Water damage, the good the bad and other upgrades

[ceejay]

Weekend update.

I got a lot done this weekend. I got three of the four interior panels made and covered in vinyl. I still have one more panel to make, but I ran out of wood, so that will be next weekends project.

Great job! So nice you have the talent to do all that nice work and fix the problem  ... if that had happened to me I would have been screwed ... :blush:

 

[highdesertranger]

nice work. highdesertranger

 

[rvpopeye]

Very nice!

 

[shadow]

Looking real good! The sweat equity will be well worth it when you're all done.  

If you think the 1984 was built low quality, don't look at some of the brand new ones.  In the last 30 years they've perfected the art of cutting corners and keeping costs down even further.

I wasn`t putting down the build quality of my 1984 rv, I actually got lucky there. On my rv the whole over the cab bed area is fiberglass, the walls are aluminum framed with fiberglass outer walls and laminated walls on the inside. The is a fiberglass cap with a large door for basement storage, not stick and tin like most older rv`s are made of.

My complaint is with the low quality of the interior trim pieces that I have seen so far. Pieces that don`t even fit correctly, so they put a huge piece of trim over it to try and make it look right. For what you pay for an rv, then and now, there should be better quality for what you get.

 

[shadow]

Great job! So nice you have the talent to do all that nice work and fix the problem  ... if that had happened to me I would have been screwed ... :blush:

Thanks, but I am no carpenter what so ever, but I know just enough to get me by. Most of this is pretty straight forward, remove all of water damaged wood and replace with new wood. It really hasn`t been all that hard so far, just very time consuming.

 

[VanKitten]

That is beautiful work. I am learning how this is done by watching you! Thank you for this thread!

 

[shadow]

That is beautiful work.   I am learning how this is done by watching you!   Thank you for this thread!

Thanks.

I am learning how this is done just by doing it, and maybe it can help some others out that need to do similar repairs.
One nice thing about doing this is that you can make changes or improvements along the way to make things better over all.

On my rv I found a lot of wasted space on the over the cab bed area. I was able to add four more inches of usable space up there,
and the center section that opened up to allow more access to the cab area, I took that out and made the over the cab area one solid piece, so now I can fit a full size queen mattress up there.

Stay tuned, lots more to come.

 

[ArtW]

Nice work
When I first moved onto my land there was a junk Travel trailer already here, so I started getting Ideas, and began tearing it apart
then i saw how it was built
Then i stopped LOL

 

[shadow]

Weekend update.

Well, I thought I had the new side trim panels made perfect, but because of the changes I made to the over cab bed area, they were off in so many places. They were to short at the top and bottom, and to wide in other places.

So, I started from scratch and made a new trim panels with some improvements. I made them taller were they needed to be, and instead of having a separate trim piece that goes over the doors, I made it all one piece, and I think it looks better.

This is what the original trim pieces looked like.

This is what the new custom made trim panels look like.

Here it is installed.

I have already ordered the speakers, they should be here this week. I also ordered the new buttons that snap over the
screws. They are expensive, $17.00 dollars a dozen, I ordered two dozen. I will probably need another five dozen before
I`m done.

 

[VanKitten]

That looks great! This information is arriving at the perfect time for me...I am about to try to figure out the same issue for my own overhead.

Where are you ordering the buttons? Is the panel covering and buttons all from the same place, or do you cover the buttons with the fabric yourself?

Great looking job!

 

[user 13531]

Awesome job!

 

[shadow]

That looks great!   This information is arriving at the perfect time for me...I am about to try to figure out the same issue for my own overhead.

Where are you ordering the buttons?    Is the panel covering and buttons all from the same place, or do you cover the buttons with the fabric yourself?

Great looking job!

I ordered the buttons from ebay, they can be ordered in two different sizes, and in many different colors. But like I said before, they arn`t cheap.
http://stores.ebay.com/ec-enterprises?_trksid=p2047675.l2563


As for the panels, The panels with the speaker holes are cut from 1/2'' plywood, then covered with foam padding that was saved from the old panels, and then covered with new vinyl. The panel that goes up the side and over the door is made out of door skin, its a very thin wood that is about an 1/8'' thick. its has to be as thin as possible to make the bend. Its covered with closed cell foam, and then the beige vinyl.

I spent many hours trying to match the original vinyl color, but I couldn`t find anything close to it. So I went with beige vinyl, its kind of a neutral color that will work for me. I found the vinyl I bought on ebay, you buy it by the yard

When you get ready to order the vinyl, be sure to order marine grade vinyl. Its moisture and mildew resistant and will hold up better in an rv.

 

[rvpopeye]

Lookin' good Shadow!

 

[Ballenxj]

Weekend update.

<----snip---->

Here it is installed.

<----and snip---->

Very NICE indeed! I hope you took this opportunity to upgrade your speaker wires too.  

 

[shadow]

Very NICE indeed! I hope you took this opportunity to upgrade your speaker wires too.  

The speaker wire is just one more thing in this project to make you scratch your head in a wtf moment.
The factory speaker wire used in my rv is not even speaker wire, its solid core phone wire, no joke.

The radio, the speakers, and speaker wire will all be replaced eventually. The major project right now is to finish the over cab rebuild first,
and then move on to the next part of the project.

 

[Almost There]

I ordered the buttons from ebay, they can be ordered in two different sizes, and in many different colors. But like I said before, they arn`t cheap.
http://stores.ebay.com/ec-enterprises?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

When you get ready to order the vinyl, be sure to order marine grade vinyl. Its moisture and mildew resistant and will hold up better in an rv.

Here's an alternative for the screw covers.

http://www.pro-dec.com/screw-caps-screw-covers/snap-caps


When I was working on the interior of Lady Arabella, I bought my marine vinyl from a marine upholstery shop...got a better price than I could anywhere else. I also got the 1/8" closed cell foam from them for underlay between the vinyl and the wood backing panel. It made a whole lot of difference in the look of the finished panel.

 

[shadow]

I do a lot of searching for the best price before I buy anything for my rv, and so far I have found the best price for vinyl and
closed cell foam on ebay. I use 1/4'' closed cell foam under the vinyl, and it does make a difference in the finished panel.

 

[jaxtonsgram]

[quote='shadow' pid='264855' dateline=

I have those same curtain blinds in my 88. Nora

 

[shadow]

I have those same curtain blinds in my 88. Nora

Any idea were I can buy new blinds ?. The blinds in my rv are 32 years old, and they are rotted out.

If anyone has a link to a place that sells replacement rv blinds, new or used, please post it. I have done a little searching
but havn`t really come up with anything.

 

[highdesertranger]

here you go, http://www.stevesblindsandwallpaper...=b&network=g&gclid=CPfo-_XkzMMCFYZbfgod15EAkw . highdesertranger