1992 Flair Fleetwood Delamination ?s

[KCChiefs]

Hey guys, I’m a newcomer to the site.
Well… to becoming a member and posting anyway
So my problem is shown in photos below. Water damage from years of leaking window made this possible. Previous owners really let her go

Question 1) How do I get the bonded luan off the styrofoam backed interior walls?

Questions 2,3,4) As you can see in some of the photos, the steel tubular framing underneath the window is totally rusted out. Do I need to replace it, what purpose does it serve and is it weight bearing?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[House Husband]

You'd be wasting your time trying to patch that mess. Remove the whole wall and make a new one.
Better yet, pay some one to take the coach off your hands.

Richard

 

[Isaac-1]

This is a situation where you need to carefully evaluate the rest of the RV, and see if it is worth trying to save, if everything else is still good then this may be worth your time fixing, however if the roof is bad, appliances are on their last leg, etc. this very well may be not worth fixing, at least not worth doing more than a bandaid fix. All too often with older coaches, they are simply not economical to repair, ie if you took the money you would dump into fixing it you would be better off hauling it to the scrap yard and taking that money and spending it on a better / newer coach.

 

[Kirk]

What does the outside look like? Delamination is usually seen on the outside while what you picture is the interior wall. The walls were made in a frame laying out flat with the exterior wall on the bottom, then the framework that makes up the structure is assembled and laid into the form, spaces are filled with insulation, glue is applied and then the interior wall is set on top and pressure is applied with large rollers to press everything together and it is held that way until the adhesive has set. Openings for windows and doors are made as the wall is assembled and the widows are not installed until after the walls have been attached to the floor and the roof installed. The rusted out part that you show is bottom of the wall frame that supports the window and that prevents the walls from shifting in shape. It is part of the wall structure and is probably welded into the frame before the wall was assembled. It is absolutely vital to the wall structural strength. Here is a picture of the typical RV wall construction.

As you can see from the picture, that rusted out material is part of the structural integrity of the wall. You probably need to remove that entire section of wall to make a proper repair. With an entry level motorhome that is now 30 years old, the cost to repair that wall will far exceed the value of the RV.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It's all vacuum-bonded together with a high-strength adhesive, so any area that is not already de-laminating isn't going to come apart without destroying both the luan and the insulation. So remove the aluminum cladding, rip out the luan and filler, sand and paint the rusty framing (assuming it is still structurally sound), and rebuild the wall. It has to be a labor of love or a fun challenge for your skills, cause it sure isn't an investment!