New Ceiling Project 

Well,what ya gotta do is: :--) 

Not too simple but do-able.

The most important step is to FIX the Leaks. These things like to leak around the
roof air so be ready to replace the 14 X gasket available from your motor home
store and while there, buy new "vent instillation tape" (rolled grey caulking)
for the upper vent a bunch of screws to replace all the rusty one holding up the
cabinets, and some 3/16 X 3/4 inch pop rivets and save for later. Order a roll of
4 inch Eternabond tape (sticker shock).

Remove the vent fan, the air conditioning ceiling cover with controls, the TV
antenna knob, take down all upper cabinets. Remove the plastic trim among the
wall/roof joint. Now the biggie. The ceiling material is in riveted inside a
channel going down both sides, front to back of the coach compartment and extends
under and is secured at the front by the plastic drivers compartment "ceiling"
and at the rear by metal trim strip/bracket on early models and by the plastic
rear wall or cover on 87 up units. The rivets must be removed to get access to
the channel to install new material. I drill off the heads and poke them through
to the space available up there.

Now make yourself a tool by grinding a piece of one eighth inch flat stock into a
hook with a sharp edge to fit against the far end (bottom) of the channel. Use
this to dig out all the pieces of lauan (thin plywood) that the old ceiling is
(was) made of. Make another tool by grinding a cheap burglers tool with the "J"
on one end and a nail puller /pry bar at the other. Grind the flat end of the J
sharp and use it to peel the old ceiling lauan from the ceiling plastic foam,
known in construction as blue board. Be careful, don't dig into the foam, you
will be attaching the new material to it.

Once all is removed, make up new flat metal pieces (I use flashing) to replace
all the rusted pieces you will find. These are important because they hold the
screws that hold up the cabinets. Now is decision time. What are you going to use
to make the new ceiling? Lauan is the easiest, it is thin and cuts with a fine
blade in a Skill saw or even with a heavy duty box cutter. Use the stickum that
the building supply guy tells you to use with the lauan, but DON'T use anything
with solvents in it, or it will melt the blue board. It must be compatable with
plastic foam. Use the glue/stickum to install the metal pieces. then install the
lauan and use the thin H connectors between each piece.

When you have the old lauan off, note and mark where the aluminum cross beams
are, You can, or at least I, used them to hold a few screws to support the
ceiling covering. I cut a bunch of 2 X 2, 1X2 and 2 X 4 lumber to support the
ceiling while the stickum dried. At the front and rear ends of the ceiling there
are screws holding the plastic pieces I mentioned before. Slide the front and
back pieces under the plastic (or should I say over) and once you glue things,
put the screws back in to secure front and rear. Reinstall the cabinets. About
the potty room, DON'T take it out to do the job.

Using the aforementioned supports, you can get enough room (barely) to slide the
lauan through and over the top of the potty room. Using a 3/16 inch drill, drill
thru the holes the rivets were in and then re-rivet with 3/16 aluminum rivets
This will secure the ceiling. 

To complete the job, repair the wires you disconnected to remove the cabinets,
shop Ace Hardware for stair step plastic inserts that will replace the beat up
and wrinkled trim that was removed. And then reinstall the upper air and the vent
with new gaskets/tape. Tape the center seam,front and rear caps on the top with
the Eternabond tape. Make sure you get all the leaks fixed or you will just be
where we are now, looking at a few nights/days of work. This is the way I did it
and it worked..

There are probably more ways to do it, but don't just cut out some lauan and
glue/screw it up, if you dont get the old stuff off and check for other repairs
needed and replace the sheet metal to hold the cabinet screws, it will come down.
Been there/done that. I lost time and material and never could get the stuff to
stay up. Take what you need and leave the rest. You will be proud of the new look
your cramper has and secure in knowing that it won't be leaking anytime soon.


Rooftop a/c;

Not hard to do. The AC unit is held in place by three long bolts coming up from
the bottom. Take down the plastic inside assembly with the control knobs and look
up. Take the three bolt completely out, for better access remove the three 115 V.
A.C.wires. Write down colors so you get 'em back on the right way, now remove the
metal bottom held on by the bolts..

Go topside with a couple of 2 X 4's about 5 ft long. Lift one end of the unit,
sit it on a. 2 X 4 , do the same at the other end. Now lift again and sit the
lumber on edge so that you have about 4 inches clearance to work with under the
unit. For safety, you could stack two or more timbers atop one another at either
end for a firmer base.

Now from the bottom, using a sharp putty knife or something similar, remove the
old gasket from both surfaces.. Make sure the surface is clean, I use lacquer
thinner to clean the roof and the bottom of the unit. With the unit up and
surfaces clean, now would be a great time to seal the center seam. As I said
before, I use a product called Eternabond, a tape sort of sealer that sticks
tight and once it touches metal, it is stuck, so get it right the first time.

Now, install the AC unit seal. It is squeezed between the top and bottom of the
unit and seals out all water. There are several pieces in the kit. Order by what
brand of A/C you have. Mine were Coleman and the seals are readily available at
the R.V. parts departments. Set the seal in place, pull of the wrapping from the
sticky side and position it just like the old one. Be sure to replace the piece
of foam rubber under the long end of the upper unit.

Carefully sit the unit down on the seal, jockey the unit around till it is
sitting so the seal is covering the roof and going under the unit right along the
hole. Reinstall the bottom pan and the bolts, wire in the wires previously
removed . Now snug the bolts down till the seal is positively set, and that is
it, Install the plastic and the knobs and check it out. The job is easier if you
have a helper. Be careful about putting too much weight on the roof, use a piece
of plywood to spread out the weight.

Good luck. 
Larry S. 
The Phasarholic