1978 Royale Update and Restoration

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Well there are many ways to seal that seam.....quick and nasty is Eternabond tape all the way to cleaning out the seal and resealing it with Dicor, Sikaflex or the like.

Alot of folks opt for the tape as then they can leave the seam intact and just cover.

I did the rear seam on ours a few weeks back...cleaned it out and resealed it with SikaFlex.....took me the whole day but i know it will never leak or come apart ever again.

Your choice of course but just remember to think of what your future llans are for paint etc.....
 
Eternabond tape, eh? I'll have to look into it. I'm not afraid of doing the work, and I believe a paint job is a ways off. The paint appears to be in good shape from what I can see. I gotta get the wheels out and try a cut to actually tell if its decent or not. I really don't want to get into a bunch of repairs down the road, so I'm more apt to make it dry now and fix the little bit of damage that I currently have.
 
If you don't want her working on yours, send your wife my way. She can work on mine :)

I had water in the same spot, it was the rails. Water gets into the inside of that extrusion and comes out the front if it's parked nose 'down', or out the back if it's nose 'up'

I did the drivers side and we had a good solid rain storm. There was no more water dripping in on the driver's side. I didn't do the passenger side yet and there was a steady drip of water in the rear where my bed will eventually go, so that's going to get fixed.

Basically what's happening is the seal under the rail fails and water runs onto the top of the extrusion and into a little groove. All the screws are drilled and tapped into that groove. So the water flows down passed the threads into the center of the extrusion where it runs forward or backward depending on what slope you parked on.
 
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I had a bad experience with Eternabond on a previous RV. It's fine for an emergency fix but it will fail over time. About 6 months in my case. Better to just fix it right once imo
 
tmsnyder said:
If you don't want her working on yours, send your wife my way. She can work on mine :)

I had water in the same spot, it was the rails. Water gets into the inside of that extrusion and comes out the front if it's parked nose 'down', or out the back if it's nose 'up'

I did the drivers side and we had a good solid rain storm. There was no more water dripping in on the driver's side. I didn't do the passenger side yet and there was a steady drip of water in the rear where my bed will eventually go, so that's going to get fixed.

Basically what's happening is the seal under the rail fails and water runs onto the top of the extrusion and into a little groove. All the screws are drilled and tapped into that groove. So the water flows down passed the threads into the center of the extrusion where it runs forward or backward depending on what slope you parked on.
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It's not that I don't want her working on it...I just wish she'd stick to the plan we decided on, instead of pulling carpet (not planned), wallpaper (not planned), etc. She's is far more creative than I... So it works in the end, but I end up with unexpected projects at undetected times. We talked about mechanicals first, and she could do some light cleaning. Light cleaning has turned into pulling stuff that doesn't need to be removed. Now I gotta fix the ceiling and the walls, which will delay mechanical. It's all gotta be done, I know. But for a planner like I am, it can be frustrating.
 
Mike_H said:
It's not that I don't want her working on it...I just wish she'd stick to the plan we decided on, instead of pulling carpet (not planned), wallpaper (not planned), etc. She's is far more creative than I... So it works in the end, but I end up with unexpected projects at undetected times. We talked about mechanicals first, and she could do some light cleaning. Light cleaning has turned into pulling stuff that doesn't need to be removed. Now I gotta fix the ceiling and the walls, which will delay mechanical. It's all gotta be done, I know. But for a planner like I am, it can be frustrating.
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Could be worse.....i travel for a living, but my wife is a high school shop woodworking teacher and a licensed cabinet maker [she has other degrees as well] so when she tells me "when you get home, the house will be a mess" that usually means she's moving walls, changing stair cases etc........lol. She helps with the coaches when i need it, like lifting the AC off and on the roof or if ask her to build something but for the most part she stays away....lol.
 
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Mike_H said:
It's not that I don't want her working on it...I just wish she'd stick to the plan we decided on, instead of pulling carpet (not planned), wallpaper (not planned), etc. She's is far more creative than I... So it works in the end, but I end up with unexpected projects at undetected times. We talked about mechanicals first, and she could do some light cleaning. Light cleaning has turned into pulling stuff that doesn't need to be removed. Now I gotta fix the ceiling and the walls, which will delay mechanical. It's all gotta be done, I know. But for a planner like I am, it can be frustrating.
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Oh my goodness, it's like you're narrating my life. My wife just yanked all the carpet and wallpaper/vinyl/foam wall coverings out of our coach last week! My stance was, "babe, the intake is cracked, the carb and ignition need dealt with, and the radiator leaks. Can we do the important stuff first?"

Now I'm doing flooring, and having to worry about twice as many things simultaneously as I'd planned. It's driving me nuts. It's not very altruistic, but I'm glad I'm not the only one! :LOL:
 
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I'm starting to see why so many of these are 'refurbished' on the inside instead of original. First, they leak and ruin the ceilings and walls. Then we want them to look nice so we can enjoy them, so no matter what the 'plan' was they end up gutted. Either fully or partially, leaving the bath/galley/closet modules in place.
 
tmsnyder said:
I'm starting to see why so many of these are 'refurbished' on the inside instead of original. First, they leak and ruin the ceilings and walls. Then we want them to look nice so we can enjoy them, so no matter what the 'plan' was they end up gutted. Either fully or partially, leaving the bath/galley/closet modules in place.
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Yup your correct.....i have done everything in my power to make sure the inside of ours was in "usable good condition" when we bought it......its was actually the selling point with both myself and the wife for the one we have. That being said is there things that could/should/would like to change, oh yeah.....plus i know if we start, its all coming out .......so it stays as is till it cannot be anymore.
 
Dug around a little more on my coach. The roof rails have NEVER been off. Still have the original Torx screws holding the dripedge / trim on. So, I'm going to call the CO-Op and get the stuff to do that job. That ought to be fun. Somewhere along the line, someone ran a bead of silicon along the top edge of the driprail, so that will all have to come off. I should probably plan on resealing all my penetrations too, while I'm at it. What does everyone recommend for that? Dicor?
 
pvfjr said:
Oh my goodness, it's like you're narrating my life. My wife just yanked all the carpet and wallpaper/vinyl/foam wall coverings out of our coach last week! My stance was, "babe, the intake is cracked, the carb and ignition need dealt with, and the radiator leaks. Can we do the important stuff first?"

Now I'm doing flooring, and having to worry about twice as many things simultaneously as I'd planned. It's driving me nuts. It's not very altruistic, but I'm glad I'm not the only one! :LOL:
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I figured I wouldn't be the only one. I keep telling her...gotta get it right mechanically. Then she draws me in, and I'm looking at how I can rebuild the dinnette, or where we can add shoe storage or how I can add some ambiant lighting on a switch, so we're not stumbling around in the dark, looking for a light.

We been there, done that with a boat. Same issues, but not quite as bad. In the end, we sold it after 10 years of use, for $5000 more than we paid, so we did OK on the deal. Not sure the $5000 covered all the money I sunk into maintenance and upgrades, but at least I didn't lose on purchase price!
 
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Mike_H said:
Dug around a little more on my coach. The roof rails have NEVER been off. Still have the original Torx screws holding the dripedge / trim on. So, I'm going to call the CO-Op and get the stuff to do that job. That ought to be fun. Somewhere along the line, someone ran a bead of silicon along the top edge of the driprail, so that will all have to come off. I should probably plan on resealing all my penetrations too, while I'm at it. What does everyone recommend for that? Dicor?
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The screws on the roof rails are torx on yours? I thought they were Phillips?
 
Mike Perez said:
The screws on the roof rails are torx on yours? I thought they were Phillips?
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The are Torx. Confirmed last night. The two caps (one on each end) are Phillips, but the main rail is Torx. I am going to pick up a good impact driver (the one you smack with a hammer) to try to loosen them up. I'll get a good 100W soldering iron or one of those mini torches too, to help break the corrosion down.
 
I ended up getting my screws from mcmaster carr. JimB at the Coop sold me 100 3/4" 10-32 screws instead of the correct 50 3/4" 10-24 screws, so.....

Silicone will come off if you slice off most with a razor blade, then hold gasoline soaked paper towel on it, it will soften and you'll be able to rub it off. And it doesn't go after the paint too bad.

Gasoline and a wire brush also works to get the old seal off the rail.



Mike_H said:
Dug around a little more on my coach. The roof rails have NEVER been off. Still have the original Torx screws holding the dripedge / trim on. So, I'm going to call the CO-Op and get the stuff to do that job. That ought to be fun. Somewhere along the line, someone ran a bead of silicon along the top edge of the driprail, so that will all have to come off. I should probably plan on resealing all my penetrations too, while I'm at it. What does everyone recommend for that? Dicor?
Click to expand...
 
Mike_H said:
The are Torx. Confirmed last night. The two caps (one on each end) are Phillips, but the main rail is Torx. I am going to pick up a good impact driver (the one you smack with a hammer) to try to loosen them up. I'll get a good 100W soldering iron or one of those mini torches too, to help break the corrosion down.
Click to expand...

I think you'll break a lot of screws that way, they take very little torque to snap. Torque isn't the thing keeping them from coming out, it's movement, they haven't moved in 40+ years and there's corrosion in the threads between the steel and aluminum. It takes literally 100s of little tiny movements that eventually will loosen up the screw. JimB told me they are called screws b/c every single one of them is trying to screw you.

On my build page I covered getting the rails off, what worked for me. The best tool was a speedwrench b/c you can grab it close to the center and just 'flick' it back and forth gently but rapidly with your wrist, not enough to snap the screw but enough to get some movement started.

JimB also recommended trying to tighten the screw first, to get that first little bit of movement. Barely perceptible movement is all you are looking for. Maybe 0.010" turn on the head of the screw clockwise. Then 0.010" back, repeat 100 times. Before you know it you'll feel that you can start to back it out, in out in out until you can go a little out, then in out in out etc.

Just don't torque on it or you'll simply snap the screw.
 
tmsnyder said:
I think you'll break a lot of screws that way, they take very little torque to snap. Torque isn't the thing keeping them from coming out, it's movement, they haven't moved in 40+ years and there's corrosion in the threads between the steel and aluminum. It takes literally 100s of little tiny movements that eventually will loosen up the screw. JimB told me they are called screws b/c every single one of them is trying to screw you.

On my build page I covered getting the rails off, what worked for me. The best tool was a speedwrench b/c you can grab it close to the center and just 'flick' it back and forth gently but rapidly with your wrist, not enough to snap the screw but enough to get some movement started.

JimB also recommended trying to tighten the screw first, to get that first little bit of movement. Barely perceptible movement is all you are looking for. Maybe 0.010" turn on the head of the screw clockwise. Then 0.010" back, repeat 100 times. Before you know it you'll feel that you can start to back it out, in out in out until you can go a little out, then in out in out etc.

Just don't torque on it or you'll simply snap the screw.
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I think these would work well. The shock from hitting it will break the corrosion without putting a ton of torque on the screw. @Scott Nutter loaned me one to do mine. I haven't gotten to the phase yet, but it will be coming soon.

 
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