Old Toyota Odyssey 1988 restoration

Nikolay
Nikolay Forum Participant Posts: 2
edited December 2015 in Motorhomes #1

Hi All, 

I am the very excited owner of a properly dilipated Toyota Odyssey import from US. Engine and chassis are not in a bad state, but body is badly affected by damp. 

It needs a lot of work but priority 1 is to stop the water ingress. 

Roof is made up of gpr, with some styrofoam for insulation and wooden struts plus steal frame. The wood is badly wrotten and the metal rusted. Side walls are mostly ok apart from the wall under one of the windows which is rotten through. 

I am deliberating what to do with the roof. 

There are two distinct routes I can take. 

1. Try to make the new roof slightly convex so it does not collect water. To do this:

Make roof rafters by taking fairly large cross cut battons say 12cm, and tapering them to 2.5 cm at the edges to achive slope. Use 5.5mm plywood to cover them on top. Insulation in the middle. 3mm ply at the bottom

 

2. Go with the flat roof, clean the tar (doh) prevous owner has used from the fiberglass outer, put new rafters from a) wood or b) aluminium and insulation in the middle and 3mm ply at the bottom. 

Option 2 should keep overall weight down, but will create risk of pooling water again. 

In both isnatnces the final roof finish will be liquid e EPDM rubber. 

I will not use the roof for storage or walking

Another option I am considering instead of using plywood is to use GRP sheeting. 2mm x2400mm x 1200mm costs around the gbp 90 mark vs around 12gbp for 3mm ply. But even if I get a leak in future the structural rigidity of the roof will not be affected and
in theory it will be much easier to fix.

In terms of aluminium profiles vs wood rafters, aliminium is lighter, will not rot. It is not much more expensive but it is hard to work with. 

Finally what insulation thickness to go for in the roof? I am contemplating between 25mm celoflex rigid boards and 50mm. 

 

Hugely excited from what is ahead. 

Looking forward to hear what you think. 

Nikolay

Comments

  • huskydog
    huskydog Club Member Posts: 5,460 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #2

    Hi, just looked the MotorHome up , looks an interesting project , it all comes down to wether you want to keep it as close to original spec or just go with what works , be good to see some pictures , but that's not easy on CT, good luck with it .....

  • mickysf
    mickysf Forum Participant Posts: 6,474 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #3

    Wow, very interesting and exciting project, which converter built the RV and which model is it? Is it the 4x4? Like Husky says, it would be good to see some photos!Smile

  • triky auto
    triky auto Forum Participant Posts: 8,690
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2015 #4

    Wink ,Hi Niko'.Anothere possible option could be to sheath the new roof structure with fibreglass layers.A guy adjacent to me at the boatyard does
    this for boat cabins/cockpits and trawler wheelhouses.Just a thought .Good luck with the project .

  • Nikolay
    Nikolay Forum Participant Posts: 2
    edited January 2016 #5

    Thanks for the encouragement all. I have added a few photos, looks pretty grim at the moment, but will start stripping off the tar from the roof with a friend this Sunday. Fiberglass is a good option for the roof too, but I think even more expensive then
    the EPDM rubber.

     

    By the way does anyone know where I can find white EPDM rubber in UK? I can only see black sheet rubber of white liquid rubber, but ideally I want white sheet rubber. Plenty on US ebay site, but nothing I can find here.

    Thanks in advance.

    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zrero1occzbv2nl/AACeP0bvbI3uxcYpERxs6p5ba?dl=0