ripsnort60@comcast.net

My trout decal for the motorhome arrived yesterday. I took this picture trout fishing over Labor day week-end, then had it blown up to 60"x 24". This is a Wallhog product, outdoor, you can take it off up to 200 times, very sticky, but easy to remove.

What do you all think of this decal I ordered?? We love to fish, and I caught this trout with a picture just as it spit the hook out on my son during Labor day wkend. I had it blown up to 60" by 22". This will adhere to the front of the cab over that I just rebuilt, and draw the eye away from the mismatch in color (artic white compared to colonial white on the sides of the MH) It will be a cut out decal (no blue as seen in preview) It will go here, just below the seam trim. 16" from each edge (total width is 92" and decal is 60", so 16" each side) Wallhogs makes them. It is a reusable Photo-Tex that maintains a semi-adhesive backing intended for indoor or outdoor use on nearly any surface and may be moved, up to 200 times, without damaging those surfaces. They are waterproof wall graphic, UV and chemical resistance. I believe it will withstand a 55 mph wind. I'll find out soon! I could put a thin edge of Pro-Flex RV clear caulking on the edge just to be sure it stays put.

Thanks all! And thank you tmoning for linking that to FMCA facebook.

This is the final bend around the leading edge . First picture shows the propane heater at the far end and ceramic heater nearest, that warmed up the .06 filon to make it easier to conform and reduce chances of cracking. Second picture shows the 2X4’s that held it underneath after sealing and screwing the edges (Stainless steel countersunk screws) Third picture shows how we kept pressure on the leading edge. This was my dad’s idea and it worked great! FINISHED! Well, for this winter. I'll be doing the exterior trim molding with fiberglass next spring. For now, the eternabond tape will get her through wet and snow. The arctic white doesn't match the cream color of the motor home, but what the heck, I'm a redneck at heart. Trim piece beneath:Join of the two pieces of filon, and trim.

As mentioned before, the MH has a huge front window, and it leaked during its life somewhere along the line. There was only 1 previous owner, and I think he tried to seal it up, but of course the water damage was sealed up with it, thus dry rot. I removed this window permanantly and framed in the hole left by the window. No more leaks there! I finished the interior Oct 18th (minus the molding) with a white oak finish panel and all I have left now is to put the final piece of fiberglass around the cabover, plan on doing it this Sunday. I have about 55 hours into this project so far. (Sure beats paying the price for a new Motor home!) Interior complete except for molding, trim on the edges of the paneling: Top portion of fiberglass filon was salvaged, sanded, primered and painted with Interlux exterior boat paint. Final new piece of fiberglass filon yet to be added.

A good friend who works at an RV manufacturer in Riverside, CA went out of his way during a busy time of year to fabricate two pieces that I needed to continue on the project. He'll be getting a good bottle of scotch in the mail soon. The first piece of filon was cemented in place on the first bedboard, then installed. Both 1st and 2nd 'extention' piece of filon-backed 3/4" was then attached with self-tapping Machine screws into the metal frame on the sidewalls. I have it propped up in place to prevent the slight sag between the two pieces of 3/4". I will fiberglass tape these two sections from the inside. The next step is attaching the outter piece of filon that wraps around the nose, which will cover the 2nd piece of 3/4" plywood. (Wide angle lens distorts some views)

I then added some insulation to the leading edge nose (pic 1) and then attached the outter skin panel (The entire front has West Epoxy coating, no future water damage here!). Then I added 1.5" insulfoam type 2 in the interior of the cabover, (pic 2) and then sealed it up with the interior panel (pic 3). This creates a very strong "sandwich", two pieces of 1/4" plywood (total 1/2" thick) and foam core (Pic 4). The kids should be nice and toasty on those cold winter nights at ski camp.

Hi, all. We just joined the FMCA. I thought I'd share my journey in rebuilding the Class C motorhome cabover I recently finished. We purchased ($9,000) a used 19-year-old motorhome last year (went from a TT to a truck camper, to a motorhome in 10 years time). We decided not to buy our "retirement" motorhome just yet, as I have 10 years left before I retire, but we wanted to upgrade from the truck camper to a motorhome because our kids are very active in sports (skiing, football, soccer, all the tournaments that go with it, and we love to hunt and fish). This "new to us" motorhome had 42,000 orginal miles and was purchased from a second owner. Prestine condition, except I noticed it had leaked near the large front window, a typical problem for these type of Class Cs. It wasn't until this fall that I decided to pry into the problem. My intentions were to to do this in three stages: --upper rebuild of cabover tieing into solid upper wood and cover window --frontal rebuild and flooring --sealing it up, final paint As I began to explore, it didn't look pretty ... musty smell starting to fill my nostrils as I exlored deeper. Final verdict: partial cabover rebuild with intentions to remove the window. I spent about 10 hours tearing it apart, keeping the old wood in tack to the best of my ability, for later measurements. I put about 80 hours total and $1,100. Here are some before, during and after pics. Before: Wood rot looking up the rail near window: Floor boards of the cab over section (where the kids slept) showing the dry rot problem after tear off Tear off complete up to the "good wood" where the rot stopped.. Old and new leading edge Framing (looks distorted due to wide angle lens) shows the big window GONE! Cya! Framing covered and West Epoxy system coated wood (no rotting in the future!)