1981 Jayco Jay Dove

[harmo...@gmail.com]

Well today I got the title, new license plate, and it's officially
ours. After dinner, we started the first step of the process--repair
the roof. Here are pictures:
http://members.pathway.net/harmonicat/roofrebuildday01.htm

In addition to the roof, we need to reframe the entry door and a cargo
door. There is some canvas and screen damage, and we're debating either
hand sewing replacement panels, or glueing patches where needed. I'm
leaning towards patches, but my wife says that she can sew new canvas
in place.

Any suggestions are welcomed.

George

[Gerry Pierce]

congrats George.... looks like a fun project. Note to self--DONT use ABS,
someone else tried and ended up with a bunch of bum roofs :)

Gerry

<harmo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1112069465.5...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...

[Dianna Herring]

George:

Looking forward to watching the progress of this project.

Will have to do the same only more to my 66 compact 6

Di

[harmo...@gmail.com]

Here is the progress that we made this week:

http://members.pathway.net/harmonicat/roofrebuildday01.htm

http://members.pathway.net/harmonicat/roofrebuildday02.htm

http://members.pathway.net/harmonicat/roofrebuildday03.htm

http://members.pathway.net/harmonicat/roofrebuildday04.htm

http://members.pathway.net/harmonicat/roofrebuildday05.htm

If a picture is worth a thousand words.....

George

[Mike T.]

Thanks for the post.
neat stuff,...keep it comming

mike

<harmo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1112559716.2...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

[harmo...@gmail.com]

Now we're getting started on the interior cleaning and canvas repair.
http://members.pathway.net/harmonicat/RebuildDay06.htm

[Dianna Herring]

Boy looks like there is not much left of that section might be easier to
take the whole (hole) thing down unstitch it and replace the whole section.

Di
<harmo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1112668682.2...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...

[Dianna Herring]

If you do decide to do it that way I would recomend putting duct tape over
the holes first to help it lay smooth when you lay it out to make the
pattern. less distortion.... A metal geared sewing machine would also help
with the right needles and thread. loosen the tension too.

Di
"Dianna Herring" <di...@tca.net> wrote in message
news:11554do...@corp.supernews.com...

[harmo...@gmail.com]

Hi Dianna, thanks for that tip. However, we are pressing ahead with
the heat-n-bond solution.

Today we repaired several of the holes in the canvas with the fabric
and heat-n-bond, and repaired holes in the screen with Coghlan's screen
repair kit (stickers made to look like screen). Got all of the
cushions put back together too.

http://members.pathway.net/harmonicat/RebuildDay07.htm

[Dianna Herring]

Heat and bond is great stuff. I have used it on many craft projects over
the years. Good luck with it..

By the way George what part of the country are you guys doing this rebuild
in.

Di

[harmo...@gmail.com]

We are in Western PA, near the intersection of I-80 and I-79.

George

[harmo...@gmail.com]

I need a picture or diagram of the winch system on this Jayco, or a
similar one.

Today when lowering the roof (and turning the crank counter-clockwise),
the square tube fell off the winch. I got it out, screwed back on, and
the roof began to rise again. The problem is, I don't see what holds
this piece on the threaded shaft of the winch. The square tube is
welded to a nut, and there is part of the tube cut away as if it were
an access to put on a locking mechanism of some sort.

Thanks in advance,
George

[harmo...@gmail.com]

Here is an update since the last weekend and today.

Over the weekend, Jodi bought some nice remnant material at Wal-Mart
and sewed valances onto the curtains. From that same material, she
also made some very nice tie backs. Still working on the canvas
repair, using Shoe Goo to seal down the edges of the patches where the
heat-n-bond just didn't adhere. Also using the Shoe Goo to seal all of
the seams. We found that the screen patches (nothing more than clear
stickers) peeled after a couple of openings/closings. We are going to
get nylon screen and sew it in.

Today I painted the tongue jack and LP bottle, then made a frame
repair. Just behind the coupler, is an upper and lower plate that
holds the tongue jack. The lower plate was rotted to the point of
useless, and the upper plate was close behind. So I bought two pre-cut
pieces of 3/16" steel plate to replace these. Tonight I went to a
friend's garage and performed surgery. We cut out the old rotted steel
and welded in the new pieces.

Tomorrow morning, I will first take the trailer to get its new tires.
Then I will finish up the tongue with primer, and give the jack and
bottle their second coat. That should be about all for tomorrow.

George

[harmo...@gmail.com]

We are getting it ready to go camping this Friday.

Yesterday I scraped and painted all visible parts of the frame with
Rust-o-leum semi-gloss black. While I had the paint out, I also
scraped and painted the trailer hitches on both vans. It all looks
nice and fresh now.

Today I mounted the tongue jack, touched up the paint on the frame,
mounted a new pair of Bargman tail lights, and cleaned up the contacts
on all of the old marker lights.

Jodi has figured that we will use large Rubbermaid tubs for packing.
She has her packing list, and will load the tubs in the house, then we
can load/unload the camper quickly. We are definitely getting closer
to camping on Friday!

George

P.S.: I will get some more photos uploaded soon. GM

[harmo...@gmail.com]

We've gone out for the "shake down trip". The camper pulled fine. We
didn't have rain, so we didn't get the water test on the newly
waterproofed canvas.

We are pulling the trailer with my 1993 Plymouth Voyager minivan with
2.5L 4-cylinder engine, and 5-speed transmission. We were really
skeptical, but we travelled accordingly. 5th gear/60-65 MPH on the
highway, 4th gear/45-50 on state roads. The trip was 211 miles, and my
return fill up was 9.95 (10) gallons. That is 21 MPG pulling the pop
up!!!!!

Here are some additional photos of restoration
http://jaycojaydove.irv2.com/photo4.html

Here are some photos of the trip
http://jaycojaydove.irv2.com/photo5.html

[Tony Wesley]

Thanks for posting the story of your renovation, especially the
pictures. I have been following with interest.

Good job!

[Gerry Pierce]

got to love that bullet proof 2.5 liter. We had a Caravan with that same
set up, I wish I still had it everytime I fill up this Explorer.

Glad the excursion went well George.... alot of hard work paid off from the
sound of it.

Take care, Gerry

<harmo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1113743690.0...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...

[Keith Williams]

Great Pics..Great story.. Just goes to show that you can do just about
anything you set your mind to.
Thanks,
Keith
<harmo...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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[harmo...@gmail.com]

More modifications....

Last night I drove up to Chardon Ohio to pick up a 10' awning that was
recently taken off of a Coleman. Today I removed the outdoor light
from the roof of our Jayco and the awning fit just right. I haven't
decided yet if I'm going to remount the light on the lower body similar
to Coleman PUPs.

I got a MaxxAir vent cover for my birthday last week. Today I bought a
new 14x14 roof vent to replace the 10x10. Grandpa already has made a
new wood frame for the larger vent. If tomorrow is rain free, I'll cut
the roof skin, insert the new frame, mount the new roof vent and
MaxxAir vent cover.

George

[harmo...@gmail.com]

We did it today. The morning started out sunny, but we got rain before
the finish. http://jaycojaydove.irv2.com/photo6.html

[Jim Redelfs]

In article <1114709217....@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
harmo...@gmail.com wrote:

> We did it today. The morning started out sunny, but we got rain before
> the finish. http://jaycojaydove.irv2.com/photo6.html

Nice job! Grandpa sure must be a handy guy, too!

:)
JR