A Top Down Rebuild of a 1986 Tioga

[Hayseed4ever]

Greeting to one and all,ha

I have started the most interesting RV project and I hope to share the journey here as well as perhaps get some ideas, tips, as I go.

So I have a 1986 Tioga class C that I purchased in 2018 for use in West Central Wisconsin as I was in the process of moving from Indiana. I bought if from a man that was selling it on his elderly fathers behalf. It had some water damage in the bathroom from a long ago hail storm with a poor repair over the skylight. Instead of fixing the skylight they put a wooden box over it and caulked it, so it eventually allowed water in and destroyed the interior and exterior walls around the bathroom. There were also a few other leaks that had been discovered around other roof penetrations. Even with all of this it worked well enough for the three months I was living in it September - November and the price was right. It was starting to get a little cold for sure towards the end of November in Wisconsin. As I drove it to the new house, I definitely found some issues that were not disclosed by the previous owner which made the trip very interesting. I knew that the gas gauge didn't work and that the temperature gauge didn't work and was pretty sure that it was just a fuse or ground issue. When I was driving it home up the hills it sure did stutter quite and seemed to lose power.So I parked it for the winter with the idea of looking at it the next year or reselling it. Later that following year, I met an amazing girl who is now my wife and she had the idea of using the RV to travel to see our amazing country as well as visit her family in Colorado so we decided to keep it.



Being handy with everything from plumbing to electrical went through the fuel tank and found the sending unit and in tank fuel pump was not functioning correctly, and that the sending unit for the thermostat wasn't working. After fixing those couple of things I took it for a little drive and all seemed to work well. A few weeks later as we were getting ready for the trip I noticed the carb on the ford 460 was leaking so I ended up rebuilding it and we were off on our trip. About 2 hours into the trip the alternator belt broke and we spent a night in a parking lot in a rain storm (downpour). It was then that we found that there was a few more leaks than we realized.



My wife has seen too many flips of RV's on instagram and snap chat and talked me into doing that with ours for a couple of reasons.



Reason 1, new RV's are in MHO outrageously priced
Reason 2, The layout and options aren't all what we are looking for.
Reason 3, the old non computerized Ford 460 engines are easy to work on and parts are available at any autopart store in the country.

Reason 4, I have all of the skills needed for this type of undertaking. I have done a frame off restoration of a 1972 Chevy C20, engine replacement on a 2011 Camaro, and more electrical and plumbing projects than I can count.

Reason 5, I can do all of the work for a fraction of the cost of a new RV, so I can have the best of all worlds, old easy to work on engines, new interior and amenities, and a layout that my wife will love.

As a plus we will get to do this together as a newly wed project and it will create memories of the build and the places we go. Not to mention that if something goes wrong, we will know exactly what to do to fix it.

So with that we have deconstructed the coach down to the frame. This particular unit has a frame that is all steel. The roof was a layer of aluminum on top of a much damage 1/8" luan, with 1.5" of insulation and then the interior paneling. During deconstruction, we found that most of the luan was so bad it was disintegrating.



We have decided that we will try to make this with as many wood free products as possible, so we are thinking of doing aluminum sheeting over HDPE paneling for the roof and a full piece of paneling on the outside from crane composites to minimize potential water damage in the event there is a future leak.

I will share some more of our plans soon.

So what are your thoughts?

[DonaC]

I agree that that's an amazing girl. Post pictures please. Of the RV I mean.

Originally Posted by Hayseed4ever

Greeting to one and all,ha

I have started the most interesting RV project and I hope to share the journey here as well as perhaps get some ideas, tips, as I go.

So I have a 1986 Tioga class C that I purchased in 2018 for use in West Central Wisconsin as I was in the process of moving from Indiana. I bought if from a man that was selling it on his elderly fathers behalf. It had some water damage in the bathroom from a long ago hail storm with a poor repair over the skylight. Instead of fixing the skylight they put a wooden box over it and caulked it, so it eventually allowed water in and destroyed the interior and exterior walls around the bathroom. There were also a few other leaks that had been discovered around other roof penetrations. Even with all of this it worked well enough for the three months I was living in it September - November and the price was right. It was starting to get a little cold for sure towards the end of November in Wisconsin. As I drove it to the new house, I definitely found some issues that were not disclosed by the previous owner which made the trip very interesting. I knew that the gas gauge didn't work and that the temperature gauge didn't work and was pretty sure that it was just a fuse or ground issue. When I was driving it home up the hills it sure did stutter quite and seemed to lose power.So I parked it for the winter with the idea of looking at it the next year or reselling it. Later that following year, I met an amazing girl who is now my wife and she had the idea of using the RV to travel to see our amazing country as well as visit her family in Colorado so we decided to keep it.



Being handy with everything from plumbing to electrical went through the fuel tank and found the sending unit and in tank fuel pump was not functioning correctly, and that the sending unit for the thermostat wasn't working. After fixing those couple of things I took it for a little drive and all seemed to work well. A few weeks later as we were getting ready for the trip I noticed the carb on the ford 460 was leaking so I ended up rebuilding it and we were off on our trip. About 2 hours into the trip the alternator belt broke and we spent a night in a parking lot in a rain storm (downpour). It was then that we found that there was a few more leaks than we realized.



My wife has seen too many flips of RV's on instagram and snap chat and talked me into doing that with ours for a couple of reasons.



Reason 1, new RV's are in MHO outrageously priced
Reason 2, The layout and options aren't all what we are looking for.
Reason 3, the old non computerized Ford 460 engines are easy to work on and parts are available at any autopart store in the country.

Reason 4, I have all of the skills needed for this type of undertaking. I have done a frame off restoration of a 1972 Chevy C20, engine replacement on a 2011 Camaro, and more electrical and plumbing projects than I can count.

Reason 5, I can do all of the work for a fraction of the cost of a new RV, so I can have the best of all worlds, old easy to work on engines, new interior and amenities, and a layout that my wife will love.

As a plus we will get to do this together as a newly wed project and it will create memories of the build and the places we go. Not to mention that if something goes wrong, we will know exactly what to do to fix it.

So with that we have deconstructed the coach down to the frame. This particular unit has a frame that is all steel. The roof was a layer of aluminum on top of a much damage 1/8" luan, with 1.5" of insulation and then the interior paneling. During deconstruction, we found that most of the luan was so bad it was disintegrating.



We have decided that we will try to make this with as many wood free products as possible, so we are thinking of doing aluminum sheeting over HDPE paneling for the roof and a full piece of paneling on the outside from crane composites to minimize potential water damage in the event there is a future leak.

I will share some more of our plans soon.

So what are your thoughts?

[jackreno]

Think about how many $$ it's going to cost then add 30 percent more because it always ends of costing more when it comes to a RV.

Then compare that to a 10-15 year old class C that's in good condition and needs nothing and you can start your RV adventure today.

[Trapper2022]

Good luck with your project. You must be young with plenty of time on your side. Hope you plan on keeping unit for a long time after completing job.

Safe travels

Enjoy the journey

[Hayseed4ever]

Young is all in the mind, my wife says I have more energy than most people she knows, I work on it every night for a couple of hours so I can get in about 15-20 hours of work every 7 days. We do plan on keeping it a very long time. As for a timeline, we are hoping to have it done by the end of June. As the deconstruction is practically done, I am optimistic we can make our timeline. As for the $, we have been unable to find anything that we liked in our price range that didn't need some sort of work.


We just got the fiberglass front cap off so this weekend we will probably complete the deconstruction.

[WarHorn79]

Doing a similar renovation on a 2005 Coachmen Freedom. Following your efforts as you make progress and wow us!

[Hayseed4ever]

These are pictures of the RV when I originally got it in 2018. All of the upholstery was really faded and sun damaged. The TV antenna area, the front overhead windows, and both roof vents leaked. As I have been taking the over cab area apart this week I found that the plywood up there was still wet despite being out of the weather for over a year, it just disintegrated as i removed it.

[Hayseed4ever]

Here are a few more of the before pictures including one of the bathroom showing the extensive water damage along both walls.

[WarHorn79]

That mattress over the cab looks mighty comfy!

[MakTruk]

I absolutely despised my '88 Tioga 460 and advise you to bury that thing.

[GOLDWINGER2]

I hope that you don't give up on her. I brought one back to life that was in wayyyy worse shape.
J

[Hayseed4ever]

Well I just about have the deconstruction completed and all of the steel framework prepped. Despite the water damage most of the steel was in pretty good condition, just needing a little sanding to clean some rust off. It is very interesting to see how this unit was constructed. The back panel and top panels were constructed separately and then screwed to the vertical side walls so there is actual paneling sandwiched between the metal frame. The roof frame had some sort of tape, maybe butyl between the side walls and the roof so I will do that too to help create a good seal. As we reconstruct it, we will follow a similar method. As I am in manufacturing, I find the different construction methods very interesting.

[sandwip]

I would be checking the weight of the HDPE for the roof, you don't want a lot of weight up high. If sealed properly, luan will last a long time and roofing material can be glued to it, HDPE ---not so much. Have fun.

[Hayseed4ever]

Well, deconstruction is finally complete! I don't think we can take it any more apart. We are pretty much down to a chassis and cab.



Each of the steel sides had a couple of pieces that needed replacing due to some rust from wet wooden sides sitting against it for a long time. The steel for the replacement parts arrived today so this weekend I will cut and weld in the replacements.


The new foam insulation showed up too, I am using polyiso foamboard with a rating of 9.6 R for the 1.5" walls, floor, and ceiling.


As for the sides, I have found a supplier that will sell me a full fiberglass side sheet that is mounted to an Azdel sub strait. I will also place some Azdel panels on the inside and then put a wall covering over top of them instead of using the HDPE panneling I originally thought about. This should help prevent any future issues with water damage in the event of a leak. If the promotional material on Azdels website can be believed, this will help with insulation and sound deadening too. As we put this together, I am planning on putting each side together and laminating it on the ground and then erecting it.


I am also taking this opportunity to clean the surface rust from the chassis and put on a undercoating to make it last longer. I am also doing some proactive engine work. radiator flush and clean, water pump replacement, timing chain and gears since I already am in there, power steering pump because again I am in there. I am also looking at removing the smog pump system as this is a carburated engine without a computer and I am looking to free up some engine compartment space. Any one have thoughts on the smog pump removal?


As everyone always enjoys seeing project pictures, here is a selection of the deconstruction.