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A project that might yield an MH someday from the ghost of an '86 Conquest


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mark, I do have plenty of pictures. In due time, I will create a gallery somewhere. The car is not in a terrible shape, BUT it needs severe TLC and I am probably going overboard.  For example, There was one soft spot on the roof, may be two. There is water damage underneath, wood is soft. And I have all but decided to give it a new roof under and over.

Part of the reason is car was mistreated by previous owners who had other things going on in their lives to care. Part of it is that materials and technology have improved so much, I can create a much healthier and cleaner, and lighter environment if I just went that extra step.

Here is upfront, by the way. mostly just greasy, but hasnt yet been touched.

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Re. LEDs, thanks. These also seem to win a lot of praise on other toyota boards and amazon -- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZVW0ZY

My other car wants what they call "error free" versions and even then has rejected them arbitrarily by refusing to turn off light-out warning. Add to that existing LEDs in car and I have a serious surplus of LEDs.

 

I will only have a light strip in the kitchen and four other recessed lighting fixtures, loo included. Those come integrated, I think. At ?east the light strip is immune to LEDs going out. You can just cut the one that goes out and rejoin.

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Totally cant believe I am down to just the shitter and two roof panels left to go out. Also cant believe how bad things were for the person who lived in this for a long time.  water had damaged the roof panels via both vents.  So roof goes plastic instead of wood this time. Hopefully just another day or two or five. Then seal the roof and think happy thoughts of rebuilding the coach part.

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The walls, floor, and roof are all finally bare after I had some help getting the cupboards out. In case you wonder why. Here are the two patches in opposite corners that led to the investigation. Simply repairing them was not an option.

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question: anyone want to chime in on how difficult it is to take out,clean and put back the furnace? Its under the oven and difficult to refresh without coming out. The gas connection is handily accessible. i dont know about the ports out the back and to the vent on the side.

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Le shitter has moved (its a hanflush low profile thetford hand flush destined for the bin) and was flummoxed by this new oddity. As you can see the previous owners, god bless, converted the unit into a high profile by adding three pieces of wood and surprise, surprise a bit of glue on piping. Or at least a very snug fit inside the old pipe.

Any suggestions on how to get the damn flange off so I can get the three pieces of wood out and get on with the rest of the work. How terrible is it if I cut the pipe below the flange. Its 8 inches above floor level as is, so I am not fitting a high profile shitter with this pipe either way.

Sorry didnt take pictures of the toilet removed yet, but you can see the loo+woodblocks here.

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All the locks now work. The camlocks, crammed with crud and useless are now at least pin tumblers though if someone is keen to bung up the water supply that bit of plastic isnt preventing them. The deadbolt AND door lock now work, as do the truck doors.

A whole bunch of supplies have piled up -- flooring, roof and walls, paint and primer, lights,insulation. All waiting on the remaining cleanup: shitter piping to blackwater tank, shower pan, and two roof panels to go.

Hopefully, next week I can consider moving on to the building side of things.

On the negative side? Three holes in the truckbead behind drivers seat close to where coach meets cab. Bunged up with sealant by PO. Cant say it gives me any pleasure to look under the car right now. Its pretty hard to do this in these here warm climes.

There are a few odd rusted scratches on the hood that I plan on covering up next week. Stock color is 033. How far off is 040. 033 seems to be internet only option. I am thinking a basecoat of 040 will be better than leaving it as is.

Lastly, what is 3M adhesive remover? A tall spray can. Any good about the coach or the cab?

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Ok. So a bit of cutting with a power tool and then a bit of struggle with the ratchet and we are left with an ugly stubby toe. The shower pan doesnt want to come off either. Its screw is out, but obviously it too is glued in. No hope of getting to anything underneath to free up something. See pictures.

 

1. I want to save the shower pan. And it has to come off too, so I can fix the issues underneath. So. How do I do it? Solvents? Cutting out the drain? What? Help!

2. The shithole (literally, sorry) was created by gluing the plastic flange and its pipe directly over the old pipe of the black water tank. See pictures. Dont suppose it can come off now? Just cut it to the right level and add a new flange at the floor level?

The roof is going to be a challenge in some ways, and not so much in others. The front vent had leaked towards the passanger seat corner. And there was a leak over the shower wall/sink area. The rest of the wood and insulation are dry. 

The question is, it doesnt appear there were any screws or attachments in the old roof, a thin metal.strip seems to be just sitting underneath the plywood glued to it.  It seems to be 1/8 ply + insulation + 1/8  ply sandwich. The metal frame is about 2 feet distance apart. This doesnt give a lot of confidence for walking on the roof. You folks not afraid of falling through?

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Wow isn't cleaning up the P/O mess fun.

What I ended up doing in the same situation was to cut off the new flange even with the old pipe. Then taking a 2" sanding drum on a drill and carefully sand out the left over ABS pipe. It takes a while to remove the stuff and not damage the original pipe. Of course between the original contents of the tank and the hot plastic the fumes are overpowering, get a fan going.

No idea about the shower pan.

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Thank you for reading.

All that sanding doesnt sound encouraging.

Thankfully, the tank was dumped and hasnt been used in quite a while, for many years it would seem. Even with a mask I didnt enjoy the plastic fumes, so it might be hacksaw time next time.

There is plenty of open room around the pipe.  How sad in the "not terrible" to "quite lame" range would it be to cut it level, fashion an adapter for the larger pipe and then use a regular metal flange on the floor. 

There is like an inch of empty room around the pipe if I can make a clean cut at the floor level.

The shower drain is metal. I hope there is a way to get to it. If I recall right the shower pans arent exactly easy to replace if I have to cut it out.

Still hoping for some group wisdom. The remaining panels of the roof and the shower pan are all thats left between me and the start of reconstruction!

 

 

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Thank you! Need to measure how much the OD has become. Hopefully I can do better than the previous owner by setting it so it remains replaceable.

Will try all sorts of solvents on the gray water problem. i doubt it will work out without destroying the shower pan. However, since it needed a cleanup/repaint anyway, may be it will become a pan with two halves! Joined appropriately when I reinstall it. Not sure I have the patience if adhesive removers dont do me any great good as I fully expect.

Anyone know how the shower drain is installed on the line? Is it a push fit or a screw on?

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So finally the cab and coach both are empty. the shiwe pan is out toilet is out. everything but furnace, oven, the fusebox and converter/charger are out. the oven got oven cleaner today. just to make it clean enough to handle. The furnace will come out.

The roof is half gone, a little bit more to take out. I finally met the thin aluminium strip on top of the ply board. This gives me a lot of confidence to keep working from inside.  Felt like replacing the entry door window today but held off another day. Tomorrow, finish the roof tear down, vacuum a bit, replace door window and see if we can get farther.

Parts list:

1. High profile toilet and its flange.

2. Water heater

3. a/c

4. fridge

No great hurry in getting them. Ebay has been having flash 20% off sales, will probably catch the cheaper parts in the next one. The roof is first up for fix up. Then paint inside. This will take weeks if not the month. Lets see. Imagine a great emptiness for now, hopefully pictures tomorrow.

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Some necessities:

1. New driver side mirror. Still need trim.

2. New entry window.  In there but not sealed pending paint, cleanup.

3. Bathroom finally decontaminated/mould protected, ready for trimming the old black water pipe, then subflooring can be installed again.

4. sink and oven. I was hoping the oven and furnace can stay, but doesn't look like I have a choice but to pull and fix the sagging counter. The furnace is out already.

5. Roof, mostly out, interior vent covers out. Hopefully the remaining two roof panels can come down in the next week and I can fix leaks from inside, rebuild from inside before doing roof top repairs.

All of the side vents get replaced. All of the trim goes and both sides get new tape, and trim installation at the corners. Electricals will get redone, disconnecting next week. There is a ton of work left to do, but it will be a relatively clean empty shell next weeks, provided plans hold.

 

 

 

 

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Now this will come as no surprise to you folks, and given that there are no pictures who knows if anyone is even reading along. But I tried to get some of the stripes off today. The test section is the entry door.

I thought I was well prepared with vinyl off type things, goo(f)-off, every kind of degreaser AND the rubber wheel thing.

Guess what, only the rubber wheel thing does something BUT it will smear the vinyl back into the shell IF the drill goes too fast. AND it does nothing for the glu strip that held the vinyl in place. All the x off, y off? Nada. Zip. Nil.  I have no stripes on the door but a clear raise outline of where the stripes had been. Thats the dried up adhesive strip.

The experiment did tell me my paint cover is in good enough shape that I can make it glossy and live with it. Perhaps zep at the end.

But the stripes are bothersome. Have you folks tried the heat gun? Thats something I have held off without seeing pictures/explanation from someone who has been there before. At what distance do you hold it? What do you scrape with?

Any recommendations?

Finally also, I have gotten to the places where the aluminium roof had developed holes, leading to rot that meant nearly all of the roof had to come down. Bondo? Aluminium tape from above and below?

There is a bit of cleanup left in the roof repair but then its ready to be rebuilt from the inside. If using some kind of construction adhesive or liquid nails to glue up stuff as it was before, how far apart must the hold up support be for it to bond securely.

For most of the roof, I am going with 1/4 inch ply instead of 1/8. So 1/4 inch above the metal frame, insulation in the frame and then 1/4 below. It will make it a bit heavier but hopefully also a bit stronger.

I am also putting in new cabling for the electrics, the old one was tired to say the least. What gauge for the 12V circuits? I am also running a 5V line in parallel with the 12V for USB options instead of doing 12V/5V conversion at the end. A little bit heavier but this is ounces of weight. I have gotten rid of 100s of pounds, so a few cables shouldnt matter.

thanks for the attention.

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Thank you Derek, will look for 14 or better. Did just Gulfstream not bother using conduits or is it common to see just the wires running through the insulation?

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Here are more questions: in summary, what are the circled red things?

1. There is a single black wire with a bolt attached to it in the generator compartment? Anyone else have it?

2. The carb has lost its support contact on one side. Will bondo do?

3. There are three mysterious loose connections. One relates to the AC. THe black cable from the compressor goes into the black three wire doohickey, from there the red wire goes to the battery and the black one is loose. What is the doohickey? and why is this one wire loose?

4. There are two other open connections that dont seem to have partners. One is a connector that comes with the big ground connection  from the engine, its just two cables, one goes to ground, the other is this one. The other loose connection is from an engine harness too. Just this one connector. What are these?

5. There is a switch? below the steering. Its purpose?

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1. Black "wire" in generator compartment. This is most likely the generator FUEL line, don't remove bolt.

2. Switch PO installed, who knows what its for, follow the wires. Possibilities AC cut off for mountains, booster switch for dead truck battery. driver seat massage???

3 Clueless about the rest

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Number 5 switch below the steering column on the left. that is the dash dimmer switch. Knob is missing looks like this

Image result for 1987 toyota truck dash light dimmer location

I didn't even know I had one until about a year ago when someone on this site mentioned it. And mine has the knob

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Thank you both, folks. The battery is out getting maintained and I had the same hunch regarding the fuel line, dash dimmer. Dr RV is calling for a trip to sacramento, its still a faint call but I can hear it now!

 

Need to debug the electrical wiring in the truck. Will have to dig up the FSM. The truck AC at least doesnt cool. Which means R134a conversion, I suppose or does anyone know a way to recharge with the original?  

By the way, I am sure someone here has updated the battery isolator in the wall to a slightly more modern battery-tender or better. Any advice on which one to use For the most part, I plan of separating coach and cab, given the generator (to be added) and solar (to be added) and the low needs for energy today compared to the original design time. It might just be a switch after the isolator, like:

https://www.amazon.com/Zoostliss-Battery-Isolator-Disconnect-Vehicles/dp/B071D55VM3/

I think the OEM isolator is still good. Is there a reason to upgrade it?

Edited by neubie
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Well, I went in there to take a couple pictures and the next thing you know the whole kitchnette and ALL the electric cabling, wall 110v sockets and all was disconnected and lying about in pieces.

The reward: I know where the leaks were. I can take apart and clean and paint the oven. The sagging counter will get  replacement. There is no coach wiring to worry about.

The cost: well,the poor back that I never listen to is joined by countless joints in signing the pain petition. And a short section of propane piping to the oven. There was a retarded propane arrangement in place so I Am not heart broken by the kink that a plug will easily fix. So,the lower back, mainly.

On a serious note I can measure and cut plywood this week. Which is something, if not exactly progress.

Still a lot to do in the truck part before it gets redone.

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Not much has been happening of late. A lot of roof scrubbing for reinstallation. All that old goop and even rust in the metal take forever. No kind of scraper is really speeding up things.

The top layer of the old plywood is really melted into the metal where it hasnt gotten wet. I am tempted to start getting stuff wet! Nothing else is moving fast. Just tiny splinters being scraped off of the top 1/8th. The reason for doing this is to get some kind of level, clean surface for the new wood to stick to.

Also, while the spacing is under two feet for metal framing everywhere else, around the back vent, its nearly 4 feet of no framing support. Almost feels like someone forgot one. I will have to add wood.

The bathroom/back closet separation wall is out. The truck/coach separation wood panels are out. Pretty much everything is out now, trim and all. Just the walls, roof and the wall separating the bath from rest of the coach. Lots of bare screws just poking all the way through. The ladder screws are poking through the skin. The generator box screws are poking through and so on. Hundred different places with sunlight poking through right now.

Need to clear off the remaining bad wood off the roof (gets sprayed with soap and water tomorrow). Anyone have any good ideas on getting stuck on ply to come off? Every solvent is available. But I hate to try them randomly.

Also, how does the valve on the water tank to empty it work? There is a tap on it but its very hard to move. What is the WD40 equivalent on plastic so I can start cleaning the water tank.

thanks.

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what in the world is going on here? This "vent" is sort of over the entry door, has a short pipe hanging through the ceiling from the inside. What is it?

 

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And on the same note, how do you deal with this ugliness when you cant really get up there till the roof is fixed. Yes, have replacement vent cover kit. But how do you create a sane surface here to attach it?  how have you sealt with this and what kind of goop am I looking at here?

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That goop maybe a product called  Dicor lap sealant . The other thing is possible tv antenna or satellite dish mount and the rail on the roof I have no clue maybe someone will tell us. Lol

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@neubie I believe that bar along the width of your Toy is indeed a TV Antenna. I've seen it mentioned in another thread on here.

For your OEM Isolator - I would just test it with a multimeter and make sure it's pumping some voltage back to your leisure battery. A Youtube search should show you how to properly test the Isolator posts.

For your countertop, consider using a lightweight IKEA counter - that's what I just installed into my Sunrader and it was a breeze to install the sink & stovetop.

Unfortunately, I can't help you much more with the mystery roof vent and other questions you had.

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I install my plumbing vents with butyl tape only. If you want you could put a small bead of sealant around the edge but I never have. Clean and simple. When you need to replace it in the future it's an easy job. And yes they don't last that long. In 14 years I have replaced mine a couple of times. They just don't make plastic like they used to

Linda S

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