92 Jayco Sportster 8' rebuild in the States with support from Deutschland

[corybrown50]

Hello all....well, here is my attempt at documenting my rebuild. I was recently gifted a 92 Jayco Sportster from a Brother in my men's group. It was his father's, and had many years of love. After sitting a bit, he forwarded it to me. With my wife's permission and enthusiasm, I picked it up with exuberance and a very short timeline to hopefully finish the project for a local racing event.

In researching the build, I came across Manfred's thread with a rebuild of the exact camper. First off, MANY THANKS AND BLUMEN to Manfred and his wife for the write ups. He has given me the road map and overview to not be scared so far to get started. Here is a link to his thread.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/8779-jayco-sportster-8ft-renovation/

 

[corybrown50]

A look at her as she arrived home

Nestled for the Spring rebuild

 

[corybrown50]

Digging in to the edges. As Manfred noted in his build....rot around all edges.

 

[corybrown50]

Broken bottom support

 

[corybrown50]

And the rear....well, looks like all but about 80% of the driver side needs replaced.

 

[corybrown50]

The pile begins.....I find it amazing that they use interior paneling scraps for the exterior. There were 2 different types of interior design used for the cladding.

 

[corybrown50]

Well, got the passenger side completely removed inside and out, as well as the cab side wall, refrigerator, and back wall....didn't have time for pictures as the weather was coming in and I needed to get everything covered back up.

A LOT OF SCREWS!!!! I couldn't imagine all the screws...I haven't found any issues with the staples yet, but I haven't really started removing the "studs".....I couldn't find proper 1"x1.5" wood, so I'll be doubling up with .75"x1.5" studs. It may add a small bit of weight, but a bit more strength won't hurt anything. I'll be gluing, clamping, and finish nailing them together before installing. Hopefully this will be received as acceptable...

The plan is once the "studs" are in, I'll add the plywood outside, then use trimming router to cut out the windows. I'm still trying to figure out how to remove the side wall plywood, and I think it will become more apparent as I slowly take things apart 1 piece at a time...

My big question is removing the lower cab wall. I've removed the passenger side cabinet already, and I am trying not to remove driver side cabinet as it has the heater there and would seemingly be a lot of finicky working that I would like to avoid.

 

[ski3pin]

Ambitious project, thank you for sharing. Looking forward to watching your progress!

 

[corybrown50]

So, question....can everyone see the photos? They show up fine for me on desktop, but on Tapatalk they do not load. I'm still figuring it out.....

 

[corybrown50]

Sending these via Tapatalk. Please let me know if these are visible as well as the previous posts.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Two posts, visible.

 

[Manfred65]

Hi Cory,

thanky you very much for the "Blumen". We started like you but our intention was:

If we don´t finish the project we know how these campers are built and may start a home- DIY-build for us.
2 Friends offered us a total of 2.5 gal of gas to set it on fire....

Today, after starting a camper import business ( Palomino, TravelLite and starting last December, BundutecUSA) this eperience is a great help for us!

We follow your build and i will try to jump in if i think it can help.

 

[corybrown50]

Fantastic my German Brother! Looking forward to the adventure for sure.

 

[corybrown50]

Well, got a bit done tonight. Removed almost everything from the passenger side. I was able to start replacing the wood at the rear door. This thing was definitely not made on a jig. Measuring the height at multiple places gave me different lengths. I know some could be due to age and damage, but the gaps in the wood between pieces tells me how slapped together these were. Also, they definitely rely on the plywood for structural strength. I did make the mistake of raising the roof without the exterior on.....oops....I had to add a temporary clamp to hold the roof lift system from boinging out.

My enthusiasm did gone down when I pulled the plywood off the lower side and the whole side dropped 6" to kiss me on the head. Everything is connected and reliant to each other.

With that and my compressor limitations I wasn't able to get as much done as I wanted. Hopefully the weather holds off and I can make some progress. At one point I was cutting off the mounting and jack hardware with a cut off wheel and the wood began smoke.....since I don't have any insurance on her yet I figured a little water was in order to put her out, but I questioned it for a second after just being "kissed" on the head by the passenger side

 

[corybrown50]

ARRRGGHHH....I continue to have trouble with Tapatalk getting the images posted on the forum, so I have to do it on the desktop....

Clamping lift system to "RAISE THE ROOF" with the exterior off

The blank slate for rebuild inside. Lovely blue sky outside

3 way fridge removed for "dorm" fridge later.....contemplating a Coleman 12v/110v too. I have both.

FRESH WOOD!!!!


Please let me know that you can see the pictures....I'm still learning.

 

[corybrown50]

A side note though that did add to my enthusiasm......a friend of mine works at an RV dealer....He sent me a picture of a Jayco that they got in over the weekend. Same "design" but an '04. They turned around and sold it that afternoon for $8000

If an '04 with no repairs or inspection can sell for $8000, what is one that has been rebuilt from the ground up worth?

 

[corybrown50]

Manfred.....if you see this, can you share with me how you removed the cabover support from the sides without removing the interior?

 

[Manfred65]

HiCory,
i can not see the pics at all. If you want to show me some special problems you can e-mail me at
manfred.klement@goldmail.de.

As i remember the cabover support was only fixed with some staples. The frame holds the camper together. The support only sat between the horizontal frame parts. Where the support is located the vertical frame is only half the thickness.
On the pics you can see that we did not remove the cabinets.

Btw: The rear parts was never symetric. the left winf was closer to the truckbed-sidewall than the right approx 1".

 

[corybrown50]

Well, let's try again....

Inside cleaned out for new install....

New wood....

RV fridge removed

Clamp for lift unit....hopefully I'm figuring out the issues with pictures.

 

[corybrown50]

Well, got a bit more done today. A note to anyone who takes on an endeavor like this. Study the way it is put together first before digging in. My biggest mistake is that I dug into the back and side before replacing the cab wall. I needed to replace that wall first. Unfortunately, now I'm dealing with instability and having to support everything.

I did get a bit done though. The rear wall is replaced now. The lower wall on the passenger side is in. The rest of the passenger wall is off.

I didn't realize how much rot and damage I would have to spend time with. I'm really glad I have a cut off wheel, as all the hardware except 2 bolts had to be cut out as all the t-nuts just spun in the rotten wood.

Next step is getting the cab wall removed, then rebuild the passenger wall, then the cabover I think.

New back wall....
New inside wall.....
The pile grows......