76cruiseair
Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2010
- Posts
- 12
First I wanted to say Hi to everyone and just say what a great site you guys have going here, by far the best RV site I have viewed. My journey will be fun as I plan to repair and bring my 1976 Dodge Cruise Air 26 footer into todays modern world of spoiled camping. I plan to axplain and be as detailed in my rebuild to help others do the same. Whether you have a trailer a class C or a motorhome, most everything I am going to do is basically the same for all RV's. I will also try to post as many pictures and some videos as possible. I made my first video today but it was so windy the video came out very bad. I have never owned a RV or any other type of RV so everything I plan to do will be the first time as I rebuild my MH.
Some of my plans will include relocating the fridge, installing a microwave, a tank monitoring system (have nothing right now),a remote dump gate for the black tank, a new countertop and kitchen surround, a new hardwood floor, a new entertainment system, a leveler system, a new look for the ceiling(to go with my cabin look), cabinet refurbish and a new central vacuum system and a on board air compressor system. Some of this stuff will be made to go on a RV while some other stuff I will be doing mods to work for a purpose. There is quite a list of things I would like to do and did not list everything cuz I have so much to do I probably did not mention something so I will be breaking all the repairs into different groups to keep all tasks small and easier to manage.
My first project is called operation water damge. I started already taking the rear dinette apart to access the rear and right rear side of the RV due to water leak damage from the shrinking window seals. I'm not sure how long the leak has been going on but I am sure it's been going on for about 10yrs or more. I have about 50% of the tear out complete and still need to remove the fridge and furnace so those will not get damaged and are out of my way. One thing I really wanted to point out is that these old access covers do not do a good job of keeping water out of the inside of your RV. My fridge cover is about 14x12 in size and has mitered corners that allow water to leak at the lower joint. To replace these would be hard to match the old size and all newer access covers have rounded corners which will not fit a square hole. To fix this I am going to use a very sticky foil tape on the back side of the cover frame and use a good butable caulk on the inside, this should be good enough to stop the water from seeping from the corners and soaking into my new wood frame repair. As I work and repair all the covers I will be showing you how to restore the look of the access covers so I can have that new finished look, there is nothing worse in a restore then doing something half way.
I am open to all suggestions and questions as this will help anyone else with their project. I may be asking a lot of questions myself too. So sorry for the long winded opening as I am sure you would prefer some pictures or even a video. Speaking of doing a video I have never posted one before so as soon as I learn the magic process I will get one posted as a video would also save on typing which is on of the other things I hate doing. ???
Some of my plans will include relocating the fridge, installing a microwave, a tank monitoring system (have nothing right now),a remote dump gate for the black tank, a new countertop and kitchen surround, a new hardwood floor, a new entertainment system, a leveler system, a new look for the ceiling(to go with my cabin look), cabinet refurbish and a new central vacuum system and a on board air compressor system. Some of this stuff will be made to go on a RV while some other stuff I will be doing mods to work for a purpose. There is quite a list of things I would like to do and did not list everything cuz I have so much to do I probably did not mention something so I will be breaking all the repairs into different groups to keep all tasks small and easier to manage.
My first project is called operation water damge. I started already taking the rear dinette apart to access the rear and right rear side of the RV due to water leak damage from the shrinking window seals. I'm not sure how long the leak has been going on but I am sure it's been going on for about 10yrs or more. I have about 50% of the tear out complete and still need to remove the fridge and furnace so those will not get damaged and are out of my way. One thing I really wanted to point out is that these old access covers do not do a good job of keeping water out of the inside of your RV. My fridge cover is about 14x12 in size and has mitered corners that allow water to leak at the lower joint. To replace these would be hard to match the old size and all newer access covers have rounded corners which will not fit a square hole. To fix this I am going to use a very sticky foil tape on the back side of the cover frame and use a good butable caulk on the inside, this should be good enough to stop the water from seeping from the corners and soaking into my new wood frame repair. As I work and repair all the covers I will be showing you how to restore the look of the access covers so I can have that new finished look, there is nothing worse in a restore then doing something half way.
I am open to all suggestions and questions as this will help anyone else with their project. I may be asking a lot of questions myself too. So sorry for the long winded opening as I am sure you would prefer some pictures or even a video. Speaking of doing a video I have never posted one before so as soon as I learn the magic process I will get one posted as a video would also save on typing which is on of the other things I hate doing. ???
