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.

[snowyegret52]

Techwriter-I know. Somehow the scenes in Breaking Bad made it look so much bigger! LOL

[snowyegret52]

LOLOL Executive....yeah she'll be good as ghetto!

[John_S_]

A good fiberglass shop can make new doors from the old ones being used Asa model or may have a mold for that year already.

[TechWriter]

You bought the Breaking Bad RV.

[Executive45]

Three rolls of duct tape, some bailing wire, two tubes of Gorilla Glue and a package of JB Weld and she'll be as good as new......:B.....Dennis

[Peg_Leg]

You could build your own compartment doors. I had to rebuild a entry door and found a plastic panel at Home Depot for bathrooms. The thickness was different and I had to adjust for that but being outside in the weather didn't bother it. Use the old trim. Gorilla Glue has worked well for me on door gaskets so it would probably hold the plastic panel to a plywood backer also. One panel could do several compartment doors.

[mistressofdistr]

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.

[1BryNelson]

Light colors create a more a more open area.

[snowyegret52]

Lots of good engine suggestions. A friend also said to run some Marvel Mystery oil through her and see if that doesn't do the trick. Not sure on the ratio to gas the Mystery oil should be and since the oil girl has a 100 gallon gas tank and the gauge doesn't work, I guess I'll do it when I fill up (with high octane gas of course). Still, before that I will take off the air cleaner cover and check for sparks (Thanks Executive). It's probably not a bad idea to just give her a once over like oil change, check all belts, wires, hoses and a tune-up. The title says she's got 9 million miles so who knows how many miles she really has on her. According to the little map on the side by the door, she's been in every state west of the Mississippi (which might explain why she has no rust).

Any advice on redoing the interior would be welcome too. How to make a RV without slides look as big as an RV with slides in proving challenging.

[rgatijnet1]

It might be a little bit of ping from excess carbon deposits on the pistons or the fact that the timing is slightly off. The vacuum advance may also be sticking a little bit or not working because of a leaking vacuum hose.

[Executive45]

Congrats on the new (to you) rig....that tick you hear in that 454 most likely will be one of two things...both common with that engine:

1. Spark plug wires
2. Exhaust manifold

Remove the engine cover, remove the air cleaner and run it at night and look for sparks. The wiring overheats due to the engine cover closeness and the wiring becomes brittle and starts to leak.

Check all the exhaust manifold bolts for tightness. Also check for a broken manifold around the bolts. Common problem. If you have a crack, replace the manifolds with some quality headers.....Dennis

[MRUSA]

I thought you were talking about my wife!

[snowyegret52]

Incidently, I only paid 1000 dollars for her. I think I got a good deal.