2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor Remodel

[Brob]

Originally Posted by slowmachine

Thanks. I hope it’s helping other owners to keep their aging RVs alive. It’s been a huge eye-opener for me. Nearly everything that I did during the purchase process was wrong, and it’s going to cost quite a bit to get the MH back to a usable state. I hope, though, that it will be easier to sustain because of my work.

I am restoring a 1987 Class A currently myself. It is a tremendous amount of work, but I know that when I am finished I will have something that I am proud of and know intimately.

You will definitely have something you know inside and out. It will certainly be easier to sustain due to all your care and effort. You're going beyond the effort put in by the manufacturer and correcting all those things the original workers had no care to correct. Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

[slowmachine]

For the first time in months, both the weather and my health enabled me to get some work done. A few pics of the process. I have 1/4" aluminum plate, cut on a plasma table, with a 1-inch arch from end to end. Pilot holes are pre-drilled at the distances I selected. I am using 1/4-20 bolts, with washers at each end, and a nylock nut. I have square backing plates from the same aluminum sheet to prevent the flimsy roof beams from bending away from the nut and twisting.

The process is to bend the ceiling beam into the arc needed to insert the aluminum plate into the I-beam cavity with the same lumber that held the roof up over the winter, fully seat with some hammer taps, then drill in-place through the I-beam and the reinforcement plate. Bolt together, repeat for the length of the coach. There is a lot of welding material in some of the joints, so I am having to carefully reduce that with an oscillating tool where necessary.

You can see in the last photo, how much the bottom of the I-beams deformed where the A/C duct cutouts go through the beam. The metal is stretched quite a bit, but I found no cracks in any of them. I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with those dangling loops, but I think it will be necessary to cut them to make them lay flat. They're not contributing anything to the strength of the roof, so maybe it's not a big deal.

[nehog]

I went up and visited with Mike on Tuesday. It was a great experience (both my drive which I went a route I'd never traveled before, and my visit.)

Mike's situation is perhaps unique, but no question he did the right thing! No question he'll have a unique coach when he's done too.

I took about 30 pictures of the inside. I mostly wanted to document how HR built their coaches and was less interested in the various issues that were unique to Mike's coach. I learned a lot about their construction techniques, how they ran wiring, plumbing and general construction techniques.

If anyone is interested I can post my pictures in this thread, and perhaps at some point they will be helpful to others. Just let me know!

I do know I'm going to go back and visit as progress is made.

[veraken]

Originally Posted by nehog

I went up and visited with Mike on Tuesday. It was a great experience (both my drive which I went a route I'd never traveled before, and my visit.)

Mike's situation is perhaps unique, but no question he did the right thing! No question he'll have a unique coach when he's done too.

I took about 30 pictures of the inside. I mostly wanted to document how HR built their coaches and was less interested in the various issues that were unique to Mike's coach. I learned a lot about their construction techniques, how they ran wiring, plumbing and general construction techniques.

If anyone is interested I can post my pictures in this thread, and perhaps at some point they will be helpful to others. Just let me know!

I do know I'm going to go back and visit as progress is made.

Any pictures you could post would be of interest to me. I don't have the same MH, but I do have a HR and I'm sure there are many similarities.

[Brob]

pictures are always helpful.

[Andy_Law]

I have he same coach as mike, and I’m having very strange wiring issues. If you could please share the photos that would be amazing. I can also send my email if needed. Thank you.

[slowmachine]

Originally Posted by Andy_Law

I have he same coach as mike, and I’m having very strange wiring issues. If you could please share the photos that would be amazing. I can also send my email if needed. Thank you.

Andy, I don’t think that Peter got much in the way of wiring photos, because most of it is either hidden or removed. Maybe I can answer some of your questions. I have the factory wiring diagram, too.

[nehog]

Due to the number of images, I'm going to try an imgur album. If this doesn't work then we can figure some other way to post them.

Any place where something was attached to the walls (such as lights, etc.) they put a piece of aluminum to screw into.

[tomgagne]

Thanks for the pictures, very enlightening. I have a very similar coach and have had similar leaks. While I've only needed to remove the walls by the captains chairs I've had to fix other leaks. The aluminum extrusions which hold the awnings and slide toppers are very susceptible to leaks where the pieces butt up to each other. Good luck on the renovation, lots of work for a small area

[slowmachine]

I am attempting to post just to keep the thread alive. Personal, and family, medical problems have taken priority over MH renovation. We have not given up, but we are definitely taking a strategic pause while we work through the aftermath of a serious ski injury with one of my daughters.

[sask934]

Originally Posted by slowmachine

I am attempting to post just to keep the thread alive. Personal, and family, medical problems have taken priority over MH renovation. We have not given up, but we are definitely taking a strategic pause while we work through the aftermath of a serious ski injury with one of my daughters.

I am following with great interest hope all medical issues etc clear up. Wishing good health to all.

[nehog]

Mike, my best wishes to you. Seems like this year has not been a good health year for some of us.

[greystroke]

Originally Posted by slowmachine

I am attempting to post just to keep the thread alive. Personal, and family, medical problems have taken priority over MH renovation. We have not given up, but we are definitely taking a strategic pause while we work through the aftermath of a serious ski injury with one of my daughters.

I want to thank you for sharing. I make repairs to my old 98 all the time but nothing like your doing. Just to old for that. I purchased used and had my rig for over 10 years. Lots of minor mods. I keep it under cover next to the house, slide in, and leave a light and radio on to try to discourage mice. Thanks again and I will follow your future work.

[GOLDWINGER2]

Any more progress on the MH project?
J