Renovating a Vintage SMB

[Amica]

Hey all you crazy cats, I’ve been lurking these forums the past month since I purchased a 1996 SMB that needs some loving. This baby is high mileage, has a dent in the roof that has led to some water damage on the penthouse canvas, and some leaky spots that has led to water damage in the rear interior. It has a few rusty spots that thankfully can be repaired without too much worry.

I’m starting this thread today to share my experience and hopefully get some feedback/advice. I’ve been a big fan of the boywonder popping my top thread in addition to a few others.

So, I have a 1996 Dodge Ram 3500 SMB. I’ve so far removed the canvas (but not the mechanism) so I could take it to a couple of local shops to see if repair or replace is better. Removing the canvas paired with the existing dent, add in some rain and voila: decision to remove everything to repair existing water damage from POs, new water damage from my premature removal of the canvas, and to prevent water damage from happening in the future. I have a tarp over the big guy for rain, but removing the tarp to air out the van after rain lets water in because the water slides onto the PH.

After nearly 30 years, a lot of the MDF has swelled or become visibly moldy. Initially I was planning on replacing the swollen and moldy ones, but it started to become clear I have to replace everything, save a few pieces. I’ve started pulling out the cabinets, removing upholstery, ripping up cabin carpets, and trying to remove the cabin headliner.

Challenges:

I felt excited to be part of the SMB community, having purchased this. I feel kind of sad deciding to recreate this build using non traditional SMB materials, but I feel like using marine grade materials will last longer than MDF.

Currently, trying to fix the dent over the cabin. The PH mechanism is still attached to the roof. Should I remove the PH to repair the dent?

Also, my bf thinks it might be best to use a jack and flat surface to push the dent up from the inside. This has me removing the cabin headliner. I know nothing about electricity, but the headliner is sandwiching foam and wiring with the metal roof. Something tells me I should remove the headliner and move the wires. Should I? I’m trying to remove a cabin light, but the headliner hole is only big enough to run wires through. Any advice here? Should I disconnect the battery and start moving wires around? Should I let professionals handle this? I feel capable of learning. I just have no idea where to start and have a healthy fear of electricity.

 

[SMB123]

Sounds like a fun project but it's easy for a big project to consume a person and make 'em pass it on to someone else. Take it slow and plan it out and take one bite of the elephant at a time.

The rust will only get worse. That looks like a simple job for a mig welder or even a flux core if very carefully done. I'd cut out any of the rust and patch it. You want to build on a good foundation.

I'd cut, patch, straighten then touch up. If welding - removing any adjacent flammable or meltable material is critical so that should solve your question of removing stuff.

After welding fill any voids with rust proof paint or wool fat (let the experts chime in here).

As far as the top mechanism - if it gets distorted then everything will be cockeyed. Better to loosen that sucker at minimum so that any dent removal is done just to that spot. You can straighten anything needed on the mechanism separately.

This cat is the best I've seen for body work on youtube.

Edit: one of the original RV owner staples was "12v Side of Life". It's pretty dated by today's standards but it would be useful to check out. I'm sure there are more modern renditions of the info. Fortunately with 12v, nothing is very dangerous if done carefully. Check for bare wire, opens, shorts and make sure batteries are disconnected when you do anything. Learn about various connectors and practice with them before game time.

http://wanderlodgegurus.com/database/Theory/12 Volt Side of Life.pdf

 

[posplayr]

My first welder was a central electric flux core welder. The new easy flux is only a little more money but actually welds very well. Despite having bought stick, mig, alum spool, tig welders I rounded out my welders with the new easy flux.


https://www.harborfreight.com/easy-flux-125-amp-welder-57861.html

Flux core has been very underrated but justifiably when using the centeral electric units. The new easy flux fills a gap where portability and out door operation is required.