to get back to it in a few weeks.  It still has some stuff stored in it that I have to get moved, then I have to hose out the interior to get rid of all the bird residue and sevin dust.  After that, I need to go fill the diesel tank and head to the scale for a good weighing, including total weight and each axle's weight.  Then I'll know how much weight I have to work with, and can get started in earnest on the roof raise.  I can't wait. 

thanks for reading,
jim

Wow, no post since July.  Hrm.

Well, over the summer, we used a lot of propane out of the motorhome for the grill.  For lots of reasons, no progress was made on disassembly.

In the last 7 days, I've moved the RV to a new spot, and started in earnest salvaging just the things I want to keep, so that I can take the old girl off to the scrap yard.  I'm sick of dealing with it, and have made peace with the fact that I'm writing off a lot of money. 

I managed to remove the generator, which turns out to be a majorly heavy component.  I also salvaged the nice thick cable running from the engine battery to the generator, so I can reuse that.

I managed to cut the side open to access the propane tank.  I now have the propane tank removed (had to cut 2 rusted bolts with the angle grinder), and it is sitting on the ground level so that the grill will keep running from it.

While cutting open the side, I cut open 2 different pieces of aluminum tubing.  The tubing making up the walls is corroded inside, and it actually broke thru in one spot while trying to remove it.  The more I demolish this rig, the more I realize I bought a bad unit.  If I ever need to buy an RV in the future, or help someone buy one, I know a LOT more about what to check now.

I also salvaged the water tank and associated pump/pressure tank, etc.  I don't know if I'll use these or not (the pump is likely, water tank less likely), but at least they aren't going to just get crushed.

I've emptied all the cargo compartments, and tossed the junk and saved the rest.  The lug wrench, which weighs about 35 pounds, fits the lugs on my bus, so that's a keeper.

At this point, I no longer care about salvaging anything else off this rig.  The fiberglass siding is very fragile, the aluminum and iron and steel are all corroded, the wood is all waterlogged, and the engine barely runs, squealing the whole time.  I only saved the propane tank because we're still using that propane.  Very expensive tank of propane.

I have tried to find someone to take the wheels/tires and wheel simulators.  However, it seems nobody is interested.  I'm going to try posting them on craigslist this weekend, and hope someone will take them.  I've got over $1000 tied up in those tires, and they have 3 to 4 years of life left in them, and plenty of miles left.

I'm taking the week of April 17 thru April 25 (2 weekends as well) off of work, so I'll be able to drive the old beast off to the scrap yard.  After it is gone, I plan to focus on raising the roof of my bus.  Finally.

I'll try to keep everyone updated as I go along.  I'll take some pictures tonight.

jim

Well, this story has finally got to the end.  Whew.

Today was the day I planned to drive the shell to the nearest scrap yard, and just write it all off for whatever they would give me for it.

Driving an RV with no windows, no driver's door, and no inside cabinetry or walls is not something I would recommend to anyone.  Ever.

I put a battery in, turned on the chassis relay, and she fired up really quickly.  With belts squealing and much trepidation, I took off for the salvage yard with my mother following along.

After reaching the end of my road, I realized that there was no torsional strength remaining in the shell.  Even with nothing on the roof, that was a lot of weight up there swaying on the tops of toothpick like walls.  I pulled over and talked with mom, and we decided to continue on to the closest garage (we were already halfway there), and see what they'd charge to tow it to the scrap yard for us.

I made it to Bob's garage without incident, with a max speed of about 15mph.  Everyone came out to stare at the old girl, and I had a good talk with Bob.  He recommended I call the scrapyard as he thought they weren't giving much money for stripped down RVs, and that's what I did.  Basically, it would be worth about $50-$100 to the local scrapyard, and all they would do would be to shove it off in the back and burn it down to get to the metal, and that it was hardly worth their time and effort.

Bob's son pointed out that the wheels and tires would fit their smallest wrecker.  We dickered for a bit, and decided on a price.  Bob bought the chassis as is.

He plans to put the wheels and tires on his little wrecker.  His son's friend wants the engine and transmission for his offroad truck.  They'll knock the body off and haul it to the dump, then haul the bare chassis off to the scrapyard themselves.

I'm glad to know that someone will be getting some use out of the items I wasted money on.  I didn't get much return on my investment, aside from a ton of experience.

jim

I'm a bit confused, puppy. The old RV you just scrapped - is that a different one than the Skoolie bus conversion you were/are doing? Maybe something you just bought for parts? Or have you given up on the conversion and scrapped the whole thing?

If I've been following the "saga" accurately, I believe the MH that just got scrapped was the 1989 Cobra Malibu described in this thread.  That one was worked on for awhile, and the bus was purchased in their somewhere also.  The bus took over the restoration efforts, and dismantling/scrapping the Cobra is what's been discussed here recently.

Scotty has the right of it.  Sorry for any confusion.

It's nice having the RV out of the yard.  Makes it easier to swing the pusher around.

I've got a different thread in the bus conversion area for the skoolie conversion.  I'm keeping it updated as things happen.

jim

I wonder if someone might (if the chassis Engine and Drive Train are sound, and it appears they are) might want to build his own RV on top of the chassis.

I kind of wish I had the desire to do that (I think I have the skills) cause I think I could build one way better than Damon did... but it's a major undertaking.... And not only do I not wish to do a major undertaking....  I'm not sure I'm physically up to the job any more.