Ritabago's Dad Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 I'm the third owner of a '91 Warrior and the prior owner took care of a leak on the passenger side of the cabover. Feels like I'm getting some moisture in there now, but only when driving. I lost one of my marker light covers, so I'm guessing that's where it's coming from. Anyway, that's not the problem. The big deal is the sheet of fiberglas that runs outside from top of the coach to just in front of the windshield. It's come untucked and I can't get it to go back in. You can see in the picture with the SUV in the background how it's hanging down; it's actually much worse than that now and I'm using Gorilla tape to keep it from completely sagging off. First of all -what's that piece called? Second, what am I looking at to get it fixed? I'm not very handy in this way, so I'm just going to take it somewhere. But who might be best equipped to deal with it? Thanks for any help! Bing - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdboltdude Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 your cabover needs to be rebuilt the last owner did not fix leak just put a band-aide fix on it.. its sagging because their is nothing to support the bed's frame (nails rusted out and or their nothing left for nail to grab on to wood is rotted out)here is how I fixed mine.. http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=5619 this is a big job if you take to a shop $2000 to $3000 estimate... where do you live maybe someone here could point you in the right direction with a good shop or RV handyman.. good luck with project steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 Thanks, Steve! Your job looks great; but I just don't know anyone as talented as your brother to do that kind of work. I'm in Orlando, Florida. There's a group here in town that specializes in the old GMC RVs and they do radical refurbs on them. They've been kind to do some minor work on my toy (appliances, mainly) because they don't really do toys - but I'm wondering if they might take a crack at this. If not - I would be very appreciative to any Florida-based toy owners to give me referrals of shops who have done wonderful work for you. Thanks again! Bing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdboltdude Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Thanks, Steve! Your job looks great; but I just don't know anyone as talented as your brother to do that kind of work. I'm in Orlando, Florida. There's a group here in town that specializes in the old GMC RVs and they do radical refurbs on them. They've been kind to do some minor work on my toy (appliances, mainly) because they don't really do toys - but I'm wondering if they might take a crack at this. If not - I would be very appreciative to any Florida-based toy owners to give me referrals of shops who have done wonderful work for you) Thanks Bing! I would ask your shop if they could fix...if they could fix a gmc the should he able to fix yours... Being in Orlando you should have a couple of choices of good RV shops.. You could try Craigslist I would have them give you reference ph# to call to make sure their capable of doing the job. Good Luck Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 The GMC is completely different construction. Perhaps if we were talking about a Sunrader or Americana. But you might ask the GMCer if he can refer you to someone more in the 'stick-built' line of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefdave Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Hi rebuilt my over cab floor last summer. i found it quite simple to do. copied what was left of floor. basically i made a timber frame out of uk roof batten (already treated to be water repellant) used 9mm ply instead of 4mm. first i measured distance from side to side and cut plywood to length. from memory mine was four foot from front to back. So 8x4 ply sheets make life easy. then fitted timber frame, insulation and another layer of plywood. Used 1" no4 screws for whole job. you can use nails as original just follow holes in fibre glass body. used butyl tape on metal trim before fixing to body. took me a week to do as using it as a daily driver. Construction is very simple wooden frame fibre glass on outside and laminated plywood on inside. theory is same as stud walls. My job is a chef so have had to learn diy skills from other people and internet feel free to ask me more questions. total cost on materials was under £50. 2 sheets plywood 10ft of roofing batten box of 200 screws all from lumber stockist. butyl tape off ebay from caravan parts supplier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdboltdude Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 this is not just rebuilding the bed frame theirs major rot & structure damage on front seam of cab and walls are rotted to she is going to have to 1.make a template of every wall in cabover front and left and right walls & ceiling panel plus measure walls & bed frame 2.find where leak is coming from most likely the left and right corner seams and or windows (also take off windows clean up all gunk use a uv silicon to reinstall & make sure they a drain holes on the outside bottom rail of window.) carefully take off outside corner seams keeping as original shape a possible clean everything off of molding and fiberglass of rv with a strong cleaning solvent. when reinstalling cleaned up seams use a real good uv silicon... just replace the whole bed frame with 3/4 ply wood) walls are 1/8 plywood buy a couple sheets of foam at homedepot. the more you get into the rot the more rot your going to find.. the most important thing is your templates & measurements of walls so its an easy rebuild you might be lucky to have metal framed walls in stead of wood the metal framed walls will also make an easer rebuild. with a little help a lot of research and time and a lot of effort this can be done and at a no labor $$$ Hi rebuilt my over cab floor last summer. i found it quite simple to do. copied what was left of floor. basically i made a timber frame out of uk roof batten (already treated to be water repellant) used 9mm ply instead of 4mm. first i measured distance from side to side and cut plywood to length. from memory mine was four foot from front to back. So 8x4 ply sheets make life easy. then fitted timber frame, insulation and another layer of plywood. Used 1" no4 screws for whole job. you can use nails as original just follow holes in fibre glass body. used butyl tape on metal trim before fixing to body. took me a week to do as using it as a daily driver. Construction is very simple wooden frame fibre glass on outside and laminated plywood on inside. theory is same as stud walls. My job is a chef so have had to learn diy skills from other people and internet feel free to ask me more questions. total cost on materials was under £50. 2 sheets plywood 10ft of roofing batten box of 200 screws all from lumber stockist. butyl tape off ebay from caravan parts supplier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 you might be lucky to have metal framed walls in stead of wood the metal framed walls will also make an easier rebuild. I don't think Winnebago is one of the few that used metal framing. Unfortunately! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted December 28, 2013 Author Share Posted December 28, 2013 I'm taking notes on all this, thanks for the input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefdave Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Hi forgot to put in my previous post i had drooping fibreglass. when i lifted 1st sheet of plywood shock/horror overcame me. 90% of the wood had rotted and 50% of that i hoovered up the dust. after reading a post called living small thinking big? I realized it is not a daunting job just time consuming. As far as i tell mine no longer leaks and its been tested 100mph and 1" of rain an hour. my outside needs tiding up a job for spring onwards as weather is against me. i painted all my outside seams with a flat roof flexible paint. dries black on white fibre glass looks bad but body repaint will tidy that up. rather it be ugly and dry than looking good and leaking. my front overcab had had extensive bodge repairs which lead to do rebuild. those that saw the mess before rebuild say its a good job and one that commented fabricates stainless steel and aluminium for a living. so don't feel daunted. lots of write ups from other posters on site and advice is just an email away. as i live in uk with a us import improvisation is a way of life for me. when i bought it i had to do a 1000 mile round trip. felt intimidated by size and left hand drive by the time i got home i had a big smile on my face. it never fails to be a subject of conversion and had people offer to buy or hire it. Always wanted something a little different to the norm locals in pub where i work prefer it to owners new volvo 4wd with all the toys. bottom line is to love and cherish it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanAatTheCape Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Hello R-dad, I have owned 2 campers like yours - a 92 spirit & now a 93 warrior. There is some metal in these units - but I do not think there is any in the cabover. I live in Cape Canaveral. I suspect you are going to need to start dismantling until you get to the bottom of whatever is going on. And yes, a clearance light cover will cause water to leak in - I had one off & it ran in at the top of the front window frame. Those lens covers are available - PPL has a listing for them - I bought some (they had to order) at Giant Rec in Melbourne - I think they are in ORL too. Curious - is the wood where your unit separated over passenger seat soft? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefdave Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Hi cobin not a bad idea as pound buys lots of euros now and fuel is so much cheaper. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 Dan, you mean outside or inside? I'm starting the tear-down today at the place that does GMC. They have materials here and will let me do the labor to save costs. Thing is, I don't know exactly where to start. Took off all the curtains and am looking at the passenger side of the loft. This is where the leak is. There's one big bracket across the bottom of the loft that does not connect with the L brackets on either side. The lower piece of wood trim is water damaged and that covers a seam, right? Generally, all of these little wooden trim pieces are covering seams? Then I've got what looks like speaker wire running along the inside edges from bottom of loft to behind the cabinets past the coach door. I know they're not speaker wire because they terminate at the loft and aren't connected to anything. Obviously, the bottom drapery tracks have to come out because the wood behind it is rotted. So am I pulling the trim piece off completely? Thanks for any help. The guys are gonna help here too - but they don't know these rigs like you guys do. Wish I could post pics of what I'm looking at from my phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdboltdude Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 doing good so far when taking down walls ceiling or what ever take your time and try not to break off any thing if you can keep orig. I will help out a lot when you rebuild all you have to do is just make new walls...using that as template Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 So here's how it's gone down - I tore up the rotted plywood after taking down the curtain rails, L-bracket and T-bracket. There were boards underneath - thick like 2 X 4, but just mummified. Cleared an area from side to side across the bottom of the loft where the T-bracket seam is. We've retucked the skin and will lay in some thicker board tomorrow. I've ordered marker lights, new tail lights (all LED) and new air bags for my System Air. Gonna get some paint after that. I've learned a lot today, thank God they've got the materials and tools. Tearing this thing open is kind of scary for me, but I've good great backup. Thanks again - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdboltdude Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 You got the cabover seam reinstalled? That's a big job!! how did you fasten it together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 Not yet - gonna put in some 3/4" board today and then secure it. We may be half-way done. What's the name for the stuff that covers up the screws around the curves/trim of the cabover? It comes in rolls like tape, I think. Mine is pretty hardened and when we pulled it to get access to the screws, a lot of ripped. Looking for a replacement source for that - might as well replace it all around if we're going in deep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdboltdude Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 the outside seam right....http://www.rvpartscenter.com/prodselect.asp?SID=8&DID=158&CID=552 just have to search for your size.... did you take outside corner molding off and clean up & re-caulk? you should also do windows.... don't use butyl tape use a good UV silicon. doing these two jobs will take care of any of your leaks plus you wont have to worry about future leaks... Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 Is the corner molding this stuff? With space down the middle for the insert molding? Thanks for the link! I think they have it here, but I'll still want to invest in some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdboltdude Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Is the corner molding this stuff? With space down the middle for the insert molding?image.jpg Thanks for the link! I think they have it here, but I'll still want to invest in some. YES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 Thanks! They don't have the molding here. It's not bad, just needs to be resealed. The 3/4" is down and secured with screws on the underside of the loft (just above the window.) Good news is: there is metal supporting the curve of the cab over. The area where the main leak was is mostly styrofoam. After getting out the rotted wood, there is a small cavity on the passenger side next to the molding. Would expansion foam do to put some support on the interior of the loft frame? They are talking about using bend board for the radius inside the loft and then finishing it with something like Formica. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdboltdude Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 don't think foam would work. pictures might help out.... on corner molding your right just clean and reinstall with real good uv silicon.. Thanks! They don't have the molding here. It's not bad, just needs to be resealed. The 3/4" is down and secured with screws on the underside of the loft (just above the window.) Good news is: there is metal supporting the curve of the cab over. The area where the main leak was is mostly styrofoam. After getting out the rotted wood, there is a small cavity on the passenger side next to the molding. Would expansion foam do to put some support on the interior of the loft frame? They are talking about using bend board for the radius inside the loft and then finishing it with something like Formica. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 Here's some catch-up: 3/4" boards laid in to replace the rotted wood and sealed with silicon to the "skin" - screwed with self-taps through "skin" and up into the board. The aluminum t-bar is now secured back against the underside of the loft. The majority of water damage was on the passenger side front. With the floor replaced, I looked to the front and side; not too shabby. The bottom radius was a piece of plastic over the styrofoam curve and same as the top. There's a little surface wood rot on the passenger's side of the window piece and a fist-sized cavity in the passenger side loft wall after taking out the crumbly stuff. There was a big opening in the molding outside so I sealed that with silicone, the inside as well. There's a metal rail that runs around the outside wall of the cabover, awesome to know and styrofoam in the middle with thin layers of ply on either side and the shell of the coach. I wanted to give the foam a shot (ha-ha) and sprayed some into the cavity. The soft spot that I felt from the outside firmed up and I caught a couple of areas where the silicone hadn't reached. Here's my rig parked amongst the big GMC forest. Another shot of the main yard. These guys pimp out old GMCs. A fun crew - it's been a blast this week getting my hands dirty. You never really learn until you actually do it. Cut a big piece of luon? Is that what they called it? 1/8" thick, I think - 80.5 wide by 19.5 tall. Will take the window out tomorrow and get it traced, then cut the hole out and shore up that section; seal it. Plan to cover the styrofoam with something with a bit more weight than plastic - I don't want to go the wallpaper route. Jim's got ideas on some overlays. I'll get some more pictures tomorrow. Thanks for all your help! Bing - P.s. Anyone know a good cleaner for mold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdboltdude Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 great job look how far you have come since your first post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 I'm definitely getting an education - and she's getting fixed up in the process. Got replacement air bags from 3-T's on Friday and had them installed. What a difference! Continuing on with the cabover work tomorrow - cut some luan to fit around the window and we'll use either bend board or vinyl for the radiuses. Same for the side panels - don't want to mess with wallpaper. Gonna look at fixing the jackknife sofa, which has come completely off of its supports. Anyone have any experience with fixing or replacing these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 All done! Thanks to Ryan Masterson for the custom work (and for fixing the jackknife sofa.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Looks very nice. I assume this is where you had the work done. They have a very good reputation among GMCers. http://www.gmccoop.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 That's the place I saved a ton of money by doing a lot of the work. I was hearing quotes of $3000-$4000 for just the cabover rebuild. I got the cabover done, sofa fixed, plus new airbags installed and all-new marker and taillights for under $1000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Looks better than new. Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritabago's Dad Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 Thanks, Linda. Now, the rest of the interior is begging to be done. : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaunt Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Wanted to bump this thread, I ran into similar damage while doing my interior makeover, although mine doesn't seem as bad...  Luckily my mattress has no water damage at all. Also doing some researching it looks like it might be caused from condensation???  I bought my rig in FL and could see how this could happen in that climate, luckily I'm in a dry climate now.  Even on the ride home in MS we woke up in the middle of the night with real low temps and there was condensation everywhere.  I'm gonna start my repair this week, I already removed the rotted boards and will update this thread, lots of good info... I kind of panicked at first sight but it seems pretty straight forward.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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