|
|
Post by risgett on Oct 14, 2011 9:49:24 GMT -5
OK, even though we bought this over a month ago and I've been working on it since then, this is the first time I've had a chance to post our progress. I have too many other things going on to do a complete gut and rebuild, plus it is in pretty good shape so I didn't see the point. Our shasta had three water damaged areas that needed attention. The worst being the back wall, then the ceiling around the roof vent and finally the front, curbside corner. Since the back wall was the worst, I started there. Here is a before pic. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Oct 14, 2011 9:56:27 GMT -5
The damage I found after tearing into it... Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Oct 14, 2011 10:09:12 GMT -5
Here's the new framing, after I had ripped out all the rot. Originally, the back wall was all 1x2" framing. I went back with a combination of 1x2", 1x3" and 1x4" to add some strength and rigidity. I also used screw-in "L" brackets and liquid nails to help with strength too. That's my uncle in the picture, he stopped by to help me. He runs a heating and air business and is very handy to have around. There's not much he doesn't know about and he also has metal fab equipment at his shop! I forsee me using up some favors with him on this project. ;D Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Oct 14, 2011 10:24:37 GMT -5
Here's a pic after all my insulation was in and also after I had replaced the section of soft floor. I'll be going over the entire floor with 1/4" plywood when I'm done, so that I have a nice, smooth surface to put my tile down on(or whatever floor covering my wife chooses). I have to add that my wife has been working very hard on this also. When we first got the Shasta home, she spent two days scrubbing it clean with pinsol and clorox. She has been sanding walls and cabinets and helping me when I need another set of hands. She also spent 2 hrs the other night helping me get a lot of liquid nails out of my hair(don't ask  ) Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Oct 14, 2011 10:36:20 GMT -5
And here is the upper wall in place. This is what I was doing when I got the liquid nails all in my hair. I have the piece cut for the lower part of the wall, and hope to get it installed tonight. I haven't decided if I'm going to cut out the hole for the window now, or wait until I'm ready to reinstall the window. Once I get the lower wall in tonight, I will start demolition of the ceiling panel around the roof vent. I've ripped out a little right around the vent, and the framing is all good. It looks like it leaked just enough to mess up the ceiling panel. However, the panel goes over the upper kitchen cabinets and also the closet and cabinets on the other side. I REALLY, REALLY don't want to have to pull all those out, so I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to do this. Maybe carefully cut the ceiling panel out up against the cabinets and cut the new piece to fit exactly back in it's place?? I have this bad feeling I'm gonna have to wind up taking all those cabinets out.  Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by tomamara on Oct 14, 2011 16:26:17 GMT -5
lookin good
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Oct 17, 2011 14:48:12 GMT -5
Thanks! I worked on it some more this weekend. I finished the lower part of the back wall and the ceiling. Still haven't cut the window or storage door out yet, but it keeps the animals out so I'll probably leave it like that until I'm ready to mount the window and door back in place. I also haven't cut out the hole for the roof vent either. Here's the back wall. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Oct 17, 2011 14:53:25 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300][/glow]And here's the ceiling. It was a pita to get the old ceiling piece out and the new one in without taking the cabinets out. I think it came out pretty good. I'm kind of a perfectionist, so I keep having to remind myself....it's not a show piece, we are just going to camp in it. LOL ;D Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by patandmike on Oct 18, 2011 21:31:41 GMT -5
Got some of the same things to do in our 1969. Thanks for the photos! They'll help us to know more of what to expect when we tackle the job. Been wondering about those upper cabinets myself. It's making a good project for the wife and I!
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Oct 20, 2011 14:58:31 GMT -5
Mike, To keep from having to remove the cabinets, I cut the old ceiling panel out right up against the cabinets. Then I took my grinder and ground out about 1/4" of the ceiling panel above the cabinets so the new panel could slide in over them a little. I did the new ceiling panel in two sections. I used the factory edges facing each other, so you can't really tell it's two pieces unless you look really close. A little bit of wood putty and some sanding and paint, and I don't think you will be able to tell at all. Without removing the cabinets, I can almost guarantee that it's impossible to replace that section with one piece and get it in the tracks. It's was almost impossible with two sections. :-)
|
|
|
|
Post by patandmike on Oct 29, 2011 21:35:09 GMT -5
Thanks for the tips. Will save lots of time. The grinder idea makes a lot of sense, someone had tried to replace one panel over the table area already and the fit was not good. I'll definitely have to replace it also. You are making much faster progress than I am. Look forward to seeing/hearing more about your progress.  |
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Feb 6, 2012 10:15:23 GMT -5
OK, I'm finally back to the forum and back to working on the Shasta. When last I left you, I had just torn into the front curbside corner to see how much water damage was there. Even though it had the outward appearance of not being bad, once I started tearing into it......it was terrible. I wound up having to tear out the whole front wall, the curbside dinette bench and the wall behind the dinette bench(I think a PO had a window unit in the window over the dinette and this added to the rot). Let me also say, the shelf over the front window and dinette than runs the width of the camper...they put that there to stay!! I had a hell of a time getting it out. Here are some pics of the demo... Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Feb 6, 2012 10:23:44 GMT -5
Another demo pic... Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Feb 6, 2012 11:58:51 GMT -5
Ok, on to the rebuild. The way the front aluminum of the airflyte is made, the bottom half curves outward to meet the top half just below the window. The way they framed it (in my humble opinion) was stupid. The bottom half of the wall has no framing to speak of(even though it needs to be sturdy because the table hooks to it) and the bottom wall and top wall were only connected to each other with a thin piece of laminate that was stapled together. I re-did this so that it is one sturdy wall by adding additional framing, and by attaching the bottom half and top half together with a 1x4, liquid nails and screws. It is very sturdy now and doesn't move at all. Here is some pics of it... Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Feb 6, 2012 12:00:33 GMT -5
the other corner... Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Feb 6, 2012 13:12:46 GMT -5
Here it is after I got the new birch and paneling up. Again, I haven't cut any of the windows out yet. I'll do that at the last minute. Right now it keeps the animals and weather out. I have since added molding, but don't have any pics of that. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Feb 6, 2012 13:22:27 GMT -5
and another pic... Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Feb 6, 2012 13:34:02 GMT -5
Here's a pic of the new subfloor I put down over the existing floor. I had already repaired any soft spots in the floor. This is just to give me a nice, smooth surface to put my floor covering on. As you can see, I still have to redo some of the lower cabinets where they are messed up. I have started rebuilding the dinette bench, but I don't have any pics of that yet since I just started that last night, right before the superbowl. I'm hoping to finish rebuilding the dinette bench and the rear couch/bed this week, and then this weekend move on to fixing the cabinets and painting. I'm hoping to have it completely finished inside and out by mid-March, just in case some of the SC/NC/GA owners want to do a small Rally somewhere. (hint hint, wink wink) Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Feb 6, 2012 13:35:07 GMT -5
Another pic of the floor looking the other way... Attachments:
|
|
Gone Kayaking
1K Post Member
My Aguadream --1956 1500 partial rebuild
Posts: 1,542
|
Post by Gone Kayaking on Feb 6, 2012 14:31:19 GMT -5
Looking great Ronnie. I know how hard it is to get going again after a long break. You're making her nice and sturdy.
|
|
|
|
Post by ModernMe on Feb 6, 2012 15:11:09 GMT -5
It's great to see it coming back together. I look forward to seeing your finished pictures.
|
|
boandsusan
1K Post Member
Christmas parade 2012
Posts: 1,902
|
Post by boandsusan on Mar 7, 2012 21:30:45 GMT -5
Looking really good! Should be camping by Spring!
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Mar 30, 2012 9:40:58 GMT -5
Ok, I've been working on the Shasta a lot, but haven't had time to post any updates. I got the dinnette benches rebuilt. I was able to carefully remove the metal trim and reattach to the new ends. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Mar 30, 2012 10:12:11 GMT -5
After much brain-storming with my uncle who does HVAC, we decided to mount a window unit A/C under the rear couch. It cuts out over half of the storage space back there, but we liked that idea better than having a window unit sticking out of a window. We cut two openings in the floor and made ducts for it. It will pull the fresh air in thru these, across the coil, and then blow it out the back thru a vent in the rear cargo door. I will post more in depth pics of this as we install it. The AC will sit in a catch pan and drain straight thru the floor. I had to raise the couch frame 2" to clear everythng, but I don't forsee that being a problem. I have built the couch frame so that I can unscrew it and take it out in two pieces in case the unit ever needs to be serviced. Again, this whole thing is still in progress so I don't have a lot of pics yet. It's also been slow going because we are having to fab up everything and test fit it as we go. Here's some pics. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Mar 30, 2012 10:17:13 GMT -5
Here's a pic of the two piece couch frame being built. It's just got a few screws holding it in place for measurements and such so I can take it out as needed to work on the AC installation. Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Mar 30, 2012 10:20:55 GMT -5
and one more... Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by thehorsepeople4 on Mar 31, 2012 1:04:15 GMT -5
You are really making great progress! Your patience and persistence will pay off the first time you go camping. Realizing that pictures on the internet can be tough to tell...is your sub-flooring the same material as your paneling? It just looks awfully nice and smooth (without the knots I might expect from 1/4" plywood). Looking forward to you next report.
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Mar 31, 2012 9:05:59 GMT -5
Thanks, I feel like I'm on the home stretch. The front and rear walls is 1/8" birch plywood. The sub-floor is the cheap 1/8" utility plywood(I think some call it luan??) but it is very nice and smooth to only be $10 a sheet. Most of the pics I've taken have been with my blackberry, so they aren't the best. I don't like keeping my wife's SLR out there when I'm working because I'm afraid it will get messed up, and when I get ready to take pics, I'm usually too tired to go inside and get it. LOL
I decided I needed a break from it though, so week after next we are taking our big travel trailer to the mountains for 5 days so I can recharge.
|
|
|
|
Post by risgett on Feb 19, 2013 16:23:10 GMT -5
Don't know if anyone noticed my absence, but I'm back after almost a year hiatus. I've been back working on the shasta for a couple of weeks now and will post some pics and updates soon.
|
|
|
|
Post by vikx on Feb 20, 2013 0:40:09 GMT -5
Welcome Back!
|
|
