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92landyacht · 11-02-2011, 07:04 AM

Hello folks,

Just wanted to introduce myself as a new owner of a 36' 92 Landyacht motorhome.

She's a little bit of a fixer upper but not beyond resurrection. The previous owner had been sick for a little over a year and had no chance to check the condition of the unit as it sat at a local RV center. He decided to sell her because of a lack of use. When we arrived to inspect the unit we found that a leak had developed sometime during that time. The leak was over the front seam and along the driver's side corner round. The side panels on both the driver and passenger's side were soaked and the headliner in that area was drooping. He was so distraught over the condition of his baby that I thought he was going to cry. After about an hour of checking her out my wife asked him what his bottom line deer hunter special was.... His response was $2000. I said sold.

I know I have a ton of work to do but I feel that the investment is worth it. I have some leaks to fix and the driver's side front brake is locked up. Had to tow her home. The house batteries are dead but the 454 chevy engine starts right up (42000 original miles) and the trany is a new (not rebuilt) unit with less then 1800 miles on it. He kept meticulous records from 1996 to 2009. He always used Mobile 1 oil and the generator only has 414 hours. The fridge was replaced two years ago with a new Norcold. It came with all the manuals too.

I'll post pics as soon as I can. I know that I'll be needing a lot of help, so any given will be greatly appreciated.

First step is to stop the leaks!!! I have 100' of Eternabond tape coming but in the mean time I have a large tarp over the top.

kposey · 11-02-2011, 08:09 AM

Congratulations on your new baby and welcome to the forums! This is the place to get all the help you will need.

We'll be watching your updates, so post lots of pictures.

92landyacht · 11-02-2011, 08:21 AM

Here are a few that were taken just after we got her home:
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/9430/dscn4769q.jpg
http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/6707/dscn4770.jpg
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8229/dscn4771x.jpg
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9449/dscn4772e.jpg
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/4387/dscn4773m.jpg

92landyacht · 11-02-2011, 08:31 AM

Here are some pics taken just after I got her home. There were carboard boxes in all the windows (now piled on the bed) and the side panel speaker boards were sitting on the dining area seats since the wood that held them up had rotted off.

Schools Out · 11-02-2011, 04:36 PM

WOW! What a deal. That's a great looking LY. It doesn't look 20 years old.

Keyair · 11-02-2011, 05:27 PM

Wow... You cannot say no to that!

mcm9970 · 11-03-2011, 02:49 PM

What a deal! My wife and I just remodeled our '95 and made our first trip- 1000 miles to southwest Florida. Had a blast.
I also installed 6" eternabond on my front and back seams. I didnt have any leaks-did it as a precaution. I learned it the hard way on our '74 TT-- $90 for peace of mind. I also replaced my fridge vent cover.

Too bad Camping World closed out in Snellville, huh?

92landyacht · 11-03-2011, 03:07 PM

Ya, I hate that they closed too. It seems like there are no more RV centers near me anymore.

92landyacht · 11-06-2011, 05:27 PM

Just an update. I spent most of the day replacing rivets along the top quarter round. On the driver's side there was only about a dozen holding it on. I put in just under 100 rivets total. I then used Eternabond tape and sealed the back and driver's side seams. Tomorrow I'll finish with the front and passenger's siden seams. My goal is to have her sealed up before the rains start on Weds.

92landyacht · 12-15-2011, 04:25 PM

More updates:

Checked all the LP gas systems. Everything works except the water heater. Regulator was leaking gas and there was rust in the tank. I decided to put in a new one. Ended up finding an Atwood replacement 6 gallon unit with heat exchanger for $350 delivered on ebay.

It was a display model with full factory warrenty. I love a good deal

Install will be some time when the temps get back up above 60. Fridge didn't switch to gas (Check light came on) but I had a ton of air in the other gas lines so I suspect that that is the issue. I'll disconnect the gas line and bleed it till I get gas and then try again later. The unit is not on level ground so I can't check to see if the fridge is getting cold.

Levelers didn't work at first, but I found a plug disconnected on the control pannel. Once I plugged it in, it seems to be working. I can't test it until I get the unit a little higher off the ground. The ground was a little soft and the front tires have sunk into the ground about 4". When I try to lower the jacks they hit before they go vertical. I'll jack up the unit and put some wood blocks under the wheels and try again.

Found the cause of the "front brake locked up" issue. Replaced both front soft break lines and that was it. Interior of both lines were collapsed. Cost about $12 per side to fix.

Pulled genset since it wouldn't run without the choke on and no AC output. Very bad gas smell from the genset gas line. I rebuilt the carb, replaced the plugs, replaced the condenser (rusty) and the brushes. I'll clean the slip rings on the generator and test it out on Sunday. Hopefully all is well. Droping the set was not too bad... Reinstalling it may be another story.

After MUCH rain here it seems that all the leaks have been taken care of. Gotta love Eternabond for ease of use.

The interior walls will need MUCH attention given water had leaked down from the roof corner round. Headliner above the driver's and passenger's seats will need to be replaced as well.

Well, even with the work I've put into it so far and the original $2000 purchase price, I still think I have less then $2800 into it. Leaves me with a bit of room to spare before I go into negative equity teritory.

Keyair · 12-15-2011, 04:29 PM

Awesome, keep up the good work!
I have showed your deal to a number of people and all said WOW!
Can you post some pics of the water damage and keep us up to speed on your progress!

gloran · 12-15-2011, 05:45 PM

Your unit looks very similar to mine,(same exterior decals, kitchen layout etc.) Yours is just a little longer 36' vs my 33'. For what you paided you have alot of room to spend for fixing, thats what most of us enjoy doing on the forum, so ask away with any questions and we'll try to help.

92landyacht · 12-18-2011, 12:14 PM

Another productive day working on our baby.

Genset is now up and running. Plugged in everything I could find around the house and she didn't even hickup. Just need to do the final tune and the reinstallation. Not really looking forward to that part.

Keyair · 12-18-2011, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 92landyacht

Another productive day working on our baby.

Genset is now up and running. Plugged in everything I could find around the house and she didn't even hickup. Just need to do the final tune and the reinstallation. Not really looking forward to that part.

Awesome news!

rollin home · 12-27-2011, 12:49 PM

Wow! $2,000 not $20,000??!! Congrats, and if anyone else is looking for a similar rig, mine will be available soon. I have been trying to post my 1992 36 foot Land yacht for sale and keep getting a message saying I am not logged in, even though I am. I hope it will be listed in the classified ads here soon.

92landyacht · 12-28-2011, 10:44 AM

Yep, $2000. The unit was bought without being able to verify any of the fixtures. Engine ran. Unit had compete records of all service and fuel usage. There was some major water damage along the front seem and roadside wall. In the end I turned out to be a good deal. There was some risk on my part and the PO was caught off guard when additional water damage that he was not aware of was found. He also had to move the unit from it's storage location due too his contract ending within a week. All in all it's still a project to resurrect since it wasn't driven since some time in 2003. I'll post some pics of the water damage some time this weekend.

92landyacht · 12-29-2011, 01:19 PM

I ended up getting some $17 heaters from Home Depot to use as a load bank. Today I loaded the genset up with 4 1500/1300 Watt heaters and a 1300 Watt heater. I ran it with a ~6KW load for 10 minutes and then tuned the idle circuit (no load) and Main circuit (full load). Kept the load on it for about an hour without a hickup. Loaded it up for the last 10 minutes @ 7.2KW just to see if I had head room. Measured AC and found it at 124V @ 60.4hz with the 7.2kw load. Let her run with no load for another 10 minutes and then shut her down after verifying the AC at 125V and 60.5hz. I guess it's time for reinstalled into the ole LY so I'm planning on doing it on Sunday. Not really looking forward to that part.

Any tips or suggestions on making the reinstallation simpler?

Harleyjohn · 12-31-2011, 11:34 PM

The use of your levelers require all wheels/tires be on solid, somewhat level, ground when activating the levelers. If tires were to sink in a little during camping, or in my case a campsite with thin blacktop which collapsed a little-it could be trouble.
When you retract the legs in the above example, they may stay under pressure and fail to retract. This will be compounded with use of too many wood boards. I still use them but with more caution on how many under each leg.

When this happened to me, just after I bought my LY, I had to dig a couple of them out--very awkward and had to use an ax to chop, dig and pound the boards out--all with oue arm while laying on one side!
I had phoned an AS dealer for help and was told that I could do the above or carefully drive fwd to release them. However, I managed to get them dug out ok.

Happy camping!

92landyacht · 01-01-2012, 06:14 PM

Thanks for the info on the levelers. That's the next project. Today, however, I was finally able to install the genset. Took me a couple hours to do it, but finally got everything bolted up, connected and tested. Scarred me at first because I didn't have any power for the first 15 seconds or so after the genset fired up. After that, the AC switched in, and everything tested well. I'm assuming there's a delay from the time that the generator starts to when power is available inside the coach through the transfer switch. The hardest part of reinstalling the genset was getting the 8 boltholes to line up. I started with one in the back and then one in the front on the same side. Used two jacks to get everything to line up. Once I got the first holes lined up the rest fell in place pretty easily. I just wish that AS had made provisions to run both front and back AC at the same time. I have a manual switch in the cabinet that routes power to the front and rear AC unit. No way to allow both to run at the same time. Still seems like a waste of a 7KW generator.

Next... Leveler system debug. When I try to initialize the system and bring the jacks vertical, one jack (right front) continues to go down after it goes vertical. I’m betting it’s a position sensor that’s bad.

Keyair · 01-01-2012, 07:18 PM

Yes to the power delay... they all have that.
With the Genset running you should be able to run both AC units...
The rear AC is always connected, and to run both, you put the selector switch on the front AC...
Thats the way mine works!