freebear13

6 years later after my full (exterior) rebuild and I STILL need to get my interior goin’. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/90iumv4hs2frazb/AAC-aN1UlpHvlikP6LmyKWDga?dl=0

I had just enough energy and focus to rebuild mine. One whole side from frame up. Scope out the pics...now I have to get another bit of time, energy, AND FOCUS to do the interior.

Having the correct tools, knowing someone with the correct tools, or hiring someone with the correct tools is KEY. I am in the school of belief of trying your best to get our vehicles back close to the way they were built- a slightly convex shape to our roofs...crucial to not let that water pool up top. For the years in between the time I knew I needed to rebuild my roof correctly and finally doing it I used to have to park it with two by fours under the tires front and back of one side to make up for the sagging roof. I am not sure if our friend here across the pond got around to completing his project but I just finally posted pics from my spring of 2015 roof job on my 1985 Toyota Dolphin Motorhome.

overdue response but THANK YOU VERY MUCH for saying that Vermonter ! And Gary_M and Linda s - I had all those things rolled together and more for sure...Just posted a bunch more pics today of another additional level goforitism. I just have to find the money,commitment ,and energy to do the interior now. I'll post pics of THAT if I can ever get to it. LOL

After a complete successful rebuild of the entire passenger side of my baby summer/fall 2014 the northeast had a SERIOUS amount of snow (like over 10 feet in 4 weeks) well, I live in San Francisco and the motorhome is stored at my mother's in Connecticut - do the math. Came back east to go up to New Hampshire and rebuild the interior and found the lyrics to The Grateful Dead's 'Brown Eyed Women' ringing in my head as I viewed my poor Dolphin : "Snowed so hard that the roof caved in." https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s6zbz557naukc3f/AABreFk9-ckj_NoiGdNuZOMya?dl=0 I am fully not kidding one bit when i tell you that I literally called the local dump and asked if and how they would take my R.V. off my hands...THEN just on a whim I went on Craigslist for the Hartford Connecticut area, typed in R.V. repair or something, and found this AMAZING DUDE that comes to you with all tools needed for around $30 an hour in his awesome little redone sweet 1978 motorhome and does R.V. REPAIR. Together we jammed it out in like 3 or 4 days. Very much easier to write about it and read about it, but basically we peeled back the aluminum top like a sardine can. Assess the wood on the top of each side's wall. I had just completely rebuilt the passenger side wall and thank God the driver side wall was still in decent shape. Making sure to create and restore the convex shape of the roof,we used one of the original pre-shaped cross-sections as a template and replicated it using about 8 to a dozen 7 Foot pine wood 1 x 2 boards. We matched or improved upon the construction around the middle vent and the forward vent. We put quarter inch plywood on top of the cross sections- and then did my best with the ripped aluminum -banging it out tucking back in the creases etc. Stapled it down and replaced the moldings with a set of new screws. Make sure to have a pad of paper masking tape anything you can do to write down the routing of the wiring and label the wiring as you will have to drill holes in these cross-sections 2 route the wires. EPMD self leveling sealant by dicor over the Staples and the cracks and the holes and the seams.

Linda, I'm the dude who posted a question about accessing new siding for my Dolphin years ago...and you responded with an idea or two...took me a while to truly bust into this work AND I decided to just bang out the old aluminum and make it work...looks fine to me.

O.K. (thanX Linda) so, brought the poor beat up long over due Dolphin project to a friend's house in New Hampshire that has ALL THE TOOLS (inc. a mig welder) spent three separate weeks working on it. RIP DOWN,REINFORCEMENT,PREP,FRAME https://www.dropbox.com/sh/90iumv4hs2frazb/AAC-aN1UlpHvlikP6LmyKWDga?dl=0

1985 Toyota Dolphin Motorhome. Owned since 1998 . Totaled by an F150 (right rear) fall of 2005. Re-man engine in 2007. Collision with a MOOSE June 15,2008 (right front) Time and pressure led to bowing and opening up a good bit. BEFORE : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v0psst7xu30l7dw/AAAD2CG8PIJpNRIXcLxtNOm0a?dl=0