I did it. I bought a 1982 Jamboree by Fleetwood RV. I have been looking to buy a used motor home for about 5 years now and finally found the one I wanted. The price was right, the layout was outstanding and the timing in my life was amazing. Overall, I have to say, amazing doesn’t even sum up the complete package. And – just like my tent trailer, this RV needed some cosmetic TLC (but not as much as the tent trailer).Â
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On the mechanical items I need I will prolly shop at Auto Zone and Auto Parts Warehouse.
I determined that this Recreational Vehicle could use these inside updates:
- New flooring ( the carpet was nasty – and for camping, I would rather have something easy to clean than high pile carpet)
- Minor cosmetic fixes to cabinet corner bead
- New laminate edge strips for the dinning table and other surface edges around the coach
- A thorough detail cleaning
- A serious cushion shampooing
Outside:
- There were minor cracks in portions of the outside walls. This can be repaired with JB Weld
- The access doors to the outside storage compartments could use replacing
- The awning mounts needed re-enforcing
- A complete re-caulking of seems is also in order
I will be shopping at Walmart, Camping World
 and Al’s RV for all of my RV replacement parts and materials.
I know what you are thinking at this point. How much did you pay for this?? Well, I picked up this motorhome for about $3,000. I figure I will put about $400 into it for the updates I listed above. All in all, my family is really going to enjoy this.
I am in the process of writing a series of step by step articles (with pictures!) about my restoration process. The first article will be about painting the popup. If you would like to be notified about that series, please click here.
Here is the photo album for you to enjoy. If you have any questions or comments, post them here!Â
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{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
enjoyed your blog, I am in the process of rebuilding a 28 ft 5vr with front livin room.
It is a 1989 that had a bad roof for over 20 yrs. and I did not know about till last fall.
Replaced all framing on both sides 10ft. each and the front 8ft. All that kept it together
was the aluminum and rotton staples. They built them cheap. Good Luck!!
I just bought this same RV for almost the exact same price. I have a question for you. My back lights and the top running lights are not working the fuses are fine and I can’t figure it out.
@ Grover – That is very interesting. When you say back lights, do you mean the break lights or the running lights on the top rear of the RV?
Congratulations! Looks like a great MH.
I just got my first MH this week, a 1983 Ford Jamboree 24′ with 450ci engine. Very clean, with 70k on the odometer. Paid $3500 (I didn’t argue the price because I thought that was just the right price).
I’m looking for an online Owners Club for these MHs, sorta like the Lazy Daze group on Yahoo.
I plan to add solar, a couple Trojan T105s and a pure sine inverter.
OMG! I just bought almost the same RV. 1984 Jamboree Rallye for $4000. Same set up, with the bunks. The engine seems tip-top, but cosmetically she needs some work. I’m handy (but I’m a girl) so I’m looking forward to reading about and imitating the work you do.
@Janis
Wow Congratulations! Let me know what kind of things you run into, and I would love to help you out. Can you take some pictures of the Motorhome? If so, let’s post them up here!
hey, jeff. i just bought an 82 jamboree rallye for $4k. i found out that the bed area above the cab had some water leakage problems. looks like it leaking for quite some time cos the wood was all rotted. needless to say, i started tearing out stuff and realized it was a lot bigger of a project than i realized. do you have any experience replacing walls and floors?
i had in mind that there was some kind of frame or body to it and i would be gutting it out and replacing. now i see that the wood (3/4" plywood) was actually the body of the bunk area. by this, i mean to say that the aluminum siding was screwed onto the plywood, and right now i just have the siding basically barely connected at the seams by some old caulk. i had in mind that i could work on this at leisure after i stopped the leak, but now i see that i'll have to tackle this right away. so now i'm starting my research. any tips?
Mike – Most of the time the overhead bunk has issues when it comes to the age of our rigs! My bunk is in relatively good condition, however my dad went through a complete overhaul of the cab-over bunk. He removed the whole front aluminum siding and replaced the wood and the siding with brand new material.
Did the water leakage come from a window, roof or where the roof meets the siding?
I actually replaced the flooring in my motorhome, but I did not replace the sub-floor. Most of what I did in the flooring was cosmetic (new carpet, floor tile etc).
Send me an email and I will get you in touch with the right people who can give you some free advice in thise area
hey, jeff. i responded to your response, but wasn't sure if it went to you or to some moderator or something. so i thought that i'd put it in a comment so others can read it too, in case they might go thru the same ordeal…..
jeff… i'm not sure where exactly the leak is coming from. prior to removing the bunk floor, i removed all the old cracked caulking from the seam where the sides meet the front, around the running lights, and the front window (single window), and then re-caulked them with clear silicone. it did not rain, and i did not test it with a hose to check if it was sealed. with my frame of thinking, i was gonna remove all the wood inside and then i could see if and where eactly it was leaking. this was when i realized that the wood is actually the body itself. now i could test the roof, but i know water will just be entering along the bottom seam where the floor (or alum skin) meets the side. anyrate, atleast it will dry quickly due to the wood being gone. lol
i just spent the whole night on some site reading the forum posts. i now know about eternabond tape and butyl tape.
also, the bottom of the sides of the bunk are also in rough shape, but like i said, this is alot bigger of a project than i anticipated. i doubt that the floor will screw into the sides. i was thinking of using 'L' brackets to fasten the pieces together. it's cutting a corner, but i really really don't want to get into the sides. actually, the aluminum floor skin could be replaced too. there's a few small holes in it due to the water just sitting there for so long.
i learned that the next step would be to carefully remove the edge strips and then roll back the skin. when i do this, i can look at the condition of the front piece.
Mike would like 2 talk 2 u just bought 81 jamboree,same problem as u had.First i have ever had. Need guidance.Plz contact me@macpen@msn.com.I will call u or u can call me .thx mikeEnter text right here!
a previous owner bolted 5 metal rings to the roof. prob for tying things down. each ring is bolted with 4 bolts. the 1 in front is right up to the front seam. judging by the water stains, the water would pool up there and that could've been a major cause of the leakage. the 2 seams that i caulked were def cracked too. the seam up front, where the front piece meets the floor looked good. looks like it's roofing tar, but it looks like it was the most recent sealing job.
i was thinking that i'd like to get some of that eternabond and tape all the roof seams. i know to get the old caulking thoroughly off first. the bunk is the only visible water damage as of yet. so i should be alright with the rest of the rv if i tape the seams and around the vents. so waht d'ya think?!?
http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c238/mikereinar...
after stripping the sides down, i realized that there was a metal frame in which the floor was screwed to from the bottom upwards. that made a lot more sense. i also started stripping the front wall down and discovered some fiberglass insulation which was soaked. i replaced it with insulation board.
Hi Mike, I just bought an 82 just like that one and have a similar problem…the wood is rotten and I'm just now getting enough pieces out to really see…but I can't figure out what is holding the (still fairly solid) part of the wood that's right over the front headliner, do I have to pull that out to get the old wood out? eek. Oddly enough, the part that slides is in good shape, not warped and is plenty stiff to do its job, but I can't dope out how it is supposed to stow. Is it supposed to be lifted up before sliding forward?…because I see no way to keep a level surface unless it does and also nothing to maintain structural integrity over the 'width' of the bed base. I've looked around for a similar RV to compare but haven't found one…I live way out in the boondocks.
how'd the project go?!? man, i wish i checked this site for these postings. i thought i'd get a notification of the comments, but they mighta just went to my spam folder instead.
the slider was just sitting on the floor of the cubby and would just slide forward and back. (no lifting involved) there were 2 guides on each side to keep it in place from side to side. the guides on mine were still in decent shape so i refastened them to the new floor. they were fabricated with a wood framewood and some type of paneling thin wood. they get fastened to the floor and, like i said, guide the sider, but also need to be wide enough for the whole matress to sit on.
Yeah, I kinda lost track of which posts were first but I did reply to another one. I feel like a moron for not taking pictures while I was doing that stuff, I just didn't think to do it. I can take a few of what it looks like now though, if I can remember to I will. I wasn't satisfied with the 'levelness' of the platform after I got it all bolted down so I cut another piece of 3/4 plywood about 80" by 24" and beveled one side so when I shove the 'slider' forward it lifts up that piece that sits on top of it then, for traveling, then when I want to restore the sleeping configuration I pull the original slider to the rear and push that other board towards the front of the RV so it falls off the sliding piece and makes the whole thing more flat and 'level'. It's a kluge but it works fine.
unfortunately, yes, you do have to remove that cos that IS the rotted wood. i thought i was just gutting out the bunk area by removing the floor and discovered that the floor IS the body. there was a thin sheet of paneling or fiberboard of sometype on top of the floor. this thin rotted wood made it look worse, but my floor was def rotted.
i used a circular saw adjusted to 3/4" depth and ripped right down the middle of the fllor straight forward. …doh! sounds kinda ballsy, but i was getting very discouraged by then. lol! so then i had 2 halves of floor. the floor was screwed to the metal frame along both sides. the plywood wood was so rotted that i could just wiggle it loose from the corroded screws and yank it out. once the floor was out, all that was left was the thin aluminum sheeting (siding).
HI! I just found the link to your reply…I did it cheap and dirty, it's not a work of art but it's plenty stout.
I bought a Fein multimaster tool to carve out as much of the old wood as possible without and didn't remove any of the outside metal. Being not very careful, I did manage to cut a few 'slots' in the bottom vinyl or plastic or whatever that stuff is but I fixed those with some good silicon caulk, they're not visible now. I trimmed a 3/4" plyboard sheet to just fit the area where I cut out all the old rotten wood and hung it from the steel frame with 'L' brackets and self-drilling screws.
The hardest part was getting that piece of wood in through the door and up above the overhead bunk floor! Obviously it was designed to be put together from the inside out, not the other way around, haha…a former owner had attempted a kind of 'quick fix' with a piece of flimsy aluminum on the underneath to hold the pieces of the bottom material together…I yanked all that stuff off and used a piece of industrial door threshold material and screwed it to join the pieces into a 90
inch long 2×4 that I had previously attached to the 3/4" plywood.
(I had removed the side 'guides' already so it was just a matter of reinstalling them back down to the new plywood with some new screws) Did not bother with insulating it, we don't camp in the dead of winter and I'm sure the mattress will be plenty good to accomplish that since there's no place for air to come in, I sealed it all with that same white silicone and it doesn't even show. Oh I found some of the vinyl 'channel' trim that covers screws all over the RV (outside) on ebay and replaced it all, made a BIG difference in its appearance! Then to tidy up the overhead bunk I cut some pieces of industrial type carpeting to cover up the 'ugly' exposed areas and used self tapping screws with cup washers to attach them to the metal frame, it isn't original but it's not really bad looking at all and like I said, plenty stout.
So that was the 'big' project that had to be dealt with…course there were about 100 other little minor things that needed to be done, a little plumbing and electrical fixup, weatherstripping,
missing bolts in the fold-out couch, just crap that goes wrong if it's not getting regular attention, you know about those. One of which was unclogging the a/c condensate drain up on the roof so it doesn't drip cold water down onto sleeping people!!
if done properly, i woulda started peeling back the trim and the aluminum from the outside and worked inward to the wood. i think you have the metal frame, then the woods fastened to that (the actual floor and walls. the front has 2×2" wood frame pieces that are also screwed to the metal side frames.), then the aluminum and trim fasted to that. check my pics. the password is bussmjr
karl,hope u figured out your bunk over problem.just bought 81 jam with same problem. need guidance.First one i have ever owned.my wood is rotting to.if you or anyone can help me on this i would Greatly appreciate it. Mike Reinard has done a great job with his and i would like to do the same,with th help of others that have or are going through this.Plz contact me at macpen@msn.com.Would love to talk to someone with more experience on this matter than i have THX Enter text right here!
Mike- what is the password on your photobucket page? I want to check out those photos bro!
bussmjr
Hi Mike,
I am very interested to see the progress you are making with replacing the bunk floor. I have the same problem with my cab over bunk, the floor is very rotten and if I push on the metal from the outside the entire bunk floor flexes. I'm scared the kids will fall right through the floor while sleeping. I would love to see some pictures as you proceed with the project (I can't see your photobucket page).
type bussmjr for the password.
We have a 1984 fleetwood jamboree and we need to replace the roof , it is metal ,what do we have to take apart? Is there a book or something ?
i guess some roofs are covered with aluminum and some have a rubber type covering, but the construction underneath is wood. that's what i gathered from my research. not sure about the manual thing. i see there's manuals for different things like how to winterize your rv and such. i just did alot of searches on the internet. that's how i found this site. ;^)
i have an 86 jamboree e350 econoline my wife and i re-did the whole inside and out side people tell us it looks great, we have had people leave noyes at our house asking us if we want to sell it? im looking for a rear bumber? any ideas were i can find such a beast?
none. sorry.
holy crap!! i didn't get any notifications about these posts. i was surprised to think that no one was commenting me back. …hmmmmm. my password to photobucket is bussmjr. sorry, but i also didn't realize you needed a password to view the pics.
theirs a metal frame extending over the cab on the right and left sides, much like those work pickup trucks. thats the solid frame that all the wood is secured to using self tapping bolts and screws. the floor is bolted upwards to the frame with 6-8 screws. pics were nice cos i referred to them to know where the wood was inside the finished walls to screw the curtain fixtures to. lol
Purchased a 1984 jamboree last year. Found some leaks in the roof. One from an improperly installed tv antenna, one from an improperly installed CB antenna and one from a vent above the rear sleeping area. Water has rotted out some of the framing around the vent and minor wood damage / rusted metal in the front sleeping area. I have decided to take on the project of repairing the roof with a new layer of EPDM (ethylene propylene diene Monomer). I will start demolition of the old aluminum roof soon (suggestions would be appreciated). After the roof the I will remodel most of the interior. I wanted to share my experience with others, mainly with pictures of progress. Project will start soon. Already purchased 11' x 25' 45 mil epdm $360. wiredtec@comcast.net
Please email me on your project and where to buy outside skin Jim Anthony
3913 Biltmore Dr Columbus, Ga email jaguar5@knology.net 706 681 9830
Hi i have 1982 chevy g30 travel cruiser purchased in the states in 1982 and shiped it to the uk some of your tips will realy come in handy.
Ok don't really know what that was all about…. Anyhow , I like hearing all the reno ideas . We just bought an 82 Jamee Same as yours almost but no bunks in the back. The poor sap before us dealt with all the leak issues so that was good . I re painted the interior and got Gel peel and stick tiles from Home depot for a back splash in the kitchen! Looks amazing! Re did all of the curtains as well as new beds and upholstry. Looks brand new inside! … Almost… well to us it does:) When we took the hood fan off of the wall to re paint it we somehow shorted the fuse. Does anyone know where the fuses are? Besides the ones in the top of the engine compartment? i could use the help… Cheers Leah