Repairs (1 Viewer)

[The Spongebobs]

I have an A class 3 berth Hymer. It would appear that the ply wood on the front nearside under the dash board has given way and dropped about half an inch. Can anyone suggest someone who may look at this for us or better still has anyone had the same problem and repaired it themselves cutting the costs?

 

[scotjimland]

I believe it is quite common on older Hymers, caused by condensation from the windscreen ..

an ex member , Kands , rebuilt his with new plywood , I found the old thread from 2007 , it may give some pointers..


Continuing saga of our Hymer 660S.
Ok Got the ply wood to make the dash panel 12mm thick marine grade, cut to seven feet by three feet. Laid the old dash panel on top to mark it out, noticed that what was left of it was approx 8mm so I think the new panel will be substantially better. Cut around my marking with a jigsaw and test fitted, great fit, so cut out holes for fresh air vents and front speakers. Fitted sound deadening material to underside of dash panel, marked out the fixing holes, and predrilled. Fitted panel onto a generous bead of very sticky sealer / filler and screwed down onto merc dash. Fitted new stainless steel nuts and bolts to the leading edge next to the windscreen and fitted the air vents and speakers. Tested stereo and found pathetic wiring to the unit, not even fused, and carried out required repairs. Stereo now sounds fantastic.
The three panels came back from the paint shop and are now refitted, the front of the Hymer is looking absolutely fantastic now, all new and shiny!!!


http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/hymer-s660-rebuild.821/

 

[tonyidle]

I did the one on my last van (Tabbert FFD 570 Classic - very like an early Hymer). As suggested by the reference from scotjimland it is a very simple construction. Once you have removed anything screwed to the top of it, and peeled off the covering, you're left with a simple piece of plywood fastened down in a very obvious manner. Replacing it is as simple as suggested above and I too went with the suggestion of thicker plywood & better sound-proofing. Go for it - you'll make a better job than anyone else and you won't have any difficulty doing it.

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[Hymie]

Hi SB, I recently removed mine twice due to noise in the cab,(1991 vintage Hymer B564) once to scope out the problem and once to carry out the repairs.

If yours is still the original part the top will be a piece of 8 ply with a sub-frame of 4 ply and some large slabs of sound deadening foam under this.

There are (should be) a lot of screws involved so take a picture with your phone to remind you how to refit it the carpet/top cover, a container to hold all the screws, I used one with 3 separate compartments to keep the 3 types of screw/fittings seperate.

After removing the carpet you should have a set of screws in metal collars holding down the demister, remove these and that should leave the screws holding down the ply.

Thie whole thing is very heavy and cumbersome so you may need someone else to help you lift it off and out of the door, but before you do this there is a a large plastic circular clip underneath holding up the heater pipe, lifting gently should allow access to undo this, if not undo it through the engine bay cover.

If yours has dropped, (mine hadn't) you may want to measure the the width/depth and obtain a replacement board before you start removal so it is ready to cut using the original as the template.

I managed to re-attach the foam and both boards were in good condition so I did not need to replace them.

After I had repaired everything I cleaned off all the old mastic on both the board and the top of the engine bay, laid down a good bed of heat resistant guttering mastic (not a glue type in case I need to remove it again, and screwed it back in to place.

While refitting the windscreen demister setup I put a screw in the centre where both halves join to eliminate any squeaking from this.

Job done, and we can now have a normal conversation while driving without having to shout at each other, the drop in noise levels was staggering.

Before refitting the carpet I took the opportunity to run the cabling for the dash cam and the sat nav beneath the carpet giving a much tidier look.

I hope this helps, if you need any more info give me a shout.

Hymie

 

[Cleve]

Thank you for your post Hymie, when I get back from my travels in Helen at the beginning of September I will look at replacing mine. No problem with rot or anything but it is impossible to hear the radio once on the move. Conversation was also limited driving into Andorra so I imagine any sound proofing has died and gone away long ago (she is 34 years old). I will add another informative to your post.

Clive

 

[The Spongebobs]

Thanks to you all, it sounds an easy task and well worth having a go rather than paying out for someone to repair. The central piece and drivers side seems to be okay but like one member has said it could be down to condensation. We do get condensation at times on the windscreen and think the nearside has rotted.

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