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Amazing work. I've done some body and interior work to mine. I've wanted to restore mine for awhile but it seems like an all or nothing sort of job.
Yeah, it's pretty all or nothing! I'm currently doing my best to ignore how rotten the subfloor probably is. I'm at a phase in the project where I really just want to get stuff buttoned back up and working so that I can enjoy it and spend time getting it dialed in as we camp in it. Since I'm a little restless, I'm starting to do some work that is a little sloppy. Here is what my temporaryish solution to plugging the holes created by the oven and oven hood vents:
Two pieces of aluminum sheeting with wooden frames. I painted the wood with a couple coats of topside boat paint after sealing them with spar varnish. There is a thick bead of window/door seal silicon under the edge. It looks alright, but it will be interesting to negotiate when I do paint on the coach body.
For mold sake I want to rip out the carpet in mine and put in hardwood. easier to sweep can clean. A throw rug for comfort that can be taken out and stored separate.
That's probably a better idea than carpet. Composite or hardwood (actual wood might be pretty heavy, though) were what I was initially planning on, but I eventually decided on a durable office style carpet. It will help quiet the ride and will feel nicer on bare feet in the mornings. Of course, it won't be nearly as easy to clean and any water issues will be compounded by having carpet. We'll see how we feel about the carpet decision in a few years, after we've had some time to grind dirt and sand into it!
I use an outdoor carpet with rubber backing on the linoleum floor of my trailer. Still needs to be vacuumed rather than swept and still soaks up spills, but it can be easily replaced or thrown away if you decide you don't want carpet, instead of doing a more permanent carpet install. So you're thinking along the same lines phycotron.
Jason I'll be interested to hear how that fridge works for you. That vent doesn't allow a lot of airflow. I've done more work to the fridge in my camper than anything else, and 90% of the cooling issues stem from poor airflow.
I use an outdoor carpet with rubber backing on the linoleum floor of my trailer. Still needs to be vacuumed rather than swept and still soaks up spills, but it can be easily replaced or thrown away if you decide you don't want carpet, instead of doing a more permanent carpet install. So you're thinking along the same lines phycotron.
Jason I'll be interested to hear how that fridge works for you. That vent doesn't allow a lot of airflow. I've done more work to the fridge in my camper than anything else, and 90% of the cooling issues stem from poor airflow.
We'll see about the fridge. It's just a two way fridge (12v and 110v) so there is no propane to heat things up too much. If it becomes necessary, I'll probably add a little 12v cooling fan (like those used in computers) and switch to the space behind the refrigerator.
Last weekend we got about a day and a half of work in and got dangerously close to reinstalling the windows and some of the interior. I also spent a lot of time tracking down and replacing some burnt wiring from a long ago short, installing a new
for the house battery (so that the alternator will charge the starting battery first, and then the aux battery), and making a plan for the electronic accessories. Here is a picture of me figuring out where everything is going to go and how the walls will meet the bed and dinette.
The 5 inch foam cushions and bed are really going to be the best feature of this camper.
What kind of fridge? I know they make new compressor fridges that are a lot more efficient. The old camper fridges were meant to use ac when plugged in, dc when driving. Dc was really just meant to provide some cooling while you drive, but isn’t really adequate on hot days and very quickly drains the battery.
But you’re right, without gas, it won’t produce as much heat.
Looking good! That’s going to be a really nice camper.
What kind of fridge? I know they make new compressor fridges that are a lot more efficient. The old camper fridges were meant to use ac when plugged in, dc when driving. Dc was really just meant to provide some cooling while you drive, but isn’t really adequate on hot days and very quickly drains the battery.
But you’re right, without gas, it won’t produce as much heat.
Looking good! That’s going to be a really nice camper.
Who knows what kind of fridge this is! I don't see any manufacturer on it anywhere, but it could totally be original. Works well on both 12 and 110 (which has been keeping beer cold in the garage). I think it'll be sort of a glorified cooler for us, but having the option to plug into power at campgrounds is nice. Here are a couple of shots of it. It needs a good bath, to be sure:
I've been using it as a table for working on the house battery wiring, and also to chill beer.
So, we made some great progress last weekend. We routed around a burnt wire from an old short, installed a little accessory fuse box, ensured that all wiring had sufficient grounds, installed the walls and windows, fitted some interior panels, and prepped the floor for carpet. Next on the agenda is carpet (I've been saying this for weeks), and then everything sort of falls together. This is like the most complicated jigsaw puzzle ever.
This is the first wall that we got mounted! Very pleased with the cheap LED lights I snagged off of Ebay.
This second wall was a bear, since I had to pull it out a bunch of times to add braces and make cuts to fit the dinette.
A sample of the old aux battery wiring that was giving me nightmares. I cut out as much as I could reasonable access and then taped the harness back up, but none of this old burnt wiring is still in use, thank goodness.
Needs a bit more tidying up, but am pretty happy with this setup.
New fancy pants isolator. Will need to upgrade to a bigger size if we ever put in a bigger house battery.
This is from the above cab area looking back, Just a sample of how much fiddling is involved with getting this all to come together.
Last edited by Jason Hess; 09-17-2019 at 09:11 AM.
Reason: Spacing
I have no idea about the fridge. I would guess either Dometic or Norcold, but who knows. Looks like it's not the ammonia, absorption style fridge I've become so familiar with, so...who knows. Might do better on 12v. My advice is watch the draw closely (or see if it actually states the amps or something on the back somewhere). My trailer fridge would drain my battery in just a few hours on 12v. Works great on 120. Or check out (if you haven't already) toyotamotorhome.org. There are a lot more old Chinooks over there and someone probably knows for sure about that fridge and whether it will be ok on 12v when you aren't driving. There's also a Yahoo Toyota Chinook group but then you need a yahoo email account, and it's a fairly clunky forum, though full of knowledge.
We finally did carpet! Here are some pictures of the rig with carpet in the coach. Getting the dinette fully wired, screwed down, and hooked up is a little tedious, but we're almost done. We even have a maiden voyage scheduled for late October!
Wish us luck in our final push to the finish (for the interior, at least).
Spreading floor contact adhesive/glue. Weird goopy white stuff.
Trim screws under the stair edging to better hold up the carpet on the step.
A small roll of this wood appearance vinyl was in the Chinook when we got it. We're using it, at least temporarily, in the entrance way. I'll eventually put a strip of quarter round between the floor and carpeting.
A shot of the cabinets all sitting in place. Though it won't be necessary, I might add a knob to the faux drawer under the sink, just for symmetry.
Two of the supports I added to the dinette.
This fan blows at two speeds.
This little inverter will help us charge laptops on the go.
Utility power outlet on the left and dual usb outlet on the right. The USB socket has a battery voltmeter in it to help us keep track of the house battery. (The battery has been sitting on a concrete garage floor, so it's a little low right now.) Pretty cool little tool!
I bought a usb plug-in battery monitor, and it was one of the best (and cheapest) things I've bought for my trailer in a long time. The stove hood has a built in system monitor to tell me how full my tanks and battery are, but the battery monitor was way off. Having something show the actual voltage is really, really nice.
I bought a usb plug-in battery monitor, and it was one of the best (and cheapest) things I've bought for my trailer in a long time. The stove hood has a built in system monitor to tell me how full my tanks and battery are, but the battery monitor was way off. Having something show the actual voltage is really, really nice.
I do like the idea of having some basic info on those levels. I've also got a propane splitter with a built in gauge that will feed to the stovetop and a Buddy Heater. It will take some trial and error to see how accurate it all is.
A bunch of steps forward and a face palm mistake. So, we are on the home stretch with the interior. Still need to secure the canvas, rebuild the door lock, complete the wood paneling, and a few other small projects, but it's close.
After taking a shot of the bed fully installed, we went to start it to give the motor a little exercise. I try to do this once per week, but I have neglected it since installing the new battery isolator and accessory fuse box. When I turned the ignition there was nothing. Headlights worked fine, but turning the key didn't even bring a starter solenoid click. I must have cut the ignition switch circuit when I removed and wired around some burnt wiring. So it goes. I've since tracked down the proper wiring diagram and see what I did wrong. The first thing on my agenda next weekend it to make it start with some fresh 10 gauge wire. The lower water hose is leaking, too, because of course it is. It's the only component in the cooling system that we hadn't replaced. I've got a new one on the way.
Washed up the original propane tank. When I removed the old regulator a small bit of gas pressure was released -- a good sign that it still holds pressure fine, even after sitting for years. I hope to give it a good sanding and new paint in the spring. Tracking down all of the right fittings for the propane setup has been interesting and a bit complicated.
Hand pump sink and stainless sink in place. The sink drain was completely clogged, partly with two bullets.
A shot of the interior as it is now. Still needs a bit of quarter round here and there, a storage unit to the right, and a curtain to cover the space under the sink. Pretty happy with how it all looks in place.
Found these great little crates that slip perfectly under the bed.
Last edited by Jason Hess; 10-02-2019 at 08:26 AM.
Glad you tracked down the electrical issue pretty quick. Those can be tough...
Will you get that propane tank re-certified? My Chinook had a bolted in place, horizontal tank. Quite a few propane shops didn't know what to make of it, and one insisted I remove it and stand it upright, or he wouldn't fill it, even though it said right on the tank to only fill horizontally. Seems only the old timers or people too clueless to know any better are the only ones with no issue filling those old tanks.
I don't believe that these horizontal tanks need to be certified. I think that once I paint it I won't have any issues getting it filled, but we'll see. I'm hoping that the new regulator and its basic cleanliness will instill confidence in whoever we ask to fill it. I'll be trying to get it filled at a local gas station sometime soon, so I'll let you know how that goes. That's funny that someone told you to turn it vertical!
08-27-2019, 01:08 PM
