Revcon Rebuild: Part 6

I'd love to say that the cap is completed.  But it is not. Yet.

Body work is hell.  Sand down old, textured paint.  Remove loads of sealer and adhesive.  Primer.  Sand again.  Epoxy paint.  Sand again.  Paint. 

But it has color.  We stayed tan, just went a different shade.  It is actually off of a 2009 Toyota FJ. 

So the cap has color and about 60% of the roof.  The new Maxx Fan has been installed, as well as the new front marker lights.  

We were attempting to install the windows in the cap when we realized that the way they're made means that the interior walls need to be installed in order to get a solid seal.  Well that isn't practical right now.  75% of the Revcon still needs to be sanded and painted.  Which means huge windows will be out for a significant amount of time.  With monsoon season starting on the 13th, we can't risk putting walls up now.  So...at some point soon, it will be entirely windowless.  For the shortest amount of time possible, but still. 

Revcon Rebuild: Part 5

Sometimes no matter how fast you run, you still feel like you're standing still.  We're in that place with progress.  We're constantly working, but it is hard to see the fruit of our labors right now.

We're prepping really hard for paint. And it is tedious work.

If you need me, I'll be on the roof.  I live here now.  I've spent most of my time removing sealer, adhesive and sanding.  Then removing more sealer.  And then more of it. 

Meanwhile, Mike has been working hard on finishing up the fiberglass work.  The front cap required more layers.  We tag teamed it last night and added five more layers.  Then today, he finished it with epoxy body filler.  Additional holes on the rear of the Revcon also needed to be filled today but weren't ready for filler today. 

Once the cap is sanded, it should be ready for primer and paint.  Mike removed all the old sealer, filler and whatnot from around the truck and cabin, so we're inching closer to starting paint on at least part of this behemoth.

Revcon Rebuild: Part 4

How is it Friday already?  Part of me is pleased with all we accomplished this week, and part of me wonders what we actually did.

Wednesday (I think) I sanded the excess fiberglass insulation off of the panels.  

Mike wanted to spray Lizard Skin on the walls before we insulated.  It is typically used in car builds to keep heat and sound down.

It was pretty noxious, so I didn't hang outside.  He was out til about 10PM, knocking it out.

This is the final product:

It was our first time using it, and we actually noticed a difference.  Under direct sun, the aluminum roof panels were fairly hot to the touch.  Not so much anymore.  

Not surprisingly, we noticed the adhesive they used to marry the skin to the studs had solidified and began to fail.  Mike scraped it all out, I drilled holes for new rivets, and he backfilled with new adhesive before riveting the body to the walls.

While he was riveting and messing with wiring, I spent the better part of two days installing foam insulation panels.

All of the cavities that can be filled, are.  We can't tackle the bottom until we rip up the rotten subfloor and replace it.  But with 75% of the camper done, it is noticeably more temperate inside than it was.  

One thing that happened today was unexpected: a microburst.

Right as we were getting started to work, a microburst blew through and took our awning off the side of the Revcon and twisted it.  We were able to get it upright again, but mechanisms are bent beyond repair and it will have to be replaced at some point.  A huge hit to the budget.  Much cursing and sweating was done to try and save it, but we don't think it is serviceable beyond acting as shade while we work.

Such is life with B.O.A.T. (Bring Over Another Thousand)

Revcon Rebuild: Part 3

We took the week off work to get as much done before the heat arrives.  During demo we decided to eliminate a lot of things that originally came on it, including lights, the refrigerator vent, and the front window.  Patch, patch, patch.

Original paint was revealed.  Purple.....

 

The front window fiberglass was interesting.  Working on a 45 degree angle in a tight space was....we only shouted at each other once.

But we're really happy with how it turned out. 

Once that was done, we moved onto patching holes in the roof and securing the sides with new rivets.  We noticed that the original adhesive had failed connecting the body to the interior frame.  So new adhesive was added, along with loads of rivets.

Today's agenda: insulation.  Mike sprayed Lizard Skin inside last night, and we'll be adding foam insulation today.

Revcon Rebuild: Part 2

Interior demo is finally done.  It is oddly satisfying to have it completely empty.

The worst of the demo was the liquid nails they used to put the walls up. Needless to say we are not going to glue the walls up. They will be screwed into the studs just in case of a water or electricity issue that needs to be fixed.  That way the wall can come down and go back up without damage. 

We took care of roof demo during a passing storm.  It is pre-summer here in AZ, so we take advantage of any cloud in the sky.

We have quite a few holes to patch on the sides and roof of the Revcon.  We're removing or replacing most of the lighting, doing away with the black water tank and upgrading the solar. 

We'll be spending the better part of next week working to get the holes patched.  The first full week of May we've taken the week off work in order to get as much exterior sanding, repainting and caulking, and interior insulation done before real summer gets here.

Revcon Rebuild: Part 1

Deconstruction: Part 1

On our drive down from Portland, we noticed the steering was pretty loose.  Mike put new tie rod ends in this week, so hopefully that fixes the sketchy handling this big beast had.

This weekend we started deconstructing/demo.  For the most part, it was already pulled apart when we got it.  We took everything out and tossed a bunch of stuff we knew we wouldn't need.

The problem is, it sat unused for a long time.  A long time.    We decided to start demo from the front to the back.  And I'm glad we did.  We already knew there was water, termite and mouse damage to the platform above the cab, but we weren't expecting just how bad it was.  To think, we sat in this thing for 4 solid days with this stuff.

Thank goodness for 3M.  It took hours to clean and sanitize the area.  We rebuilt part of the structure so we could get around up there.  We're thinking of using honeycomb instead of plywood to save weight.  Since it'll be the bedroom, we'll want it solidly built.

Mike also demoed the bathroom.  We decided to switch from a full RV toilet set up to a cassette toilet.  It makes the most sense for what we do, and we don't need to travel with smelly hoses and whatnot.  We mostly boondock, so losing the ability to hook up to sewer isn't a huge loss for us.  When he ripped up the shower floor, the dead mouse count rose to 5.  3 today and 2 the day we picked it up.  A thorough clean up and an abundance of bleach water will hopefully help the smell.

He moved on to removing the dual propane tanks.  They are really corroded and not serviceable.  We weren't expecting them to both be full though.  That throws a wrench in disposing of them.  We decided that we're only replacing one tank and not both, as it seems like an excessive amount of propane to carry.  Save weight and money, as this style of tank is crazy expensive.

Keep on keeping on and someday we'll start rebuilding.

Revcon Trailblazer Roadtrip

Day 3 continued: Bryce Canyon

Realizing that we were passing by Bryce Canyon prior to the snow melt, we knew we wanted to see the red towers covered in snow.  We made it into the park as the sun was setting and were delighted to see how beautiful it was.

We closed yet another  restaurant, The Pines,  and somehow made it all the way to Page, AZ in the dark with only one headlight. 

Day 4: Page, AZ to home

Thankfully our last day home was fairly uneventful.  We had to make a small airbag repair in Page but were able to motor the remaining miles without incident.

Now the real journey is ahead.  It'll be a very long and slow journey but we're determined to get this old beast restored and ready for many adventures to come.

See below for a video walk-through of the mess we bought: