New "old" Winnie 1998 Winnie 31WM

[BCam]

As a kid, I would watch JP Patches and Gertrude now and then, and somewhat unexpectedly my dad would watch too. Some of their humor was "adult-style;" dad would laugh, and I wouldn't get it. That was back when we only had three channels (4, 5, & 7.)
Eagle5

I was wondering why I never heard of this show until I looked it up and saw that it was a local show in Seattle from '58 - '81.

 

[BarryLS]

"I was wondering why I never heard of this show..."

I never heard of it either, thanks for the explanation.

 

[Eagle5]

I also remember watching Bullwinkle, before Rocky was added. At that time, Bullwinkle was a sock puppet. One day, Bullwinkle told us that Channel 7 was the right place for the tuner to be set, and that we should pull-off the knob and hide it so that nobody could change the channel. I did so! My grandmother really wondered where the knob went, and I didn't say a word. I understand that Bullwinkle did get into a little trouble for suggesting this.

 

[BarryLS]

As a kid I thought Rocky and Bullwinkle was stupid and never watched. Only when I was in my late teens did I find an appreciation for the show.

 

[DGRBRUV]

Hi Barry,
Congratulations on your retro RV. We have a 1993 Brave and have have 18years of superb travel around the UK and Europe.
Once you have your rig sorted it will give you many years of faithful service I am sure.
All the very best form us in Welsh Wales

 

[BarryLS]

Thanks Ian!

I bought this for a very low price as a blank canvass more or less and didn't get concerned about checking every detail as I would were I spending more. It was a good deal for me because it needs work.

After further inspection nothing has changed, the real challenge will be the water damage repair. I have to be careful I don't turn a simple fix into a major rebuild I always have a difficult time with that. In this case I just need to make it structurally sound and keep the water out. I don't really care if the repair looks good or factory new (at least I shouldn't).

Weather is an issue since I have to work outside.

It's encouraging that you have spent 18 years rambling around in an older model. Wales is a beautiful corner of our globe. Nice place to travel.

 

[DGRBRUV]

Vintage Winnie

Thanks Ian!

I bought this for a very low price as a blank canvass more or less and didn't get concerned about checking every detail as I would were I spending more. It was a good deal for me because it needs work.

After further inspection nothing has changed, the real challenge will be the water damage repair. I have to be careful I don't turn a simple fix into a major rebuild I always have a difficult time with that. In this case I just need to make it structurally sound and keep the water out. I don't really care if the repair looks good or factory new (at least I shouldn't).

Weather is an issue since I have to work outside.

It's encouraging that you have spent 18 years rambling around in an older model. Wales is a beautiful corner of our globe. Nice place to travel.

Hi Barry,
I am not sure to what extent your water damage runs to, but did have a few areas of delamination on ours, which is par for the course with a unit that is 28 years old, I guess. We decided to have a respray a couple of years ago and took the opportunity to tackle the delam areas.
I drilled holes in the effected outer skin areas and used a 1pack resin with a syringe to fill the void, then braced the area with a piece of plywood and used my neighbours brick wall to brace against whilst the resin cured. It look drastic when all the areas had been treated. But after the respray you could not tell the work had been done.
It worked out very well and well within a DIY skill.
It would be good to see some photos of your RV sometime.
I have uploaded one of ours after the respray for you to check out.
Cheers, have fun.

 

[Eagle5]

Wow Ian - that Brave looks perfect; excellent job!
I actually did the same style of repair to our beach cabin wherein the T111 plywood siding had delaminated in some spots. Wood glue, wax paper, and clamping by bracing; then prime & paint, and as good as new.
Here is the brochure for the 1993 Brave.
Eagle5

 

[BarryLS]

"Wow Ian - that Brave looks perfect; excellent job!"

Ditto to that. Looks like a new one!

Fair amount of water damage, thus the low price. Nothing un-repairable though. Worst is the cab over area which has received a "repair" but not a proper repair. I'm still researching just how that was built in order to effect the easiest and best repair. At the moment it's looking like the easiest thing is to tear out everything between the side walls and start over. If I knew for sure how the bottom was built and sitting on top of the cab it would help.

I have some sidewall delam, but nothing real extensive. Then the rest of the roof which I may seal up initially and then come back and just put on a new one, at least from the foam up. Cost of materials is not that bad. OTOH, I may just decide to redesign it all and start from scratch with a "real" roof

The only real problem, to me anyway, is figuring out how to divide the work into smaller jobs that can be completed on their own, if that is possible. If I can get the cab over done and integrated into the roof without rebuilding the roof right now it would help.

 

[BCam]

This will be fun to "watch". Keep us posted with lots of photos.

I have some relatively small (1' x 1') areas of sidewall delamination that shrink away in the winter and show more in the summer. They were there when I bought my MH in 2017 and are stable so, whatever leak caused them has long since been fixed. They're on the driver's side so I'm not going to bother repairing them.

Good luck.

 

[DGRBRUV]

Thanks

Wow Ian - that Brave looks perfect; excellent job!
I actually did the same style of repair to our beach cabin wherein the T111 plywood siding had delaminated in some spots. Wood glue, wax paper, and clamping by bracing; then prime & paint, and as good as new.
Here is the brochure for the 1993 Brave.
Eagle5

Thanks for the comments. We have loved owning own Winnie and tried to keep it as original as possible, but upgrading to modern tech sympathetically, LED lights and 240v microwave etc. We did get the upholstery renewed a while back, but it still looks original I think.

 

[BarryLS]

The inside of your Brave looks as nice as the outside.

I hope I can live up to that standard with my renovation.

 

[DGRBRUV]

The inside of your Brave looks as nice as the outside.

I hope I can live up to that standard with my renovation.

I am sure you will do a good job on your RV Barry, just take it one job at a time and it will work out. You will have a classic RV when you have finished.

 

[BarryLS]

"You will have a classic RV when you have finished."

That's the plan

I tore into some of the "repairs" in the bunk area last night. Ant colony under one of the boards...

I just about have the construction of the cab over figured out with help from a few pictures of others work. I can tear it down to figure it out but I'd like to know before hand how it was built. Pretty simple actually, but a poor design IMO, which is why they get wet if religion is not employed in the sealing conditions.

So, now I'm working on what repair method and materials I wish to employ in the reconstruction.

I'll start a thread in the Class C or Vintage section (which is best?) soon and start putting up pictures.

 

[DGRBRUV]

Hi Barry,
I would put the thread in the Vintage forum ..... but I guess I am biased owning an old girl myself ...ha.ha. I will look forward to seeing your journey.

 

[BarryLS]

Makes sense Ian. Vintage it is.
Of course if 1998 is vintage, I guess that makes me ancient

 

[BCam]

As long as you have a good title that describes what you're doing, it doesn't matter much. I look at the new postings and don't pay too much attention to what forum they're in. Something like "Vintage 1993 Class C Rebuild" would be good. Note that there are also "tags" that you can add/edit/delete. These are words the search function can key on. In my experience the tags that are automatically added sometimes are irrelevant and/or miss the key topics.

 

[Morich]

When discussing vintage or not, I come down on it being pretty new!

I did a look at how your Rv is built and it looked like metal framing, which would be a big step up from those I rebuilt "way back when" as they were wooden framing and the big challenge was deciding where to stop with the tear out! If you have fiberglass roof and metal framing it will cut the damage potential way down.

We peeled the metal roof back to get to the frame and rebuilt the front, drove to California and back but discovered on the way that the shower was threatening to come out the side wall on corners! I advised the new owners and priced it cheap but it was a relief to see it gone! Turned out all that work was pretty well wasted as they wanted it as a traveling dog house!

 

[BCam]

Just let us know here where your new post is located.

 

[BarryLS]

BobC, I'll follow your lead on the title.
(edit) And post here where it is...

I have removed all the replaced wood in the floor of the cab over, put in place by the previous owner. It was rotting as well. They just pieced in 3/4 pine boards and joined them with joining plates. I think I removed 100 or more screws holding it all together. Rusty buggers, many I had to drill the heads off to get them out.

So, I now know pretty much how Winnebago designed and put this thing together. It fits the parts diagram I have for my '98 31WM pretty closely. I took off the "Sleeperboard Trim Strap" and the whole bottom came loose, resting on the windshield (just filon, no biggy). I don't see any material, plywood or other on the front side of the sleeperboard trim in the diagram but it would seem likely there was always something there.

Not a design I would dream up. I can do this better, especially given some more modern material choices than available in '98. OTOH, I may still use plywood, but I would encapsulate it with epoxy and reinforce it with fiberglass. Composite airplane wings, built by amateurs with foam and covered in glass are pretty darn strong.

Good start today! I'm still thrilled with the purchase in spite of all the rot

Maybe this evening I'll get around to the new thread with pictures.