Raising the Titanic

Looking really good!  It's a lot of work but also makes you feel good to restore something like that.  At some point we want to do cosmetics on our old motorhome.

Hello all,
I have pretty much finished the bathroom, I still have to take pics. I am heading off to a school for the army on manday and won't be back for a few weeks. The only thing lacking now is ordering the correct skylight and getting it installed.

Don't give up on me... I am working it as fast as I can.

Sounds familiar Tom wants to do everything and just has no time so I understand.

I do as much as I can, yours is looking good, we have redone 3 motorhomes and multiple travel trailers.  He and I enjoy doing the work.

OK,
I am done with my Army School and finally back at home, glad that is finally over and I have one less thing to worry about. I have some spring cleaning and honey do's to complete around the omestead before I can get hot and heavy on the MH again. I took last week off and really worked around the house since the weather was finally nicer. I have 2 years of catch up to do, 1 years daddy was sick and we took care of him before he passed and then I was gone a year to Kosovo. But I am real close with a majority of the got to get done right now stuff. Then back to work on the Titanic !!!!

Any new pix?  ;D It is like magic reading this thread and seeing the improvements.

Well it has been an exciting 2 days. I just found out I am getting transfered to a unit deploying to Afghanistan. Not a bad thing, bad thing is they want me there in 2 weeks.. So the motorhome tune up and interior upgrade is now in high gear. I will take a few pics of the bathroom as soon as I get the new curtians installed.

Today I bought the missing side turn signal assembly, I bought new wiper blades, working on making a battery box, since there is currently only one battery and the previous owner ratchet strapped it in the coach. I have 2 new batteries now and hope to get it back to a 2 battery seperate system again.

Current weekend plans are tune up, new belts, hoses, remove the radiator and have it dipped. I still want to replace a piece of exhaust pipe that does not look so good and see if I can get the dash A/C working. Then I will working on making it good looking, road worthy is what I am looking for right now. The wife and I took it for a spin last night since it had been a while , no issues so thats a good thing.

Ahh, Afghanistan, how I miss it!  ;D  Keep your head down, Chief!

WOW! Talk about a timeline! Cant wait to see pix.

We got the dash AC system working, We got the 2 battery system working correctly. I took the batteries out and wire brushed the box. I sprayed the box with undercoating and waiting for it to dry so we can put the batteries back in. New air filter, rotor and cap are on. I also replaced the burned out bulb for the speedo guage. I put new windshield arms and blades on last night.

Changing the oil, oil filter and spark plugs now. I have the new outer side maker lights, they are next to get installed. I also bought 3 vent covers and need to get them installed. I got the OK from the boss to order a new HDTV antenna for the roof. I am also ordering the skylight for the bathroom this afternoon. Ok heading back out to do somemore work...

Well I have a new level of respect for motorhome technicians now, but I would like 5 minutes alone with the designers of the heater core / hose set up on this year rig. Got off to a late start because of work but I did manage to get the new belts on, the new plug wires on, and the new side marker lights installed. I also adjusted the choke and cleaned the carb. You hit the key and she fires right up and purrs like a kitten. I went to look and see why the water pump would never shut off, seems with the dual batteries in and having a new coach battery it is working just fine now.

I have most of the new heater hose installed in the front but ran into a problem. I have a bad heater control valve but I think I found a part number for one just waiting for the parts store to open to see if I can get one. I am going to start replacing the heater hose on the motoraid stuff in the rear. I also lubed the front end yesterday, just need to do the drive shaft ujoints.

The wife bought me a Jack antenna yesterday so I can remove the broken down wing antenna that looks factory. I also picked up a 19 inch LCD TV/DVD combo too, looking for a wall mount now. I was replacing a burned out bulb in the instrument panel and found the a wasp nest, looks like they were long gone. I have been finding them everywhere, was not expecting one in the dash......

No pix yet, been mostly mechanical stuff so far. Big plans this week are new exhaust, pulling radiator for dip, vent covers, Tv antenna and hope to replace the last piece of bad wood by the door, then some paint.

I'm very much enjoying your posts, Chief.  Keep em coming. 

If you have any wants while you're deployed, post em here.

Thanks Subvet,
If we do go it will not be till later on this year.

I am trying to get the old girl roadworthy and able to live in, but I have to be carefull and not get side tracked by nice to do stuff. I am not going to get anything done today, raining and have been at work. I needed a little break after going at it full steam the last 3 days. My knees were killing me last night after being perched over the top of the engine most of the day yesterday. 

I have my list of stuff that I have to order tomorrow morning and a game plan layed out, but will have to see how it pans out.

Have to do this week:
Fix exhaust leak
Pull radiator and have dipped- reinstall with new upper and lower hoses
Hang shower curtain rod
Check brakes and wheel bearings
Install new TV antenna
Install new roof vent covers
Order and Install skylight- when it comes in.
Install new heater hose for motoraid stuff in rear
Install Heater control valve for front heater
Lube U-joints
Drain and sanitize fresh water holding tank
Replace luan by side entrance door
Dynamat for dog house cover
Thinking about new brake fluid, power steering fluid, transmission fluid and filter and changing the rear end oil- no telling how old it is.

New tires if it is for sure I am going up there to work.

Nice to do but will probably wait till I get up there and do in my off time during the week :
Rear domelight and reading lights inop in back bedroom.
Aux generator- fuel issue
Swivel mount for TV
Paint
New carpet for drivers area
Replace roof AC blower motor

Completed tasks:
New Belts, Plugs, wires, rotor and cap, changed engine oil and filter, new heater hoses up front, lubed front end, new side marker lights. Hot water heater tested and works, 2 new batteries and fixed solenoid wiring problem, replaced blown bulb in dash and porch light. Lubed and adjusted hinges and latches, new wiper blades, replaced blown headlight. Upgraded the dash AC from R12 to 134 and got it working again. You hit the key and she fires right up and purs like a kitten.

She is not as bad as it seems, I think she was a camping park queen and I just want to go thru as much of the mechanicals as I can BEFORE I hit the road. I will be real mad if I break down on the side of the road. The previous owner did not seem to be real good at fixing stuff, or did not care. Once I am sure she is road worthy then I will start the updating of the interior, livable but not my choice of colors.

Ok got the skylight on order, a bag of the nylon catches for the doors and the clips that hold open the outside compartment doors!!!!

Starting the vent cover install and working on the back heater hose plumbing and then the new TV antenna. 

Dropped the radiator off this morning to the radiator shop, It's bad... go figure. I think I found one at the parts store, $355.00. I better like camping in this motorhome, I better like it alot!!! I was under the $500 dollar mark till the radiator. Still plugging away at it, will post some pics when I have other than mechanic stuff to show. Update soon !!!!

Hey everyone,

Here is an update on the old girl. I drove her home last night and she drove like a dream. Here is the stuff I completed the past week

New Exhaust
New radiator with new hoses and cap
Hung the shower curtain rod
Checked the brakes and wheel bearings
Installed new digital TV antenna
Installed new roof vent covers
Installed new skylight in bathroom
Installed new heater hoses and control valves for front and rear heaters
Lubed U-joints
Replaced bad luan by side entrance door
Put sound deading mat on dog house cover
4 new tires for the rear
Fixed a plumbing leak
Fixed a rear mud flap where a tire blew and messed it up.
Replaced some of the plastic catches for the cabinet doors
Replaced the baggage door clips that hold the storage bay doors open.
New side marker lights
New batteries and got the soleniod and 12v lights to work without being plugged into 120v.
I bought a swivel mount for the TV and will put it in this week.
I also need to drain and sanatize the fresh water system, might do that tonight.

With all new valves and hoses I got the motraid stuff working !!!!! 

I have pictures but can't resize them at work, I will try and post them tonight.  It seems most of the stuff was just broken or repairs the previous owner just didn't do. At least now I am in the updating the interior phase. More to follow !!!!

Nice!

Thanks Jag,
The radiator was not a direct fit, the parts store said it was but after having to modify the mounts I got it to just bairly fit. Then I had to make all new ac condensor mounts. This thing has fought me the whole way. Not so sure the victory is any sweeter.. I know I am sore and scratched up. Got the dash AC working and the blower fan started making strange noises on the way home, go figure. Plans for tonight is to flush and sanatize the water system and install the trim ring for the skylight. Also have to do a good cleaning since I was in and out of this thing fixing stuff. I picked up a 12v to 120V 600 amp inverter, I am hoping I can make it work to keep the fridge cooling while going down the highway. Thats a later project. 

Hey everyone !!!

The water in the fresh water had a funny smell since I got the MH. Last nights plan was to drain the tank and clean it out. I rolled around under the MH to see if there was a drain valve for the tank, no such luck. Ok it has to be next to the tank under the bed. I unscrewed the top of the bed platform and took it off. Low and behold the pipe that goes from the city fill port to the top of the tank was gone, missing in action !!!! The clamps were not ever there !!! Good thing I did not try to fill the tank with water first !!!!

I still could not find any kind of drain for tank so I just used the pump for the little bit that was in there. I filled it half full of water and added about half a gallon of bleach. purged all the lines and let it sit over night. I will finish pump the water out this afternoon and run some fresh water thru a few times. Looks like another trip to the hardware store !!!!

We started a full clean up of the old girl from front to rear since it had been a long, long time since it was cleaned real good. I bet I have removed 20 or more mud wasp nest from under and around the MH. Wife is working on the curtains today and wiping the whole inside down. When we bought it there was nothing, no plates, silverware, pots, pans, knives, the took it all. Wife is making a trip to the store today to get the essentials to at least be liveable. 

Good one finding the loose fill hose!

In 2000, I bought an Arctic Fox travel trailer that had survived a flip onto it's right side from a salvage yard in Phoenix, then towed it to Quartzsite to clean it out and transfer my stuff into it.

As I was getting gas on my way out of Phoenix, I spied a water spigot and decided it was a good opportunity to fill the fresh water tank.  So I connected the hose and was rewarded with water cascading out of my "new" trailer.

When I opened the compartment under the bed that contained the water tank, I found it had shifted and pulled away from the water fill hose in the accident.

It was easy to make right, but it was a good reminder to check before filling a new rig.

Thanks Lou,
I did get lucky on that. After 2 trips to the hardware store I got the peices I needed to get it hooked back up. I finished installing the exterior trim ring for the skylight last night I also lubed and adjusted some of the exterior baggage locks, had to readjust the hood too. Did another walk around on the exterior and found a bolt missing on the mounting bracket for the awning. It brought back memories of JAGS awning ripping off the side of his rig, did not need that happening to me.  Mechanically it looks like I am ready to go. I can start on the interior remodel and bringing it out of the 80's when I get up there and set up. I will try and post some pictures tonight, I am trying...