Major refit in progress

[Jchet]

As I reported on my original member introduction we are in the midst of a refit on a Coachman Destiny 380 DP. I was a bit overwhelmed at first but were making great progress.

We are very fortunate to have a 50,000sf warehouse with a drive up entrance that is vacant at present which has served as the operational center for the project.

I have put some of our employees on the job and we are now sanded, taped off and have but a few last minute touches but we are ready to shoot primer on Tuesday.

Yesterday I decided to handle what was a very small area of delamination under the drivers side window. Having done some deck repairs on sailboats I decided to approach the fix using similar methods. I drilled 6 small holes down the side about 3" apart. I mixed West System epoxy resin, used 2 syringes and filled each syringe with resin. I went down the holes injecting each hole and while one was being emptied my employee was refilling the other until we used up all the resin. It has filled the entire space that was delaminated, when done we ran a strip of blue painters tape over the holes. I cut a 2x4 24" in length and placed it over the tape. I then placed 2 braces against the board and the other end on a forklift and tightened the braces to the point the area of delamination was now flat. 24 hrs later I pulled the braces and it appears the area re-laminated.

We have purchased the primer and ordered our first color of paint for the top coat. I'm painting it with Awlgrip Awlcraft metallic paint. I have used Awlgrip on some sailboat painting jobs so have some experience with it. I admit it has been a few years and a 38' motorhome is a much bigger project then a 40' sailboat. But we have the right air compressor setup, bought a new high flow paint gun for the top coat, using a lesser expensive gun for the primer.

I'm looking forward to getting to the first color of the top coat so it can start to look like a semi finished project. I'm a perfectionist so if it's anything like the last sailboat I painted it should come out nice. I did 7 coats of topcoat on the sailboat sanding between each coat. It was a bit obsessive, placed me over my scheduled paint booth time but when I was done the color was flawless and it was worth the work. I'm hoping to not have that many coats this time around. I'm using much more user friendly colors so should not be so difficult.

This should be a great week!

[1ciderdog]

I'm interested in hearing the results of your efforts. I also was a boater - lived on a 46 foot sailboat 12 years in addition to having boats that I did not live on. Great life but I do like RV's a bit more now - I no longer worry about dragging anchor or sinking!!
Safe Travels
Bob

[Jchet]

We really enjoyed having a boat, at the time we would sail and live on board about half the year in the Carribean and at our Clermont Fl home the rest of the year. I did some venture capitol investing in a company in Fl and as the economy soured we had to take control and buy it out to protect our investment. As a result we really lacked the time to sail. We moved the boat to the gulf but it was still 1.5hrs drive to the boat. It was a 6'2" draft and could only go out the channel during high tide, this of course enabled 2 times a day we could leave the dock, be gone for 12 hours and return during high tide.

We found the restrictions too much so we sold it and it was sailed north to Canada. We now have a Checkmate sport boat which works great as we're in an area with many lakes and waterways in addition to the gulf and Atlantic. My wife claims its my "Corvette" for the water which was required because I'm in my 50's. I think the motorhome will be a great change for us, frankly if we didn't have dogs I don't think we would have bought the MH.

We can't leave them behind for others to care for and it's not always easy to find hotel accommodations that will work with 2 dogs. I like to travel to the Keys and dive so I have had to go alone and leave my wife home while I go play. We decided to look at travel trailers or MH and decided on the MH option.

In the end, we have 2 Soft Coated Wheatens that seem to control our lives. I suppose it's worth it, the MH will make it so much easier. Today we spent the day driving along the Atlantic coast on a recon mission looking at potential weekend locations to go to in the MH when we're ready for some "Sea Trails".

[bobbyl]

Jcht, good luck on your project. I too was a boater than turned in the Life vest for a seat belt. Spent the better part of 2 years restoring a 42 Grand Banks Classic. Many many hours of sanding and refinishing all the teak. Once completed found out it just didn't work the way I planned it. Boat was beautiful and in pristine condition but just couldn't justify the cost of $600/mo just for marina fees. So............I sold the boat and started my adventures with M/H's. I too have dogs that love to travel and like you said if it wasn't for them probably wouldn't have got in to RV's. In 3 years I'm on my 3rd M/H, started small and worked my way up. I just traded for the one I have now about a month ago. Loving the coach and my travels.

Good luck on your refinish and enjoy the life.

[Dogpatch]

How bout some photos of your progress? Always interesting for us who may need to tackle this kind of repair in the future.

[toadog]

When I first started in boating we built a sailboat for Roy Disney and we painted 14 coats sanding each. It looked perfect.Good luck and give us some pictures.

[Jchet]

[sdennislee]

Looking forward to the next series of pictures.

[toadog]

The Disney boat I spoke about was hand painted by an old German. Never could find a painter that good with a brush again.

[Jchet]

Originally Posted by toadog

The Disney boat I spoke about was hand painted by an old German. Never could find a painter that good with a brush again.

I have seen as well as done some roll and tip painting on boats that looked outstanding. Once the paint dried it flowed out and there were no brush marks. I considered using this method on the MH but decided against it as the distance from the top to the bottom rub rail is too long to get a good single brush tip stroke.

Tomorrow were going to shoot the first coat of primer on the top section, should be interesting!

[Dogpatch]

Originally Posted by sdennislee

Looking forward to the next series of pictures.

Me 2.

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by dogpatch

Me 2.

x3. And I love the doggers!

[Jchet]

Originally Posted by SarahW

x3. And I love the doggers!

Thank you, that's "Teddy" and "Bella" our Soft Coated Wheaton's.

[ninos]

i want to see the finish product. Joe