Class C Cabover Rebuild

[MattCrouch]

Hello all! I am new here but have been looking around for quite a while. My wife and I purchased a used class c, 1992 Jamboree Searcher by Fleetwood. I thought I had looked the rig over good and my wife and 2 young daughters loved it.... Well, long story short, we got it home and got to messing around in it and I pulled the mattress down off the cabover bed and noticed ROT!!

I have searched the internet for countless hours and feel pretty confident in being able to rebuild it. I just have one question: the cab floor is approximately 5.5' by 7.5'. I cannot remember exact measurements. Either way, it is made out of 1 piece of 3/4" plywood. I cannot find a 6'x8' piece anywhere and nowhere around here seems to be able to order it either. So, what I am thinking is to use tongue and groove plywood to join the two pieces together to make an 8'x8' piece. Glue the joint with liquid nails and then glue a 1/4" piece on top and bottom of the 3/4" that is now glued together. Do you think that will provide enough support for my wife and I? Approx 350 pounds together. There are 2 twin beds in the back that our daughters will sleep on. I will post some pictures of the rebuild and process as I go along. I see where most people that do it are taking a month.... I sure hope to have it done before a month as we are ready to use it!

I went and got it inspected, insured, licensed, and titled this afternoon.

Another question: Do these rigs have a brake proportion valve somewhere? The right rear brake was sticking when we got it home from purchasing it (could smell it and then felt hub and it was HOT!). I adjusted the brake shoes in the other day and after getting it inspected etc today, I got it home and the hub was warm, not hot. I only had to drive it 10 miles though. I am leaning towards a bad wheel cylinder, but also thought it might have a proportion valve.

Thanks in advance to anyone who reads and/or answers this!

[Snowman9000]

BTDT. Well, you will enjoy it, and you've learned a lot. That's worth something, and someday you'll laugh about it.

[MattCrouch]

Yeah I used butyl tape under it. I caulked over the ends of the plastic cover and when water got behind the plastic cover it pushed its way under the caulk and in around the window. I guess I should've caulked around the window first and let it set up before putting those trim pieces on. I now know that those plast pieces are not weather proof and will leave an escape route for water. Or at least that's what I assumed happened anyway.

On a seperate note, I can't believe how filthy the whole camper is! It looked clean but once I started scrubbing the walls and ceiling.... lol I can see just how dirty it was. The people we bought it from used it mainly to transport their entire family to thwir grandsons dirt bike racing so I guess they weren't all that worried about cleaning it! I seriously just wish I could be done with all the work on it! Ready to relax and enjoy it. At first it was a fun project but now it's turned into work ha ha

[DaHose]

I used 4" wide eternabond (or trimmed to 2") to seal all seams around the cabover fiberglass cap. Then I used butyl tape under the metal strips with SS screws everywhere.

Jose

[DrewE]

Did you seal underneath the metal screw strip with Butyl tape? That's where the real sealing for those seams comes from. The plastic strip that snaps in place is mostly cosmetic (though it does protect the screw heads from the elements somewhat)—it's certainly not 100% waterproof.

[DaHose]

Lost track of this thread somehow. I recall I used 3M Fastbond 10 to attach the filon outer skin to the new wood. I documented it, so double check that.

If you have a leaking butted seam, I recommend Eternabond. Get some wide enough to overlap 1" on both sides and use a METAL roller to really get a good mechanical bond. If you do it right, it will seal up great.

Jose

[MattCrouch]

Well for anyone that cares lol . I finished the cabover revuild and was pretty happy with the end results. I hooked up water to the camper to figure out that it had a couple water leaks.... the shower faucet had sprung a leak and so did the kitchen faucet. The shower faucet was a real pain because I had to take the fridge out to gain access to it... got all the water leaks fixed and started cleaning the rig from top to bottom inside. Went out there this afternoon after it rained a fma couple days and admired my handy work in the cabover.... wait, why is the new paneling discolored? Oh because it's leaking! Urgh! The front window has a seam halfway up it where the exterior skin meets and is held together with that trim that has the plastic covering the screws. I caulked the ends of it really good, however I reused the plastic strips. I don't know if maybe they weren't strong enough to keep water out or what but water built up behind the plastic and pushed it's way under the caulking and into the cabover. So I put a tarp back over it amd will look at it again Tuesday. Should be an easy fix, just frustrating! And the discolored paneling..... well it's nust going to stay that way. Thanks for listening to my rant! So I still plan on putting pictures on here, just have seriously been busy with working on it, the wife's dr appointment, kids, and work. However we have our first trip reserved April 3rd at lake of the Ozark state park to celebrate Easter!

[MattCrouch]

Thanks for the info Calisdad! I looked at it again because I knew I had contact cement... i got to looking and I got the fast dry formula! I'll pick up sone regular stuff and use it.

[Calisdad]

If I understand you correctly you're trying to refasten the outside skin that is above the cab and on the front??

Whatever you use you best devise something that will hold/clamp it in place while the adhesive sets up. Try a dry run with bar clamps, ratchet straps and 2x4's, leaving any areas that have screw on trim free so you can fasten it.

Something tells me you don't have or want true contact cement. The DAP tech sheet says you have a 2 hour period to get your material in place but as mentioned it sticks on contact- thus the name. linky

There are lots of adhesives that will work. The linoleum adhesive you mentioned should do fine. Use a 'V' notched trowel/spreader to maintain an even coat and plan to leave it clamped in place for 24-48 hours.

[DrewE]

Good contact cement is strong and instantaneous.

There is some so-called latex contact cement that is nice to work with (in terms of fumes and so forth) but, in my experience at least, doesn't actually hold things together most of the time. I don't recommend it at all.

I've generally used epoxy to attach the outer skin to the plywood or whatever. It definitely doesn't let go, but it does require something to hold things in place while it cures. Slow-curing epoxy is much more convenient for this sort of application than five-miute epoxy. (I like the West System epoxies which are excellent quality...but unfortunately not inexpensive. They're available from various places, including Lee Valley for mail order and West Marine stores. Incidentally, West Marine and West System are two separate unrelated companies that just happen to be named for the same compass point.)

[MattCrouch]

Do you think the gel contact cement would be better?

[MattCrouch]

Yeah it was contact cement.... the wind was blowing pretty steady and took a good 10 to 15 minutes to get it all coated. I'm assuming thats why it dried out so fast.

[Calisdad]

Sure it was contact cement? That stuff sticks right now. The trick is to keep the 2 glued up surfaces from touching with a sheet of newspaper. When you have them where you want them slide the paper out. It doesn't want to be wet. You can use floor glue, and it should be more forgiving but you will have to clamp/staple/nail/screw it in place until the glue sets up.

[MattCrouch]

DaHose: what did you use to glue your skin back on? I used contact cement for the flat piece oj bottom of bed. However, I went to put the nose piece on that folds fromt front down underneath the bed floor and didn't have as much luck. The cement was drying out by the time I got it folded under etc and I dont know that it will be strong enough to hold anyway. My next thought would be linoleum floor glue?

On a seperate note..... lol my wife had to run to Wal-Mart after her dr appointment so we drove separately. I asked her to pick up a new staple gun and some staples. She did and when I finally got around to using them this afternoon, she had picked up a new stapler and a pack of brad nails. Oops! Be the last time I ask my wife to do anything tool related! I dug out my old stapler and I was in luck.. still had staples in it! It's old and doesn't work right and wouldn't even kick one staple out. Lol oh well. I tried to use my air brad nailer to hold in place long enough to get aupport under it to hold the bottom bht they just didnt have enough head on them. So I didn't make much progress for the couple hours I had today. She has another appointment tomorrow morning and then I hope to get this thing in the dry tomorrow!

[MattCrouch]

DaHose,

Your blog/rebuild looks awesome! Way more detailed than I'll be.... lol I had good intentions of taking a lot of pictures along the way, however when I have a buddy here to help me, I feel bad stopping to take pictures. I took some pictures before, a few during once things were accomplished, and will take some more as I finish up. Mine was not near as extensive as yours either! Thanks goodness!

On a separate note, when I was at Camping World the other day getting supplies.... The lady behind the counter talked me into becoming a GoodSam member. She gave me a discount of like 30%, sold me the membership with roadside assistance etc etc, and threw in 2 folding chairs for $59. Now I just need to find some time to read about it all and figure out what all I can use this membership for! As I mentioned earlier, my wife has some dr. appointments today so I guess we'll head that way and hope to finish this camper up this afternoon with interior probably later this week.

Want to say thanks to everyone that has offered support and guidance for this project! I was a new member here and didn't know if anyone would even reply thinking maybe I was a spammer or something. THANKS!