Refurbishing old motorhomes (1 Viewer)

May 29, 2013
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Just wondered how many people have refurbished an old MotorHome in order to customise it to their own specification?

I know many people self build based on panel vans, but is it a decent idea to go for an older coachbuilt motorhome, (making sure the mechanicals are sound of course), then gutting most if not all of the old habitation kit out and rebuilding the interior to your own spec. maybe using some of the old parts if they are up to it.

Geordies
 
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Sandancers
May 29, 2013
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As in all old motorhomes have damp, therefore not worth doing it, or, by doing it you will introduce damp?

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vwalan

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Sep 23, 2008
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lots have removed the shells of a m,home from one chassis to another . in many cases rebuilding the outside is easy .
the sandwich panels are the worse for probs with the panels bonding breaking down delamination is becoming a big problem on older vehicles .
. ally skinned ones are easiest to fix .
 
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Sandancers
May 29, 2013
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Didn't want to remove the shell from one vehicle to another, just looking at updating the habitation equipment on an existing vehicle.
 
Feb 27, 2011
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It's something I have considered. My ideal layout would be a Hymer B584 however I can get a Hymer B544 much cheaper. I was thinking about doing the layout conversion myself. Updating the upholstery and fitting a modern Thetford toilet to replace the old one with the built in water tank.

I don't see any reason why it can't be done having done a couple of self builds now.

For example, I can pick up a 1993 low mileage B544 for around ÂŁ7,000 but a 1995 B584 is over double that. A budget of ÂŁ3,000 for the parts and labour plus ÂŁ700 for reupholstering still saves me good money. I can pick up a 544 with under 50K miles on it whereas the only 584's I have seen reasonably cheap come with over 140K miles on them.

An example of what I was .

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Terry

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Dec 27, 2007
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I did this one about 8 yrs ago, bought it knowing it was wet, not damp ::bigsmile: though it was just open roof joints but turned out to need a complete new roof, gutting and completly renewing the insides. We used all the original cooker heater, boiler, sink etc, and made new furniture as well as reboarding etc, took two of us 3 weeks and cost around 2.5k
Terry
 

vwalan

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hi terry .i replaced the daylight roof on my trailer ..a roll of the roofing fibreglass was 175 quid plus vat .took about 500 rivets though . easy job done in half a day ..drill rivets around the u section edge gripper . remove u section caps roll back the roof cutting the sealer bond as we went . re bond then roll new roof out and into place . fit u section end caps re rivet .
i was surprised but then it is a truck needs to be quick n easy repaired .
even replacing side panels is just drill rivets .remove panel . replace glue refit new panel .paint to colour .

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Terry

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Dec 27, 2007
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Hi Alan we used 1mm ali sheets and paid a tenner extra per sheet for pre painted white ::bigsmile: total cost inc new ali side trims was around 250 :thumb: plus we lipped the ali over the sides, not butted up to them which probably caused the problem in the first place::bigsmile:-- again done in a day.
Terry
 

vwalan

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Sep 23, 2008
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i was going to use ally but the coach builders said better to stay with the daylight fibreglass as this doesnt transfer heat through so easily .that and white polystyrene as insulation to reflect any coming through makes a cool or warm trailer. i didnt know about this till they told me . always wondered why the truck is cool in the desert. the small windows help high up and chimney heat out as well.
 

hilldweller

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As in all old motorhomes have damp, therefore not worth doing it, or, by doing it you will introduce damp?

As in - damp is the worst thing that can happen to a timber framed MH and the older they are the more likely the chance.

Just be careful.

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Patrick mc ilmail

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Mar 5, 2017
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,, 2013
Can anyone come to my rescue. Bought a Volswagen T4 in good faith just to find out later that it needs a bit of attention on the roof and sides. I actually live in it while I work in and around London. Needs some professional work carried out that isn't going to rip me off. Help.
 

ambulancekidd

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Sep 23, 2014
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We've just started an overhaul of an Autosleeper Executive. For this year all we have planned is to get everything working as they should, then as next winter approaches we'll get stuck in properly. We were busy with a PVC on a current model LWB Sprinter but my health for the last few years has been has stopped me dead in my tracks. The Truma Heating system refuses to light on gas but works well on 230v, so those are examples of repairs that are required.

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