Working On A New ome for the GMC

I have been a busy little bee while not posting any updates.  Things are starting to come together on a real place for the GMC to be housed and worked on.  Currently she is parked in the open elements on a gravel lot in the city.  I am trying to find a new home with a pole barn to park her in and work on her in.  Heres hoping!

Should Be Picking Up Soon

I guess you may have noticed that there haven't been many updates lately.  That is because with the holidays and child preparation, I haven't even touched it since November.  Not to worry, I gave myself all winter to gut the interior, so I am not behind!  I should be getting back to work on it soon.  I will post when I do.

Update

I have not posted for a couple of weeks as I am sure you, my faithful reader, already know.  I have had to take advantage of some unseasonably warm weather in order to get some other things done.  One of those things is to clear some space in my garage (I really didn't want to park my car in the garage anyway).  I now have an area to work on some of the GMC components.  One of the first things I will be working on in my newly formed workshop, is the end-caps and the headliner between the bathroom and closet.  I plan on going to the hardware store and picking up a fiberglass shower repair kit.  There are some cracks in these pieces that will need my attention.  I have never worked in fiberglass before and thats why I am looking into the kits available at the hardware store.  I am hoping that they can make fiberglass repair idiot-proof enough  that even I can handle it.  I will take some pictures along the way so that you can have somthing to look at as I ramble on endlessly about my obsession (I mean project).

Until then...

The Criteria From Here Forward

I have decided to set some criteria for all of the design decisions, and modification going forward. They will have to prioritize in the following order:

1. Safety
2. Durability
3. Serviceability
4. Usability
5. Style - 70's "Funk" with modern materials

Now obviously certain systems will not have to meet all 5 criteria, but all will have to meet the first 4.

From the research that I have done, and from my own common sense, fire prevention, and suppression are serious concerns in a motor home, and all systems will be redone, or re-designed with this in mind. The risk of fire in an RV comes not only from household dangers (stove, furnace, electrical) but from the two engines at each end as well (the generator is in the rear on a GMC). To complicate things even more, the household dangers are increased because of the temperature extremes that an RV is exposed to during storage, and the constant vibrations from driving (which has been compared to a 3.9 earthquake). From my point of view, if you have to call the fire department in the first place, the turds have already hit the turbine so to speak. With this in mind, the effort and expense of replacing all of the 35+ year old wiring, plumbing, and propane lines doesn't seem so bad. In fact replacing all of this stuff seem more like cheap insurance and common sense.

Durability, serviceability, and usability have more to do with me being lazy than anything else. I don't want to do a restoration like this again any time soon. I want to update everything one time and one time only. I want to be able to get in and go, and know that everything will work. Outside of routine maintenance, I want vacation home, not another project. If something does break, I want to be able to get to it and fix it as easily and quickly as possible.

Style ideas and decisions will be approved by my wife. She is a fan of the retro 70's "funk" as much as I am (can you beleive we found each other?) , but has a much better sense of style than I do. Now that we are not trying to keep things completely original, we have a lot more leeway in the style department, and may not keep the same color scheme inside. There has been much talk of an orange & white theme inside while keeping the outside green. Cant get much more funky than that! I may have figured out conceptually how to mount a disco ball, not sure if it will be economically feasible though. We will see.

Original Interior

This is the idea I was going for:
























I will try to keep this feel as I redo the interior. Note that my GMC differs from this one in that mine does not have the central vacuum system, and mine has facing love seats that convert to a double bed in the rear, where the one above has a permanent bed.

Middle Aged Sagging

So next up is an issue all too close for comfort for those of us who have reached a certain age. Middle age sagging. It effects all of us, we start to get a little wider around the middle. It also effects GMC motorhomes. One of the neat features about the GMC is that it is built similar to an airplane. The sides are bowed. This also has created a problem as these coaches age. As they get older, the weight of the roof, air conditioner, storage pod (mine does not have a pod at this time) stress the side beams causing them to bow even more. Some of the symptoms of this are that the cabinets no longer fit properly, the door does not close properly, and the bathroom and closet doors cant open all the way. The picture below is sideways, so you will have to make people watching you read this smile as you crane your neck sideways to view it properly. It is a close-up of the door latch. Notice how wall behind it does not come in contact with the outer shell. That gap should not be there.


















So what to do now you ask? Fix it of course (why do you ask silly questions like that). The way to fix it is to throw a jack between the roof and floor on the inside and at the same time put a clamp on the refrigerator cabinet and the exterior shell, and squeeze them together until that gap is gone. One the cabinet is properly aligned, you fasten the cabinet to the wall beams that are sagging. I will attempt to do this next summer after the exterior has been sealed and the interior has been properly insulated.


Below is a shot of the original green that I wrote about in my last post. That original green is pretty cool, I hope I can make it work.

Decision Time

I was working on the GMC last night and came across something that may completely change the direction I take with the interior restoration. I removed an indoor thermometer that was stuck to the vacuum hose cabinet. Underneath was a bit of the original green. The original green is much brighter than the green that is showing. It looks like some previous owner went over the original green with shellac or something that has yellowed substantially. Upon further investigation it turns out the counter and cabinets in the galley received the same treatment. This means that if I want an original interior, I will have to refinish the counters and cabinets. At that point it would be easier to replace them. If I am replacing them, why not upgrade the counter. I have always been a big fan of Corian (or knock off) counter tops. I like how they are repairable, impervious, and workable. If I can find a composite counter top in a shade of green that closely resembles the original green I will proceed with my goal of keeping the interior as close to original in appearance as possible. If not, then I may do an interior that is much more modern. We will have to see how this plays out.

Next up, an issue that is a little too close for comfort, Middle Aged Spreading.