1981 Winnebago 26ft BRAVE (resto project)

[Nhageman812]

Hello all,

My name is Nick. I'm 23 yrs old and had just been given this motorhome from my father after he had bought his new motorhome. mechanically, it's not in too bad of shape. The roof and interior however are in a state of disrepair. I plan on redoing the roof completely along with the interior. This is my first motorhome and plan on using it to tow my racecar to the track and to go on weekend camping trips. Any ideas, tips, and advice are more then welcome! Also a little history on the RV, my father had owned this since I was a about 9 years old and we used to go on camping trips in it so it does have some sentimental value and I would much rather see it not go to the scrapyard.

Some recent work I have done on it is change the 2 front brake lines and gutted the interior so I can get to the roof which is completely rotted. I also have some new tires to put on as well.

Here are some pictures(low quality)

[Schmitti]

A Lot of Work, but a great RV 

Thomas

[Nhageman812]

A Lot of Work, but a great RV 

Thomas

Indeed, haha.

Ok, so for today I mounted the 3 tires and fixed the leak in the one (turned out the valve stem just needed to be tightened). I also drove it to the gas station to put about 40 gallons in of 93 octane. While I had the rear jacked up I was looking at the frame extension and it does seem to be a little....eh, how should I say, weak? I plan on towing a 3klb car and a 2k pound trailer....I could lighten it by using a 300lb dolly though. I was wondering if anyone has any tips on reinforcing the frame back there for towing? I was wondering if I could just weld in some flat iron(1/4" thick?) and just box it in as close to the rear axle as I could get. I figure the engine and trans will be more then up to the job.

Also on another note I was wondering about the construction of the roof. I'm almost ready to start tearing it apart and if I'm they use 1/8 luan, 1" foam or 1" beam(depends where ya cut), and then another piece of 1/8 luan, and then 24 gauge aluminum roofing? I was wondering if I could use cedar as support beams or what kind of wood would suffice? I'm not a carpenter but I can learn pretty quick haha.

Thanks in advance!

Nick

[SLEETH]

the road  a head of  you is not a easy one
boxing any frame will make it stronger/just as long as it ant paper thin where  your going to weld to
now the roof is another adventure=been there & doin that

[Nhageman812]

the road  a head of  you is not a easy one
boxing any frame will make it stronger/just as long as it ant paper thin where  your going to weld to
now the roof is another adventure=been there & doin that

I'm trying to be optimistic haha, It's a lot of work, but I enjoy vintage things. Everything I own is from the 80's haha.

Here is a picture from the trip to the gas station and some pics of the wood rot.





wood rot above the bathroom wall


the wood rot at the back wall


also noticed some pin holes in the bottom of the siding, not sure what to about this as I really would rather not rebuild the whole wall. Maybe some sealer over it would suffice? Although I noticed the wood down there seems rotted as well 

[Rickf1985]

The pin holes in the siding are aluminum "rust". What most people don't realize is that aluminum corrodes just like steel rusts. It has gotten moisture behind the siding and over time it has corroded the aluminum away. As far as boxing the frame, good idea, bad idea. Two differing trains of thought on that one since it is a long frame and it is designed to flex, if it did not flex it would crack. Where you are reinforcing it I would assume is the area where it was added on to and that is behind the original frame so behind the flex area. Mainly the area of flex is going to be between the axles so anything behind the rear suspension hanger should be alright to add to. Just be careful of how you  make your welds so you do not weaken the frame.

[Nhageman812]

Ok, sorry I haven't posted in a long time. This project has been on the backburner for a while but I finally jumped in today.

I just tore the aluminum skin off it today and found all of the rot issues.

So far what I have bought is

14x 4x8 birch 1/8" plywood
7x 1x4x8 pine beams...I need to buy a couple more.

What I need to buy is
8x 4x8 insulation sheets(not sure what R rating. I guess higher the better)
more 1x4x8 beams. I wanted hardwood but finances will only allow for pine.
27ftx103" 40 gauge aluminum skin from greatdanetrailers!


The things I'm wondering right now is what do I use to seal everything? I've seen about 3 different types of sealer on this thing so far.

what do I use to seals the wall to ceiling joints? what do I use to seal the birch to the insulation? Do I put any sealer inbetween the roof skin and the birch? Liquid nails? What kind of liquid nails?

Thanks in advance! Any tips are appreciated!!! I also noticed almost NO beams across for support on the roof. that will change. I plan on running 4" wide beams every 3.8 feet

[Nhageman812]

UPDATE!

Tore off the WHOLE roof. found where the wood was rotted badly. Mainly the back 4x8 and any framing and then the bathroom area.

anyway. didn't take too many pictures of that.

Got to put up the new 4x8's of birch and the framing! all I have to do is finish the small nose section and fit in the 3/4" insulation and then the top layer of birch and then the aluminum skin(WHICH I DONT KNOW WHAT ADHESIVE TO USE?!?!/liquid nails everything or what?)

Here are the pictures!





beefed up the back framing with a 1x12!


Even cut the 45*


most all the framing in place and screwed in.





I'll use my good camera next time!


Also, I had ran 3/4" screws into the framing from the underside and had decided not to glue the bottom of the framing to the luan(bad idea? I don't mind seeing screws and can always cover it with trim.) The insulation and top luan WILL be liquid nailed together. I figured it should be much stronger then what it was before. There was actually NO support for the ac Unit and NO beams going across. This should be MUCH stronger.

Thanks!
Nick

[Rickf1985]

As far as glue I have found the best thing to do is to call the company and tell them what you are gluing together and they will tell you which product is best. I called Gorilla about some epoxy one time and they told me they did not have anything that would work and they actually recommended another companies product. How is that for customer service?

[sasktrini]

Not messin' around!!!  Great start! Good luck!

[Nhageman812]

Sorry I haven't updated in a while!

Finished up the roof! Glad its over. Didn't come out quit as clean as I'd like but hey, its stable, dry, and new. So I'm okay with it.

[Rickf1985]

Now you have to do your garage!