Our ground up renovation MH

[PapaJ38]

This is the Big Turd. It is a 77 Pace Arrow 29 ft class A. I am not sure of the model (any help would be great). It has only 60,000 miles on the original Dodge 440+4 the Onan Generator only has 65 hours on it. We are the third owners. The original owners bought it new in Little Rock Arkansas and used it to go to Indianapolis speedway every year until 1994. Between the first and second owners in 1994 it was rehabbed by an RV dealer in Indianapolis to include that hideous stripe on the exterior. The second owners, a young couple with two teenage daughters a cat small dog and large dog, bought it in 1994 in Indianapolis and drove it to Little Rock Arkansas then to Springfield Missouri and parked it in a motorpark also in 1994 where she became their home for 10+ years. It did not move again until November 2015 when we acquired it when a family emergency forced them to pack their minivan with the absolute essentials and family keepsakes leaving everything else for us to deal with. We moved it to a storage unit until February of 2016 when we drive it here to Charleston Mississippi to do the renovation.

I am Jerrold (Shaker) my girlfriend is Crystal we are both 38.

We are doing a complete ground up inside and out renovation of the Turd.

Plans include a new roof, new paint, new wheels and tires, gutting the entire interior and upgrading everything, remapping the floor plan,replacing the A/C units with sky lights, roof mounted solar array, and converting to a diesel.

This is going to be a slow process as we are both disabled and funds are very limited.

[Gordon Dewald]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your renovation. It will be a daunting task but one that can be very satisfying.

Please post lots of pictures as you progress.

If you have any questions post them. Somebody will give you advice - some of it is really good.

Check out the threads RV Fire and the RV that needed some love, and Total Rebuild for ideas of how to go about some of the work.

[bap]

hello and welcome to a great web site, there are alot of great folks on here that have tons of excperince about everything related to rv,s,,


i am looking forward to seeing your project come along..please post more pics,,we all love watching...


bap/jeff

[octanefam]

Shaker I told you would get's lot of info over here the amount of knowledge that the dozen or so regulars on this board have is amazing When you have an extra day where your not doing anything check out the Total Rebuild thread it will take you a while.

[beamisl]

Shaker,

You have yourself a beauty there. These older rigs were well made and when you are done it will look great!

I also agree with checking out the two above named threads. It will take some time to get through them but well worth your time as there is a lot of good information inside these threads.

Good luck and make sure to post progress pics. Do love to see these old beauties come back alive.

Best of luck, Lynne

[Geocritter]

The Big Turd, what a great name! That's what I should've called my RV when I first bought it. Thankfully, I've progressed beyond that stage with it.


Steve

[PapaJ38]

Here are some pics of the inside the day we got it.

[Geocritter]

Shaker,

I’m glad it’s yours and not mine! With that said, at 38 you’re about the right age for this project, old enough to have acquired wisdom and experience yet young enough that the magnitude of the task you’re facing won’t be too overwhelming. I can write those words based on my own experiences with boat and car projects I took on at your age.

One of the problems I had with my project RV was that I wasn’t familiar with heavy truck chassis and the Godzilla sized fasteners holding everything together (my RV had also lived in the rust belt). It wasn’t until I had to rent an air-impact wrench capable of 1,100 ft/lbs torque just to change out the damned shock absorbers (and I still had to heat two nuts with a torch before they’d finally break free) only then did I begin to realize the project I’d embarked upon. Being in my mid-60’s hasn’t helped much either.

Anyhow, I’m sure you’ll do the project proud! Please post your progress and don’t hesitate to ask questions, I know I ask plenty! You can be certain that everyone here is rooting for your success!

Steve


PS BTW I know where there's a front engine diesel powered 1989 Class A in San Marcos TX that's for sale for around $3,500. Supposedly it runs (or did run before it was put up) but I passed on it because of water damage (roof leaks)and the expense of renovation components such as the large tires it required. It could probably be had for less, perhaps for the value of the engine.

[Harley1994]

PapaJ, The pics look like so many RV's that are sitting neglected, but I can tell you there is light at the end of a very long tunnel, just keep at it and you'll get there. Like a few before me have said keep the pics coming!

[PapaJ38]

I was am heavy equipment mechanic in the Navy from 98 to 07 and have owned several custom auto businesses from which I still retain 90% of the tools. LOL!! TX is a tad far to go for an unknown. We have a local that has a 2004-ish International loadstar that he wants to trade for the 440+4 and 727 from our turd. As far as wheels and tires go we are planning on using Michelin X-One super singles. WE know there is some water damage and some very shady cover work within the turd. In the process of cleaning it out we found several dead end circuits that do not match the manuals and we can see where there has been new circuits run and spliced in to the old system. If we let it sit for more than 3 days without shore power or solar panels connected the batteries will go dead. But that is half the fun of a full gut out!!! We get to re-do everything as we want it. LOL!!!

We cleaned it out while it was in storage and started to do a few changes to it in the hopes of buying property and living in it for a while till we got a cabin built. To make a few bucks to try and buy tires for it we sold the heater/furnace, sofa, captains chairs/dinette. Unfortunately we ended up using that money for gas to get to MS.

[Electra 225]

Hey best of luck to ya, it'll be great when you get it finished! Keep us in the loop with progress and pics!

Some of those old buzzards are built tough!
I have always been a fan of the relatively rare Apollo Sceptre. Check those out for fun, the body shape is similar as several were of your coach's era. You may find a spark of inspiration from a Sceptre, they were quite elegant.

Best regards,
W.D.

[PapaJ38]

Here is the roof and generator. The roof has had a latex-like-ish coating put on at one time or another, we are assuming when it was rehabbed. it is peeling in the front and the bathroom vent cover broke on the way to MS on a tree branch which is why it is covered with plastic. The cover to the front A/C unit disappeared on the way home the day we got it, BUT both units work REALLY well and were regularly maintained/serviced. The front one was serviced a few weeks before we got it so we are assuming they may not have properly reattached the cover. The generator has an issue in the wiring to where it will not start unless you hook up the ground wire or the pump will run nonstop soooooo they added an extension cord with a toggle switch on one end to it so they didnt have to go outside every time it needed started, again an entire system we are re-configuring.

[PapaJ38]

We have actually seen a couple of the Apollo Sceptres. You don't want to know where. we tried to get one but it was an absolute no go.

[Electra 225]

Originally Posted by PapaJ38

We have actually seen a couple of the Apollo Sceptres. You don't want to know where. we tried to get one but it was an absolute no go.

Yeah I hear ya. If I'm not mistaken, and you may already know of this.......but I've heard of an Apollo Sceptre club I think in California. Their mission is to locate and document all of the Sceptres produced in the 3 years of production. They are about 3/4 there. Sometimes the accounted for ones come up for sale, of course they're pricey, especially the meticulously restored ones. They're quite interesting rigs. It's neat you got to see a couple up close, I have yet to.

Anyway, again keep us posted on your progress. I've got one of my own I plan to reveal soon, it's rather unusual.

Regards,
W.D.