Generator pull on 95 roadtrek 210 Popular
I took possession of my 1995 Road Trek 210 Popular this past June. It needs quarter panel rust repair on both sides, which is really no problem for me, however the welding work that needs to be done w...
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Hey, thanks people! Great picture as well and yes, it does seem that the generators are indeed similar.
The meter on mine shows 32 hours.... (since 1995!)so I'm guessing that a complete rebuild will be required if I intend to use it again. Also, the outside bottom corner & edge of the generator case appears to be rusted away as well. I'll have to remove the generator and crack the green case open to determine the extent of the damage. I assume a used case floor is out there someplace. It might make a great back up for the house.
I think the cost and value of the solar set up as well as the fuel savings over time coupled with the golden silence of noiseless power makes the re-assignment of the space as a battery bay seem more likely to yield the best situation. In a worst case scenario, the replacement cost of the generator itself is , well... substantial!
My seller was the second owner and a good friend of the original buyer and assured me that the generator was never used much. He thought that it was propane powered, methinks not so much in '95. I'll dig up some of my progress photos. Hold on a minute!
OK... how to post pictures in a reply?
The body panel adhesive sounds interesting... however here is the challenge: Chevrolet didn't extend the same way as Ford and Dodge by adding onto their common wheelbase vehicle. Chevrolet offered 3 models: the(length approximate here) 8 foot cargo floor; the 10 foot (most common van seen) cargo floor on the standard wheelbase; and the third model, the G30 was endowed with a 12 foot cargo floor but was on a much longer wheelbase chassis. I'm measuring roughly from the back of the driver seat base. For the 210 model, Road Trek either commissioned the extended cargo floor models or manufactured them in house. These were built on the G30 "extended" van and wound up with a 14' cargo floor! They got several extensions out of a replacement body side panel as the metal forming was consistent down the side except the wheel house opening, and the roof was no problem as the fiberglass top solved all that. It seems they cut leaving the last roof support beam(about 20 inches in front of the rear doors, probably to help support the A/C unit)connected to the rear section for rigidity. This stretch allowed room for a very wide trunk between the original floor sections. They added a flat steel piece on each side to fill in the missing floor on either side of the trunk hatch area, further proof that the original Chevrolet body was indeed extended. I consulted the Van City Road Trek dealership Owner who confirmed the extension as he had been around in those days and sold these models when new as well as many used ones over the years. They are indeed rare and wonderful! I searched everywhere for ANY evidence that GM ever built a 14 foot cargo floor.... they did not. I was amazed by the Road Trek solution to the matter. Also, this explains why they never built the 210 on the Dodge chassis. You just could not add another 2 feet on that wheelbase.
Ford used a longer and therefore seam free body side stamping to avoid the full vertical seam where the extra length would otherwise appear. Dodge used an add on section with a clearly noticible seam to stretch their bodies at the joint otherwise used to attach the rear of the body.
I can clearly see the hammer welded joint on mine(under body filler)and of course there never was a replacement body side panel to fit since the stretch adds about 2 feet to the distance between the wheel well and the back end of the body.
I have a rust repair panel for the area including the curve of the rear of the wheel well and going back about 30 inches or so, and a second rust repair panel including the rear curve where the body wraps around toward the taillight and reaching a little short of the wheel well on a Standard body which leaves it well short of the wheel well on my stretch.
My plan was to trim these two so they will butt together and hammer weld them to the existing side panel and each other, then fill the generator access door area(assuming I go solar and no longer need the generator)with flat sheet metal,then patch or lower the floor to create a battery bay for 4 or 5 batteries plus the original house battery location.
So.... after all that, would you think the body adhesive would be strong enough to provide sufficient hold? an "overlap" joint might make the work difficult to cover and refinish for an "original, smooth, ripple free finish" without massively thick gobs of filler.
Again, how to post pictures?
Maybe I need to post them to one of those photo sites and paste the code from there?
Thanks for the help and advice.
Newbie, but feeling at home already!
Blaino
The meter on mine shows 32 hours.... (since 1995!)so I'm guessing that a complete rebuild will be required if I intend to use it again. Also, the outside bottom corner & edge of the generator case appears to be rusted away as well. I'll have to remove the generator and crack the green case open to determine the extent of the damage. I assume a used case floor is out there someplace. It might make a great back up for the house.
I think the cost and value of the solar set up as well as the fuel savings over time coupled with the golden silence of noiseless power makes the re-assignment of the space as a battery bay seem more likely to yield the best situation. In a worst case scenario, the replacement cost of the generator itself is , well... substantial!
My seller was the second owner and a good friend of the original buyer and assured me that the generator was never used much. He thought that it was propane powered, methinks not so much in '95. I'll dig up some of my progress photos. Hold on a minute!
OK... how to post pictures in a reply?
The body panel adhesive sounds interesting... however here is the challenge: Chevrolet didn't extend the same way as Ford and Dodge by adding onto their common wheelbase vehicle. Chevrolet offered 3 models: the(length approximate here) 8 foot cargo floor; the 10 foot (most common van seen) cargo floor on the standard wheelbase; and the third model, the G30 was endowed with a 12 foot cargo floor but was on a much longer wheelbase chassis. I'm measuring roughly from the back of the driver seat base. For the 210 model, Road Trek either commissioned the extended cargo floor models or manufactured them in house. These were built on the G30 "extended" van and wound up with a 14' cargo floor! They got several extensions out of a replacement body side panel as the metal forming was consistent down the side except the wheel house opening, and the roof was no problem as the fiberglass top solved all that. It seems they cut leaving the last roof support beam(about 20 inches in front of the rear doors, probably to help support the A/C unit)connected to the rear section for rigidity. This stretch allowed room for a very wide trunk between the original floor sections. They added a flat steel piece on each side to fill in the missing floor on either side of the trunk hatch area, further proof that the original Chevrolet body was indeed extended. I consulted the Van City Road Trek dealership Owner who confirmed the extension as he had been around in those days and sold these models when new as well as many used ones over the years. They are indeed rare and wonderful! I searched everywhere for ANY evidence that GM ever built a 14 foot cargo floor.... they did not. I was amazed by the Road Trek solution to the matter. Also, this explains why they never built the 210 on the Dodge chassis. You just could not add another 2 feet on that wheelbase.
Ford used a longer and therefore seam free body side stamping to avoid the full vertical seam where the extra length would otherwise appear. Dodge used an add on section with a clearly noticible seam to stretch their bodies at the joint otherwise used to attach the rear of the body.
I can clearly see the hammer welded joint on mine(under body filler)and of course there never was a replacement body side panel to fit since the stretch adds about 2 feet to the distance between the wheel well and the back end of the body.
I have a rust repair panel for the area including the curve of the rear of the wheel well and going back about 30 inches or so, and a second rust repair panel including the rear curve where the body wraps around toward the taillight and reaching a little short of the wheel well on a Standard body which leaves it well short of the wheel well on my stretch.
My plan was to trim these two so they will butt together and hammer weld them to the existing side panel and each other, then fill the generator access door area(assuming I go solar and no longer need the generator)with flat sheet metal,then patch or lower the floor to create a battery bay for 4 or 5 batteries plus the original house battery location.
So.... after all that, would you think the body adhesive would be strong enough to provide sufficient hold? an "overlap" joint might make the work difficult to cover and refinish for an "original, smooth, ripple free finish" without massively thick gobs of filler.
Again, how to post pictures?
Maybe I need to post them to one of those photo sites and paste the code from there?
Thanks for the help and advice.
Newbie, but feeling at home already!
Blaino
