Hi guys I’m after some help & advice please, I bought my Autohomes Wanderer last September and due to lockdown have been doing various jobs that didn’t really need doing to keep me occupied. One of the main jobs that I’m now ready to tackle is the 2nd bed area above the cab. There had been some water ingress up there, it was a combination of leaking front Perspex window seal and water getting behind the channel and past the screws that run around the exterior of the Motorhome, I’ve now replaced all the screws and sealed the edges of the strips the entire length of the MH, this now looks like it has done the trick as I’ve had a heater running all winter and a moisture trap up there that barely has any water in it.
I now need to replace the wallpapered wooden panel with the window in it on the front overhang as it’s a little soft below the window and need to screw the lower curtain rail back into it, there are two cream coloured rubber channels that run the width of the panel top and bottom of this panel, I’m assuming they are an ‘H’ shape or ‘T’ shape, my question is if I remove these channels will the panel come straight out or is there battening behind this that I’ll have to replace too ? I don’t really want to remove these channels until I have as much info as possible. Many thanks Tony
Tony, I could have written your post myself about my Wayfarer, which was similar to the Wanderer. It had to go back to the factory under warranty because of leakage round the front window, but in later years, I experienced the same problems with water ingress behind the trims.
Basically, I had to strip out the wallboard and some insulation to replace the rotten woodwork . I think that you will have to will have to strip out the panel as it is a bonded sandwich. It's not a massively hard job - it's just that working in the luton is awkward. You may be lucky to get a matching wall board.
Good luck with the work...
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
Thanks Capt, yes I’ve noticed the wayfarer is virtually identical & interesting that it had the same problem, what I’m basically thinking is that I would probably need to buy the same size wood panel ( is it chip or ply ? ) and then purchase some vinyl wallpaper online and replace the whole lot like that. Was the insulation Rock wool or was it still insulation board do you remember? Are there battens behind the board ?, TIA Tony
The panels have a bonded insulation so the plywood skin is glued to it. I found that as the ply was pretty rotten under the vinyl coating, so it peeled off OK. The original ply is 3mm so not the sort you can easily in B&Q. There are companies who supply the proper sheet, but you might get away with 4mm ply and a vinyl wallpaper of 'fablon'. You might have to replace some of the framing which is just softwood. Fortunately, I have all the necessary woodworking tools. I think that there is some framing inside the front panel, though most of the problems I had were on the side.
I had to remove some insulation which I replaced with expanding foam and then trimmed it flat.
I'll also mention that I had to replace much of the woodwork round the rear step. Maybe worth checking.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
Excellent info thank you, yes I have got a little bit of soft wood by the step in the corner, it’s not bad but it’s a job I’ll do in the late summer I think as we’re winding down. Ok well it looks like it’ll be straightforward enough, the window rubber looks pliable so I’ll make sure to seal that properly around the new board and outside cabwork, I’ll try and check for pinholes whilst the board is off too and seal any I find & I’ll lay new grey felt on the bed base too whilst I’m at it as the old one has plant veins growing across it !!!!, I’ll let everyone know how I get on 👍