1987 Sunline Saturn new owner

oyebetty · 08-09-2020, 10:00 AM

I recently bought a 1987 Saturn and I am in need of a new/used black water tank. (or) Tips on how to fix cracks in the tank, already dropped it.
I also need to find a proper door for this little gem.
Any leads would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

**JohnB** · 08-09-2020, 06:16 PM

Welcome oyebetty!

Congrats on your new Sunny!

On the black tank, they can be repaired, even with monster sized holes in them. Buying a new drop in exact replacement tank is complex and costly. There are places that sell generic tanks that you then have to adapt too. And then there are custom made tanks to fit what you have, they are very costly. First, lets see if you can repair the one you have. That is not that much out of pocket cost, but does take time.

It sounds like you already have the tank out of the camper? yes/no? Any chance of posting pictures of the suspect areas of the leak?

Here are some of the repair methods This is solvent weld method,
https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post150976

Here is the plasti mend method
https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...air-14865.html

Both methods work, but both will need a clean surface to start with. Once we can see what you have, can suggest better options.

The entry door, do you still have the original door, it is just all rotted out? Many have totally rebuilt the original door back to being fully functional at not a lot of out of pocket cost, again time though. If the prior owner changed the door, and you do not have the original door, posting pics can really help us to see what you have and we can suggest some options. We have had some members buy an all new door, that is a "hunt" to find one, but it has been done. The cost can he high with the shipping included, but it is possible.

Hope this helps

John

oyebetty · 08-11-2020, 09:57 AM

John,
Thanks for the response. I am going to try and fix the tank using Icon's holding tank adhesive. I think this had been fixed before but I am not able to tell with what. I am debating if I should try to remove the old patch or just fix over it. Suggestions? I am enclosing a couple of pictures of the tank and the door I wrote about.
This project was initiated by my daughter Becky and her passion for camping when she found the Sunny in almost unsalvageable condition. This camper didn't need a shower as everything leaked when it rained. Most of the interior was rotted requiring a complete gut job and extensive repairs. We are now working on some of the exterior components before we begin to rebuild the interior.
My name is Manny, I am retired special education (autism) school teacher and I am helping my daughter with the project.

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Image 8-11-20 at 11.44 AM.jpg

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songsailor · 08-15-2020, 07:18 PM

Hi Manny,

My wife and I just bought a 1983 Sunline, it too was in pretty rough shape. I spent the last few weeks replacing the front roof rafters, insulation and ceiling. We still have many more repairs to do, but we just took it out on our first camping trip with it and had a great time. We have three kids and have really been trying to get out with them and still stay safe during the pandemic. The camper is great for that.

I had to do some work on our black water tank as well. I used a product called JB weld Plastic Weld. It is short term, (two weeks or so) but so far it is performing very well. Other forum members have used a product called plasti-mend that sounds great as well. The JB weld product happened to be available at my hardware store.

Essentially I ground off the old repair (I got lucky there as it came off easily) and then applied the new material according to the instructions. It looks like you have already taken your tank off completely, so the grinding part may be more convenient for you than my approach of laying underneath the camper.

I hope you are enjoying your retirement project with your daughter. I'm an assistant principal and I know that good special ed teachers are like gold!

Best,
Miles

oyebetty · 08-16-2020, 07:16 AM

Miles,
Thanks for the tips, enjoy your Sunny.
Manny

**JohnB** · 08-17-2020, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oyebetty

John,
Thanks for the response. I am going to try and fix the tank using Icon's holding tank adhesive. I think this had been fixed before but I am not able to tell with what. I am debating if I should try to remove the old patch or just fix over it. Suggestions? I am enclosing a couple of pictures of the tank and the door I wrote about.

Hi Manny,

I would for sure remove all the old repair. Scrape what you can, hand wire brush what you can, and if needed, rotary wire brush to get back to virgin plastic as you can. Even Dremel tool with a cutter bit to dress the cracked area out so you can get to the virgin ABS tank to create a known good bond.

The Icon ABS pellets, these https://www.icondirect.com/holding-t...ve-1-lb-black/

They are good pellets in place of trying to cut and create ABS chips from a pipe fitting etc. to make your solvent weld paste. I would suggest you use the pellets with the ABS solvent weld method I linked above. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post150976

The method above shows all the prep cleaning steps and the need for 3 coats of buildup across 3 days to make it strong enough. Icon says to use the pellets with Acetone, but the ABS cement we linked has a lot a Acetone in it and actual ABS dissolved in it.

I'm not saying to not use the acetone only as Icon is suggesting, I just have no experience with only the acetone like I do the ABS pipe cement. The ABS solvent weld bond done right with enough buildup is strong as the pipe is. Just try and get all the old contaminated repair out of the bond.

Hope this helps and let us know who you make out.

John

**JohnB** · 08-17-2020, 09:48 PM

On the door, this one of yours

I am not totally sure if that is the original, or it was already rebuild and died again. Most entry doors had a window in them.

Here is one post with some pics of his door rebuild. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...ild-14425.html

What is not working right with your door? We have several here on the forum who have rebuilt theirs with good success.

Hope this helps

John

oyebetty · 08-20-2020, 04:11 PM

John once again, thank you.
Luckily my daughter had to go and get her classroom ready for the beginning of school and the project was put on hold. When she returns to our house, looks like she will be teaching virtually, we will re-drop the tank and this time I am going to take it down to the original plastic and use some ABS cement with the beads.
Door will probably wait a while but rebuilding it seems the right way to go.
Good news it has been raining her for a couple of days and all the work we did re-doing all the joints with new butyl, new staples and screws has worked and the camper is completely dry inside.

**JohnB** · 08-21-2020, 09:59 AM

Your welcome Manny.

Good job on your sealing work to fix the leaks you noticed. Sealing up a camper is a for sure need to do task. Especially it is needs to be stored outdoors.

Yes, school is all up in the air here in our area too. This change by the week. Not sure the last they decided, a split virtual and part in class was talked about, but it keeps changing. They delayed the starting date to the end of the month. We shall see how this all plays out.