Generator pull on 95 roadtrek 210 Popular

[Blaino]

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 will require the removal of all the back end wood framing and interior wall panels, etc to avoid "up in smoke" syndrome.
I'll also remove the generator as there will be several inches of flooring going back in underneath the whole outboard edge of the generator enclosure along it's entire length where it meets the outer steel skin.... or did.
Why do people allow their expensive wonders to deteriorate this way?
For those who do not know, the 210 of those days was not a wide body, but was artificially extended in the construction process. Road Trek removed the roof in favor of their fibreglass top and then cut the entire back of the vehicle off adding in a trunk below the floor, frame extensions and then a section of exterior steel skin and welded that bit (about 24 inches) to the front and back of the gap created by the extension thereby extending the body for the "Ultimate" Road Trek. After bodywork and some restructuring inside, the work was well nigh impossible to detect. The rear side windows are placed into this patch area and the best way to see evidence of the work is in the drip rail or "rain gutter" around the top of the sidewalls.
I'm a fair mechanic and a top carpenter and wood worker, but the generator pull and related electrical issues are .... worrisome.
Any step by step will be welcome. Pictures? LOL
Also, I am considering dropping the floor there and going back with a deeper, larger enclosure to house 4 or maybe 6 batteries to become part of a storage setup for several top mounted solar panels.... plenty of room for 4 panels of 2' x 4'(or a small helicopter!).
I would like to have sufficient power to run a small efficient A/C unit all night if needed without the generator running/vibrating under the bed.
I plan to get the project underway as soon as winter decides to finish chewing on Missouri!
Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

[Neverhappy]

Interesting adventure, I love it, not a bad looking rig, more pics please 🙂
Did you come up with interesting paint schemes ? I bought a 97 Leisure Travel and would like ideas to repaint it...so..any inspiration is welcome as I don't know how to play with the PC.

[Blaino]

Here is the top of the generator shown with the compartment cover open and the house battery cover open as well. The unit had no battery and I will buy one when road time gets closer or buy several if I do the solar project.

Here is a closer look:

[Arizona_Kid]

One thing, you will not be able to run an a/c with enough BTU's to cool your van on batteries, even with solar. You are going to need a generator, and at least a 9,000 BTU a/c and then your only looking at 10 to 15 degrees cooling below outside temps. As for sizing a generator, double the BTU's of the a/c to get the gen-set size. So in this case you would need a 2,000 watt generator to start, and run the a/c.
Vans, do to all the glass, metal body, air holes, are the hardest type of RV to cool.

[Blaino]

I'll have to work on picture size too it seems... these are huge-nourmous! Sorry!
Here is the as delivered condition: Note the plate steel on the bottom of the rear side door bottom, missing ground effects behind the rear wheel(both sides) and the patch panels riveted above the side storage behind the side doors. A few other things he "forgot" to reveal... broken windshield in 2 places,(cannot see it in the pictures) leaking roof window, broken headlight door (bottom corner has a missing chunk)both side doors rusted in the bottoms and one rear door as well.
It looks rough, but I have fixed far worse.

[Blaino]

OK! Figured out the picture deal.... methinks!


This is one of several line drawings I did to play with paint schemes and so on...
Here is my Urban Combat Varient... if things go badly.... LOL!



Here is my "little rusty" (according to the previous owner) condition upon arrival here...

[Blaino]

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

[booster]

I also think the extension is OEM GM, most of the extended vans were that way then and the Dodges were right to the end.

For the body panels you may want to consider using the 3M body panel mounting adhesive. From everything I have seen, it is as strong as welding, no distortion, and it seals the seam to stop future rust. It would save a lot of tear out to prevent fire.

[Handbasket]

You've probably got an Onan 2800? Mounted above the floor in the 1st gen 210's, rather than underhung like a 190 IIRC?

Here's a pic of the Onan 2800 in an '08 Tiger a'building, before the coach is married:


This should be like yours. I don't think they've changed it. The connections are on the left side to the back as you look at the access door. In order from left to right in the pic, fuel line, 12V for starter, remote start switch wiring harness, and 120V output lines. You'll probably have to unbolt it, slide it part way out, and reach in over the top to get to the connections. Be sure the battery is disconnected.

The box is probably held down by 4 bolts thru the floor into weld nuts inside the bottom of the box. To get mine out of the Tiger, I had to remove the trim strip around the door to get to the door frame screws, and remove the entire door & frame. Not sure how RT did it on the 210. Easiest to build a platform that can sit right outside the compartment to move it onto. IIRC, it weighs about 125 lbs. One man can move it; I used ramps to slide mine down out of the Tiger.

I'd suggest getting the installation manual from Onan. It'll tell you how much clearance is required for safe cooling. Add some sound deadening if possible (1" rigid fiberglass insulation can be sourced from heating supply places). I cut .2" sheet rubber 'washers' for mine to sit on, and used blue Loctite on the bolts so they didn't have to be but just snug; this'll cut some vibration. Don't block the cooling air entrance or exit (around the exhaust pipe).

You probably have room to add the Onan resonator in the tailpipe. Make sure the outer end of the tailpipe isn't rigidly restrained. It needs to be able to shake a bit to allow the Onan vibration isolation to work.


Good luck with it! BTW, I think the extra length is OEM GM, not added by RT. I've seen maybe two older G-30's as plain vans that I think were that long.

Jim, "Old age comes at a bad time, but it beats the alternatives."