Almost Done!

[jurob]

It's taken a lot of hours, but it's getting close. It will never be a beauty, but it will be very functional.

I have a small portion of ceiling left and flooring on the inside and plan on tearing out the rear wall from the outside as I expect more rot and wet insulation from sitting outside for 10+ years.

58k miles. After I installed a new fuel tank and pump along with tuneup parts and new tires..... It now now runs like a dream.

This site is what made it possible for a guy who hasn't worked with wood in almost 30 years during middle school shop class.

http://s125.photobucket.com/user/jurob_2006/slideshow/Toyota%20Granville%20RV?sort=2

[jurob]

The cabover from the factory was very weak. 1/8" plywood with a fiberglass type backing on the outside and then 1x2 type frame and then another piece of 1/8" plywood and the then a faux piece of wood.

I bought a piece of approx 5/8" plywood and glued white waterproof paneling to it making it waterproof on the outside. I also had to rebuild the wood behind the cab that faces forward using 5mm luan type plywood that I also glued waterproof paneling because it was also exposed to the elements.

Hopefully in a few weeks I will have the interior done with better pics.

[jdfrost64]

the correct luan in %100 rv's is 5.2 mm and 2.7 mm. for your water proofing try to find rv filon for your outer skin the paneling won't last threw the first rain storm. if i can help let me know i have built 100's of rv's coachman

[jdfrost64]

looks dam good .u did a hell of a nice job

[jurob]

Tks.

For the 3 outside portions of the outer skin, I used .090" frp glued to the 5mm luan.

[snail powered]

The plywood thickness used when these motorhomes was built was in actual inch standards for the most part. Back then there were a lot of US plywood factories.

Nowadays much of the plywood is metric thickness. Canada is a big exporter of plywood to the USA as is China. It has reached the point where you have to take calipers to the lumberyard if you need a precise thickness. That is because a lot of lumber yards still describe plywood in quarter inch increments even though that is no longer the accurate measurement of what they are selling. It would have been so much easier on world trade if we actually had switched to the metric system in the 1960's as was the proposed plan.

[Maineah]

Plywood thickness is very confusing http://theplywood.com/thickness One thing I can tell you do not buy plywood from China from the big box it will delaminate. The Ecuadorian plywood seems to be OK.

[jdfrost64]

not being rude none of the lauan used in these mini,s or any rv is stardard size it,s all metric 2.7 mm and 5.2mm it all comes from asia . sold by robert weed products .if you use 5mm or 1/4 on a smooth sidewall you will see the seam threw the fiber glass.the older mini,s and rv,s u can get away with it because they didn,t have smooth sidewalls

i haven,t seen a sidewall yet made out of plywood it,s lauan . istarted building motorhomes for georgie boy and coachman in 1985. i,m doing a 1985 toyota mini right now replacing 85% of the wood in it reskinning the the whole mini new rubber roof lucky this one is 90% framed out of aluminum

[snail powered]

If you are worried about the quality of the plywood then spend the bucks and get it from a source that caters to boat builders. Yes it is made overseas but you can purchase plywood that meets Lloyds of London certification standards for marine use. What that means is there is a rating for how many and how large of voids is acceptable, how strong and water resistant the adhesives are, how strong the wood used is. It is going to be metric plywood.

As far as joints showing through, that is easy enough to deal with. Use a sander at the join line between the two materials to fair the old sheet to the level of the new sheet. Just sand the area making the bevel height change an inch or so wide. You can then seal the sanded back area with a coat thin epoxy to prevent delamination. The thin epoxy will absorb into the wood fibers. With this method there is no abrupt change in level at the edge to imprint on through the siding material.

While you are at it seal all the cut edges of the plywood with epoxy. The cut edges are the most vulnerable to delamination and rot as the end grain of wood quickly wicks up moisture. So always seal the edges of any plywood that has potential for moisture exposure. It also is a good idea to seal the cut ends of any wood you use for structural framing.

[kayakthecoast]

nice work. I spent hours sorting through maple plywood to find good straight pieces.