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

[RockwoodMike]

Here is what I was dealing with..You would open the wall and confetti would fall out..This picture was when the interior was gutted out..Just a hollow box and you would lean up against the wall and it would flex..That's when I understood that there is nothing solid to these boxes..

This motorhome had leaks everywhere..The floor is rotted..the roof caved in..The eyebrow area above the windshield is rotted..

When I saw all of this, I think I properly named this blog.."Complete tear out"

[RockwoodMike]

Front right corner..Dust!!

[RockwoodMike]

I am beginning to remember things as I look over the pictures..

I did this test using the liquid nails..foam..and regular plywood..And it really stuck hard..

But then started to use the pressure treated..

Just don't use pressure treated..

[RockwoodMike]

I usually screw up on the first try of everything..Over confident and very little in knowledge..

Maybe if you used 3/4 exterior grade A/C plywood and stripped it down to 3.5 width pieces..You would have exterior glued wood and then double them up to create the 1.5 inch thickness needed..

Super straight..exterior glue and the liquid nails would stick well

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..Cleaned it up some..Just removed a bunch of stuff and stored it in a shed till needed..Getting it ready for the floor replacement and removing the port wall.

Pic 2..This is something that was covered up with the carpet and I mentioned it way earlier in this build..There is the big dent in the floor at the drivers seat and I can't figure how it happened..

Pic 3..Shows it up close..

Pic 4..Up close...Any ideas?? If a tire blew, it would cause a upward dent..This is like a anvil was dropped on the floor..Weird ..

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..440 ready for a complete rebuild..Did you really think I would handle it any other way??

Pic 2..Time to remove the generator..What a mess

Pic 3..I have this cart made from 2x6s and 4 HF wheels that I used on another project.And it works just perfect for the generator to sit on..

Pic 4..Just removed the 4 bolts holding the frame and disconnected the hookups to it and slid it out and landed right on the cart..

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..Sitting on the cart after a little compressed air to blow some of the dust away..

Pic 2..The generator bay without the generator!

Pic 3..Removed the filthy sound insulation..and brushed it clean of the dust..

[Eyez Open]

Watching this part of your build is quite humbling. I thought my ordeal was a argeous...Looking back I can say I had it quite easy.

Carry on its quite motivating.

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..I took the lower port wall down..The floor and frame work is the beginning of this..

Pic 2..Removing the black tank..Supported from the bottom while the 4 bolts are removed

Pic 3..These large head bolts are used to tie down the floor to the framing and used to hold up the black tank.

Pic 4..Instead of going under to try and remove a rusted nut, it is done from the top..

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..I just cut the head off with the cut off wheel

Pic 2..with a screw driver, just punched the bolt down and out..

Pic 3..And down it came..Just glad that nothing was in it!!

Pic 4..This tank was repaired over and over again with the final repair involving a clamp to hold t all together.. 

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..Quality clamp from China..

Pic 2..Original Winnebago tank..Can't read the numbers..I need to look around for a tank to replace it

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..There is a side panel of steel..Almost like a door panel.

Pic 2..Grinding off each spot rivet to remove it.

Pic 3..With that off, you can see the floor panel and how bad condition it is in.

[RockwoodMike]

I took out this front floor area, to help get the bent piece of steel out..Just gives me better access to it all

[RockwoodMike]

All I can do is take it out in chunks..a little at a time..Once it is all out then I can rebuild it all..

That is all for tonight..Last picture shows it was sunset..

[Elandan2]

Regarding the holding tank, you may be able to find the correct one looking at the files for 1975. That is the furthest back Winnebago has records online for. https://www.winnebago.com/Files/Files/Winnebago/Service/wincd/1975/75common.pdf
I have purchased new holding tanks for ours from Winnebago, although a little pricey, it makes it simple to replace them.

[RockwoodMike]

Hi Elandan2,

Thanks for the parts list!! I printed out the holding tank pages of that PDF..And compared each listing to my original tank..Nothing really matches.

That is alright...Taking a quick look at Ebay for holding tanks..Plenty of universal tanks to pic from..

For as far as I have ripped this coach, making a universal tank fit shouldn't be a problem..

The coach has the black tank located as shown, the gray tank is located behind the rear axle..

So you have to have two dump hoses to empty the tanks..

Customizing all of this should be easy enough when you are as deep in this project as it is!!

[RockwoodMike]

I didn't have much time today. Other obligations to fill

But some work was done continuing from yesterday..

Pic 1..Removal of some of the damaged area..There was no doubt that it was welded in using spot welds and stick welding to originally construct the floor platform ..

Pic 2..Just another view of the area cut away of the bent steel.

Pic 3..Fitting in the new piece..It is going to be very strong!!

Pic 4..I will tack weld it up and wait for my new welding helmet to come in ..What I have been using is a helmet that is dark all the time. Yea it is old and time to replace it..

[Elandan2]

Have you ever thought of using an adhesive for attaching the sheet metal pieces? I've used 3M 8115 epoxy on automotive floor pans and the stuff is incredible. After curing, the metal will tear before the bond.

[RockwoodMike]

I have just been welding in everything. Just pick up the torch full weld, and it is over with..I don't think I could trust an adhesive especially on rusted metal. I use flux core .030 wire and it really does a solid job..Just blasts through the paint and rust..

Pic 1.. here are spot welds that had to be drilled out. It was just holes and then MIG welded over..

Pic 2..Just cut it all out in chunks..In order to get to the next area..

Pic 3 and 4..Finally cleared out..Now that all the bent and rotted material is gone, time to rebuild..

[LJ-TJ]

Man you don't mess around. WOW!

[RockwoodMike]

Man you don't mess around. WOW!

I have a sudden urgency to get as much done before the winter rains come..It would be nice if I can get the engine/trans out and in the garage, to rebuild it over the winter..

Pic 1..Everything of the new frame all tack welded and laid out..To fit the seat mount, gas pedal, opening for the brake lever and the steering column ..

Pic 2..Just tacked welded..In case you screw up it can be ground down to remove and reposition anything..There will be the access opening to the master cylinder too..

Pic 3..Once everything is set, I popped the frame out to fully weld it up..

[RockwoodMike]

I have this decommissioned yellow Ryder moving van.  It is a 1994 and on a RV chassis..
It has the same Dana 70 rear end..and dual caliper front brakes and the same rear brakes in regards to width and wheel cylinder..

Pic 1.. Shows the van..It was for use when I was in the construction business..

Pic 2..I was thinking of converting the convoluted brake system that was originally on the D22 frame,,those 2 vacuum boosters ..and copy the system of the yellow van..with the single booster at the master cylinder..Modify the mounting bracket to fit the booster..and see if I can get it all mounted in..
If it won't work, I can still go back to the old system, and I will have spare parts for the yellow van..

Pic 3..I unbolted the mounting bracket from the frame..Easier to do work on it. 

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..I made a jig drawn in Autocad and then cut on my (Bwa Ha Ha Ha cough) plasma CNC cutter..Yes it is very nice to have one at your command!! This shows the start of the cut..

Pic 2..During the cut..

Pic 3..After the cut..It has the big center hole..2 original mounting holes of the original master cylinder..And then small holes to use a punch to locate the holes needed for the vacuum booster..Like I said, if this doesn't work, I can still revert back to the original configuration..Then I would have to buy and find hard to find parts..

I have right at 100 for this late model booster and master cylinder..easy to find too

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..Clamped the jig matching the original holes..Center punched the 4 hole locations..

Pic 2..Drilled the 4 new holes..

Pic 3..The booster fits..ready to be bolted up..Ran out of daylight..We will see what happens tomorrow..

[RockwoodMike]

Pic 1..It fits!! I was concerned about that shock tower but all is good.

Pic 2..But to hook the brake lever to the booster will take a little modification. That arm will need to be rotated back about an inch..

Pic 3..No problem with tire rubbing the booster..About 5 inches of clearance..

Pic 4..Here is the arm separated from the brake pedal arm..Just need to rotate it back till it matches with the booster bracket arm..then weld it back up..