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Just bought a 1992 Dolphin To bring home to Austin!


xxMSAxx

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Just wanted to say hi and introduce myself to the group. My lady and me just bought a 1992 Dolphin on a whim  and now we are paying the price both good and bad.  This was the rig in question https://www.toyotarvforsale.com/1992-dolphin-in-san-antonio-tx/ and yes I did pay 19,500. Starting to think I seriously overpaid since we have an ant issue, water pump needs to be changed, the bottom of the door fell off after a weekend of slamming it to keep it shut good, and most seriously we found some rot that was hidden under the sleeper cab and a few other spots as well. On the plus side The roof and 95% of the walls are solid, and we just just drove it hard from Austin to Port A and back getting stuck in traffic jams in both San Antonio and Austin on i35, She never did over heat or not start. She seemed to have some issues with the AC running full blast and pushing 65 after about 7 hrs or so of driving (and 310 bucks in gas!). I would get what felt like a shuddering but giving it some gas seemed to get her pushing along again. All in all it was really fun boondocking on the beach and I can see us really growing to love this mammal of the concrete sea.

 

I feel like there is going to be lots of learning when it comes to upkeep. I'm torn between a complete gutting and remodel vs just patching stuff up as I go so I can use it and enjoy it without having her in a constant state of repair. I'm a network security analyst by trade and my hands are pretty soft :) Never really had the chance to learn lots about cars\home repair etc. Since I never had a pops I am doing like so many like me and using the combined knowledge of the net to keep my dumb ideas bout "being ingenuitive" from screwing up pricy investment.  This is the first trip we took with the dogs (no kids) so hopefully as we progress we can learn all the ins and outs.   It may be pretty stereotypical but we named the beast "Flip" for obvious reasons.  From the looks of the community I couldn't find a better place on the web to share my joys and frustrations moving forward. 

 

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Congrats on your new bundle of joy, and welcome to the group.  As with any 30 year old vehicle, there will be issues to iron out.  If it were me, I would fix things as needed, and enjoy camping.  Get on that roof and check the sealed areas, around vents and the a/c gasket.  Leaks are the enemy.

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Looks like the camper is in nice overall condition. Evaluate the places where there is rot on the walls closely. If it is near windows plan on learning how to remove and reseal the windows. If it is in cabinets the roof will need to be resealed. The cab over windows and marker lights start leaking on these. Read about your model's cab over window and whether it can be removed and resealed if needed. The roof vents can be leak spots and the AC (I see they replaced the AC so hopefully put a new gasket in). These jobs are not difficult but do some reading and research before diving in. Water pump replacement is not difficult if it is in an easily accessible location and they are not that expensive.  I hope you saved the bottom of your door as I'm not sure how easy it will be to find a replacement door. Plan on working with and repairing what you have. Others here can help with the 6 cylinder motor. Enjoy it. 

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Like your big pup. Looks like a Dane to me yes? We just ended up with a 110lb female not long ago, Great Dane #5! One used to sleep with me in the cab over bed when we went camping! You will enjoy the MH all of them are getting long in the tooth but it sounds like you get a pretty nice one. The inner wood frame of the door rots, very common on all MH, I have rebuilt several and use pressure treated ripped to size as long as the metal is good it really is an easy rebuild. 

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Thanks everyone,

I got the door rebuilt, and a a new water pump installed. Alas when I installed the water pump I noticed lots of rot under the couch. I removed the water tank and couch and I have began the process of pulling out the rotted floor. Not to scared since it was so rotten there may as well not even ben a floor. prob more safe knowing there is nothing there rather than a sponge wood you could break thru. My thoughts are, that I have to clear out as much as I can to find the full foam board thats rotted then just replace it with a regular piece of treated plywood. I will put some kills or something on the bottom to protect it from the road. Does anyone know what the black stuff on the bottom of these boards are that are road side? What's best to use as a protection layers for these replacements? Looks like some kind of black spray on of sorts thats peeling back and cracking on the bad spots. Scott IV, what did you mean "IF" your window can be removed and replaced ? I thought all these windows were kind of par for the course and just pushed into a wooden frame attached to the outside skin.  I did not realize my camera was zoomed in so sorry for the crap vid but this is the "progress" so far. Sorry it just does not feel like progress when your ripping stuff out :(

 


 

Edited by xxMSAxx
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Linda had mentioned a particular model that is sealed with a rubber gasket that is not easily found. She suggested that type be left alone. I do not recall the model. If the front window is leaking you'd have to pull it and figure it out anyway. 

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I think that strange gasket was for a Winnebago. I think the Dolphins are more conventional. Metal frame that attaches with an inside trim ring and seals to body with butyl tape, glass sealed to metal frame on the outside with a rubber keeper. If the leak is frame to coach body you just remove it and reseal with butyl tape. If the leak is glass to frame you need to remove it and take it to a automotive glass place and have them reseal it then reinstall yourself. If you can find a glass place to do it, it can be done at home but certainly more difficult. I can give you some hints if you go that route

Linda S

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Just watched your video. I'm so sorry but the good part is it looks like you have the skills to fix it. Use marine plywood, denser and stronger, and protect it with oil based polyurethane on both sides before installation. Seal part facing road with Flex Seal to block all water. Best to do that after everything is in place to fill edges where boards meet. If you can find some wood solid enough to attach them some c channel run from side to side will give the floor more support. Good luck

Linda S

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 It's rare to find one that needs no work. Yours appears to be better than many. I see too many people gut one only to give up. There are of course those who stick with it and do a great job. I decided I would simply repair and keep on rolling also. 

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Indeed Maineah she is my runty4yr old dane, Miss Xena Molina. She tries to be anywhere she can make herself fit where there is people...despite how well she does not fit half the time haha. The saga continues, as I started at the floor I was forced up to the cab. In the words of the flex seal guy "Thats a Lot of damage!"  and alas, it looks like the seller went out of his way to hide lots of the damage . He did things like put reflective stickers over holes on the exterior and put up fresh paneling over tons of rot. I'm a bit sore about it, but what's a fella gonna do, cry? No sir.  It’s one hell of a job but I’m diving in head first in order to restore. I pulled 20k out of my 401 k to get this ole mammal and with this economy I may still be up 😏 I think he used the wrong trim for the edge. I dont even know if its for an RV TBH. I’m thinking a healthy strip of  Eterna bond and a new piece of trim all the way around . Any suggestions on the actual trim piece?  

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Edited by xxMSAxx
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Sorry to see. All fixable and if you keep up with it you'll have a nice camper. I've been trying for years on here to make people aware of the pros and cons of these machines. I've seen too many people get hustled. Anyway. Yours still looks nice with the expected water intrusions. Keep at it. I used eternabond on many of my seams. Not beautiful but does what it is supposed to do. 

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Second look at your picture and notice a lot of small holes in your aluminum skin near where there is separation at the front edge is occurring.  You'll want to get a seal coat of some kind on the roof sooner than later as there are likely pin holes in many areas of your roof.  I noticed on mine in areas where there was water intrusion the rotting wood and glue seemed to react with the aluminum skin and make it deteriorate more rapidly. 

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Thankfully the roof feels stable and solid . I crawled around and checked the seals on the vents/AC etc. the back corners look to be in bad shape but the top side seams are sealed well. Regardless I’d like to pull the whole seam inspect replace and re seal . Any thoughts on a new seam trim? I like the idea of a black seam 
 

This is like my RV inspiration 

 

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So I have lots of stuff cleared and the seam exposed. I did some looking around but came up short on the projects page for a problem I have. Where can I get a new piece of trim? I saw some links on line but they were for small sections, when what I want would be one contagious piece. Is there some aftermarket trim that others have used or re-purposed? I am talking about the metal piece that molds around the overhead cab and and ties the bottom to the top and the sides as one. The guy who replaced this use a crap piece of some kind trim that he cut wild like. In this rebuild I want to get a good seam as well as I can. I have began to rebuild the inside wooden structure to attach to. I added a few pics for reference  . The first is the janky piece on the drivers side that was put in place . The 2nd is the factory one. The third just shows how the bottom piece runs along to the cab split section. The fourth is the piece that travels along the side and around to the top. This last picture seems to be what I need to find and then bend into shape. 

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Unfortunately the original edge trim for that RV was custom molded specifically to fit that curve. The previous owner was an idiot to throw it away but that's why he had to make those crazy cuts. Might be worth checking some local metal shops and seeing if they think they can mold it. If not your going to still be stuck with crazy cuts. I know of no RV edge trim that is flexible to shape by hand. Sealing the edge with this will at least make the seal water tight

Amazon.com: Dicor CS112B-1 Seal-Tite Corner Seal Tape - 1.5" x 50' : Everything Else

Here's a video showing how to use it

 

Linda S

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wow thats a great vid, I found this site and sent an email asking a few questions about sizing and style. Thanks a ton. I will post more pics as we go along. There was a huge storm here last night and I was just doing my best to plug the leaks. we pulled the window for a reseal as well. 

https://www.hemetvalleyrv.net/exterior-rv/

Edited by xxMSAxx
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Well the fella who runs the site gave me a call back and said he does not think he has the trim that would fit, and any piece he ships from cali would have to be cut down in order to ship... so there would be a seam. Not sure where he got the piece he is using but I may try to find that again from a home depot and try the bend trick... I will let ya know what I find.

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Seams are not an issue if you use the edge seal tape I posted. Here's a way better trim bend video. You would have to put the flat side on the outside instead of the insert trim side and I still don't think you could get the amount of bend required for curve above and behind the door. Think it will be able to match the front overhead bend though. PPL motorhome parts is in Texas. They might be a good source

Custom R.V. Trim Bender - YouTube

Linda S

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The PO did the best possible thing for that corner.

The molding won't bent on that small of a radius. You need to use 2 pieces cut with a 45 degree angle and fit with butyl tape

Edited by WME
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  • 2 weeks later...

I did finally decide to keep the trim as it seem to do little in the way of keeping things water tight. I’ve removed the windows and resealed them only to find that it’s the window rubber gasket itself that is leaking. I removed all the rot and replaced it and added a little more wood for the fiberglass shell and metal shell to screw into. After I had the wooden frames in place I added roof seal using APOC products to seal. The seal tape and rubber coating. I finished one side and I won’t lie it ain’t exactly pretty but it’s sealed super tight.  Still have some work to do on the floor before I can seal the other side and finish the overhead cab. After sealing I’m gonna blast it and look for leaks before moving on to that stage . 

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I just saw this thread, I'm in Austin as well. Let me know if you want to get together some time and compare campers!

 

I also found water damage in the over cab area after I got my purchase home (this was three years ago). I had it repaired by an RV shop although  they did not do a great job it is now solid. More recently I had a leak  around the front window which was repaired at the same place but it leaked again weeks later and they refused to stand behind the repair. So I took it to another shop. So far so good! I think we are in a constant battle to stop the leaks on these old things. I had mine resealed all around when they did the last window repair so hopefully I am good for sometime to come. I usually do most of my own mechanical repairs but sealing the RV is one thing I prefer to pay others to do! Nothing looks worse than one of my caulk jobs !!

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Sounds fun, I think I need to get her moving again first haha. I went back and applied another layer of sealant with some painters tape to make the line look nice and straight. Alas the heat has just been so much, its hard to work on it till late afternoon or early morning...work permitting.

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Just added the floor repair bolted in and got the other side sealed up tight. The damage along that seam to the metal just really did not seem to leave many options . My guess is that if I paid money to get this all done then it would look much better but I’m confident there is nowhere for the water to get I. This way. 

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Edited by xxMSAxx
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Any chance of getting a paint match on the filon? 

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That would be nice,  but I’m not much of an expert on such things  and I’m not sure that lowes can mix up a batch of 30 yr sun faded RV yellow. I do want to improve on the looks of things but for now I’m just focusing on sealing up any and all points of entry for the water .  We are slowly pushing forward on the rest of the overhead cab before we move on to the next tasks 

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Ya I suppose no leaks has a higher priority than purrdy😆.

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lol indeed. I did have my lady blast it with a hose yesterday as I stood inside with a big ole shit eating grin on my face as not a single drip made it in. Baby steps I suppose but man o man did it feel great to see things stay dry in those same spots that I was digging rusted staples and rotted wood out just last mth.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just wanted to update folks on the progress here and holy smokes does it feel good to have the lions share of the overhead cab work done ! My lady and me have had a blast putting her back together … even though we did end up getting snippy with each other over measurements …. She was right I was wrong . Just need to add a bead of caulk on the seams and call it a day 

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Edited by xxMSAxx
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Thanks Linda,

Looking at all the other projects done helps get me past the "OMG im destroying my RV phase" . We are about to start rebuilding the spot where the water tank was under the couch area. The old jackknife couch is not great IMO. Not comfortable and a pain to unfold, so we are going to rebuild that area with maybe a trundle bed or something. Any idea from anyone here, or has someone done this with any known gotchas before we get started?

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  • 2 weeks later...

We just got done with the bed rebuild. We decided to keep it simple and just make a box for cushions and a mattress to sit on and then we  took her out to lake Travis for the first time since all the rebuild work was started. Since making the changes we have , I think we both want to go full on rebuild for the shower and cabinets, as well as waxing those ugly tye-dyed cushions 

 

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Edited by xxMSAxx
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