Oh hindsight, with your annoyingly perfect vision. When I began fixing the leaks I assumed that I would have to repaint/seal it somehow. Because of this assumption I tore the metal trim of the side, I ground off the pin stripes, and did a few other things that turned it from a van that looked old to a van that looked atrocious and old. I now know, having repaired the leaks and fixed the rails, that I could have gotten away with not repainting. But this is all a moot point now. Being able to camp and not draw attention is important in this vehicle, so it needs to look somewhat normal, and at this point that means painting. (more…)
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Swiveling Captain’s Chairs
Well, to begin with the van only came with one seat, and not even a comfy or safe one at that. I figured it would be nice to be able to rotate them around when parked to sort of expand the living area a bit. A quick search on the web showed many sites selling various combinations of swiveling bases and chairs, but they were all very expensive – hundreds of dollars per piece it seemed. I set about trying to find used ones and located an RV junkyard in a small city outside Denver. They weren’t a matching set, but as we’ll likely be making or buying newer seat covers for them, I don’t really see that it matters all that much. especially with each swivel base chair combo only running $75! (more…)
Skeletal Analysis and Repair Phase
First the inside. I used a wire brush attachment on the grinder to knock all of the surface rust of the roof frame and floor. I then used Rustoleum Rust Reformer and sprayed all the effected areas with it. I had a friend with a welder put a plate over the rusted hole by the brake pedal. Next the wife and I patched every single rust hole, bolt hole, etc in the floor with a fiberglass/resin kit. Once it set I used a liquid rubber spray also from Rustoleum to coat and leak proof all the fiberglass patches.
