6 replies to this topic

[myout]

Fellow has a 1992 8ft cab over...but the wood under skin of top section rotted out. Interior/exterior of bottom section looks great. Guy removed one side of top skin and ripped it..so one side for sure needs aluminum skin... Is this do-able without costing an arm and leg? Got a local rv guy will talk to tomorrow but wanted to get your opinions...

[Mike S.]

I replaced the aluminum skin, back wall and some of the stringers on mine.  It had been abused by the first owner by putting a boat loader on the roof, then a 14ft boat and two kayaks. it realy didn't have a chance.  The tin was about $800. 

 

Its a major project  and you will need a warm dry place, how ever it sure is not impossible and it even gets to be fun.  I used a rubber covering called blue skin over all the leading edges  before I put the alumium back on, it will be fine for as long as Im interested.  I lost all my photos when my computor crashed or I would attempt to post pictures.

 

As long as your not paying to much to buy it could be a great winter project or you could take it back to Bryan at Alaskan and see what he would charge either way you could end up with a great camper at a resonable, I sure did.

 

Good luck with it.

[myout]

Thanks for the info! Too far from WA to make it cost effective to take it there.. But am hoping the local rv guy who is a friend can do it. So the $800 was to reskin the entire camper or just the top half?

[Mike S.]

The $800 was just for the aluminum for the top half including all the corner mold not including the door. Alaskan had it all cut to rough fit.  I supplied the labour.  Its a a fun project if you have a warm dry place to work and the necessary tools.

 

Again its worth doing if you can buy it right to start with.  Mine is still in like new condition and I will make money on it when I sell.

 

. 

[Rusty]

talk to Wes..."caseboy"...he just finished restoring another cabover section....not cheap if you have it done by others....

 

persevere!

 

there are several threads in past pages outlining what they went through

 

Mike....bummer about the crash...losing photo records...the downside of digital storeage

 

Take a look at Dogwoods rebuild on page 3 of the members section of the gallery pictures....

 

It's "Dogwood -A '75 10 foot CO" about mid page

Edited by Rusty, 01 November 2013 - 03:01 PM.

[caseboy]

hey, this may be blasphemy, but does the whole roof need re-skined or can it be patched?i'm a functional type guy and cheap. i patched a pretty big gash in the front of our 10'nco with epoxy(for bathtubs) and it came out great and never leaked. it seems that if a portion out the top side was resealed or even patched with new skin and sealed, that might be a cheaper alternative and still look decent. as far as the cost of doing it yourself, it's not much.1x2' s for inside walls can be cut fron 2x4's and insulation is cheap.the biggest expense was paneling.i used doorskin from home depot on one rig and 5/16 maple plywood from lowes on the other.lots of construction adhesive and self tapping screws came in handy. one of the fringe benefits was buying a multi-tool from harbor freight. i've grown to love that thing. the inside is pretty easy to rebuild. i only had to do certain sections in one rig, but the other one('75  10'co) was a lot more extensive.  i also tend to wander the hardware store and come up with solutions for parts that i can make or adapt instead of ordering for top dollar. the only actual camper  parts i had to buy were new top vents .i do have lots of pics of the restoration if you need looks at inside.i looked at others pics before getting brave enough to start ripping . once you start ripping, the fear goes away when you see how simple and straight forward these rigs are made.  i'm sure that's why they last so long.

 

wes

[myout]

Well...decided against fixing top as I found another to buy with less to fix. Going to get it tomorrow. But out of curiosity...would the top piece of an 82 cab over fit a 92?