Yes, she's old but she's a keeper

[snowyegret52]

Ok so "old" is relative. I just bought a 1986 Fleetwood Bounder. She's 31.8 feet long, has the Chevy 454 gas engine (running strong but with a tick when accelerating but I'm hoping that's the oil because it sat for a while), someone has painted the walls but not the cabinets or cabinet doors. The A/C doesn't come on and we haven't hooked up the water yet. The stove/oven works and the refrigerator seems to be working fine as well. Didn't try the furnace yet. There doesn't seem to be any rust, I did climb on the top and couldn't find any soft spots and no apparent leaks from the top or leak stains on the ceiling inside. Someone has put wood flooring in the kitchen area and a really god awful poop brown indoor/outdoor carpet in the livingroom area. The dinette is still the original brown plaid cushions but the cushions are all there and I can recover those easily. The table top is under the bed and in fine shape. The bathroom is spotless. No cracks and I'm not sure anyone ever used it. It still looks brand new. The microwave is gone (but I don't use microwaves anyway) and about half of the overhead lights are missing the covers. The front dash is fine, no cracks but the fuel gauge and temperature gauge don't work. All signals and speedometer work fine. I can't figure out how to post pictures on a message so here is a link to a couple of pictures of her. https://www.facebook.com/pamela.pettyjohn/media_set?set=a.10202608057176533.1073741830.1050237933&type=3

Things that I want to do:

Install solar panels. I don't want them on the RV. I want them mobile so I can move them around or away from the RV. We have our own land way up in the mountains so it's safe for them to be a bit away from us.

All of the storage compartment doors on the outside including the generator door are disintegrating. Does anyone know if Fleetwood kept the measurements on those doors pretty standard? Can I use doors off a different year model if I can find them in the RV Salvage yard?

I have no use for a dinette that turns into a bed so I was going to tear the dinette completely out and put another kitchen counter/desk over there along that wall. Will pulling that dinette out compromise the structure of the RV at all?

I haven't tried the water but it won't surprise me if the water heater doesn't work. I've owned a few older used travel trailers and none of the water heaters worked on them. How will putting a new instant heat tankless water heater affect the drainage on the solar panels?

One of the exterior bottom corners has the metal trim coming away from the corner seam. Is this hard to repair?

Thanks for your help. I know this is a lot of questions.

[Useroverdrive]

Already made the choice:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Michelin-XPS-Rib/4061827

[turbojimmy]

Useroverdrive wrote:
My mistake. I meant 9001C for the plug wires. The 9019C wires are for the 1985 model year 454 engine only

Let us know what you settle on for tires. They're next on my '84 Allegro. Still working on the engine replacement right now, though.

[Useroverdrive]

My mistake. I meant 9001C for the plug wires. The 9019C wires are for the 1985 model year 454 engine only

[Useroverdrive]

I have a 1989 Mallard Sprinter with a 454 in it. I am going to tune it up with the following:

Accel wire set 9019c
K&N air filter E-1420
Accel 8141R distributor cap/rotor assy
Accel 140011 coil
New PCV valve
Bosch platinum+4 plugs (p/n 4449)

Then new tires. Check the DOT date on your tires. Very important safety item. My bridgestones look like they came off the tire rack. They are 12 years old. Check the tires

[Les_Balty]

Awesome! glad to see one rescued from oblivion. Hope that it gives you years of RV freedom & enjoyment!!

[aeejbe]

"I just bought a 1986 Fleetwood Bounder. She's 31.8 feet long, has the Chevy 454 gas engine (running strong but with a tick when accelerating but I'm hoping that's the oil because it sat for a while)..."

-----

Even now, I regret being steered away from one particular 31 foot Bounder that caught my eye way back in the day. Good memories still linger. So, did I miss something somewhere in the discussion about having the whole 454 engine replaced? ... ... Because of a ticking sound during accelerations? Why not simply replace the manifolds with headers?

[snowyegret52]

The previous owner of mine put in the wood flooring in the kitchen dining area and new carpeting in the livingroom area (unfortunately a horrible poop brown color but I can fix that). They painted the walls but not the storage cabinets so I'm going to paint them as well. New curtains, reupholstering the sofa and dinette and she'll be better than new.

[turbojimmy]

Mike M2 wrote:
No the doors were wood and we refinished them to a more modern stain. My wife made new curtains for all the windows. I did a little updating in the galley too, I went to Home Depot and bought cheap but modern handles for all the cabinets(if you look around you can get them for 1 or 2 bucks each). I also laid vinyl wood planking over the old vinyl floor in the galley, looked great for pennies...

Cool! Great ideas. Mine's all carpet, but I'd like to put some faux tile or laminate down eventually.

Have to get the engine in it first, then to the cosmetics.

[Mike_M2]

No the doors were wood and we refinished them to a more modern stain. My wife made new curtains for all the windows. I did a little updating in the galley too, I went to Home Depot and bought cheap but modern handles for all the cabinets(if you look around you can get them for 1 or 2 bucks each). I also laid vinyl wood planking over the old vinyl floor in the galley, looked great for pennies...

[turbojimmy]

Mike M2 wrote:

I had an old 1985 with paneling, I was not sure about painting it either but we did and it looked much better. We went with a tan color...

Thanks. Did you do the doors too?

[Mike_M2]

turbojimmy wrote:

mistressofdistress wrote:
You got a good deal! I have a motorhome with a blown 454 engine and I can't buy a replacement motor for that.

Like a previous poster said, anything you can do to lighten the colors will make the inside look larger. Walls, curtains, upholstery etc.

I have an '84 with a blown 454, too. Why can't you buy a replacement motor? They're all over Craigslist. The hard part is getting the old one out and the new one in! The weather here in the Northeast has not been cooperating otherwise I'd have mine out by now. There's so much snow piled around it that I can't get underneath it!

Being an '84, mine is all dark paneling inside. Dark cabinet doors too. The curtains are a rust/burnt orange color that I *think* would be okay with lighter walls. I'm just wondering whether painting the paneling would look worse than the way it is now.

Anyhow, I agree with the "tick" diagnosis being an exhaust leak. The manifolds are notorious for cracking and leaking.

Good luck to the OP - it's nice to see some other old stuff out there. I know I have my hands full with mine!

I had an old 1985 with paneling, I was not sure about painting it either but we did and it looked much better. We went with a tan color...

[Canadian_Rainbi]

"Yes, she's old but she's a keeper"

When I saw that topic title I thought you were going to be full of praise for DW! :B

[deandec]

snowyegret52 wrote:
Someone said put pics on photobucket so I hope I've done this right. Here she is, before I've done anything to her. Sorry can't figure out how to make it to where you click on it and it goes.

http://s344.photobucket.com/user/zen4pamela/slideshow/

I think the problem with this link is that it is a slideshow not a photograph.

Select the photo you want to post.

Resize the photo in photobucket or before uploading to photobuck so that it is email sized.

Select the new link address for the smaller photo.

Then post the link to the smaller photo at RV.Net link query.

[jhilley]

snowyegret52 wrote:

jhilley wrote:
I didn't mean AC as air conditioning, but for alternating current. The shorter you can make the DC (direct current)photo voltaic leads from the panels to the charge controller and the charge controller to the batteries the better. My run is about 14' and I use 2 awg marine battery cable from the junction box for the panels to the charge controller and 4' of 2/0 awg marine battery cable from the charge controller to the batteries

I will be really close to what you've got then. I'm wondering if 4 100W panels is enough or too much. I'm not running air conditioning or a microwave (just don't like them) or a coffee maker (I use a press) or a hair dryer. Will be running a fan or two, lights (LED where I can), flat screen and cable box, wireless router, laptops, cell phones, whatever the refrigerator uses while it's also on gas. Am attaching a large additional propane tank so I can use my stove/oven and running 2 oil radient heaters. What do you think?

We are running on 3 135 watt panels right now. I am adding another 100 watt panel. We have more than enough charging capacity, but need more battery. We have 330 amp/hr. I will be replacing them with 4 Trojan SCS 225 Group 31 batteries and we will then have 520 amp/hr.

Our neighbor has one 135 watt panel and 220 amp/hr of battery and with his amount of TV and other 12 volt use keeps his batteries fully charged with very little generator use.