1974 Winnabago Minnie Winnie Project - the fun begins!

[minniewebbie]

 Hello again,

I am currently in the process or repair/Restore/modifying my 1974 Winnebago Minnie Winnie (now dubbed the Minnie Webbie).



I have posted short introduction on another page but I thought I would start a projects Page to track my progress and try to show what I have working on.   
The first thing that I did, (aside from jumping in head-first by buying the motorhome ) was to put together a list of things I plan to do on this project:

Projects (in vague priority order)

Clean and evaluate
Prime and paint interior
Remove flooring
Fix water damage
Replace leaking vents/roof holes
Re-cover re-seal roof
Evaluate floor plan change
Move appliances
                Move propane connections
Test all appliances
Replace Roof AC unit
Replace Refrigerator
Test plumbing and water systems
                Move fresh water tank/plumbing
Test electrical
                Install improved inverter
Install interior LED lights
Battery replacement
                Engine
                Power battery system
Fix re-seal /windows
Replace tires /wheels
Evaluate drivetrain / leaks
Engine maintenance
Drivetrain maintenance
Replace from windshield
Purchase overhead bunk mattress
Make/purchase Cushions for rear bead/seat
Upgrade / replace cab seats
Fix dash lighting
Cab flooring
Install Curtains / window coverings
Repair / replace roof ladder
Evaluate roof rack
Purchase generator
Upgrade driver’s mirrors
Install upgraded exterior lighting
Install Awning / screen enclosure
Evaluate exterior 
                Aluminum repair
                Buff/wax exterior
                Paint scheme
                Cab/overhead flashing
Headlight upgrade

While the list is fairly long, it is probably not comprehensive (unfortunately) since I will inevitably find more things to do, find things I have missed and generally just changed my mind on what or how to do things.

So, I will start off with what I am actually working on or have accomplished some progress on.

I am multi-tasking many of these items  as you will see:

Clean and evaluate                         Complete
Prime and paint interior                   in progress
Remove flooring                              Complete
Fix water damage                            in progress
Replace leaking vents/roof holes     in progress
Re-cover re-seal roof                       Researching
Evaluate floor plan change               in progress
Move appliances (Furnace)               in progress
                Move propane connections
Test all appliances
Replace Roof AC unit                        Researching       
Replace Refrigerator                         Researching       
Replace tires /wheels                       Researching       


Clean and evaluate                         Complete

Before:





Cleaning started:




After attempting to vacuum, Carpet was the first casualty:




Despite the stains, the floor is solid…. Unlike some of the ceiling area:
Vent area above the top bunk





After pulling back the veneer

 
Too much de-lamination, so I kept removing the Luan board



I will come back to this later… with the full panel removal and replacement when I am finished.

In the meantime, I check the bad spot in the bathroom ceiling:



Close up


After pulling back damaged wood and finding more rotten material



The water had leaked in and gone both directions on the wall, inside the bathroom and outside to the Bunk sidewall





I started pulling and cutting away material until I got to solid foam/plywood



Finally back to solid material on the bunk wall…



And inside the Bathroom…



Well, that was painful… but now that the exploratory surgery is done, the healing can begin…


Oh, and the culprit behind all this semi-hidden water damage:


Turns out teher was a missing Vent cover on the room above the toilet vent, I missed that completely when i looked at it before the purchase. 

Anyway, More on the way!

[zaa]

Nice! It already looks pretty good on the outside!


That wallpaper, though, I thought mine was ugly! I look forward to seeing how this progresses.


Z

[sasktrini]

Great start!  Bonus that you found an obvious leak… the rest of your roof may be fine, leak-wise.  You can test by using a garden hose to spray on the roof and around the windows to see if you find the rest is water-tight or not.

[Rickf1985]

Man! You are way to organized for me, or most of us on here. We just dive in and hope for the best. Being a mechanic I always look at the driveline first since that is going to be the most expensive to fix and could decide whether the rig is even worth buying. But then again, I never have a plan beyond that like you do. Excellent work.

[xerofall]

I choose not to look upward when I'm in my RV, haha... is that ignorance or denial?

[minniewebbie]

 

Nice! It already looks pretty good on the outside!

That wallpaper, though, I thought mine was ugly! I look forward to seeing how this progresses.

Z

Thanks! It is pretty decent overall, but there are a lot of cosmetic blemishes that you cannot see in the pics… kinda like its “good side”
I am trying to figure out a way to keep a small wallpaper and carpet sample in the RV as a reminder of its roots…. May not happen though since the spouse has other plans.

Great start!  Bonus that you found an obvious leak… the rest of your roof may be fine, leak-wise.  You can test by using a garden hose to spray on the roof and around the windows to see if you find the rest is water-tight or not.

Well, we have had multiple afternoon downpours over the last few weeks, the good news is there are no leaks since I have covered the two known locations.. I will keep my fingers crossed…

Man! You are way to organized for me, or most of us on here. We just dive in and hope for the best. Being a mechanic I always look at the driveline first since that is going to be the most expensive to fix and could decide whether the rig is even worth buying. But then again, I never have a plan beyond that like you do. Excellent work.

Thanks, I actually have a long term plan to upgrade to a more modern drivetrain (probably VERY long-term J)… I grew up driving old muscle cars, but modern turbo cars are my current obsession…Maybe is forced induction in the Minnie Winnies future!

[minniewebbie]

 

I choose not to look upward when I'm in my RV, haha... is that ignorance or denial?

Denial is bliss I always say…. Or is that what my wife says I say…? 

[minniewebbie]

 So, I finally have time for a quick update:


I started with the repairs on the wall/roof area…I debated on several different repair techniques before starting but I ended up deciding to cut out the bad area and install wood for reinforcement rather than duplicating the standard construction techniques. 

Since I did not have a way to screw in the 2X4 from the outside I decided on good old liquid nails to hold the wood in place against the outer skin.   

The roof/trim securing screws were removed and the lumber glued into place, then the screws were re-inserted into the wood, clamping it while it dried, they are still in place and the next day the entire area was much sturdier! 

Here are a few pics of the work:

Before




Overhead bunk wall after



Bathroom wall before



Bathroom wall after




I started testing adhesives for creating roof panel… I had read conflicting reports of what worked and what did not, so I just wanted to test for myself.

Here are 2 side by side tests of locktite PL300 and locktite Quick grab construction adhesive:

Pieces glued to wood with no clamping force (pressed on my hand and walked away)

Both pieces adhered well, could not be removed by hand, when I used the scraper to peel away the foam, you can see the foam is the failure point not the adhesive.

Small area destructive testing:

Side by side:




locktite PL300



locktite Quick grab



While this was in progress, I talked to a co-worker who is an Airplane builder ( full size aircraft, not RC models) and he suggested Adhesive epoxy for the roof panel… He also got me a deal on some great materials so, bonus!

I then constructed a test panel with (the Luan on both sides of the foam panel) with the Epoxy adhesive.  I can tell the results were even better since the epoxy penetrates the wood and makes it even stronger, as opposed to just bonding the foam to the wood.

I was able to stand on the test panel (36 inch span) and it easily supported my weight (190 lbs)

Test panel

Test panel destructive testing, you can see where the panel was not compressed together with the weights I used on my quick testing (just put a 60lb dumbbell on the center)





This test showed the need for a strong even clamping force while the epoxy dried, you can see the bare spots that did not adhere well since the weight was not out on the end of the panel...


So,  while I work out how to go about building the full size panel, I will try to get some other things completed. 

More updates coming…

[sasktrini]

Nice glimpse into adhesive comparisons!  Interested.  Am thinking of re-doing panels I've used Liquid Nails on, and using a contact cement.

[Rickf1985]

You have to keep in mind that most of the adhesives you are using have a limit on the size of a gap they will adhere. Most need a tight fit and most specify a clamped fit. I know the Lock tite does since I use it at work and it is brutally tight when done right. The wood will fail before the glue joint. Also, you seem to have used way to much glue, you only need a thin coat. That way it is glue bonding wood and not glue bonding more glue.

[minniewebbie]

 Hello again,

Slight change of direction over the weekend, I have been looking for a replacement A/C unit for the Minnie-Webbie to upgrade the broken, dirty old swamp cooler that was currently installed on the RV.

Well I happened to find a A/C unit advertised on craigslist on Friday, very near my house.  So, I went and checked it out, it looked and tested fine (owner had it set-up and working in his garage).

Long story short, I bought it.   

So, Sunday, I pulled of the old unit:



Cleaned up the Opening/Roof area with a wire brush attachment on a drill:

Before:

   

After:



There was a Roof Seam directly in front of the A/C Unit mounting location, so when I cleaned up the area, I took all the silicone off the old seam, cleaned it up with water and then mineral spirits and taped the seam and the area under the A/C unit. 

I did not get a separate pic of the tape job though. 

I then moved the A/C unit up onto the roof with the help of my Son and Daughter, using a long extension ladder as a ramp to slide the unit up onto the RV roof.

There was a close call while transitioning the unit onto the roof, luckily we were helped by a passing Good Samaritan who jumped out of his truck (he was just driving by) and helped me push the unit the last few feet up onto the roof!   Lucky for me! 

Anyway, I then got the unit positioned and clamped down:



You can see the Seam that was taped before the unit was installed. 

Then came the inside control unit:

 
You can see I have a temporary plug installed so I can run the unit with an extension cord while I redo some of the RV wiring.   

The all that was left was to install the top cover:


and enjoy the new-found Coolness! 

This was a slightly unexpected project that just got done due to the A/C coming available suddenly at a reasonable price.  But, I am happy with how it has turned out! 

[Bnova]

Wow, looks nice!

[minniewebbie]

You have to keep in mind that most of the adhesives you are using have a limit on the size of a gap they will adhere. Most need a tight fit and most specify a clamped fit. I know the Lock tite does since I use it at work and it is brutally tight when done right. The wood will fail before the glue joint. Also, you seem to have used way to much glue, you only need a thin coat. That way it is glue bonding wood and not glue bonding more glue.

Yes, I agree, it may be hard to see in the pictures, but the failure point in all three adhesives was definitely the foam. 

The resin is also much thinner and will not do as much gap fill as the other adhesives as you stated.   I think the Loctite adhesives would be a good choice and much easier (no mixing of epoxy, less mess etc..)

But, in the end, I felt that for my application (meaning building of a foam core sandwich panel) I think the Resin will result in the strongest assembly.   

So that is why I plan to use this method.   Now to figure out the clamping method...  Hm?

[minniewebbie]

 Ok, after the slight detour form the master plan due to new (used) the A/C installation….now back to the Ceiling/roof repair!

First problem to overcome:
How to assemble and glue the panel?

Since the material would not be flexible after building the sandwich panel and the panel itself would be too big to bring inside after completing it, I needed to do the work inside the RV.  This required assembling the material inside the RV then gluing and clamping everything in a limited apace. 

So, I moved the panels in one at a time, since they were still flexible when separate.  This did not include the Styrofoam…I ended up just cutting that in half so that I could get in inside the RV.

I then measured and cut all the panels (wood and foam) while they were placed on the upper bunk (directly under the ceiling area to be repaired).   

Now I would be able to glue the assembly together and then lift it into place after it was completed.

This left me with next problem:
How to distribute an even clamping force across the whole panel while it dried?

There were many possibilities, I would have liked to vacuum bad the panel, but I did not have the supplies readily available and I did not want to wait for them to be shipped.  So after much deliberation, I decided to try “hydraulic pressure” as an alternative…

Basically, the idea was that I would weigh down the panel the weight of the water. 

Since 1 cu/ft of water weighs about 63lbs, I figured it would be the equivalent of placing 60lbs of weigh on every foot of the panel, but at a relatively low cost.

I ended up buying a kids wading pool from K-Mart (approx. 4”x8”) to hold the water.  I placed it over the panel immediately after gluing to compress the layers together.  I filled up the wading pool to about 10inches depth and left water in until the panel resin was cured.

It worked out well, as I ended up with a very flat and well adhered panel.   The completed panel easily supports my weight (and probably a lot more) once it was dry.

My method was as follows:

Place Luan (1/8 in plywood) panel on bunk (directly under are to be repaired)





Measure and cut to fit location

Test fit and trim as necessary
Place second luan panel under the first and trace outline
Cut second panel to match the first
Place Styrofoam between panels,  using the wood at template, cut foam to match

Now that the panels all match, it’s time to glue:

Here is what I used…




Mix up epoxy resin in batch just big enough to cover panel

Brush on a thick layer of epoxy on Wood panel

Lay styrofaom down onto the wood

Repeat resin mixing and gluing step as before, this time on the Styrofoam

Lay the second piece of Luan onto Styrofoam

Place partially inflated wading pool over the glued panel, making sure the entire surface is covered by the pool bottom



Fill the pool with water (I went to 10 inch depth)






While filling, I checked repeatedly for alignment of the panels making sure they did not move out of place.



Once the pool was filled, I checked on it every hour or so for possible water leaks and or pool deflation.

As I mentioned, I let the weight sit for about 9 hours, then drained the pool back out using the siphon action from the same garden hose I filled it with.



You can see here how I embedded the Wire for the overhead Vent Fan that I will be installing when I finish the ceiling:



I had no issues with air or water leaks and the pool cost was about $20, so overall it was pretty cost effective.

Here is the finished panel ready for installation:



Next up…  Gluing the panel into the roof area!   

[M & J]

Man that is completely wierd filling a pool with water to bond it.

But WOW what a great idea.  2 thumbs up sir.

[Oz]

I know, right!  It covers the whole area, molds to the different contours, applies even pressure all around, and it's not expensive!  Bloody RV ingenuity at its best.

[minniewebbie]

 

Man that is completely wierd filling a pool with water to bond it.

But WOW what a great idea.  2 thumbs up sir.

Yes… you will probably find out that I am full of them…weird ideas, that is…

I know, right!  It covers the whole area, molds to the different contours, applies even pressure all around, and it's not expensive!  Bloody RV ingenuity at its best.

Thanks,  I appreciate the appreciation! 

[minniewebbie]

 
Ok, so next step in the roof ceiling repair…. I wanted to install the panel into the ceiling.   I had been happy with the Epoxy resin I used to assemble the panel so I wanted to try using this same method to attach the panel onto the aluminum skin. 

First I cleaned up the underside of the aluminum roof:

Pre:




Post:



I used a wire brush on a drill to scrape most of the old glue off, then mineral spirits to clean up the metal.


Ok, roof ready…


Panel ready…





Now to figure out how to raise it into position…


Well, after much deliberation, I finally just tried the simple approach and used scrap 2x4’s cut to the right length.    I then used old flooring scraps as shims to get raise the supports to get the right pressure from the bottom.

This was a lot easier with the help of a few extra hands… again my son and daughter helped with this assembly.   It was somewhat stressful since I was worried about the resin setting before I got everything placed…it was probably 95 degrees outside which would shorten the cure time…

Anyway, here is the panel lifted into place from the inside:



Since I had no way to place large clamps on the outside, I decided on a similar method to when I built the panels… Pool Power!

I had the same wading pool from before up on the roof and after lifting the panel from the inside, I in filled up the pool to press the roof aluminum down onto the panel…






I then went back inside and adjusted the shims to press the roof up into place in a few key areas..

So, now I just had to monitor the pool fill level and top off the air as needed. 
I did have a slight problem when the water weight pushed out one side of the pool after a few hours of slow deflation and started to let water out of the pool.  (my son lost the air stopper when he was laying out the pool for inflation so I had to make a stopped out of an old lifter and some electrical tape… D:oH! )

After inflating the pool a second time (this time with more air!) I was able to refill the partially lost water and did not have any more problems. 

After leaving everything in place into the night (about 9hrs total). I simply drained the pool using siphon action back into the yard with the fill hose. 

Other than some minor stressful moments getting things in place to cure, it went pretty smoothly.   

I will have some evaluation after I spend some more time up on the roof installing the new Vent Fans. 

[Schmitti]

The idea and your reaction with the pool is absolutely awesome

Thomas

[minniewebbie]

The idea and your reaction with the pool is absolutely awesome

Thomas

Thanks for the positive response!

By the way, I have read every page of your project updates.....your project results are now an aspiration for my Minnie... of course mine is just on a just on a smaller scale (maybe logarithmically smaller!  )   

[minniewebbie]

Alright, well now that I have roof that will not collapse under my weight…(I hope)…I have started the install of the new roof vents.

This is a fairly minor project, but I was happy to be able to get the roof sealed from all of the known leaks!

The biggest time saver I can recommend after doing several jobs now where I had to get to clean metal to ensure adhesion…it use a wire brush on a drill attachment (or something similar), this ended up being the fastest way to clear off all the dirt, rust, old sealer etc…

Here is what I used, before and after:




Ok, on to the install, the steps are simple, but they may vary from RV to RV, but they should be pretty universal…

1)      Clean off the old sealant
2)      Remove the old vent

   
• Cut under  the edge with a razor knife to loosen
• Slide a sparkling knife (flexible seemed to help) and lift to pry the old vent off

3)      Clean opening

   
• (cover the hole with cardboard or the like from the inside if you don’t want your interior filled with stick particle)
• Use the wire brush to remove the old sealant
• Wipe the cleaned area with mineral spirits or the like

4)      Install new vent

   
• Screw the new unit down with the provided screws

5)      Seal

   
• Self-leveling sealant worked great for me

In my case, I had to add in the step of cutting a new hole for the overhead vent since I had installed a new roof panel.

I simply cut a hole in the panel by using the opening in the metal as a guide, drilling holes in the corners and inserting a saber saw to cut the opening, being careful to miss the wiring I built into the panel. 

Once I had the hole cut I just followed the steps above from step #3.

For the rest of the vents, it was steps #1-5.

Missing toilet vent… just need to clean:




Tools of the trade:



Cleaned:




Cutting loose the old shower vent fan old:






Cleaned:


Opened edges more to install new fan:




More vents:



All Cleaned up:





After several hours cutting, scraping and cleaning the openings, the rest of the install was quick!

Finished pictures:



Roof is already dirty again by the time it all dried due to nearby tree, Good for shade... bad for clean roofs!



Inside... before trim installed!







Ok, the roof officially has no more openings!


Notice I said “no more openings” not “no more leaks”

I still plan to seal the whole roof with EDPM roofing at some point to make sure that there are “no more leaks”, but this is a good start. 

[Rickf1985]

Great work! I love the pool idea. One plus to using it on the roof that you did not mention, you were talking about the high temps and the fast cure times. The cool water in the pool on the metal roof would slow down the cure times and make for a better bond.