New Member: 76 Minnie Winnie

[sirlasvegas]

Hey everyone, new member here!  Names Darren from Las Vegas....  Recently acquired a 23' 1976 Minnie Winnie and looking to do some restoration on her.   Shes pretty "retro" at the moment, and look forward to bringing her up to speed with a more modern look. I tend to theme my vehicles to a certain degree, so this will probably be themed as my "Zombie Apocalypse RV"      Here's how she sits at the moment.

[LJ-TJ]

Well welcome aboard. Great looking rig. You and Frank should get along famously as he has a similar rig and does all the work on it himself.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Welcome to the group!  We look forward to hearing about your adventures, upgrades, and seeing lots of pictures!

Kev

[sirlasvegas]

I might add that this is my first RV.  I, more or less, got it for free on as part of a trade and thought it would be fun to tinker with.   My first big surprise with this thing was what a PITA it is to get an after market wheel or find stock tires at a reasonable price.  8.75x16.5... what an odd size?!   When I bought it all the tires were dry rotted (damn Vegas sun) so I found a lot of 6 used tires a few hours outside of town for $220.  Figure that would hold me over until I decided to fork out $1600 for 8 new tires (6 on the rig + 2 spares)
Yup, Ill be taking pictures as I go.  My old man has taken an interest in the RV as well, so I think it could be a fun "father son" project.  Im kinda surprised thumbing through some of the threads that more people dont take pictures of their work as they go.   

A few things I have planned off the top of the head:
Refreshing the cabinets/countertops-  Most of the wood seems to be in really good shape, with the exception of light leaking around a few of the window seals.  I will more than likely not gut the entire interior, but probably just give it a face lift with some colored counter laminate and some black FRP.   Primary goal is to get rid of the ugly 70's wood and orange counter-tops.
Flooring- Ill ditch the carpet for sure, and go with something a little more maintainable like roll out vinyl or vinyl tiles.
Roofing-  After reading some threads on roofing, I think Ill be stripping down the existing roofing, and depending on its condition replacing the wood panels or simply cleaning it up and rolling on some KOOL SEAL.  I can see a huge problem with rubberized roofing here in Vegas, and it just doesnt sound like a good idea or something I want on the RV.
Exterior- Factory color will go out the window.  I'm fairly proficient with body work and a paint gun, so Ill be cleaning up all the dings and then laying a coat of "Hot Rod Flatz Gun Smoke Metallic" single stage paint over it.  The "W" stripe around the RIG will be redone in matte black, and the under stripe in charcoal.  Lower 1" trim will get colored red and under the trimming (on the lower panels) will get rhino lined black.  Rims will be painted or powder coated matte black as well.

as far as aesthetics go, thats what I have in mind   

Thanks for the warm welcome !

Darren

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Sounds good Darren!

As far as pictures go, a lot of us keep pictures of our projects on Photobucket and other sites, and transfer a few via link when necessary when talking about projects.  There is only so much data a server can hold and all.  Or in my case, I squeeze in time to do the projects on my RV, in between traveling and running a small handcrafter business all over the country, so, while I do take pictures, they end up piling up on my computer and camera...and I have to wait until I have a good highspeed wifi connection at a campground to upload them to Photobucket, which is infrequent...or when I have time to go someplace like a public library with my laptop to use their wifi, which only happens at our slower shows...having time that is.  (This is mostly because we are have internet over the cell phone towers through Verizon, and are only allowed 5 gigs a month...and uploading pictures eats that up quick!).

And be careful going too dark on your outside paint, especially in the Vegas sun.  There was a reason they painted these things white, to reflect the sun and minimize how much solar heat gets inside the rig.  Nothing wrong with going darker, and it sounds like it will look pretty cool, just make sure your AC works awesome, or else prepare to buy a bigger unit, like a 15K BTU.

Sounds like some pretty neat ideas!  I bet its going to look awesome when you are done!  Hey, if you are going Zombie Apocalypse, you should get those creepy neon green led lights for under the rig while you are driving...lol!

Kev

[sirlasvegas]

Good advice!   I opted for the gunsmoke metallic since its only just a shade darker than your standard grey primer, with a light hint of metallic.  HOPING its light enough that it doesnt turn the RV into an oven lol

Gunsmoke on a Jeep


Im gunna limo tint the glass all the way around too, that should help bring the temps down a few degrees in the summer.

I know the trucks AC might not work, theres no belt hooked up to it and the PO cant say whether or not the compressor is any good.  However the overhead unit blows cold so thats a plus.

Gunna take it down to an RV shop next week and have them go through the mechanics and see what needs to be replaced.  The owner of the shop said he'll do a free inspection for me so I know what I need to focus on first.  I know she needs new brakes, theyre SUPER squishy.... and the Carb needs a rebuild (but a mechanic friend is doing it for free). 

[sirlasvegas]

Well hell, even though paint is still a ways out, I have a few friends that talked me out if the gun smoke metallic on this as well.  Maybe ill stick to white, then just accent it with the matte black and charcoal.   Hmmm will see I guess

[serenitygirl64]

your little rv is the exact layout that I have/had.  mind blower to see me house before i began work on mine.  I have lived in mine for 6 years and traveled to and from texas back to cali.  I can't move furniture around and 4 years was a long time to live in an aisle.  I hope your find as much joy as i have in my home on wheels.

[serenitygirl64]

however, i have gold (i call mustard)   instead of the burnt orange color.

[joanfenn]

He hasn't been on since 2012.  sorry