1988 Born Free President

[Little Lion]

Hello dear BF Fellows und Club Members!
I would like to introduce me and my BF: I am 36 years old,living in Germany near Düsseldorf and i am a huge fan of US (Classic Cars and Motorhomes) My parents and me own several classics, most of them restored by my dad and me.Among other things a 67 Mustang,69 Riviera, three AMC Pacer Last Summer my dad got a 89 Chevy Winnebago (MinniWinni) 6.3 Diesel in used but very original condition and we drove it 2000 km from Spain to our home in germany, without any issues!
A few days ago i found the above mentioned 88 BF, 24 ft, also with a Diesel, in a very good (technical) condition, 65 000 miles, 1. owner. This owner, a 87 old german guy, moved 30 years ago to New Jersey and came over to Germany once a year where his BF was waiting in the garage. Then he drove it to Italy for holidays. Now he sold it because of his age and illness.
I bought it yesterday and have seen it yet only on photos.. Tomorrow i ll fly to Munich and come back with the BF 700 km to my home..that s the plan at least
If this will work out properly i will have to do a lot of work on my BF and that leads to my questions i would like to post here.
-The BF has this large and nice panorama Window at the front. This window and the small side windows have a problem with the sealing. -Does anybody knows if i can get new sealings somewhere? Or do i have to glue the windows in with a liquid sealant?
What about other parts you need for a restoration of a BF? The Company is down, which is a desaster!, and this makes the situation even more difficult.

Last but not least: Has anybody experience with a modification of the transmission? Commonly these old trannys will need an Overdrive, perhaps one from Gear Vendor?

Anyway, i am looking forward to get your comments and opinions

Best regards from Germany,

Florian

[stevek]

Welcome to the Leap'n Lions. Glad you are here.
I am not sure of the front widow.
But on the side window, I would remove it and reseal it with something like this.
If it was me.

[Roger H]

Welcome, Florian! Glad you found us!!! You're quite the intrepid explorer taking on a Born Free restoration in Germany!

I had a 2001 23' rear kitchen and it had the smaller top window in the cap. That window leaked as well, but it used a window seal similar to an old windshield rubber seal, and I used NAPA windshield sealant on that one and it worked great. I really don't know, though, how those earlier windows were sealed. I'd suspect that the burtyl tape shown above might be the best stuff to try until you can figure something else out.

[Little Lion]

Dear Steve, dear Roger,

thank you very much for your replies and help.

Unfortunately things changed completely. When i was there to pick up the Born Free i had to realize that the seller had lied to me in several important points: The Front Window was cracked and bend over the half of it s size, also the part of the roof where it meets the window! Several parts of the body had been damaged by accidents in the past and still had serious cracks.. One top window was missing and obviously since a few month the rain came through it into the front cabin..It looked horrible inside.
Last but not least, it has not been rust free as described..
In the end i did not buy it. Even 6000 € are too much for it.

This has been a real bad day for me but i will keep on searching for a better Born Free RV. I am fascinated by them.

I wish you all a good ride and lots of fun with your RV´s.

Best regards

Florian

[randallrae]

There is a couple , I think from Germany , who bought a Born Free here . They travel here in the spring , and then travel the country until fall . I don't know if they still do this , but they used to store it here in Las Vegas where I store mine .

[bcope01]

Very irritating that some people are so dishonest in their advertising.

Bill