New owners of a 1978 Southwind...Hi!

[Mike & Amy]

Here's a few more of the ongoing interior demo.

[Wallaby Dan]

Ouch!! That brings back painful memories! Yep that Metal cross piece will need to be heated and bent back to the way it was supposed to be. I was lucky that way as Mine was holding up the roof and when we removed the extra weight, It returned to the original shape. Maybe yours will too! That is a for lack of a better term a roll bar cage and is there for safety reasons. Do not leave them out as in a roll-over accident,that would be what keeps the side walls and roof from just crushing you right into the ground!!
Good luck and hang in there, Its all good!!!

[Mike & Amy]

Massive progress being made. Amy & I have been putting in 4 hours a night. I will post the pictures of the progress this weekend.
Need to get to my real job now!

[Mike & Amy]

Good morning! Hello to friends and family that have started tracking our progress through this site.
Random morning thoughts before the pictures:
1)Thank God for Amy
2)OSHA SMOSHA
3)Budgets were meant to be broken

Wednesday night:

[Mike & Amy]

Thursday night:

[Mike & Amy]

Friday night:

[Bob Vaughn]

I was at an auto salvage place the otherday and they were taking apart an Allegro motorhome with a forklift...I asked them why they were destroying it and they said they were making it into a convertable.....It looks like you are doing the same...While up there you could put in some skylites!!!!

[RedneckExpress]

I've made a light corrected copy of the Tuesday - Friday pictures, its about 5.5 megs in total for those that want a better look at the work being done.

So, guys, you planning on keeping the Bat Wing or tossing it? Another good question, are you planning to reuse the existing A/C units, or replacing? If you're reusing, they need to be stored in a fashion that keeps them in the same position as they were on the roof of the motorhome, being stored upside-down or on end will damage them.

http://truckcampers.fanworks.org/southwind_pics.zip

[Mike & Amy]

I assume the bat wing you speak of is the TV antenna. Unless you tell me it is some rare, priceless relic from 1978 that is in high demand, I am gonna scrap it.

I have the a/c units stacked flat, one on top off the other. They were only on their sides during the controlled fall through the roof and my carrying them to where they sit now.
I really don't know if we will reuse them or not as they haven't even been tested yet. I think one is run off the generator and the other is off shore power. Would one new model be better than these 2 old ones? I would hope they make the new ones lighter as well.

Plans have changed as far as the roof rebuilding using 2x4 wood trusses since we found the steel frame. I think we are going to weld 1x3 steel tubing(11 gauge) every 4 feet and also use the 1x3 tubing for the additional center supports(leaving enough space for the rough openings). This old top frame is just weak. If anyone sees a problem with this please speak up!
Thanks!

[Wallaby Dan]

The only one I would have is top heavy and/or overweight!

[Mike & Amy]

Hi Capt.Dan,
I was thinking of notching out the angle iron on the top every 4 feet so the 1x3tubing would get more support than the 1x1.5 steel tubing is getting now. That top rail is angle iron with a 1x1.5 screwed into it. The 1x1.5 is what the edge caps get screwed into. This piece of wood is getting replaced due to rot. I thought the 1x3s would get more support from the sides and less stress on the weld by notching it.
I haven't seen another roof rebuild like this on the web(with the steel framing). If you happen to have a link please send it my way.

[RedneckExpress]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike & Amy:
I assume the bat wing you speak of is the TV antenna. Unless you tell me it is some rare, priceless relic from 1978 that is in high demand, I am gonna scrap it.
Thanks! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, actually, its not that old. Just looking at how the wiring was routed, the antenna was added later on in the RV's life. If its booster still works, its worth some money for resale, since new ones run around $100+.

I was going to say, if yer just gonna toss it and it still works, your more than welcoem to box it up, ship it my way, so long as its working and its booster is functional.

On the topic of the tubing, personally, I'd measure off where the current steel tubing is, then cut it completely out, clean the areas and weld in an entirely new tube structure, rather than depend on compromised steel. You could get away with 2x2 tubing, just use quarter wall in the heavy load areas.

[Mike & Amy]

Well Joe, after checking with Amy, the antenna met the same fate as the awning...recycled. We still have the booster though-lol.
We are going to get up to the garage today and take some closer pictures of this top frame. Hopefully you guys will be able to see what I am seeing and we can come up with a good game plan.

[Wallaby Dan]

How goes it folks?