Strykersd's 1971 C20 Brave

[strykersd]

Found a smoking deal on a new Grape Solar 200-watt kit that included the panels, charger controller, a 100AH 12v battery, all the wiring and a 450-watt inverter for $280!  I went to install the battery only to find out that with it's current divider I could only fit the one 100AH 12v battery and my larger starter battery.  So out came the grinder and welder and I replaced the divider with a piece of angle iron and was able to fit both and also my two automotive batteries for extra capacity.  Here's a pic of the final setup.






Next up I had to tackle my transmission issues.  Although I've drain and refilled the transmission twice there is still water in my transmission.  With the help of buddies we did our own  power flush.  We disconnected the transmission cooler lines and put them in a bucket, started the engine for a minute or two while another guy pour ATF in the dipstick tube and we did this until the fluid came out clean. 


Here's a shot of what the fluid looked like when we started



If anyone else ever has to do this, Pep Boys sells 3.75 quarts of ATF for $13.  Considering I was just pumping and dumping it, the savings was much appreciated!  I ended up having to buy eight of them



The last thing I had to tackle with my transmission woes was my transmission cooler.  The transmission cooler in my radiator was rotted out, I used the tiny auxiliary transmission cooler to limp the RV back to my house, so I needed something new.  I'm big on the idea of KISS, keep it simple stupid.  With this in mind I decided against getting another radiator with a built in oil cooler and went with a standalone cooler.  After researching it, I bought the largest transmission cooler I could find that still had 3/8" barb fittings, Tru-Cool's Max 40,000GVW that includes a cold weather bypass valve.  Here's a pic of my new bar and fin transmission cooler on top and my old tube and fin cooler on bottom. 



All installed onto the Brave









I have a few more parts in the garage for the Brave so definitely more to come!

[M & J]

 

[legomybago]

All that work and you still have the Harbor Freight orange straps!!! I have those same straps. It's one of the only things from Harbor Freight I think are good. That and maybe their moving blankets.

[Rickf1985]

That transmission is toast. The clutches will be steamed off of the backers. Trust me on this and pull that trans and rebuild it, It IS going to let you down. I have done enough of them from Jeeps to know that once you get the strawberry milkshake you are done. And if that water was from the coolant them you also have silicates (sand) in there also.

[strykersd]

That transmission is toast. The clutches will be steamed off of the backers. Trust me on this and pull that trans and rebuild it, It IS going to let you down. I have done enough of them from Jeeps to know that once you get the strawberry milkshake you are done. And if that water was from the coolant them you also have silicates (sand) in there also.

Yeah it's probably toast.  My goal is to just get it driveable to take the RV to a city campground that's three miles from my house for an overnight to get the hang of this RV'ing thing and test out all the systems and also to take it to a Chargers game to tailgate in before the end of the season.  I work at a college and have time off at the end of December and early January so I'll pull it then.  We're planning a big trip in the Brave in February so it'll definitely be rebuilt by then.  It's not worth the risk of ending up on the side of the road hundreds of miles from home.

[Rickf1985]

I am going to bet you do not make it to those first trips, be sure your towing coverage is up to date! Right now you are looking at a soft parts rebuild, push it and then you are looking at hard parts and the price doubles or more.

[strykersd]

After thinking about it more, although my AAA membership is up to date, I decided to heed Rick's warning and have my transmission rebuilt.  I started pulling it out yesterday and am hoping to have it rebuilt and back in by the weekend.  Thanksfully TH400's are cheap to rebuild, it'll be somewhere between $450-750.


Now onto the progress.  I have a feeling that this RV hasn't driven in a few years so almost all the exterior lights had to be complete replaced, bulbs replaced or contacts cleaned.  After adding half nine LED lights and replacing three dead bulbs I finally have all my running lights sorted out!






We also started painting the Brave.  We're repaining all the gold this bluish/grey color.  Here's a preview of the paint job 




While working on all the exterior bulbs I bumped into one of the covers of my reverse lights and it was so brittle that the cover fell right off.  So I decided to take the opportunity to replace them with brighter LED units.  I went with LED reverse lights because I hope to soon add a reverse camera so the more light the better.  The first ones I ordered didn't work because I guess most reverse lights fit into large holes in bumpers these days and it would have taken a ton of work to get them to mount on the Winnebago.  The second time around worked better and I picked up these flush mount reverse lights. 

Although I'm not crazy about the black plastic trim around the light, I'd take black over chrome everyday.  Plus the bluish/grey paint would look good with the black.  After installing  them I discovered the electric switch attached to my transmission selector arm wasn't hooked up so I'll have to find a way to get that to work again. 




While going through my garage I remembered I had a 10" subwoofer and amplifier that came with my drag truck when I bought it.  Although my girlfriend hates the idea, I've decided to mount it under one of the dinette seats. 

Although I'll have it turned off most of the time, I want to be able to use the Winnebago for tailgating at Chargers games and possibly a few pub crawls so I need good sound.  So that I don't drain my starting battery I'll run the subwoofer power wires to the house batteries and the radio to my starting battery. 




With everything starting to come together my next project will be fixing our water damage.  Where our ladder mounts to the roof leaked and caused damage in that corner.  Here's the before shot of the area





Thanks to a cyber Monday sales I bought a few more things for the Winnebago a tad earlier than I was planning, so more to come soon!

[Rickf1985]

Looking good and I am sure that when you get the report from the shop you will know why I said what I did. You are putting a LOT of money into that thing before doing the real work that should have come first, being the structural work on the water damage. I hope it does not discourage you when you open that up and see what is bad in that corner.

[strykersd]

I'm not too worried, the floor and walls are solid but the roof just sags in the corner.  Thankfully this RV has lived in San Diego it's whole life.  The previous owner sealed it back up to limit the damage, I just want to get it back to original.  Well original struction, we're repainting all of the tacky faux wood paneling. 


Going into this project I fully expected to have to go through every thing on the motor home due to it's old age.  I'm not a Winnebago purist or anything, I just wanted an 17-20ft Class A motorhome that is smog exempt in California.  Plus now that I'm getting the transmission rebuilt and have spare SBCs in the shop, I have most of the worries taken care of.  I wouldn't call it that much money, thanks to Craigslist and Amazon, I'm only in $1700 so far! 

[classicrockfanatic]

Looking good 
I'll have to go thru with LED upgrades on mine too! Also I like your paint color, I was considering a neon blue with black borders for mine.

[moezart]

I like the blue grey color and LED change. It would of been cool to connect at a Charger tail gater/Pub crawl. . .if I wasn't stuck in Simi Valley  Digging the upgrades and looking good 

[strykersd]

Life has been so hectic that I haven't gotten to work on the Winnebago as much as I would have liked, but here's what I have accomplished. 

When I drove the Winnebago home after buying it, I didn't even attempt to turn the radio on just in case something happened so that I could hear it.  When I got home I finally tried to fire it up.  At first I got nothing, but then I discovered that the previous owner added a speaker on/off switch.  Once I turned that switch on I used a tape adapter and my iphone and although it played, the static was near unbearable.  At that point I decided to just order a new bluetooth head unit.  I ended up choosing a JVC KD-X33MBX head unit.  This is my first motor home and with all the glass I wanted a head unit that was easy to read in bright light so I went for a head unit built for marine applications so that I could read it in direct sunlight.  I then started pulling my old sound system out, which as it turns out there was a hell of a lot more parts than I would have ever guessed.  It had a power buffer, an audio amplifier, the speaker on off switch, a separate fader switch, an antenna amplifier and the head unit itself.  Here's a pic of all the old stuff on the left and the new head unit on the right.
 
It just goes to show how far technology has come!

The Winnebago had the classic car audio cutout so out came the painters tape and a cut off wheel to enlarge the opening to a single din.


And last but not least, the stereo is in!  And the Winnebago shed a few pounds in the process!




I also started repairing the water damage on the rear portion of the Winnebago. 

I got all of the rotton wood out and started building the new roof until I ran out of time.  I'll finish it up this weekend and post some pics after.



While planning the interior of the Winnebago, my girlfriend and I both agreed we need a TV.  We had an extra 42" flat screen sitting in the garage but that was way too large for the Winnebago so I put a post on my facebook asking if any friends wanted to trade their 32" flat screen for a 42" flat screen.  Turns out a ton of people jump at the chance for that.  I made the trade with a buddy and now have a TV for the Winnebago.  Here is the TV just mocked in place.

I also picked up a Monoprice Full motion TV mount for just $18 on Black Friday.  If you're in the market for a TV mount go with Monoprice, I currently have three of them on my TVs and have installed a few more for friends and they're all VERY reasonably priced.  I plan on using a full motion mount so that I can extend the TV out into the walkway and watch TV in bed in the back.  We'll see how that works out. 



I have yet to pull the transmission yet so I'm hoping I can finish the roof and get that out this weekend so that I can have it rebuilt next week.  Wish me luck!

[Rickf1985]

You must have a very accommodating tranny shop! Either that or they are going to give you a spray paint rebuild off the shelf. You really don't want that since you know this transmission works. All this one probably needs is a good cleaning and a soft rebuild. That is all of the clutches and seals but no hard parts like steels or bearings. Oh, you are going to need a new convertor.

[strykersd]

Been so busy with work and working the on the Brave that I haven't been updating this thread. 

The roof is coming along nicely.  I'm replacing the potion of rotted roof out with a three layer roof.  First layer is 1/8" plywood, second layer is a combination of the original 3/4" thermopanel insulation or 3/4" wood beams to add support to the roof, and the third and final layer is another 1/8" plywood.  I'm hoping that by adding a wood beam on the roof where the ladder mounts to the roof I won't have the same problem I did before which caused all of this.  Here's the progress so far



When I bought the Brave, it didn't come with a bathroom vent cover or seal.  I originally purchased an aftermarket cover and seal for $22 but neither fit so I went back and bought a whole new vent assembly/fan for $26.  For an extra $4 it took all the guesswork out and gave me a much smaller and probably more efficient fan motor.  I'm banking on 40 years of technology on that one but who knows.   Got it all installed



Got some a bit more painting done too!





I also rebuilt the door lock and finally have that working now.  I just got the call and my transmission is done.  $749 later I have a brand new transmission and torque converter with a warranty!  I feel like the Brave is finally starting to come together!  I'm hoping to get the transmission in, finish painting and finish the roof all this weekend!

[Woodybago]

Your Brave is looking nice. We had to rebuild our roof in the same area for the same reason(the ladder) that you did. However, yours looks more extensive than ours, so we were able to repair the roof with new wood and brass plates for the roof ladder mount. it is solid as a rock now.


dan

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Looking good!  Just a word of advice:  As soon as you can, get the radiator re-cored and make sure you USE the internal transmission cooler in the re-cored radiator.  If you want to use the external as well, plumb it in AFTER the internal cooler.  External coolers just aren't capable of the cooling necessary, or will over-cool, or both.  So after you rebuild that transmission, run it through the radiator.

Kev

[Rickf1985]

I have to disagree with Kevin here, you do need to run the transmission cooling through the radiator but AFTER the external cooler. In the winter it is entirely possible to overcool the fluid in an external cooler so running it through the radiator will warm it up as it goes through. During the summer it is better to go through the external cooler first to take the high temps off the fluid before hitting the radiator and raising the engine coolant temps. Since you are planning to travel in the coldest of temps you probably should just skip the external cooler for the winter and hook it up after your trip north.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Either way, Rick's or mine, make sure you run it through the radiator cooler as well. 

Kev

[strykersd]

I have to disagree with you both.  My Tru-Cool Max cooler is sold as a stand alone cooler rated for a gross vehicle weight of 40,000lbs and comes with a cold weather thermostat that bypasses the oil cooler until the fluid is up to temp.  The shop I had the transmission rebuilt at has used them before and swears by them.  Either way I'll add a transmission temp gauge and be sure I don't overheat it. 

[Rickf1985]

It is not the overheating we are talking about, it is the overcooling. That can do a lot of damage if you try to run it with freezing oil in it. The transmission itself will generally generate enough of it's own heat in the winter time, that is why the pass through the radiator.

[strykersd]

Ok sorry I haven't been updating this.  I've been putting in 40hr weeks working on the Brave and my truck to get it ready for Roadkill's Zip Tie Drag Races January 13-14 out in Tuscon. 


My transmission is back from the shop and the Brave is up and running! 



I've been driving it around a bit lately but need to fix a cracked exhaust manifold.

I'll change it out eventually but for this trip I'm just going to heat it up with the engine running then weld up the crack. 


I've since finished re-installing my roof





I turned my attention towards the Brave's exterior.  Our generator door has seen better days and looks like it's been hit a few times



After taking a few measurements I noticed that there is a half an inch gap between the ends of the door so I bought a 1/2" square bar and with the help of c-clamps I was able to straighten it out.  Here's the final product



We also finished painting the Brave (well minus the door)


For some reason the open tube of the rear bumper bugged me so I capped that off and love the look of it now. 


Funny side story, while painting the Brave my clumsy girlfriend accidentally dipped her hair in the gallon can of primer.  I was dying laughing



I finished putting laminate flooring in the motor home.  I can now see why the factory put flooring down before installing all the seats and cabinets, it was a pain working around all of those edges. 


My girlfriend's dad has been doing our seat cushions.  Here's a preview of the dinette cushions he sent us a picture of.




And on a side note, my girlfriend gave me quite possibly the best gift I've ever received for Christmas.  She bought me a project Jeep that we'll one day tow behind the motor home!  It's a 1975 Jeep DJ5 that I plan to build into a rock crawler!

[joanfenn]

Wow, she's a keeper that girl.  Winnie looks great also.

[strykersd]

I've been frantically working on the Winnebago to get it ready for it's first trip to Tuscon Dragway this weekend. 


The ends of my back wall were water damaged and I didn't feel like remaking the whole piece, so I cut out new ends and wood glued them together with a thin sheet of plywood on the backside.



My back bench/bed's particle board was rotting out, so after playing around with sheets of plywood in Home Depot and doing some research on my phone I chose to replace the wood with 3/4" birch.  I learned that it's less flexible, was a bit cheaper than the other options they had and looked good to boot!  Here's a shot of the finished product

As you can also see I'm still in the process of finishing up the back wall and cabinet


We picked our cushions up from my girlfriend's dad and they came out great!




I have a feeling the Winnebago has sat for a while since I had the pre-2002 propane fitting.  I swapped in the newer style hoses and bought two tanks and my propane system is done!






Only a few more things left to do before it's first trip this weekend!

[LJ-TJ]

WOW! Fantastic Mate! She looks really, really good. I love the paint job. Turned out excellent. Girl Friend Ah ah ah yeah she's deafenatly a keeper.

[73braved18]

Nice work! I like when people take the time to take pictures and post stuff like this!
I have a 73 Brave 18' but have not brought it home yet. Looking at your posts has me chomping on the bit to get started working on her!
Speaking of Roadkill, I heard Finnegan say on his podcast that he wants to put his drag boat motor in a 18 foot Winnie, put some paddle tires on it and take it to Glamis dunes on a future Roadkill. How cool will that be!
Look forward to seeing how your brave turns out. Will post some pics of mine when I finally get it home.
PS. Does your girlfriend have a sister?