JourneyFoot

Hi guys, I just bought an '87 dolphin knowing it would require some work on the overcab because there were signs of water up there. I have no idea what I am doing and am just going off of these forum posts (as many as I can read), which are all so very helpful, so thank you! So far, I've removed the bottom bed platform so I'm down to fiberglass, the interior front wall (no water damage there) and part of the interior side panel on the driver side. I'll have to do the passenger side too, but I'll just stick to one thing at a time. I have not removed any framing yet, even though I will need to as the corners are wet. I can see the water is coming in from the side window on driver side. It appears to be leaking around the bottom corners of the window and then pooling downward into the front corner of the overcab. There is no wet wood directly under the window in the middle. It's just at the corners and fanning outward and upward to about halfway up the window. There is no wet wood above that. Question 1: How do I make sure water does not come in this way again? I have been removing the side wall from the interior and I have found the order of materials goes like this from inside out: decorative laminate plywood sheet styrofoam plywood sheet aluminum siding The outside layer of wood is actually glued to the aluminum siding, making it very very difficult to remove, even though it's wet. I have seen most people say the siding is glued to the styrofoam, but mine is glued to an extra sheet of plywood. Question 2: Has anyone had to deal with this? If so, how did you remove the wood from the siding? Since it's wet, won't I need to really make sure it is all gone before I start rebuilding? And should I rebuild the same way, or skip the outer layer of wood? Any insight would be great! Lastly, since the bottom base board on the driver side and the corner piece is all wet and rotted, I'm wondering if I am going to need to open up the seam on the outside of the RV to fix this. Question 3: How do I know if I need to fix the outside seam/molding? It looks like someone pasted some stuff all over the exterior edges of the overcab (looks crappy, but maybe it's not?) and also along the exterior edges of the front window. Since that window isn't leaking, maybe the "crappy paste job" worked and I should do it on the side windows. Thank you so much for your help! I'm flying by the seat of my pants here! Jayme

Just bought my 87 dolphin yesterday knowing I'd have to do these overcab repairs due to water damage. Have no idea what I am getting myself into, but with all of the expertise on this site, I feel like I can conquer this (let's hope).