1973 Winnebago Brave Project

[ashpd_136]

New to the forum thing so bear with me please ! I just bought a 73 Winnebago Brave, my first RV ever, and I find myself just walking around sitting in it looking around at everything. I believe my wife thinks I've got issues ! Needless to say I'm clueless about just about everything to do with RV'ing. I'm blessed with a little bit of mechanical so hopefully all will turn out well.
Our RV is the 22' variety on the the RM300 chassis with the Dodge 440. It has 30,000 miles on the chassis and the interior is all original, it's like stepping into a time capsule. LOL So far I've found the brakes are the victim of sitting, rusted and pitted rotors etc. The engine runs descent but seems as thought its in need of a good tune-up and possibly a carb rebuild or replacement. The plug wires feel like they'd snap in half if bent too far. The interior is in really good shape, original carpet and curtains and all of the wood work is nice.
The first problem I want to tackle is a leak in a water line that was likely the victim of improper winterization. It seems that the leak is coming from under the shower stall floor. Any words of advice before I start on my quest to find the origin of this leak?

Thanks

[TXiceman]

Just go slow and plan to take twice as long and twice as much money as you planned. You can find some of the old RV items at Vintage Trailer Supply,
.

Lo e to see some photos.

Welcome to iRV2.

Ken

[73Indian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashpd_136 New to the forum thing so bear with me please ! I just bought a 73 Winnebago Brave, my first RV ever, and I find myself just walking around sitting in it looking around at everything. I believe my wife thinks I've got issues ! Needless to say I'm clueless about just about everything to do with RV'ing. I'm blessed with a little bit of mechanical so hopefully all will turn out well. Thanks

Hey 136,
Are you still the proud owner of this '73 Brave? I have this thing for these older rigs. Anything I can help with? Les

[Seon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73Indian Hey 136, Are you still the proud owner of this '73 Brave? I have this thing for these older rigs. Anything I can help with? Les

Being that he's only posted once...do you think he "high tailed" and ran?

Often times there's a lot of good intentions but once the "onion" is peeled, it's discovered that more work and $$'s are involved. As most know it requires the "labor of love" to work on these classics

[TheDubs]

It is a labor of love. I have enjoyed every min of remodeling mine. And am glad to see people as passionate about it as I am.

[73Indian]

Sometimes we get an idea that "I can fix that" and then reality sets in or things change. If 136 is still out there and wants any help I hope they just ask. The amount of fun I have had in my rig is way more than I ever thought it would be and great pay back for the work put into it. Les

[RedneckExpress]

Hush, I just broke my city water line today while trying to man handle PVC mesh reinforced vinyl tubing into place to replace a section of leaking Polyethylene Pipe that originally made up my water tank fill tube. In the process of trying to squeeze the very uncooperative vinyl tubing up through the opening where the old pipe went I managed to snap the pvc pipe in two separate places, so I'll be getting new pipe fittings as well as a heat gun or a flaring tool to wrangle the other end of the vinyl tubing into place.

My elbows still ache somewhat from trying the standard grease and muscle method of fitting tubing onto a barb....

[TheDubs]

Well Red wish I could be there to lend a hand.

Justin

[73Indian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedneckExpress Hush, I just broke my city water line today while trying to man handle PVC mesh reinforced vinyl tubing into place to replace a section of leaking Polyethylene Pipe that originally made up my water tank fill tube. In the process of trying to squeeze the very uncooperative vinyl tubing up through the opening where the old pipe went I managed to snap the pvc pipe in two separate places, so I'll be getting new pipe fittings as well as a heat gun or a flaring tool to wrangle the other end of the vinyl tubing into place. My elbows still ache somewhat from trying the standard grease and muscle method of fitting tubing onto a barb....

Hey if you need any help just give me a call. I have a heat gun and know how to break things too,lol Les

[RedneckExpress]

Got er fixed, though I hurt in places I didn't know you could. Heat gun and an exhaust flairing tool allowed me to stretch the hose just enough to make it slide on with a little muscle.

Fixing the leaking water line took more time, but the tank step is back together and now I can proceed with the insulation, framing, paneling project for the rest of the tub sides tomorrow, provided I can kneel down anymore, I discovered that it is indeed possible to remove the skin from your knee with your jeans by spending alot of time on them.

With the hose done, going to take the flaring tool and heat gun back to harbor freight, as much as I'd like to hang onto them, I need the money for other things, like bills....

[1973TJ993]

Found this thread after putting in search for replacement tank for 73 brave. As a single "can-do" woman, I'm also the proud first time owner of a vintage RV. I have the same as above; a 73 Brave with the reliable 440 under the hump On date of purchase, I was nosing around and found a receipt from 5 years back for a $4200 rebuild on the engine. What a cue! The seller saw this and started to back out of the sale: I got this for a grand -fair market value according to my research.
Well, she's not pretty, but she purrs! Need to get to know her better before she's named. After polishing up the chrome front end line I realize it's the perfect spot for a hood ornament -will be looking
In the meantime, I need to fix this leak under my bed. It's the second smaller tank. I have a plan B- unhooking it altogether and just using the bigger tank. I'll be parked at city hookup locations, so it shouldn't be an issue.
Anyone be able to offer up sage advice as well as refer me to the best sites for parts as the need arises?
I'll be back!
tj

[Outlaw45]

well it looks like 136 has ran for the hill's. wonder where his winnie is?

Outlaw

[1973TJ993]

Hi,

Well, if he headed for the hills, I hope he's still in the Brave. They are really fun! I've had mine a month now and am really enjoying the honeymoon

In the meantime, I'm still looking for an answer to why the new waste hose I purchased does not fit my 73, 24' 440 Winnebago Brave.

It's obviously close in size, but the hose and cap I purchased are both too small.

Where do I turn next to find a fitting hose so that I can pull into the Park this Saturday?

I'm scheduled to move into for monthly tenancy, so they will be performing an inspection of the RV. In so much, it needs to be sound.

A second issue I face is a small crack in the holding tank. It appears that someone, some time ago either plastic welded it, or maybe applied marine paint -to "bandage" it. Regardless, it's started to crack and has a small drip with when the water is running through rather than holding. I don't want to find out what type of leak I have in the closed position!

So, after much thinking, my "McGyver" solution is to apply a Bondo seal tomorrow. I've emptied the tank and will pray the CA Bay Area is dry so that i have time to put on the two coats to make the 1/4 seal I desire. I was going to apply a fiberglass patch, but thought I'd run the risk of a reaction with the plastic and epoxy. The Bondo is a latex based product, so this should work.

I'm sure many of you have sealed leaks in these RV's before.

Any advice on capping that leaking tank as well as capping off the second tank under the bed would be appreciated.

The smaller of the two holding tanks is leaking and because I'll be using city water, I'm in no need of capacity for holding. Therefore, I've decided to cap the leaking tank and just use the larger. Should I expect any problems -like losing my water source altogether because the leaking tank is plumbed to run the RV? I can't define which send water throughout, so I'm looking for experienced dialog.

As I stated in the above post: I'm a "can-do" single woman. And this RV is in near perfect condition save for the few little things that need doing. I've owned a custom Porsche 993 Wide Body show car for 10 years now and although it's now for sale, have spent hours of loving labor on it. So, although this beast will likely be a knuckle buster compared to the 993, I'm positive I can do this!!

Any and all advice and words of wisdom, as well as starting a dialog based on experience is avidly welcome!

Happy Holidays from
TJ, Carmel, California USA
Cheftrish@gmail.com

[RedneckExpress]

There's a specialty epoxy tank repair you can get for the poly tanks, I originally bought the one I have for the black tank on my rig and ended up using it to repair the fresh tank instead.

However, most poly tanks really needed to be welded back together when they crack. This can be done with a soldering iron with a flat pad tip attached instead of a regular fine point and a stick of poly plastic. Its usually easier to do after dropping the tank so gravity is working with you vs against you.

The most ideal course would be to drop the problem tanks, weld the cracks and then coat the whole tank in several coatings of epoxy resin and reinforcing fabric mesh to prevent it from deteriorating further.

If the tanks aren't weird sizes, you might be able to buy some new replacement tanks and simply heat weld on new connections to the new tank to match the old tank's setup and replace them all together.