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judi sells · 04-28-2021, 07:16 PM

You'll love it, we have a 92 Excella n Ford 250. Visit TOP of Ga in Helen n meet your extended family. Happy travels n be safe

**richard5933** · 04-29-2021, 04:39 PM

Seems that the brakes situation has been resolved - they are simply going to issue a full refund on the brake work. Normally they would have sent out a field tech to do an on-site repair, but since I'm nearly 900 miles away that's just not practical. Since I have no desire to drag it back to them without brakes, this seems like a fine solution.

I was planning to order axles this summer. They were going to be bare axles since I just had the new brakes put on, but since the brakes need to be redone now I'll just put the refund towards getting the axles shipped complete with completely new brakes. Guess it all works out in the end.

In other news, an hour or so scrubbing down the cabinets and walls tells me that it's going to take many more hours to thoroughly clean the interior. I'm guess someone smoked inside at some point and caused a layer of sticky residue which is going to take some effort.

**richard5933** · 04-30-2021, 04:11 PM

I got started on the interior today. The first steps will be doing a thorough cleaning to de-stinkify it from the cigarette smoke residue, spilled 'freshener' in the bathroom, and general funkiness. I'm thinking that the mouse fur on the walls and the carpet is hold the odors, so I'm working to expose as much of it as possible for a thorough cleaning.

The next step is replacing the wallpaper in the kitchen and bathroom. Took a couple of hours to strip it down to where I think I can start stripping, cleaning, priming, and finally repapering the walls.

We've decided to keep the carpet for now. It's not our style but it's in great condition and will clean up nicely. I did peel back some carpet around all the edges, and other than a little minor discoloration here and there from condensation I cannot find any damage to the plywood from moisture. With this known, tearing up the floor isn't as high a priority as it once was.

It looks like we're going to get things cleaned up, do the wallpaper, hang new drapes, get new mattresses, and then hit the road with essentially a stock 1994 Excella. After we spend a few long trips in it we'll know better what we'd like to change moving forward.

Mechanically I'll be installing a pair of 3500-lbs #11 axles, complete with new brakes. A little bit of rust removal & repainting should wrap up the structural issues.

On the electrical front, I'll be replacing all the marker lights, installed a modern multi-stage charger, and that's about it. I've got a 2000-watt PSW inverter sitting on a shelf, so I might install it up front next to the batteries and connect it to the main electric panel via a new manual transfer switch in the bedroom. That would give us the ability to use the microwave and such. Eventually I think we'll be installing a hybrid inverter/charger so that we can run the a/c off a small 2000w Honda generator by having the inverter kick in with a power boost from the batteries as needed.

Okay, enough dreaming...here are a few photos of the work in progress.

Bubba L · 04-30-2021, 06:19 PM

Brings back memories. We helped a friend of a friend last year get his 89 Excella back on the road after sitting for 12 years. Replaced the PB piping with PEX, installed an on demand hot water heater and a new Progressive Dynamics converter. He had a guy replace the axles and a few other things. They hit the road. You’re putting a lot of thought into it and doing a great job. It’ll be around for a long time. Good luck and enjoy.

**richard5933** · 04-30-2021, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubba L

Brings back memories. We helped a friend of a friend last year get his 89 Excella back on the road after sitting for 12 years. Replaced the PB piping with PEX, installed an on demand hot water heater and a new Progressive Dynamics converter. He had a guy replace the axles and a few other things. They hit the road. You’re putting a lot of thought into it and doing a great job. It’ll be around for a long time. Good luck and enjoy.

Tell me more about the PB plumbing. This is the second time recently someone mentioned it to me. I've got the gray plastic plumbing with hard copper fittings, which I assume is the PB stuff. What's the problem with it? How do you know when it's time to swap it out?

Bubba L · 04-30-2021, 07:31 PM

PB piping stopped manufacturing in 1996 due to lawsuits concerning pipe failure. The pipe reacted to oxidants in tap water and the pipe wall deteriorated. This caused breaks in the pipe. There is a Sharkbite fitting that transitions from PB to PEX. The guy we know had numerous leaks in the PB so we removed what we could get to and replaced.

CRH · 04-30-2021, 09:18 PM

You can also get a Pex crimp on fitting to transition from PB to Pex.

**richard5933** · 05-13-2021, 04:24 PM

I've just about got all the wallpaper removed from the wood partitions. I'm planning to leave the stuff stuck to the aluminum in place, as it's stuck well and in good shape. I'll just scrub it down, and then all surfaces will get a coat or two of wallpaper primer before I apply the new self-adhesive wallpaper.

Having such fun discovering all the places mice leave their tiny turds.

**richard5933** · 05-15-2021, 02:54 PM

And here's the start of the new wallpaper. Nothing fancy - just some self adhesive paper from Home Depot. But, the pattern will work with the current interior and our plans moving forward. It also hides a multitude of sins.

**richard5933** · 05-15-2021, 06:17 PM

Progressing nicely. It actually looks much less chaotic in person.

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**richard5933** · 05-16-2021, 07:12 PM

Wrapped up the wallpaper today. Bathroom came out really great and we're really happy with the upgrade from the old-time factory stuff.

**richard5933** · 05-21-2021, 03:57 PM

Spent the day removing door gaskets from both the entry door and the screen door, and all I can say about it is that it's a pretty miserable job. Finally had to break out the lacquer thinner to get all the remaining adhesive off.

Now have a new gasket on the screen door. Nice. The old one had turned to dust. New screens finished that off nicely.

Entry door gasket is on order, and hopefully will go in easier than the old one came out. It was still in good condition, but was not the correct one and allowed water through.

skucera · 05-21-2021, 09:57 PM

I've got to clean the old adhesive off my screen door and replace the foam gasket too. I'm not looking forward to that job. I've got the solvent and the gasket material on hand... I've just been dragging my feet about starting it. I should do that tomorrow, and just get it out of the way.

Scott

**richard5933** · 06-21-2021, 12:30 PM

Finally getting the roof vents swapped out. Today's mission was to remove the OEM front roof vent and replace it with a MaxxFan Deluxe.

The OEM vent was a royal pain to remove - even with the rivets drilled out it just didn't want to let loose with all the adhesive used at the factory. Finally got it out and decided to block the inner & outer skins to give the new fan something more solid to be screwed into.

I had earlier removed the big skylight, and then decided to keep it out until all the other roof work was completed. That 19x19 hole makes a really handy way to get up on the roof.

**richard5933** · 06-21-2021, 04:27 PM

And here's the completed install...

With one up front and one in the bedroom, there should be plenty of air moving.

Next up is the large skylight.

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dad24boys · 06-21-2021, 07:55 PM

Recently bought a 1994 25C Excella. Good to see your interior pics. Looks like she's in good shape inside and more original than mine. I plan on doing some rehab but also taking my time doing it. Keep posting pics as you do stuff to yours.

**richard5933** · 06-25-2021, 06:33 AM

Definite progress made this week - all roof vents have been replaced and/or resealed, including:

2 new MaxxFan Deluxe roof vents installed,
Round bathroom vent installed,
Skylight in main living room replaced, and
Waste tank vent cover resealed and new gasket/screen.

Next step is thoroughly clean the roof and paint with Bus Kote. The existing white layer is super thin and worn through in spots, and some of the rivets look like they could use a good sealing. The Bus Kote should take care of all of that.

Then it's on to the tongue/A-frame rehab and new axle installation.

CWSWine · 06-25-2021, 07:49 AM

Great read, we thinking about taking the same path as you with a 94 Classic Unlimited that has almost the same floor plan.

**richard5933** · 06-25-2021, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWSWine

Great read, we thinking about taking the same path as you with a 94 Classic Unlimited that has almost the same floor plan.

Yeah - I'm loving the floor plan. By eliminating the dinette they really freed up lots of space in an otherwise smallish trailer. Since we typically eat outside or on the couch watching TV, a dinette would have been wasted for us.

Overnight I ran the ozone generator for a few hours. It might have finally gotten rid of the last of the mouse odor. We'll see (or rather, we'll smell...)

**richard5933** · 06-25-2021, 09:42 AM

I dropped the spare tire down so that I could begin prepping the tongue/a-frame for a little rehab. When I finally wrestled the mounted spare out of the holder, I count only 5 lug nut holes. We have 6-lug hubs. Hmmm??

Guessing that someone either changed the hubs/axles at some point from 5-lug to 6-lug, or that someone lost the spare and replaced it with the wrong wheel.

Either way, glad I found it now rather than on the side of the road somewhere.