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1987 Mini-Cruiser Rehab!!


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My wife and I purchased a 1987 Toyota Mini-Cruiser a couple months ago and have been in the slow process of rehabilitation. I'm stuck on how to "fix" the over cab sleeping area. The previous owner mentioned the TV antenna leaked at some point. We began tearing into the ceiling and walls to see the extent of the damage. I've attached a few pictures of what we're dealing with.

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My main concern are the two 2x4's(?) on the bottom portion of the over cab area where the exterior trim piece (above the windshield) will screw into. The trim piece was halfway falling off when we bought the RV and I think the two pieces of wood should be replaced. Any help is much appreciated!

Also there is significant rot in one of the upper pieces of wood. I don't think I need to replace the whole length but could splice a solid end piece in it's place. What do you think?

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Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions! Looking forward to sharing our journey with this awesome RV.

Oh and we live in Connecticut if anybody is around and would like to swap rehab stories/lend a helping hand for a few brewskis!

Jonathan and Kamala

 

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Hey Wanderlust, thanks for the recommendation. You're definitely right, I'll go ahead and replace the whole length. Kicking myself because I just resealed the outer trim of the overhead cab area with Dicor corner seal tape. Don't really want to remove the trim again and repeat the process. Is it possible to replace the 2x4's leaving the trim intact?

Thanks for the link Linda! I read through most the relevant threads, unfortunately none go into detail about how to replace the 2x4's.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Jonathon and Kamala, 

I've been working my way through restoring overhead as well.  I habent run into any 2x4's only 1x2 and 1/2- 3/4".  But ive yet to peek into roof section.  I dont see or feel sag, flex or damage up there.  Hope that shite dosent come back to get me. 

If I was in/near you coast I'd be glad work/learn and drink brews with yuh. 

Hope to see pics of your processs. Cheers! 🍻

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Edited by ModocMade
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On 8/19/2019 at 11:39 PM, ModocMade said:

last weekends work

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Looks great man! We've been in the process of getting ready to move, so we've taken a smallish break on the RV. Currently she's sitting windowless with a full coat of primer over the coach and cab. I'll try and grab some pics this week.

How are you planning to secure the plywood to the side of the overhead cab area? I'm debating using wood glue, but my frame is metal and not sure how that'll stand the test of time.

Maybe we'll cross paths down the road and crack a couple brews! Hoping to take her out for a couple months for a cross country tour before winter sets in!

 

 

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Decided to turn this thread into a build progress on our 87 Mini-Cruiser! We forgot to take before pics, so here are a couple I stole from the Facebook Marketplace ad...

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Once I get some more time on my hands, I'll go through what we have done up to this point! Stay tuned

 

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  • 1 year later...

So turns out I am horrible at documenting any work done, ha! Well the time has come to give this awesome camper a new home. Below are some pics of how it looks today! Definitely not perfect, but many hours of hard work were put into this camper. Let me know what y'all think or have any questions! Still debating on what I should list it at, any thoughts?

 

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Sad to see it go, but my wife and I have had quite a few great adventures in this camper! It's been to West Virginia, the Grand Canyon and a few dispersed camping sites around Colorado. We just bought a house and now we need to focus on home renovations! The camper is located near Denver, Colorado. Thank you again for all the awesome information found on this site and shout outs to thewanderlustking and Modocmade for helping out with the overhead cab rebuild!

 

Cheers!

Jonathan

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Depending on your home renovations you might want to take it with you in case you need a temporary place to stay. Just saying my little toy although doesn't get much camping time these days does get used. Last winter we lost power for several days, the propane fridge saved most of our food, we were also able to cook. This summer we experienced a stretch of heat that forced us out of the house, no central air. The toy keep us cool and comfortable 3 days and nights.

 

You have a great rig there and I wanted to give you the other side to keeping it.

 

Good luck and congrats on the new house!

Gary

 

 

 

 

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Thank you Gary! If we could keep it we definitely would. We've had a blast fixing the camper up and taking it from NY to CO to AZ. It's more of a financial decision than anything else, unfortunately had to use a lot of our savings just to get into a house in the Denver area. We're hoping to begin finishing our partially finished basement, so nothing too crazy!

 

Glad to hear your camper is still getting some good use and kept y'all cool this summer! That heatwave this summer was no joke.

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  • 1 month later...

Camper sold!! Final sale price: $11,700

 

Definitely was quite the adventure to restore this awesome rig! Glad my wife and I were able to make some great memories in her. Sad to see it go, but she went to an awesome new home with an amazing outdoorsy couple who plan to live out of it full time. And just picked up my new toy last week, with my wife's blessings, a Honda VTX! 

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On 8/19/2019 at 7:39 PM, ModocMade said:

last weekends work

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Thank you so much for these photos! They are really helping me understand what's in there. I am removing the camper, but was hoping to keep the base of the overhead attached to the truck. do you think that's possible?

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