The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1959 GMC Motorhome Restoration

Hey fellas,

Anyone know about or seen one of these before? I'm going next weekend to pick up a free 1959 GMC 20' Motorhome. It's built on a 3/4 ton 250 chassis with the venerable GMC inline 6.

The thing's been parked 25 years and is registered non-op. Any google searching I do for GMC motorhomes either brings up the GMC busses of the 50s, that someone converted into a motorhome, or the 1970s+ motorhomes... nothing on 50s RVs though...??

It's in pretty good shape, it's definitely got some kind of custom frame on it to accomodate the furnace and gas tank, both of which are mounted underneath the camper. The rear of the cab is cut out (and when I say 'cut out' it's actually more molded... well done and not a hack job) with access to the camper, and a double sized bed over the cab. It's pretty much fully featured with a dining area, sink, bathroom with toilet, stove and refrigerator... all of which are "period" 1950s appliances. There is no bench seat, instead there are two 'roadster' style bucket seats to allow access into the rear.

I suppose my question is this: Did GMC make this or is it some kind of aftermarket conversion? It's definitely not a homebrew job since all of the work done on it looks 'factory,' know what I'm saying? Also, how can I tell what type of engine is in this... would this be the 302 of that smaller one? I think the thing is pretty trick, and I'm going to restore it in all it's flamboyant '50s glory.

I really appreciate any info at all I can get on this since nobody seems to know anything about it.

A gmc 250 is a 1 ton chassis. Most likely it would have a gmc 270 engine. There is a boss behind the distributer on the passenger side that has the engine serial number stamped on it. the first 3 numbers on the boss are the engine size... 270, 302, etc. Sounds like an interesting rig.

Ah okay, that makes more sense that it's a one ton. Is the front end wider on this model? Is the grille interchangeable with the 1/2 ton?

welcome to the shop Justin, lots to learn here .... all the sheet metal is the same 1/2T to 1T, changes happen at 1.5T and above ..... Cletis here has a similar 58 3800 Chevy .... get it and save it, but we need pictures

Bill

Sounds like a nice rig, usually the rv converters would order the truck and build the camper onto it then sell it as an RV. There's a really nice 63 on ebay right now,if you'd want to look at it for comparison. OH and pics would be great.

Oh I'm getting it alright, free is free. Miraculously enough there is little to no sun damage done to the tires (still holding air and not cracked) or the interior. First thing's first, I need to set off a few bug bombs in there before anything else to get rid of the creepy crawlers. The cab looks like something out of one of those cheesy halloween haunted houses, where they used way too much fake spider web... No worries though, I'd like to get some definite 'before' pictures exactly the way it sits with the interior in disarray.

Thanks for the head up Rob. Yes, my coach is real similar to that one, barring a few floorplan differences. The kitchen sink, bathroom, and dinette are all in the same place as that, and it even has the same "Trav'ler" gas range... just on the other side.

So now I'm starting to lean toward this being a 'third party' build, even though there are no markings on it. Like I said, it's far too well done to be a back yard hack job (like some house trucks I've seen!)

It's arrived!

http://www.picturetrail.com/starchief

The Motorhome got delivered yesterday, so I wanted to share the pics I took this morning (after a much needed bug-zapping. )

Most would probably call it scrap, but to me it's a thing of beauty. 32,000 original miles... steering is tight as a pin. The roof and insulation on the inside is falling down but the structure is very sound.

After I clean the junk out of the inside and replace a few broken panes of glass it'll look a whole world better. Obviously you can see from the pics that the front fenders have a severe case of cancer, and there's no saving them. The coach though, like I said, is very sound and very complete. I'm going to see if I can get her shakin' this afternoon.

Looks like a good project there Justin.Clean her up a lil and she'll be ready for the camping season :p

Thats a cool rig! I believe these motorhomes were called "chassis mount" campers.

O.K. I am now officially jealous.

Is "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors 'bolt." one of the Pope's new automotive 10 commandments?

You could wrap up at least 5 different hobbies with this one vehicle. Make that 6, 'cause you could run a z-gauge train on the table.

Yep, it's a good project alright... I've already started tearing into it. The whole ceiling needs to be replaced, and as I'm finding tearing the ceiling out, there are small pinholes in the sheetmetal roof which let the water in. Should be no problem sealing that with some 'snow roof' or similar RV roof treatment. I've removed all the upper cabinetry and bathroom walls as well, which allowed me to actually get to the whole ceiling... instead of 'cutting around.' The way I see it, a project of this caliber you can't do half assed... I'm needing to use my whole arse and start out by simply gutting it.

All the wood cabinetry is in splendid condition, so I'm looking forward to reconditioning and restaining them all the original mahogany. There's marginal damage to some of the wall panels due to leaky windows, but I think 1/4" wood panel is easy enough to find. :p I'm trying to star as original as possible, and am going to keep it looking authentic. I don't think I can keep the original mattress sadly... as it is krusty and solid as a rock.

One thing I'd like to change is I'd like to add a shower. That would make the usefulness of this as a camper improve 100%. Since there's only very limited space in the bathroom... I think the bathroom sink is actually quite redundant; there being a kitchen sink just 2 feet away. I'm thinking about removing the bathroom sink and making the entire bathroom floor into a big shower pan. The toilet will mount on top of the shower pan... which I've seen done in later '60s model campers... and that will of course require changing the bathroom walls from mahogany to some kind of plastic panel or something...

A friend of mine is refurbishing a '63 Clark Cortez RV for someone... the RV had been sitting for many years unused and still had the *original* kitsch curtains and blue/black/metallic upholstery on the dinette seats. One thing led to another, and since the owner of that camper is "upgrading" it to a "newer look" I was able to procure this hard to find original upholstery in A+ condition. I'm jazzed! It will look good when I put this all back together.

The other side of the coin does not look so good... looks like the engine is seized up. A few days ago I removed all the spark plugs and injected some Marvel mystery oil into the cylinders... and also noted the all 6 spark plugs had surface rust on them. Trying to turn over the crank by hand is to no avail; it's stuck solid. I won't know what's going on exactly until I remove the head and look inside... I'm hoping there's not extensive damage to the rings or cylinder walls. Frankly, that was the last thing I expected because the valve train and the oil all looked clean as a whistle! It's not like this was ravaged by parts hunters at a wrecking yard who remove the air cleaner and leave the hood open... (hope I'm not stepping on any toes... :p )

I'll keep updating on progress and new pics as it develops.

Wow Justin; what a cool find!! I want one too. I enjoyed looking at the beautiful Carson Valley in the background in your photos. I used to live in the Ranchos and worked for Contel (the big building on 395 with the dish covers on it). Have fun with your project.

Ah, that must be what the current Verizon building used to be. If you ever come down for a visit bring your '53! The shots were taken where I live at the corner of 395 and Stephanie Lane, 1/2 way between Minden and Carson City. My place is quickly becoming known as the Auto Ranch. :p

I've updated with a few more pics and changed the title of the thread to something more appropriate.

Justin,
Here are pictures of a real nice 64 C-30 Chevrolet Motorhome I came by somewhere in recent travels between Nevada and California. The trouble is I don't remember where it was. We normally take side trips off the highway to small towns looking for trucks and parts. I really didn't realize at the time how cool it really is.

Nice Project you have there.
Bruce. In Las Vegas.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/559754414RptKtx

Looks like a great project Justin! My husband is from Carson City originally. Nice place.

Keep us updated on the progress. I have never seen one of those before. Really cool!

Wow, now that's an awesome rig there Bruce. Interesting that it has a sliding glass door on the back.

Thank you all for the support and interest. It makes the resto more fun.

I'm finally getting to taking the front end apart on the motorhome. I've got the coach pretty much gutted, and the front sheetmetal on this thing is in dire need of some help; lots of cancer.

The oddity here is that though the front fenders and grille pan are all toast (as you can see from the updated pictures) the cab is in excellent shape! Doors are fair and there's no rust in the floorpan. You can also see in the latest pictures how I had to just about PEEL some of the sheetmetal off of the frame, many of the bolts were just rusty nubs... but an airchisel made short work of most of it. Fortunately, I've already located and purchased a replacement set of front fenders and a grille pan off a '58 Apache from a local wrecking yard.

Eventually I'll make my way down to the engine sitting on the frame, and detail that can of worms waiting to be opened

Boy I thought I'd seen rustbuckets before but this is pretty bad. Unfortunate for being such a low mileage truck. It's just as well though, you won't be able to tell when I'm done with it.

Okay, been a while since my last update and I've made a bit of progress...

Sunday I got up on the roof of the camper with a steel bristled brush and cleaned off as much of the old rotten sealer as possible. It needed to be done as it had obviously failed, and you can see the results of the bad roof in the demise of the original interior roofing pictures. There were no real punctures or any heavy damage to the aluminum sheet roof, it's just that the seam sealer had all dried up and cracked which allowed the Central California rains to take their toll on the interior. After about 30 minutes of thorough scrubbing I got most of the old seam sealant out, and roughed up the rest of the remaining material to take a new coat. Shortly thereafter I further prepped the surface by spraying some TSP (Tri-Sodium Phosphate) on the roof and rinsing it off with the garden sprayer. Any leaks that occurred at this stage were inconsequential as the interior is mostly gutted.

First I started with a regular paint brush and a gallon of special RV roofing compound called "Kool Seal" which I got at the local Ace Hardware and heavily dabbed this all around the edges of the roof vents (where you could especially see cracks in the old sealant causing leaks) and around the trim on top which was secured with screws... just to make sure I got enough on all the seams where it will really count. After that I went with a roller and reapplied most of the rest of the gallon of Kool Seal over the remaining part of the roof. This has effectively not only sealed out water, but also sealed down any of the old pookey that was left on the roof from the factory, as well as provided a nice white coat to reflect the sun and keep the coach cool.

On to the inside.... In these pictures you can see what the inside of the coach is looking like with most of the major components removed....
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...mp;gid=16984219&&imgid=274807209
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...mp;gid=16984219&&imgid=274807228
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...mp;gid=16984219&&imgid=274807240
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...mp;gid=16984219&&imgid=274807276

I'd mentioned earlier that I wanted to convert the original 'water closet' to add the convenience of a shower. In this picture you can see, when you compare it to earlier pictures, that I have removed the toilet, sink basin, linoleum, and walls. I had to remove the walls as a necessity in order to rip out the rotten ceiling. Since the bathroom is so small, I figured that removing the sink would not only free up room to stand for a shower, but I wasn't making it any more inconvenient since there is another sink in the kitchen about 2 feet away!! A fair compromise....

Here you can see the gutted bathroom:
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...mp;gid=16984219&&imgid=274807276

And here you can see how I've cut down a standard residential shower pan to fit into the hole. Miraculously, somehow, I managed to find one for free which was already the correct dimension I needed lengthwise! After some figuring, I got some rough holes cut for the pipes and the toilet as can be seen here:
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...mp;gid=16984219&&imgid=274807939

The toilet will mount back on top of the shower pan and you'll be able to use it basically like a shower seat, since it won't matter if the toilet gets wet. This is the only modification I plan on making to the originality of the camper, and that's only to make it more usable and practical.

Moving on, I figured out why the engine wouldn't turn over......
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...mp;gid=16984219&&imgid=274807948
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...mp;gid=16984219&&imgid=274807943

Yikes!! After examining it closely, it looks like it blew a head gasket 25-some-odd years ago, which is what parked it after only 30,000 miles. The coolant leaked into two adjacent cylinders and there it sat..... I've tried everything to get these pistons free including pool acid to no avail. Even getting to the point of taking the crank out was a puzzle of it's own, since I could not remove the clutch/bellhousing without being able to ROTATE THE CRANKSHAFT, I ended up after a lot of tedium pulling the clutch out with the crank. I'm going to let the machine shop try their might at popping those pistons out.

I was particularly amazed at the condition of the bearings, and do look to reuse them. They are the factory bearings because they have GM part numbers stamped on them, and have little to no scoring, pitting or wear whatsoever. There's not even a lip at the top of the cylinder from wear! I REALLY hope this block can be salvaged but time will tell...

This weekend I'm going to attempt pulling the cab off. Ordinarily this is pretty easy, but on this application is complicated by the fact that there's hardly an inch space between the cab roof and the camper:
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery...mp;gid=16984219&&imgid=274810048

So now with the engine out and all the sheetmetal off the front I'm looking toward sliding the cab off the front of the frame.

Comments Welcome and appreciated!

Even if the bearings look good, don't reuse them. New bearings for that engine should be easily available.

The old ones could start flaking off the material after just a few miles. Not worth the risk when new is available and should be a major cost to get them.

Couldn't help but notice the mirror you have on the drivers side, but not on the passengers side. Looks like you have the remnants of the mirror on the passengers side. Are you going to stay with the original mirrors? Are you going to look for a passenger side mirror?

If you are not going to keep that mirror, I can find a good home for it on my 1 ton!?