I just picked up my 1988 grandvilla.
Congrats, nice looker
Dave M
it hasn't been used for three years and it has the original interior, so I need to do some work to it. Starting with 8 inverter batteries.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it, because it was so old but this forum gave me a lot of good information that made me comfortable with the purchase.
Congratulations Rob! Be prepared for a long and intimate relationship with your new to you Foretravel!
see ya
ken
Welcome aboard, good looking GV. You will find a wealth of info here.
I am curious about the number of batteries. Kinda standard is two 8D house batteries and 2 group 34 starting batteries, sounds like prior owner changed things around.
Gary B
Welcome, I have an 85, the inside looks the same.. I think my wood is darker.. you will love it.. Mine is a work in prograss. Congrads...
Looks great! Congrats, Mark
Congratulations and welcome aboard the Foretravel lifestyle. Sign up for your first year of the Motorcade club for free. You get 10 percent discount at the factory ant MOT I believe.
Regards, Mark
You are correct Gary. The previous owner installed a solar system which takes 8- 6 volt deep cycle batteries. He said it runs everything except the A/C.
Congratulations and welcome to the owners club. We all help each other out here as you know. So have a great time with your coach. It looks great.
If I had known then what I know now about what you can have done for 10 cents on the dollar in Mexico, I would have KEPT my '87.
Appears to be a great looking coach. Remember to fix as you go as you will find other ways and desires from talking to other owners and looking at other coaches. This forum is full of ideas so just ask. Has been very valuable to me and I am sure for you as well. The people on this forum are a helping group. DAN
That's one sweet looking ride! I have always liked the double bumper look on the front.
That looks REALLY cool!! You will be glad that you "drank the Kool-aid" and started on this obsessive trek. It is SO fun!
Looking toward the kitchen the arrangement is virtually the same as our floorplan, with the exception of the location of the U-line icemaker. Ours is to the right of the kitchen sink, under the extended counter. Exterior of yours is VERY attractive!
Congratulations! I would love to see more pictures of your ride... As I'm sure with most of our Foreforum brethren ^.^d
Looks like a nice rig. It it a 36 footer? Let us know if you have all the manuals, etc or have any operational questions. Friendly forum here!
Congratulations,
Pierce
I like the paint job. Sometime please post more pictures please.
Congratulations and welcome to the club. Looks like another oldie but goody. Classic proven design, well maintained with a new great looking paint job. Makes the rest of us without the full body paint envious! Some of the best folks you'll ever find reside right here on the forum ready to help.
Jerry
Great looking coach. Tell us more about the engine, length, model etc.
Very nice, Except for the bed covering, That interior is exactly the same as mine,
Nice paint job, very distinctive, And dont worry about the age of it, These things were built to last,
If I chance to see it on the road, I will recognize it right away as the paint is distinctive and snappy.
I am not amazed that these coaches I sold new are still worth buying. Great driving machine to this day. 36 SBID. Marie Fores floor plan. You could brace yourself in front of the sink moving. And the big triangle shower. What shower door is on the coach? Folding panels?
Loved the hand control leveling system. Could make that coach do tricks.
Congratulations! A wealth of info here. Looks like you have a nice coach. You're where I was 9 months ago. Enjoy! More pictures please.
I haven't had time to really get into it yet, because I still have a job and three sons that are into a lot of sports. I will try to get all the info and post pictures this weekend.
Congrats! -- A nice looking GV.
Now the fun starts -- the first part is discovery. Poke around and you are going to find all kinds of stuff that either you had no idea it was there -- or you have no idea what it is/does !! <smile>
Been through the same thing for 6 months now on my U300.
I'm sure planning to keep my 93 U225. And also planning to use it a lot in Mexico. The low profile and 8-foot width is invaluable for narrow roads with low bridges.
Robhatric: they are a work in progress. It helps if you have a place to park them where you can work on them. But they're designed and built so well that working on them - while still a lot of work - is not a chore.
We have replaced the battery charger/converter (high priority!), added a pure-sine inverter, added a battery systems monitor, added solar panels and MPPT charger, replaced the forward TV with an LED, added an LED TV in the bedroom, and put a new tile floor in the bathroom. All since December of 2011.
Plus wiring repair... but that's another story. :P
Welcome to the group.
Craig
Do you have the battery system schematic? The coach had all the batteries paralleled and I don't think it is the best way to hook the system up. How is your solar/inverter system wired?
I sent Barry all my schematics for U280 and U300 models in PDF format. Don't know if he has had time to upload to the Foretravel document site. If not, I can send to you. There will be differences but until you get the exact schematics, it will give you a general idea.
Quite a few Mexico fans on the forum. Let us in on your destinations, plans.
Pierce
Here are some more pig's. I have a couple of things I need to fix ASAP. The headlights are too dark and the padding in the engine compartment disintegrated. I some suggestions on the up grade.
Headlights are a problem even on some of the newer (post 2000) coaches. I am waiting for a plug-compatible light with better operating qualities. Until then I buff the lenses every year, add U/V protection, and avoid driving at night as much as possible.
Craig
The pictures are on my phone and is only loading one at a time
Steve Mud posted that he changed out the insulation in his engine compartment with home depot insulation foam. Has anyone else done this, if so how is it holding up?
I re-did mine with 1 1/2 air conditioning duct board . Screwed to walls and bottom of bed platform with 2" screws and fender washers. taped joints and ends with AC duct tape. Put fiberglass side toward old crumbling insulation and shinny side out. Makes engine compartment much brighter. Did this three years ago still looks likes new.
Awesome looking Machine...Love the look of the double stacked bumpers
thanks, i like it too. It's one of my favorite parts about the coach.My wife and I spent the whole day tearing everything apart and cleaning.My wife is kind of a clean freak. She will not camp in the coach unless she bleaches the whole thing. I gave away the mattress because she said she could not sleep in it.
Had a customer remove the bumpers and had them polished and reinstalled.
HVAC Duct Board: Master Flow 48 in. x 120 in. Duct Board - R-6-DBOARD1 at The Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Master-Flow-48-in-x-120-in-Duct-Board-R-6-DBOARD1/202974245#.UWwM_yuzzbw)
Pierce
i went to buy it, but it says it is not fire retardant. doesn't the material have to be fire rated?
Here is a quote from the PDF at the Johns-Manville site: "Fire-Rated Assemblies
EnviroAire, Mat-Faced Micro-Aire or SuperDuct RC, 1" (25 mm) thick is
accepted in lieu of sheet metal duct in many fire-rated assemblies. See
UL Label for design numbers."
Here is the link to the PDF with specs and contact numbers: http://www.jm.com/insulation/technical_info/ahs30_micro-aire.pdf (http://www.jm.com/insulation/technical_info/ahs30_micro-aire.pdf)
Pierce
this would be a lot cheaper than boat insulation which runs about $300 dollars for a 4x4x2
Pierce, I just this AM checked with a local supply house on DUCTBOARD. According to the MSDS it is non flammable but I could not find any data about the facing which is aluminum foil embedded with what appears to be a fibreglass strand for reinforcement. It comes in 4X10 sheets at about 35 bucks a sheet. In addition to the foil facing it also has a backing that appears to be some kind of fibre, probably recycled paper. I believe this is what I am going to use to reline the engine compartment.
Gary B
Gary,
I didn't look at the MSDS, but the front has printed label said it will burn if exposed to flame. I could be mistaken, but it said it was only fire rated when used in conjunction with drywall. anyway here are some pics from my renovation yesterday.
Robhatric, The brand I was looking at is by Owens Corning. The MSDS says non flammable, and there is no flash point or flammable limits shown it also shows no boiling or melting point. So I would think that it will be safe to use.
I am not going to try to remove the crumbly foam now in place, I will run a vacuum over it to remove loose stuff and then put ductboard over it using aluminum tape on the edges and to secure it to surround.
Gary B
Gary,
It's supposed to be a layered fiberglass construction. Don't think recycled paper would pass fire testing. Generally, the thicker the material, the better the fire rating. That's why garages require 5/8" drywall instead of 1/2". Not that I'm a fan of drywall/stick construction.
According to the spec sheet below, a layer of Owens Corning QuietR Duct Board should give 30 minutes fire protection.
"vTypical Physical Properties
Property Test Method Value
Maximum Operating Temperature Limits UL 181 Internal: 250°F (121°C)
External: 150°F (66°C)
Maximum Air Velocity UL 181 Erosion Test 6,000 fpm (30.5 m/s)
Static Pressure Limit UL 181 ±2 in. w.g. (500 Pa)
Water Vapor Sorption ASTM C 1104 <3% by weight at 120°F (49°C), 95% R.H.
Mold Growth UL 181 Meets requirements
Fungi Resistance ASTM G 21 Meets requirements
Bacteria Resistance ASTM G 22 Meets requirements
Surface Burning Characteristics
Flame Spread
Smoke Developed
UL 723
1
< 25
1
< 50
Fire Retardancy UL 181 Flame Penetration 30 min.
1
The surface burning characteristics of these products have been determined in accordance with UL 723. This standard should be used to measure and describe the properties of materials, products or assemblies in response to heat and flame under controlled laboratory conditions and should not be used to describe or appraise the fire hazard or fire risk of materials, products or assemblies under actual fire conditions.
However, results of this test may be used as elements of a fire risk assessment which takes into account all of the factors which are pertinent to an assessment of the fire hazard of a particular end use. Values are reported to the nearest 5 rating."
A 12 minute video is available in both
Flash and
.m4v formats at: Fiber Glass HVAC Insulation - Know the Facts (12 Minute Presentation) : NAIMA (http://www.naima.org/insulation-resources/general-product-information/Fiber-Glass-HVAC-Insulation-Know-the-Facts.html)
Pierce
here is what we did yesterday.
sent the seats and the sofa to get reupholstered. The wife does not want window treatments, so I trying figure out a way to secure new blinds. anyone have any ideas.
Robhatric, here is what we did on our, used some walnut to build the frame and attached like the old plywood frames for the windows, in the bedroom wife just recovered the top part to match the bed spread and didn't put anything down the sides
thanks Jim, that looks really nice.
Also fixed the storage latches today. Some of them were not latching, so I took them apart and it was filled with dirt and grease that the previous owner was lubing it with. The angle hooks on the inside were all bent and some of them were not catching. Straighten them out and they work perfectly. I do have one door that has the fiber glass that is coming off the main part of the door, which would be an easy fix if there was a way to take the door apart from the coach.
Robhatric,
Start a new thread when you want to tackle it and include some photos so we can understand exactly what's needed.
There are many threads on the subject. You can search for terms like "bay door", "storage door", replace door with hinge, etc. Here are a couple (one I had started):
Bay Door hinge failure repair (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=16552.msg106588#msg106588) (I think this one sounds like your problem)
Bay Door Hinge Replacement with Stainless Hinges (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=12654.msg66844#msg66844)
very nice John. I will do that.
Craig,
I seem to recall from an post a long time ago that you had purchased some of the peel'n'stick Unisolar panels for your coach. Did you get those installed? Any observations about the install process and or performance of these panels? I would be interested to know how you like them as I have about 400 watts worth of them waiting in my project hopper to install... attached is a picture of a test fit that I did back when we first got them.
Thanks, Don