Fixing water damage on the old Dodge (pics)

[Spectramac]

I got started on my summer project the last couple days. I found this thing on Craig's list for $100 and drove it home. It's a 78 Dodge Monaco 23' with a 440. Here's what it looked like when I brought it home.





Ok, time to dive in!











Oh man, I can't believe the huge bag of rusty screws I have already! It's actually not as rotten as I was thinking it was going to be. Just in the corners, where the screws need to be. Still so much to remove....

[PapPappy]

Goatmaiden wrote:
This is so great - and it seems you are still having fun! What is the story behind this rig? Age? Model? I swear it looks as if it was submerged in the river.

Actually if you go back and look, you'll see that the interior looks pretty good!! So, if it was an RV submarine.....it was water-tight....sorta!!

Anyway, lets hope that these pictures keep coming.....it's educational, and it's of great interest to those of us that will probably never take on such a great project. I just love to see how it's going!!!!!:)

Keep 'em coming!!:B

[Goatmaiden]

This is so great - and it seems you are still having fun! What is the story behind this rig? Age? Model? I swear it looks as if it was submerged in the river.

[Spectramac]

I just came in from pulling off most of my roof items. The ladder, rack, and antenna all came off pretty well. Of course the hardest part is picking off all the different layers of roof goo. Do yourself a favor people, peel off the old layers of roof sealer before you put on more, or better yet just unbolt the thing that's leaking and re-glue it down and put in new stainless screws. You or the next owner will be sooooooo glad you did! 🙂

Just for kicks I've been putting all the rusty screws I pull out into this bag.... I'm on the 3rd recharge on my 14.4v cordless drill. :B

[Spectramac]

I'm sure we'll go over our budget pretty fast, that was the wife wishfull thinking. So far the only 'bolt in' items we need are an entry door, fridge, and a couple new crank up vents. Maybe some new lights too, the old ones are pretty gross. I may have found the door and a fridge already and the guy says I can help myself to any sheetmetal I can pull off the old rig as he's going to scrap it. 🙂

Actually that bed is the biggest one, so we are planning on leaving it the size it is for us. We only have 1 kid so she can sleep at the converted dining table.

I'm not set in stone with the 24 inch centers either, just thought they'd be a little heavier so maybe if I used a few less of them I would keep the weight down. This is all subject to change when I start building. :B

[ron_dittmer]

$100 to $1000?

Wow you are on a very tight budget....but it makes sense too.

Good reading you plan a crowned roof. That should have a continuous payback. I would maintain 16" centers though. The 24" span will encourage sheathing sag between rafters.

I also agree on the ladder and roof rack. We ordered our 2007 Phoenix Cruiser without them mounted for the very same reasons. We have all that stuff stored at home, keeping in case we ever changed our minds. So far, we are very happy without them.

About reshaping the front. If you plan to rebuild the mattress platform, I would consider making the bed a bit smaller by decreasing the forward overhang. Then play a bit more with the roof angle. You might get enough exterior skin to work with to delete that window. I've seen smaller over-cab beds with aero-dynamics being the bigger priority. They still seem very accommodating for two. Especially if that bed is planned for kids and/or pets.

[RedRollingRoadb]

About the extra skin for the roof... A friend had an older MH with lots of rot in the bunk area. He got the shop to sell him the aluminum skin that is used on truck trailers. Not sure of the thickness that it comes in. He started under the bunk (eliminated the window) and went over the rear to just above the rear window. Made a good one piece, leakproof roof. You could get it at a heavy duty trailer repair shop. Comes in rolls thousands of feet long they just cut off what you want.

Good luck on the project. Maybe you can make it a $1200 MH. 🙂

[Spectramac]

I was worried about that very thing last night, so I went back out and pulled the the inside cover to the A/C unit. It has around 3 inches of extra mounting hardware so I think I'm good. I'm also planing on simplifying the roof some by removing the old crank up antenna, the roof rack and ladder. I never needed the extra storage before anyway.

[PapPappy]

With the right aerodynamics, you could probably get, oh 9 mpg instead of 8:B

As long as the windows are OK, I don't see any reason not to reuse them. I would eliminate the front one on the cab-over....which may present your metal problem, but if you cut the size of the cab-over enough, you may have enough sheet metal.

The suggestions about re-wiring are good, as were all of that poster's suggestions. I realize that you are trying to keep this within budget....and that budget is almost non-existant, so try to figure which "upgrades" are best for you. Just keep SAFETY the priority.

Your idea for the roof joist is a good one, but you may find a problem with the various thru-roof fittings....will the fan and A/C reach down through the thicker overhead? I'm sure they make them that will, but will the ones you have??? You want to keep things pretty much the same. Just a thought:h


Love the pictures...keep them coming!!:)

Bill

[Spectramac]

I was thinking about something like this:



Instead of this...

[Spectramac]

I got the right side all de-skined today.



Then got to looking at the roof....



It has 2x2s on roughly 16 inch centers. My plan is to change this to 2x4s on maybe 24 inch centers reshaped down to 2 inch on the ends to make a crown for runoff. Maybe even reshape the nose on the overhead downhill in the front for better wind resistance. I'm talking with a couple local people about finding some extra skin to omit the front window (it was cracked anyway). We'll make a 21st century C out of it yet! :B

[Spectramac]

I like a lot of those suggestions, but I had planned on reusing the old sheet metal so reshaping and changing window sizes will be pretty tough. This is going to be an inexpensive rebuild to match the cheap purchase price. My wife jokes around that we want to go from a $100 motor home to a $1000 one. :B

If I find some extra metal paneling I wouldn't be against reshaping the front. I'll have to look for someone parting out an old one around here....

[ron_dittmer]

Hopefully your floor is in reusable condition, or this becomes hopeless.

If I learned anything in life with home projects......don't waste any time trying to salvage the cheap stuff, that could be quickly removed and replaced with new.

My thoughts on this project is to rebuild (maybe replace) one or two adjacent walls at a time, and do the roof last. I wouldn't want to tear it down to the point that there is nothing to refer to anymore.

If this were my project, I would change the following for sure

- reshape the cab-over bed for improved aero-dynamics
- have only one small screened window on each side of the cab-over bed. Delete the front window for sure for water infiltration reasons
- replace every window in the entire RV with new ones. You can pick different sizes too.
- finish the RV in sheet fiberglass including the roof. forget the siding and rubber or aluminum roof
- If the roof needs replacing, crown it to eliminate water puddling later which always happens around the heavy a/c unit. When the caulk cracks around the a/c and other roof openings, in comes the water
- use 0.6 CCA treated lumber (or a safer equivalent) for all framing alone, not the more common 0.4 CCA. CCA Pressure treated lumber is a great product but has health concerns. Limiting it's use to framing alone minimizes any concerns.
- use moisture-proof exterior wall board sheathing. What kind needs further research.
- use hurricane ties or other steel bracketry for all frame corner joints. These are commonly found at Home Depot for house and deck construction.
- screw all wood together with high strength coated wood screws. Stainless screws don't rust, but they are a very soft metal and will break easily from the stresses that occur during RV motion. Pre-drill the screw holes near the ends of any framing to prevent splitting
- rewire everything with 12 gauge wire for 110v, etc. All wiring in there is likely too old with brittle insulation for continued long term use.

Regardless of condition, be sure to replace or spray bleach on all good wood that had mold grown on it. You wouldn't want to have health problems from this.

[Spectramac]

I got started tearing down the right side tonight, so far it's looking WAY better than the left side...



Look! boards that aren't black!!! :B



I think I can just replace the lower frame boards and plywood, put on some new paneling and be done. Be a nice warm up before I wade into the rest of it. 🙂

[Skyliner]

I finally finished the tear out of all of the rotten wood in my cabover. I ultimately had 2 issues. The first was a leak in the vent, which was the reason for my ceiling starting to sag. When I tore things out I found that the vinyl had separated from the wood backing. As I pulled it down, that last layer of wood stayed in place with the foam insulation behind it. It was dry so not sure if I will tear that out or not yet. All of the studs in the ceiling appear to be dry and solid.

The big issue was leaking below the front window and a bit along the bottom side seams. I could see where the PO had caulked the heck out of those areas, but after tearing everything out, I found a bunch of little pin holes in the skin along the front and corners. I am not sure if these were the result of screws or staples rusting out, and the small pieces migrating to spots where they continued to rust against the aluminum, or if it was something else all together.

My lower end was so rotted out that the wood was literally turned to compost. What was there was mostly mush and came apart when I pulled the decking up. I was lucky in that some of the pieces were labeled with their lengths where I could still read it. I am using that as a guide, but for the most part am redesigning the platform and adding some additional support along the way.

I have some pictures, post tear out, that I will post when I get a chance. I will also post some pictures from the rebuild. I think I am lucky as it would appear I can do all of this from inside.

The bright side to this project so far is that one of our local home building supply stores is shutting down for a remodel. Everything was on sale for 30% off, and I was able to pick up everything I needed to do this job, plus a few tools I was missing, and at a good discount. They had rolls of repair tape for aluminum roofs, so I bought 4 rolls, which should be enough to seal all of my seams in the roof and also shore up some of those areas with the pin holes. I will be sure to turn on all the interior lights and walk around it at night to spot any other holes I may not have noticed so far.

[MichaeleH]

This is really great and what makes this site great. I only wish I had building skills. But I like to see your skills at work. Keep those pic's coming and if you need a job maybe I will buy a used leaking RV. It might be cheaper than what they want on the lots. :B