Well I am not going to call myself a pro, but I am just about done with a cabover rebuild of my 1983 and have learned a thing or two and have stuff to say! Here comes a long winded answer.
The vehicle part of that MH is standard stuff. Any repair shop familiar with Ford vans can work on it and so can a competent home mechanic. Have a PPI done on the automotive end.
Water damage is potentially a HUGE issue. The body on that girl is bonded as a single structural panel. If there is any buckling on the sides, it compromises structural rigidity. I have read that the only way to fix that type of construction is replacing complete sections. If the body sides are buckled, just walk away.
If the body sides are in good shape and there is leakage in the roof, it is very repairable. It most certainly can take a fair amount of work, but you CAN DIY that kind of repair given enough space time and your effort. If you would have to pay a shop to do that kind of work, then just walk away.
If the floor is stained, it’s an easy fix. If the floor is buckled and rotting, it could lead to a major rebuild of floor sections. Materials are fairly cheap for the repair, but labor would again be a killer. The ad. reads like the cabover floor needs repair. To give you an idea, my 1983 Jamboree was completely rotted out in the passenger front corner. Mine is the older style body of corrugated filon and has a metal sub-frame. The wood all attaches to the metal. That made it "easier" to repair, but I needed to tear everything off the sub-frames, replace a lot of steel and replace ALL wood up there, back to the first set of cabinets. I am 70 man hours into the job and had to do both carpentry and metal work. Materials have been about $600 so far. By time I factor in cost of the cabover rebuild, the original purchase price, fixing the engine and passing smog, repairing a couple appliances along the way, new tires and materials, I'm guessing I'll end up with my total investment somewhere between $8000 - $9000. What I will have to show for it is an older, but very reliable RV that should last me quite a while. When we bought the old girl, we expected to get 4-5 years out of her. Now, I expect to have this gal for 10-15 years. :-) The bottom line is that if you are competent at and have the tools for doing construction, metal and wood working, you can rebuild her. It just takes lots of time and planning, or lots of money to pay a shop.
Ok, with all that being said. If the date code on the tires says they really are new, that is $1200 right there. If you are really interested in a project/fixer that could turn out to be a nice RV you own for 10+ years, I would recommend you …
1.) Confirm that it actually drives great and prove the transmission work was done right. Ask for receipts.
2.) Confirm the appliances really are all in great shape and operating
3.) Confirm that the sides are not buckling
4.) Confirm that from the dinette back, it is in good shape and won’t need structural repair
If all those conditions were met, I would pay no more than -edit- $2500, with the expectation that it will take at least another $2000 and lots of labor.
Jose
