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1989 Sunrader Interior Restoration


buick

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I recently purchased a 1989 21ft Sunrader here in California (82k miles, v6, auto, ac). . I broke out the pry bar and started taking off the laminate from the cabinets and went to town. I then recovered the frame with pergo type flooring to give that clean look. I am replacing all of the panel's with this material. I will also be adding this to the floor. I took on alot more then I first thought!

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Edited by buick
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Wow. Hope I can do even half as good work. I too have a spongy floor by the bathroom. I have carpet flooring that I want to rip out and put in vinel. Can you tell me and show with pics how you put a metal piece of flooring in?

Thanks, Ken

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Today I am going to do some of the finishing moulding around the fridge and corners, should come out pretty clean. I am debating about the captains chairs and may just build another couch so that I can combine the two together for a larger bed. I figure I can add storage under the new couch as well. I am also going to paint overthe wallpaper with kilz (primer) as well as the ceiling to prep for a new color through out. My vision is based on a photo I saw of a mercedes motorhome that was done in a modern twist. I plan on removing all of the carpet from the overhead bunk as well....

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Im just up the road from you in sacramento. I dind some of the angle iron on the fridge and the bench, did some caulking, and painted the fridge cover black. I'd say im right around 50% done. Floor is left as well as the bathroom cabinets. Im also going to paint the toilet a different color as well. Should be interesting...

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Been watching your work nice job. What are you going to do with your couch? Are you putting that back in? The reason I ask is because I am trying to figure out what to do with mine I find it quite uncomfortable to sleep on and it creeks! I see what you are talking about with a couch on the other side but that would not be an option for me because of the side door. I am just wondering if the bottom would be wide enough for sleeping with out the back. We have a mattress place in town that will custom make any thing, I had them make one for the upper bed and it’s quite comfortable. I figured I could use pillows for the couch back to lean against. When my back rest is flipped over it leaves very little space to get by and I don’t think I really gain that much more room so now that yours is all apart maybe you could tell me your thoughts. Thanks, Tim

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Thanks for the response. I am taking a 3 day weekend coming up and should be able to pound out the rest of it along with a new entertainment system. As for the bench, they width that it is now is doable for one person to sleep on comfortably (of course with a pad). What I am planning on doing is building the other bench and creating a leaf to tie them together whch will make it into one large bed, I will use the center of the leaf as the walkway at night to the bathroom etc. That is just a plan, of course I have no real plan, I just keep ripping out stuff and replacing it. My next goal too is to remove the carpet about the cab and replace it with a tighter, more commercial carpet. Also the window coverings will be getting a makeover. So far Im about $200 into the project, its mostly elbow grease...

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Hey buick, Looking good on that interior project ! You said you were bracing the floor in a couple of places with steel plate.

Any chance you got a look at how the floor is mated to the fiberglass walls in these things?

I got a case of sagging floor (sides) that are de-lammed and need to straighten the whole thing out. My plan so far is to pull EVERYTHING out of the coach and use screw jacks around the perimeter of the coach to bring the floor into level, then remove the top layer of ply and foam core, then laminate alternating square steel pipe and plywood crossways (ALL the way across) , after that, glue down 3/8" ply over the whole thing. I just don't know how I'm going to tie into the walls. An alternate plan was to raise the coach and slide some aluminium diamond plate under the perimeters in key spots and tie it into the cross supports somehow.

After what you've seen, whattya think ?

Thanks,

ToyoGuy

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Toyoguy, I'll snap some pictures for you today. I had some delaminating under the bench I just build and it appears that the floor is molded into the side pieces like a clamshell. How bad is yours sagging, also what year?

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Toyoguy, I'll snap some pictures for you today. I had some delaminating under the bench I just build and it appears that the floor is molded into the side pieces like a clamshell. How bad is yours sagging, also what year?

A picture is worth a thousand.... well, you know. Here is how the level sees it....

Thanks for your reply, not a lot of info out there on how to straighten these out.

Hope these .jpg's go thru,

TG

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Whoops, it's an "84 and the picture titles didn't come thru, but as you can see, the distortion is unnacceptable. The first picture is what's under the previous owner's effort and the rest are right, left and front to back.

Thanks,

TG

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Thats pretty interesting, are your rear springs sagging at all, that could cause some of the measurements. Also the one on top of the stove the supporting structure could be warped as well, mine was so I rebuilt it.

The last of the original wood is out..

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Actually, the front end is low, but the overall problem is the coach floor was absolutely saturated and all of the laminations "slipped". THe result is that all perimeter walls are about 2" lower than the center of the coach. Kinda feels like you're standing on a basketball if you're about halfway between the rear dinette and the front seats. Any normal, sane human would run like oooo but, Well...., you know...

I'll take some pictures as I remove all of the cabinets and stuff for the benefit of others crazy enough to try this. I'm down to the original 3/8' ply with the foam showing in some places now and it's getting gritty.

Regards,

TG

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Let us know how it goes, sounds pretty tricky. You could always rip out everything, level the floor with 1x1 or 2x2 bracing and then lay down plywood on top of that. Then rebuild the cabinet structure on top of that. Just my 2 cents of course

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The part I'm wondering on is the tie in from floor to wall. That will be the interesting aspect. I'm taking pictures and making templates to re-create the cabinet layout after the tear-out and re-floor right now.

I'll know a whole lot more when I can see the joints/corners at the base of all the walls. I figure I'll extend the steel braces underneath all the way to the sides and back(they're a foot short for some reason known only to Gardner Pacific now) and on top, alternate 1"x4" boards and lengths 1/4" of all-thread with a nut and washer every 18" or so to stiffen it up, then pot the whole mess in polyester resin and cloth and cap it with 3/8" ply. Should stay straight after that I figure.

Never a dull moment y'know ? Good thing I got lot's of glue and welding rod.

TG

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Well Buick, As I suspected, the plywood flooring is completely de-laminated. I could peel it apart with my hands.All this from window leaks I think. I got the water tank and water heater out yesterday. The cardboard covering for the WHtr was too warped to fit out the hole in the side so I had to cut it. I'll have to fabricate that before it goes back in. Also pulled the inverter box, lot's of wire labeling etc. Today it's the stove and Dometic fridge. Heck, maybe I'll get the shower out too ! I am thinking I' may have to remove the back window for that if it doesn't fit out the door. I'ts the last window I have to pull to reseal anyway, so I saved it for just this possibility. Ah, planning. Will also measure the cabs today.

Well, that's it for now, next post I'll send some pix of what you don't want your 'Rader to look like !

TG

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TG, sounds like one serious project! I had some delamination by one of the windows, I removed it and them used some epoxy over it to give it some strength, since its not wieght bearing in the location it should be fine.. Did you get your rader for a good price?

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Reasonable $ considering, good mechanical, with records from previous owner. No rust which is what I wanted most and no wrecks. I wanted to get into a re-do anyway, as I pull it apart I'm not impressed with the materials or basics. I'm going to be buried it this thing and I'm the kind of guy that likes to know everything is tight. Although I didn't expect it, everything works too !

Such a deal !

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Buick,

Love to see the great job you're doing on your Sunrader, the photos make everthing come alive on your posts, with no guessing about what you're doing. A couple of questions: How many boxes of laminate have you used so far? I carried all of the laminate flooring from my driveway to inside my house to do all of my floors and my back is still broke, that stuff can get real heavy real quick. How do you get to the stuff you're boxing in like furnace, waterpump, etc, are the tops removable?

Can't wait to see it finished,

Allen

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Good question about the wieght, so far I have used 3.5 boxes of flooring (not including scrap) so it is a bit heavier then straight panel's. I plan on only driving the rader with empty tanks of water (grey, fresh, and black). I think by taking out alot of the doors, chairs, oven etc that the wieght evens out, (+ a few extra pounds) hopefully. As for accessing the pumps and furnace, the bench's are set on hinges so they lift up, and the furnace (under the fridge) is removable. I just built a door under the sink so that I can access the water heater, propane line, and water inlets for the sink. All of this is on 6 brand new tires (vanco 8 d range) so im almost ready to hit the sierra's :) Ill post up more pics this weekend.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Buick, Looks like you have done mucho to your toy. I'm replacing my carpet floor with vinyl. Right now getting rid of those darn million stapes. My question is - Should I place a 1/2" of plywood over existing floor then place the vinyl down? In the rear there looks like big (2") round nails going throuh floor to what I think is to hold down floor but none near the front??

Thanks,

Ken 1986 Sunrader 4X4

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  • 4 weeks later...
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello,

I'm a Toyota wannabe. I've found a rader I'm interested in buying. I asked about leaks and was told that there were none. From the posts in this topic it would seem that that might not be true. Several years ago I was the "proud" owner of a Starfire Motorhome. The construction of the coach pretty much matches that of the rader. I cannot find any reference to the manufacturer of the rader. The Starfire was built by Eldorado. Do you you know what company manufactured the rader? Once I rebuilt the Starfire interior and sealed all the windows with butle rubber it was a great coach until it developed a mechinical problem I couldn't get solved. Thanks for any info.

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If you are looking at a "Sunrader" they were built by Gardner-Pacific in Vallejo California. For a short while they also built simultaneously in Indiana by another company but using the same name. Interior construction was a little different between these 2 versions/companies.

A Photo would go a long way in helping to identify what you are looking at.

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Thanks for the reply. I haven't been able to find that information. The Starfire was built in Minneapolis, KS. Thankfully the Sunrader was not. The Starfire leaked around the windows and between the upper and lower fiberglass molds. Rotted the floor out from the bottom. Not sure how to send picture. The Sunrader is on Ebay in California. It's a four banger but sounds good. Undecided if I am going to bid on it. I suspect the reserve is higher than I would want to pay. Appreciate your help.

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