What do I need to start this?
Hello all, I am brand new to the forums. And, I just purchased my first RV. It is a 1989 Ford E-350 Class C (I've been trying to learn as much as I can). She definitely needs a LOT of work. But, th...
Forum Discussion
I have a 1990 Winnebago Warrior built on the E350 chassis.
We bought it about 10 years ago for $7500. We probably paid too much for it then.
First off, the cab air did not work. This was about $800 to repair and the system had to be converted from R12 to R134a.
Then I learned about date codes on tires. RVs almost never get enough miles on them to wear out the tread of the tires. Instead, they age out. 10 years is the maximum you should push a tire. When we bought our RV, the back 4 tires were 10 years old, the front 2 were 6 years old, and the spare was 19 years old. I replaced them all. $1100.
Then we discovered that the generator, which we ran when we were looking at it to buy it, would only run about 20 minutes and then shut down. Another $500.
The skylight in our model year has a design flaw in that it leaks water in the roof. I have seen this in our "twins" when we see them around. This rotted out the shower wall and had run across the ceiling and rotted the bathroom wall. I ripped it all out and rebuilt it.
The rubber roof has been coated in Heng's Roof Sealant and so is no longer easily reparable, nor are any of the things on the roof. I just slathered on another coat. Hopefully the roof no longer leaks. We keep it under covered storage to protect it as long as we can.
The sides of our RV have "delamination" from water intrusion around the windows. You don't have this problem as your RV has aluminum sides.
Over the 10 years we have had it I've had to replace control boards in the fridge and water heater, and engine work, replace the radiator, water pump, distributor, temperature sensor, and more. I've probably spent $3000 in repairs over the last 10 years.
But, we use the heck out of it. It's been on 1400 mile round trips to Disney World at least 5 times. It's been on a similar trip to Virginia. I use it just about every month.
I'd say it probably was not a smart purchase, and I would have been better off buying a $15K RV, but, I didn't have $15K and probably never will have that kind of savings. So, it was settle for less and "pay as you go" or nothing.
Just to give you some background on someone else with an ancient RV.
Now, to your situation.
You have to have a dedicated engine battery for the engine to run. Yes, my RV has 2-way rocker switch. If you press and hold it one way, it will temporarily gang the house batter to the engine battery to give you an emergency jump start. But as soon as you let go the switch your engine is back on its own battery. So you must have one for the engine. If you flip the switch the other way, the engine will charge the house batteries. Also don't run the generator and have that switch flipped or you'll fry your voltage regulator.
If your house battery is good, you should be able to physically disconnect it and install it as an engine battery, if it fits in the same space available for the engine battery.
From the 2 pictures of yours I can view, your RV looks to have major water damage and is structurally unsound. I would be very concerned about driving it on the road and having walls literally fall off of it.
Rot is always worse than what you can see. Were you to start pulling things apart, you would find that much more is rotted than what you are able to currently see.
There are threads on this forum where people have done full-on restorations - pulling off walls and completely re-building them. People have re-built roofs, and re-built the cab-over bunk section. If you search you can see them.
It is a huge, huge, huge undertaking. Firstly you better live in the country or someplace or have a big shop where you can do this kind of work out of the elements.
But you are probably looking at a year or more of work, and thousands of dollars, and at the end, are you going to have some highly desirable collectors item? No.
You will find a lot of people on this forum that are clearly rich and driving $50K+ rigs who will scoff at you and say, "just buy a new RV!" or somesuch. I'm not one of those. Clearly I am the champion of the poor man's RV.
But, I think your RV is probably beyond saving.
Post some more pictures?
We bought it about 10 years ago for $7500. We probably paid too much for it then.
First off, the cab air did not work. This was about $800 to repair and the system had to be converted from R12 to R134a.
Then I learned about date codes on tires. RVs almost never get enough miles on them to wear out the tread of the tires. Instead, they age out. 10 years is the maximum you should push a tire. When we bought our RV, the back 4 tires were 10 years old, the front 2 were 6 years old, and the spare was 19 years old. I replaced them all. $1100.
Then we discovered that the generator, which we ran when we were looking at it to buy it, would only run about 20 minutes and then shut down. Another $500.
The skylight in our model year has a design flaw in that it leaks water in the roof. I have seen this in our "twins" when we see them around. This rotted out the shower wall and had run across the ceiling and rotted the bathroom wall. I ripped it all out and rebuilt it.
The rubber roof has been coated in Heng's Roof Sealant and so is no longer easily reparable, nor are any of the things on the roof. I just slathered on another coat. Hopefully the roof no longer leaks. We keep it under covered storage to protect it as long as we can.
The sides of our RV have "delamination" from water intrusion around the windows. You don't have this problem as your RV has aluminum sides.
Over the 10 years we have had it I've had to replace control boards in the fridge and water heater, and engine work, replace the radiator, water pump, distributor, temperature sensor, and more. I've probably spent $3000 in repairs over the last 10 years.
But, we use the heck out of it. It's been on 1400 mile round trips to Disney World at least 5 times. It's been on a similar trip to Virginia. I use it just about every month.
I'd say it probably was not a smart purchase, and I would have been better off buying a $15K RV, but, I didn't have $15K and probably never will have that kind of savings. So, it was settle for less and "pay as you go" or nothing.
Just to give you some background on someone else with an ancient RV.
Now, to your situation.
You have to have a dedicated engine battery for the engine to run. Yes, my RV has 2-way rocker switch. If you press and hold it one way, it will temporarily gang the house batter to the engine battery to give you an emergency jump start. But as soon as you let go the switch your engine is back on its own battery. So you must have one for the engine. If you flip the switch the other way, the engine will charge the house batteries. Also don't run the generator and have that switch flipped or you'll fry your voltage regulator.
If your house battery is good, you should be able to physically disconnect it and install it as an engine battery, if it fits in the same space available for the engine battery.
From the 2 pictures of yours I can view, your RV looks to have major water damage and is structurally unsound. I would be very concerned about driving it on the road and having walls literally fall off of it.
Rot is always worse than what you can see. Were you to start pulling things apart, you would find that much more is rotted than what you are able to currently see.
There are threads on this forum where people have done full-on restorations - pulling off walls and completely re-building them. People have re-built roofs, and re-built the cab-over bunk section. If you search you can see them.
It is a huge, huge, huge undertaking. Firstly you better live in the country or someplace or have a big shop where you can do this kind of work out of the elements.
But you are probably looking at a year or more of work, and thousands of dollars, and at the end, are you going to have some highly desirable collectors item? No.
You will find a lot of people on this forum that are clearly rich and driving $50K+ rigs who will scoff at you and say, "just buy a new RV!" or somesuch. I'm not one of those. Clearly I am the champion of the poor man's RV.
But, I think your RV is probably beyond saving.
Post some more pictures?
