Egon

3 Years later, all done!

Stainless Steel kitchen. Framed in hardwood and sheathed in stainless. Butcher block countertops, dishwasher, full size stove

Barn door

Butcher Block countertops

Tiled in a shower

Then we put up  a full tongue and groove ceiling

We gutted it and replaced subfloor

I havent forgotten about y'all. Heres some far less detailed updates

Week 3: Engine Work

Got a CHK ENG light on my way home, and I bought the truck with two other known failures (WHEEL SPIN and TRACTOR ABS FAIL) that needed to be remedied. Also felt low on power.

First shop (RV place) ran codes for 2 failed injectors and said they couldn't work on a 55 series. Pushed me over to Stewart Stevenson in ABQ. They gave me no estimate for labor and handed me a $6600 writeup for parts (6 new injectors, new pump...) I considered an engine swap to a reliable 60 series.

I then went to another shop (2nd to none service) out of town to get a second look. In that 45 minute drive the injectors must have become unclogged, because they re-ran codes and found only that I was getting my CHK ENG light for a missing Jake brake, which the current engine doesn't have. The original owners apparently swapped the 55 with another 55 somewhere along the way. 

Low power was fixed with a new clamp to patch an air leak. Good as new for $200. Better than the 10k I thought it would be. Rest of errors listed above fixed for 1K total. Never been happier to spend a grand

Plywood is delaminating below the kitchen window, but its only the top layer. I plan on placing tile over it, so I think I can scrape off the top layer of delaminated plywood and spackle over it.

May need to widen the cut to reach the aluminum frame. The frame will allow the patch to be securely anchored to the wall

Pulled the wallpaper and rotted plywood. Will patch after all the damage in the RV has been found. 

Worst damage so far came from an exterior outlet. Bottom picture shows a complete lack of caulking around it.

This was a very lightly damaged area. Water stains under window, no mold/rot/soft spots - Not sure if I should cut out the panel, sand it, spray with mold killer or just paint over it. Let me know what y'all think

Need to remove the cabinets to get the wallpaper behind it. You can see water damage in the top left from the slide out. Slide out is getting removed to replace broken rollers. When that is removed I'll work on the drywall behind it. Removed a lot of trim too. Need to start labeling it. Will paint and re-apply

End of Week 2 Update:

Removed a lot of wallpaper, very difficult because its heat bonded, but in my opinion its an essential step of a good restore job. Simply painting over the wallpaper can be a waste of time because it will eventually curl up, and removing all the wallpaper allows me to see any hidden water damage. Wallpaper usually won't peel up until the plywood underneath is rotted, and then its too late and the plywood underneath needs to be removed. 

To remove heat bonded wallpaper, simply get a razor blade and make long cuts floor to ceiling. This will divide it into 8 inch wide vertical strips. Then peel at a corder until the top half is loose. Pull the strip down in one piece slowly. Some say heat guns help but I've had limited success.

Thanks to removing the wallpaper, more small sections of water damaged plywood were discovered and will be removed/repaired prior to painting

Haha, its more of a labor of hate. I enjoy doing this, but ideally I'll be living in it for free (minus insurance gas and park fees) and flipping one once per year. I'm doing this because I'm stuck in Clovis NM for the next 5 years and the housing market here is truly a mess, so flipping RVs keeps me occupied and gives me a dwelling. 

On 6/21/2017 at 5:39 AM, GeorgiaHybrid said:

Egon,

This must be a labor of love. According to your posts above, you paid 48K for the coach, have a budget of 15K for the interior, 10K for the engine, nothing at all for the exterior and you want to sell it for 75K. That is only a 2K profit assuming you hit your budget numbers without any labor costs.

I need to sell you my 64 Fairlane and buy it back when you are done.  

I'll shim later, its not bolted down just a temp dry fit. Re-measured the plywood and its 1/2". I might go buy 5/8'' if its easier

Replaced the subfloor panel with 5/8'' plywood, but its too thin. I know 3/4'' plywood will be too thick so I'll have to figure out a way to raise it. Need the floor to be perfect prior to installing vinyl over top.

Update 2: End of week 1

Spent the rest of the week trying to scrape up all the old adhesive from the subfloor. WHAT A PAIN! Its taken about 20 hours to remove about 90%. Scraping gets most of it but some needs to be dissolved with adhesive remover, which takes much longer. 

Chassis is a 97 Freightliner with 380K miles, BUT its on a Detroit Diesel 55 series. Already need to replace 2 injectors. Considering an engine swap. Budget for interior is 15k. Engine 10k. Hoping to sell this for 75k after completion.

Update 1

Frame supports confirmed good, bad subfloor panel removed. No mold/rot underneath 

Week 1: Pulling vinyl flooring

Found the water damage! Plenty to go around! Luckily for me its only one panel of subfloor. Easy fix. The aluminum frame underneath is fine, so a new sheet of plywood and we're good as new! The A/C Unit above the water damage was the likely culprit here, so that warrants a follow up. 

Dinette set had to be removed, needed access to all of subfloor. Plus it was tacky.