Thursday, May 17, 2012

Workin

As aforementioned in the previous post, work has re-begun on our 1988 Fleetwood Bounder motor home!  Since we are planning to take our first RV trip next week, there are a goodly amount of projects needing to get done to get the rig ship shape.  Here is what we have been working on as of late:

Curtains and dinette seat covers are almost finished thanks to mom-in-law!  The seat covers are secured with velcro and look super good when stretched tight.

Katie has been painting the bedroom a nice minty/aqua blue color.

I removed the entire A/C unit and cleaned everything.  It was quite a project.  The guy who sold us the RV told us that there was a leak around the A/C during downpours.  He was right, the aluminum roofing around where the AC unit seals had corroded leaving small holes.  After removing the unit, I swept the debris away then used a wire brush to rough up the aluminum.  Then I cleaned the underside of the unit and used leftover roof sealant to solve the leak issue.  Cleaning the indoor side of things was awful, since the leak had caused mildew stuff in the baffles and filters.  I'm glad I took care of the whole thing before we had to live with that thing.  Here is a look at the spot where the outside part of the unit was.

















Yesterday, there was a severe deluge and I could detect no leaks afterwards!!

Another project that has been a pain is the engine belt situation.  The great belt dilema.  Changing belts on most rear wheel drive vehicles is fairly easy, especially ones with spring tentioners.  The Bounder is very different, in many ways.  Ways that make engine work less enjoyable.  The main problem is accessibility.  The engine is completely surrounded by frame and steering components.  The other factor is that this set up has 9838 different belts.  There is a serpentine belt for the alternator, a v belt for the AC pump,  two parallel v belts for the power steering, and a v belt that runs up into a mysterious realm of the engine compartment that has remained unexplored by humans for at least a decade.  Most of these belts are either old, or loose, or in the case of the serpentine belt, shredded into oblivion.

As long as the weather permits, these issues will be solved on Friday.

1 comment:

  1. Congrats on your Bounder and great luck with all the renovations. We have probably the exact same model, with minor interior changes. It really is a quite useful and well put together beast, considering it's 24 years old. I know exactly what you mean about the carpet staples, too - had to pull up the stuff in the bathroom after our Thetford sprung a leak.

    Here's a little thing that will make your Bounder really stand out. Give it a good wash with Dawn or any automotive soap. Wash it well, it may even need a little scrubbing with Barkeeper's Friend or similar non-abrasive powder cleaner.

    Then run on down to your local Lowes, and buy a 1-gallon red bottle of something called Red Max Pro #3 - it's in the floor care/cleaning aisle. It's an acrylic floor finish that is all the rage for making decades-old fiberglass shiny as all get-out. If your Lowes doesn't have it, Home Depot as the exact same stuff in a different (blue) bottle called ZEP High-Traffic Floor Finish.

    When the MH is clean and dry, splash some RMP or HTFF on a WHITE microfiber cloth and just spread it on the MH. Very lightly. Watch for drips and runs. Just spread it on. No buffing. No waxing, no work at all. Get it on all the fiberglass. It won't help rubber or glass, so just be careful.

    Let it dry between coats - an hour or so. Four coats seems to be the magic number. Don't groan - it takes maybe all of 20 minutes to put a coat on - remember, no rubbing, no buffing, just slide it on and let it dry. Thin is good.

    By the time the fourth coat is dry, you'll need sunglasses to look at the coach. Trust me.

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