My winter Project

Topic: My winter Project (Read 5569 times) previous topic - next topic

My winter Project

November 04, 2015, 12:52:48 pm

Here's the coach I bought from a salvage auction. getting a complete make over on the interior. I bought it just outside Miami,Fl and drove it home 1,000 miles to Indiana. with no troubles. Now the work begins. Good thing Ii have 8 kids that like to help.We are sanding and refinishing all the wood,rebuilding the ceiling, converting the fridge over to a residential, and new sofa's and swivel rocker. and seal and recover all the window boxes.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #1 – November 04, 2015, 12:59:55 pm

Wow! What a project! I suspect it's more than we could handle--but it should be really nice when it's completed!

Re: My winter Project

Reply #2 – November 04, 2015, 03:40:43 pm

Good luck with the rebuild, looks like it will take a lot of elbow grease...it looks like the front a/c burned???

Re: My winter Project

Reply #3 – November 04, 2015, 03:48:24 pm

Quote from: Bob in CT – November 04, 2015, 03:40:43 pm

.it looks like the front a/c burned??

Wow! Wonder what caused that? $:-\$ Looks like the exhaust fan.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #4 – November 04, 2015, 04:01:15 pm

It was the front A/C unit. that burned.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #5 – November 05, 2015, 03:13:46 am

Here was my starting point after Refrigerator fire.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #6 – November 05, 2015, 08:07:13 am

Quote from: Lon and Cheryl – November 05, 2015, 03:13:46 am

Here was my starting point after Refrigerator fire.

Do you have any after pictures. It will give me something to look forward to.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #7 – November 05, 2015, 06:53:23 pm

This weekend I will take some long over do pics.
I keep waiting because I always have another project, I know now I will never finish.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #8 – December 18, 2015, 04:57:40 pm

Here's some pictures of the cabinet doors we cleaned sanded and stained. I Will have to make a trip to the salvage yard to pick up a couple replacement doors that have some bad spot in them. I have decided to do a light Cherry stain along with a high gloss lacquer.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #9 – December 18, 2015, 08:02:14 pm

Looks Great, its a big challenge but sounds like your up to the task keep the progress reports coming. Thanks for sharing

Re: My winter Project

Reply #10 – December 18, 2015, 09:19:25 pm

A very nice looking start to the rehab. Cherry ages, the surface oxidizes and gets darker over time. It is challenging to take new cherry and stain it and finish it to get a real close match to the wood as it exists today.

A high gloss lacquer is a good base. The clear finishes cure up harder than the matte or satin finishes. They're more transparent as well so the color and grain of the wood shows through better. Rubbing out the clear gloss or adding a matte or satin coat over the glass will get you closer to the original finish.

Keep at it, it will be lovely.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #11 – December 20, 2015, 09:27:55 pm

Getting the cabinets ready for stain and sanding sealer.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #12 – January 07, 2016, 01:38:12 pm

Great progress! Looks like we have a VERY similar rig. 1998 4200 RCFE. We rebuilt the rear closet into an office space, look forward to seeing what you do with your kitchen/living room section. Did you sand the doors down to bare wood first? Trying to decide if I can surface sand then overcoat our walnut kitchen table, or if the conversion varnish needs to all come off first. Looks like yours are coming out beautifully! :-)

Re: My winter Project

Reply #13 – January 07, 2016, 04:52:48 pm

Quote from: Tigratrus – January 07, 2016, 01:38:12 pm

Great progress! Looks like we have a VERY similar rig. 1998 4200 RCFE. We rebuilt the rear closet into an office space, look forward to seeing what you do with your kitchen/living room section. Did you sand the doors down to bare wood first? Trying to decide if I can surface sand then overcoat our walnut kitchen table, or if the conversion varnish needs to all come off first. Looks like yours are coming out beautifully! :-)

I seen your conversion. and I think that will be my next project is moving the bed and putting a loveseat in our bed room at the foot of the bed. the ones up front i wiped with lacquer thinner to remove the soot and the n lightly sanded the doors. and the stained and used sanding sealer before i put a lacquer finish on. I think in the from we are going to put 2 sofa's and 1 love seat. we have 9 kids so we need all the roof for them to ride. and we set tents up where we go. on the rear of the coach we are not removing the old finish just scuffing and staining before the sanding sealer. and there is no difference in the finish. and I can tell you there are a lot of doors in a foretravel. i thought the kids were bringing me doors from the neighbors house.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #14 – January 11, 2016, 01:05:01 pm

Quote from: Rhoughton1 – January 07, 2016, 04:52:48 pm

...
I we have 9 kids so we need all the roof for them to ride. and we set tents up where we go.
...
on the rear of the coach we are not removing the old finish just scuffing and staining before the sanding sealer. and there is no difference in the finish. and I can tell you there are a lot of doors in a foretravel. i thought the kids were bringing me doors from the neighbors house.

Wow. 9 kids. My hat is officially off to you, doing anything with a family that large has got to be a not-so-minor project in itself. :-)

Great to hear. That's pretty much what I wanted to do if possible. I haven't worked much with lacquer, but I used to live on and maintain a teak hulled sloop, so refinishing wood is something I've had some experience with. My biggest concern was adhesion to the conversion varnish they used at FoT.

I hear you on all the doors! Replacing all the lift cylinders and tightening up all the hinges/knobs really drove that point home for me, and I wasn't doing nearly the amount of work on the doors you are. The end result will be SO worth it though!

If you are planning on taking out the closet in the back to move the bed (which was how I read what you said) , let us know if you run into any problems? We took a fair number of pictures and might be able to shed some light on the way things are put together. IIRC it took me about 3-4 hours of simply removing screws on the closet bulkhead alone. There are literally POUNDS of really long square drive screws anchoring that sucker into the walls/ceiling. When you get it all out you need to decide what to do with the cedar walls in the closet, we covered it all with the same material as the original headliner in the rig (they had a supply at FoT) and put walnut "C" channel molding along the joint to cover the transition between the newly fuzzy walls and the original wallpaper. The moulding doubles as a conduit for wires if you decide to put electrical boxes in etc. You'll also need to decide what to do with the shore power/generator bus transfer switch located under the bed. We built a box around it and added a ledge/conduit along the driver side along the floor similar to the one in the toilet room.

Will follow your progress with great interest! Please share any insights you stumble across. :-)

Re: My winter Project

Reply #15 – January 26, 2016, 11:46:28 am

Ok i need some opinions. on the interior. we are interested in the Ambassador RV package and just wanted some thoughts on color.

Our coach is burgundy on the outside
and the inside is walnut with a cherry stain and a high gloss lacquer.

Our dash matches the 101 almond color.

and was wondering on an insert color of Lt. Antelope IL103 , Chianti IL106 ,

Ambassador RV Furniture Package - RV Packages - RV FURNITURE

or a different color all together.

the floor is a Porceline tile
MS International Calacatta Ivory 12 in. x 24 in. Glazed Polished Porcelain...

Re: My winter Project

Reply #16 – January 26, 2016, 01:46:21 pm

Quote from: Rhoughton1 – January 26, 2016, 11:46:28 am

Ok i need some opinions. on the interior. we are interested in the Ambassador RV package and just wanted some thoughts on color.

Our coach is burgundy on the outside
and the inside is walnut with a cherry stain and a high gloss lacquer.

Our dash matches the 101 almond color.

and was wondering on an insert color of Lt. Antelope IL103 , Chianti IL106

Thought #1 - (if you haven't already) get actual samples of all colors you're considering and view them "in their native habitat" (i.e. your coach). You would be very surprised how colors can appear different in different lighting/settings.

Thought #2 - large things like furniture that are going to be around a while and are difficult to "re-color" should usually* be neutral. Accent pops of color (like insets) are nice, but much easier to accent with pillows and throws that you can change out if/when your tastes change.

(* says she with a salsa red Ultraleather couch. So I don't lead by example

However it matches the color that the original owner chose for the window verticals, so it works in our coach)

Thought #3 - JMPO, the price for the whole Ambassador package is less than a single Villa (or maybe even Flexsteel) driver's seat. I would look closely in person at the quality of this furniture before committing to it. The price seems awfully low for the number of pieces and what is typically the cost of the mainstream RV furniture brands. Not saying it isn't good quality, but the price gives me pause...

Re: My winter Project

Reply #17 – January 26, 2016, 02:41:29 pm

I second Michelle's comment and did not post my thoughts on the price as I have said a few things wrong lately and did not want to seem like I was infering it was cheap.
We have seen Steve and Michelle's coach and material and think it is fabulous, quality and colour. So, her comments are made by someone with a good eye (the other is good too, I think). She also plays a mean game of Golf!
JohnH

Re: My winter Project

Reply #18 – January 26, 2016, 04:37:06 pm

Michelle do you have pictures of your coach.

and do you recommend a place for RV furniture.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #19 – January 26, 2016, 06:28:43 pm

Quote from: Rhoughton1 – January 26, 2016, 04:37:06 pm

Michelle do you have pictures of your coach.

Only little bits and pieces from projects we've done. Not the overall look.

Quote

and do you recommend a place for RV furniture.

Your first post mentions you're in Indiana. I would look at Bradd and Hall http://www.braddandhall.com/productcart/pc/viewContent.asp?idpage=20 as they carry the good name brands (Foretravel has long used Villa and Flexsteel almost exclusively) and mention having some gently used pieces.

BTW, for captain's chairs, you might need to keep in mind what was there before. IIRC, Flexsteel (which is a very good, desirable brand) was at one time pretty restrictive in requiring their captain's chairs could only replace if Flexsteel was the prior seating. I believe this is out of concern for safety over properly securing the new seats.

Another option, though more difficult for your location, is to shop the Foretravel back room for used furniture and have it recovered at FOT. That's what we did for our dinette benches. Infinity in Nac is another resource for reupholstery. We haven't used them ourselves but have read only good reviews here on the forum.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #20 – January 26, 2016, 07:10:24 pm

Just for reference, a very well liked member, George Stoltz (RIP), had a bad experience buying online from what I think is an eerily similar company.
You might want to read about his experience:
A First-Hand Report of a Second-Rate RV Furniture Manufacturer (Part 2)
New Cockpit Seating -- Part 1

Re: My winter Project

Reply #21 – January 26, 2016, 10:26:52 pm

From what I can gather. The seats are made by seatcraft. (Home theatre seating). I cannot find any negative reviews about the product just slow shipping a few years back. I am not in a position to be driving to Elkart,in. So my choices will be limited to the Internet. With that being said we are weekend warriors.(camp on the weekends with one trip a year). Si I figured when it comes time to retire and travel I will be ready for a new coach. So I figured the furniture will work fine with 8 kids.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #22 – January 27, 2016, 12:10:42 pm

Quote from: Rhoughton1 – January 26, 2016, 10:26:52 pm

From what I can gather. The seats are made by seatcraft. (Home theatre seating). I cannot find any negative reviews about the product

Even better that you found a Forum member with first hand (and positive) experience with the company

Completely remodeled 96 U320

Re: My winter Project

Reply #23 – February 01, 2016, 09:29:48 am

After spraying 4 gallons of sanding sealer and 4 gallons of lacquer clear and a lot of sanding in between the wood work in the front of the camper is done for now.

Re: My winter Project

Reply #24 – February 01, 2016, 10:58:24 am

one word: WOW!!!

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