Mike's 1973 D22 Complete tear out. From the Roof down!

[RockwoodMike]

And you end up with this....It draws the 2 pieces together, like if you were clamping it..I am going to be using this through out this rebuild..
Kreg has all sorts of special kits..From starter kits..basic..to full on professional systems that are bench mounted high production set ups..They produce these special screws that can be bought in bulk or 100 packs..

[RockwoodMike]

It (I need a name for my new project..I was thinking of Sarah or Becca--Rebecca) is all covered up for the rain coming this evening..Probable the first time it will stay dry inside in years!!
Here is a shot inside..Kinda cozy actually!!

[Rickf1985]

Very nice, Are you going to go with a rubber roof?

[RockwoodMike]

When I started on this project, I was stunned at the whole way the thing was built..The only solid piece of framing is the super structure made of steel that is in the front of it..Mainly for the upper bunk above the front cab..It frames the whole front end together..This SIP system..(Structural Insulated Panels)..Not to impressed by it..The roof had the same SIP design..That is why it sagged into the middle..and failed..

That 1x4--1x3 strip on top of the wall that was installed, terminates near the front and the construction of the wall changes from foam only (with the aluminum and luan skin) to a layer of 3/4 plywood with a 1/8 finish skin...This first picture shows the layers through this little light pocketThe second shows how it changes to plywood..above the the entry door..

[RockwoodMike]

Very nice, Are you going to go with a rubber roof?

No idea!! That is where I need guys like you to tell me what you know..

[Froggy1936]

Mike, Very nice work. But as you stated, finding construction of so much light weight materials , Is a Must , What you are building will be overweight empty ! And may be heavier than tires can support ! The most important part of any RV is Gross weight . That is the reason Winnebago developed the strong light weight Materials !  But Best of luck !  Frank

[ClydesdaleKevin]

No idea!! That is where I need guys like you to tell me what you know..

You can skin the whole thing with aluminum like the original...and it is durable and easy to mount/screw things to it.  EPDM rubber roofs are the industry standard now...tough enough, but you have to take more care and use lap sealant when mounting things to it.  Or you could go hog wild and go with a full fiberglass roof...super durable, but heavier and you have to deal with resin and fiberglass cloth and a LOT of sanding.

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Mike, Very nice work. But as you stated, finding construction of so much light weight materials , Is a Must , What you are building will be overweight empty ! And may be heavier than tires can support ! The most important part of any RV is Gross weight . That is the reason Winnebago developed the strong light weight Materials !  But Best of luck !  Frank

It looks light enough the way he did it, with only upper wall sections being thicker plywood, etc. 

Kev

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Oops!  My bad!  Mike didn't add any plywood to the walls.  The plywood in the pictures is original from the factory in the cab area.

Kev

[RockwoodMike]

The thicker plywood walls are what was the factory installed..I didn't install that nor am I going to do anything with that..I am glad that the plywood is there..Something solid!!
I used 2x3 kiln dried DF wood..Before I cut them, they weighed 4 pounds 12 ounces each..Then cut off about 15 ounces with the taper cut for the rain run off profile ..
But lets round it of to 4 pounds each..I used 18 of them..Doubled up at the end wall and front transition..That is 72 pounds..
I used 5 sheets of ACX plywood..About 20 pounds?? each..100 pounds..
Maybe 20 pounds for the blocks made between the rafters..
And the 1x4--1x3 stringers25 pounds??
Right at 215 pounds for everything..
I used this postal scale of mine..But could not get a shot of the display..Just too sunny to see it..

[RockwoodMike]

I was curious of the original weight of the factory roof..here is a section of it in all of it glory!!
3 feet length by it's full width..I put it on my bathroom scale (I brought the scale outside..not the panel inside to weigh it :)rotflmao )It weighed 25 pounds..Taking off 21 feet of roofing would be 7 of these panels in essence//25x7 equals 175 pounds..
Now I dont have any insulation nor the final inside panel sheeting yet..that will add some

[yellowrecve]

Strength is in the design. Your doing fine. Put some backing in for your overhead cabinets and walls to attach to. That will add strength.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Hey Mike.  How is the floor in your Winnebago?  Did you have to replace any of it?  If you do, now would be the time to replace all the rubber fuel lines at the top of your fuel tank...so you won't have to drop the tank later.


Kev

[RockwoodMike]

Hey Kevin,How is the floor?? It needs to be replaced..I am finding out as I go, that there is NOTHING on this motorhome  that isn't going to need to be replaced, repaired, fixed, altered, or any other word you can think of!!This is one of the rot spots of the floor..The second pic shows the drivers floor board..Sunlight is shining through that big dent..I need to look into that..The fuel tanks will need to come out..Neither of the fuel sending units worked and there was that fuel delivery problem, trying to get it home at 20 miles an hour..Cleaning out the tanks will be something I want to do

I have other pics and I will post them tonight..

[RockwoodMike]

Strength is in the design. Your doing fine. Put some backing in for your overhead cabinets and walls to attach to. That will add strength.

I need to set up the floor plan for everything so that I know where to install the backing..What cabinets will go where..What walls to make at what location..I need to draw out a good floor plan..Check this "backing" out from the factory..A 20 gauge sheet steel insert glued to the foam..Then a screw was driven into it..It worked..The pics show were the shower stall was..those 2 strips of vertical steel mounted the walls around the stall..

[RockwoodMike]

This is what I will do next..Kinda burnt out on the roof ..It has the plastic sheeting on it and it will be good for now..The lower left front wheel skirting..It is bent!! Maybe a tire blew out and flung it self around..So I have the corner curved trim off and working on the horizontal trim..

[RockwoodMike]

That horizontal trim just pulled off by hand..Because the wood behind it is gone..rotted..Then the staples holding the trim after the wheel well area actually have some wood there..I don't have any pliers that can reach in deep enough to grab the staple..So I used a die grinder with a cutting wheel and just very carefully ground off the head of the staple..Worked pretty good actually with minimal damage to the aluminum trim..And was able to get the trim off..That whole wheel well section is just hollow..Is is all going to need to be rebuilt..I ran out of daylight to take more pictures after the trim was off..More tomorrow

[Rickf1985]

I wonder if it was someone fighting to get a tire out from under there when it was not quite up high enough? Wouldn't take much yanking on a tire to bend that thin metal.

[RockwoodMike]

Hey Rick..
A bent area is the least of my problems!! The sill stringer, made of wood is gone..rotted bad..That is what connects the wall to the floor!!..It needs to be replaced bad..I have a plan and it won't be too hard to accomplish..

[RockwoodMike]

With 2x2 studs, I will stilt the ceiling to the floor..Holding up the wall..That holds the wall up till I get a new sill stringer in there..Then I am going to rebuild the lower area with steel..That is the plan..It will work!!

[ClydesdaleKevin]

With 2x2 studs, I will stilt the ceiling to the floor..Holding up the wall..That holds the wall up till I get a new sill stringer in there..Then I am going to rebuild the lower area with steel..That is the plan..It will work!!

Sounds like a good plan!

Kev

[Rickf1985]

I would use aluminum for two reasons, weight first and foremost and rust second. You are attaching aluminum siding to it and aluminum on steel is galvanic corrosion big time.

[Rickf1985]

Looking at how this thing was constructed as you are laying it out you can definitely see it was never designed to last more than ten years. They knew darn right well it was going to rot.

[RockwoodMike]

I would use aluminum for two reasons, weight first and foremost and rust second. You are attaching aluminum siding to it and aluminum on steel is galvanic corrosion big time.

You have a good point in regards to weight and corrosion..I need to think this through..If i was to use steel for the frame, I could weld it..I don't have a welder that can weld aluminum..Concentrate on making the steel frame as light as possible..Use galvanized steel for rust prevention? Maybe a strip of black butle tape as an adhesive and separator to keep the steel from touching the original aluminum siding?..That original sill piece is sized at 1.5x3.5..But it is some sort of hardwood..The only real hardwood available around here is oak..1x4 that would be glue laminated together to create that new sill is the only idea I am coming up with..That skirting below the floor line didn't stand a chance to last long..There it is just being clobbered with rain and stones being kicked up from the tires..The other side of the motorhome is pretty much the same story.. Just no original dent as was shown on the left side..I will be working on it..More to come 

[Rickf1985]

You can still work with wood, there is a product out there called CPES and I used it many years ago working on boats. I used to buy it from an outfit in Washington State called Rot Doctor but I believe they changed hands because they were always great people to talk to but the last time I tried to talk to someone there they were flat out nasty! I did some research and found the original maker of the product and he is still selling it. I forget his name, it is on my computer somewhere but do a search for "CPES Epoxy" and you will come up with a lot of good information. It will make most wood pretty much impervious to water and rot. Within reason of coarse.


Here is a link to the original maker of the CPES and a lot of info on it and some of his other wood restoration products.


http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/