My rig..

[FastEddie313]

I bought this a year or so ago and have been working on it off and on for a while making it decent..
This was the craigslist pic..

He was asking like $2500 or $3500 but I got it for $1,300 cash because I drove away, it's an 81 Holiday Rambler 33 or 35 foot with chevy 454BBC-400 turbo trans.
It was definitely not in the best shape but I chose this one because it is all aluminum framed and aluminum skinned so it will never rot away, structurally at least.. 
The interior is actually pretty good with very little water damage, one soft spot on the ceiling inside a cupboard but that's about it, just paneling..
The first thing I did was put on my gas mask and strip the roof seams with a wire wheel on my angle grinder, then replaced with elastomeric stuff with a fiber tape layer in the middle..
Dropped the fuel tank and replaced all the fuel lines to the engine and generator, rebuilt the onan carb and fuel pump, runs good now.. 
Replaced some floor in the bathroom where the washing machine area is.. I think their washing machine leaked..  
Converted the rusted out hot air choke to electric and fabbed a block off plate.. 
Had a locksmith make me keys for everything.. $5 per unique key
Gone through a lot of wiring..
Fixed the converter, but I have a monster inverter/converter that will be going in it, 6k watt 12v to 120ac and 190 amps 120 to 12v charge iirc.. 
I think I'm going to buy 4 or 6 deep cells.. 
I put a mirror china toilet in it, ceramic one..
New huge kitchen sink out of an old travco and fixed up my kitchen counter a bit..
Replaces some Ts in the water lines that leaked a bit.. 
Got my hydraulic leveling jacks going, HWH.. 

I know it's not really a "vandweller" type thing but I like your "cheap living" ideals and am also very interested in the Arizona area that is so popular with you guys..

It needs tires bad, blew one on the way home with it about 40 miles but I brought my own spare, but that will be the last thing I buy before it goes anywhere so they don't sit unused and waste away.. 

Some things I still need to do are - 
Build a new shower base and replace the cracked bathroom sing with a nice stainless one..
Fix this seemingly powerless hydraulic wiper motor or convert to electric..
Screw with all the exterior lights that don't work, half do, randoms.. 
Flush brake fluid to be safe, but it has recent receipts for $2500 in brake work and recent engine tune up..
It needs some rivets replaced here n there, it rivets together similar to an airstream.. 
Truck side heater needs a new switch and some screwing with, free'd up all the actuator cables etc.. 
Have the monster propane tank tested and/or filled and go through all the propane system.. Was originally dual fuel.. 
Front airbags or install stiffer springs.. 
Had the electric steps going but 1 motor died after 30 reps or so.. 

Lot of little stuff.. 
Don't buy one of these things unless you can fix it yourself, I could easily sink massive cash into it farming the work out and be upside down in no time.. 

I think I'm in it prolly $1700-$1900 plus my time now but that's no big deal.. I'm sure I could get my $$ back out of it if I decided to go with something else, like a van.. 

I loaned it to my sister to stay in last fall on my moms property and now it's snowed in good, prolly another month or so until I can get it out and back to my property where I live and get back at monkeying with it..

I really do like it a lot but it won't be cheap to go anywhere.. I think it will cost me about $750 in gas to get to AZ +- $100 or so.. 
They say (other vintage HR owners) that it will get 6-8 MPG pulling a 5K# truck 4 down.. Not too bad.. 
It's cool to drive, it gets up and goes faster than you would think..
On the road it feels really solid, not creeky like a lot of other ones.. 

This wall/windows leaked so I replaced the paneling and floor.. 

after

I fixed that hanging light too..
I'll prolly put down a wood floor.. 

I love the dash and the vinal material it is wrapped in, along with the upper bed bunk and upper cabinets and fridge front are all the same material.. 

This is when I ripped the cracked tub out of it and some floor i replaced so their is a mess.. Looks like I had the front AC cover off also.. Had a rag sitting on the TV antenna.. That spotlight on front is supposed to aim from a joystick but I haven't messed with it yet, I might not ever lol..
The front cap above the windshield there is the only fiberglass on the whole thing..

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Thinking about painting the front and back ends black but I'm not sure about the sides yet.. 
I have half a mind to hit it with aircraft paint stripper and just leave it bare aluminum like airstreams, leave the black bottom black and all bare from there to the roof?

Iv'e fixed so many little things it's impossible to list all, but I really really like that it is a SOLID platform, all aluminum skin, roof, and wall/ceiling aluminum I beam framing, so it wont just delaminate and rot in half like most others will.. This along with the old school Chevy drivetrain I believe it is a good base for a project.. 
I found 4 stainless wheel simulator hubcaps for it but still need 2 more, I live close to a massive junkyard so I have access to scavenge parts for almost free.. 

It's actually in pretty livable shape right now.. It's cleaned up and homey inside. These pics are not recent. 

Maybe it will never go anywhere, but I like it.. Nice guest house really..

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Very cool rig!! I'd be afraid to drive anything that long, but it's very retro and I love retro!!

 

[OutdoorFT]

I wish I was more handy. Itd be fun to fix one up to how I want

 

[FastEddie313]

Very cool rig!! I'd be afraid to drive anything that long, but it's very retro and I love retro!!

I love retro too!!
I love older well made stuff that you don't see these days, I'm a bit of a tool collector too and a bit of a picker of all things..

This is an old school Holiday Rambler made by the real original Holiday Rambler company before it was bought out by Harley Davidson and then later Monaco..
I'm not much one for lusting after "new" stuff..

 

[bullfrog]

Great job! I've got a 28' 1983 Barth that is basically the same drive train, traveled for a couple years towing a car full of tools and got 8 to 10 MPG doing 65 to 70 MPH. It is a great way to travel but don't let it sit for long periods. If propane tank becomes an issue we put in a T before the regulator and added a shut off valve with a 20 lb tank adapter hose, so we could shut off main tank and use bottles. Even though it hasn't moved in ten years it still makes a good cheap place to live.

 

[Ballenxj]

Those Holiday Ramblers are very well built, and top of the line coaches. I almost bought one twice, but they wanted more than I could pay at the time.
Congrats!

 

[DuneElliot]

Not all of us are vandwellers here...mine is a 27ft 5W...it's more the mindset I think.

Anyway, great rig. Look forward to seeing the finished project

 

[LeeRevell]

First priority has to be fixing any leaks. Aluminum absolutely does corrode, though a bit differently than iron. Iron rusts from the outside in, easy to spot and fix. Aluminum oxidizes from the inside, resulting in internal weakness. It's corrosion appears as chalky white or clear granular, like salt.
If you paint it, it needs a good primer. Paint doesn't adhere to aluminum as well as it does to iron/steel.
Love that dash! Kinda like an aircraft cockpit.

 

[bullfrog]

I just noticed you have the fold down table that is enclosed. I found all sorts of neat little things at the bottom of that box. Be sure to check it out!

 

[Bud Smiley]

That is a really nice rig. Congrats on it.

 

[FastEddie313]

I took a hammer and beat the floor in here on all the soft spots... Washing machine area..

Then I cut it out the best I could to make its edges land on the steel underfloor, it's like 2" square steel tubing under there..
Put in some blocks of wood where it wouldn't land..

Then I made a cardboard template because I'm better at wild construction than engineered construction..

Then I cut my board, glued the crap out of anything it would land on with liquid nails, screwed it down where I could, and screwed another piece across it to hold it flush where I couldn't screw it until the glue dried, actually left it like that for like 3 months..

That fixed that..
All the floor in this HR is 3/4".. I bought 1 full sheet and it did all the floor I needed to replace..

 

[FastEddie313]

This is what I have to work with for a shower...

I'm pretty stumped here..
I know I basically need to build a false floor over the drain plumbing, but then what?
How do I build a shower base?

It is a strange shape with that 1 angled wall, and curved rear wall, so their really isn't something I can just buy to fit..

I think my only real option is to build the false floor, then lay down a 1" thick or so sheet of stiff foamboard insulation, then contour that foamboard with my angle grinder and a wire wheel sloping it down toward the drain, and then find a sheet of smooth aluminum and bend it up for a shower floor with about 1 foot bent up walls around the perimiter including attachment lips for the corners..

I just don't know..

Any good ideas would really be appreciated..

If you look in that 1st pic in this post you will see that pop top pipe vent thing, I'm planning on cutting that out and putting it, or another, back on the pipe behind the toilet in the rear wall, to get it out of my shower area..

This shower is the biggest hangup thus far, as far as being handy, carpentry is my weakness.. Hence me wanting to make it out of metal, lol..

 

[FastEddie313]

This is a rough sketch of my idea to bend up a shower base..



idk..
wt heck else can I really do? Not my forte..

 

[hepcat]

This is a rough sketch of my idea to bend up a shower base..



idk..
wt heck else can I really do? Not my forte..

Well, if you can't find a commercial replacement shower/bath stall  sized for your opening, then your idea is exactly what you'll need to do...  either in aluminum or galvanized sheet.  Stainless would be awesome...  but likely a little on the pricey side.  You might be able to piece something together out of panels if you look at the inexpensive shower stall kits at home improvement stores.  They're basically plastic sheeting that you can cut to size and then seal the seams.

The old P-30 chassis is a solid one.  The 454 can be a little iffy, especially in a Class A application because it's entirely inside the doghouse and doesn't cool very effectively.  Back in '99--03 I had an '85 Airstream 325 on that P-30 chassis.  If it'd had a rear island queen I'd probably still have that old beast.  At 6'5" tall, I just couldn't sleep comfortably on a side double though.  I had to do a little re-building in that one too...  I ended up building a new pedestal for the commode.

 

[FastEddie313]

That is a really nice rig. Congrats on it.

Thanks

 Back in '99--03 I had an '85 Airstream 325 on that P-30 chassis.

Quite similar actually, same built in blender (mine missing), same leveling jacks..

BTW, you wouldn't believe some of the things I found in this MH, unmentionable in such polite company..

Thanks to everyone else for the nice replies too..

 

[bullfrog]

On the shower floor you might scab out the walls and cut a 3/4" piece of plywood above the drain pipe but below the floor drain. Then use foam board to form your shower pan. Cover foam with Poor Mans Fiberglass (canvas and Titebond III ) then lay fiberglass over that and up the wall as fiberglass will melt foam but not treated canvas. A lot of shower pans suggest you use dense spray foam after installation to keep them from flexing so I would say foam as an underlay would be okay.

 

[rvpopeye]

Any rig is more than welcome here . Vandwelling is a lifestyle not a type of rig.
Welcome aboard !

 

[Charlotte's Web]

Preservation/restoration ROCKS.
Tho I am hoping to keep my rig to under 20 feet, I always check out these timeless beauties  when perusing craigslist. 
Once out there on the road you will, no doubt, enjoy entertaining in your new digs.  
What an awesome accomplishment.

 

[ArtW]

All rigs are cool rigs
except the $100+k rigs, those rigs suck
because I can't have one
therfore they suck
lol