Jump to content

'78 Chinook Newport rebuild


krj

Recommended Posts

Well its bugun. The '78 Chinook Newport isn't the perfect unit (as Baja said, the lines are a little dated), but it was a good deal and I think it will be a good intro project.

Completely gutted her last weekend. I'm in the planing stages now and am open to suggestion. I drew up the floor plan on AutoCad and once I figure out to get said drawing over here, I will. Hope to lift her off the frame this weekend. Also have to go look at an '84 4x4 as a potential transplant rig. Needs an engine rebuild but I think I can get it for under $500.

Is anyone out there familiar with the Chinook Newport? I'm kind of curious as to the original layout. I'm also looking for info on the door latch system. Mine came with an "aftermarket" kit; a carrage bolt and nut on the bottom and an ill fitted dead bolt on the upper door.

Always, all info and help is appreciated. Kevin

P.S. Just tried attaching a couple of pics and, as is my experience, the 'browse' box goes blank and I get nothing. Son-Of-A! Any suggestions? I really like all the thumbnails folks put in their posts. How do I do that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got around to lifting the camper off. Took a little figuring, but I finally rigged up a system so I could pull off the camper & put it on a trailer for mobility. Could have had a neighbor lift it with a tractor but I didn't want to rely on others whenever I want move it. Will also be used to yank the engine of the '84 4x4 I scored for $400. Next step stripping the rear of the truck and rebuilding the engine. Oh yeah, & trying to get all the paint ball paint off the truck! Anyone have any suggestions on that, power washer didn't touch it.

post-3216-12577815927993.jpg

post-3216-12577816148438.jpg

post-3216-12577816257554.jpg

post-3216-1257781633794.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Its been awhile and there has been some progress, not as much as I'd hoped, but some nun the less. Some better pics as well.

As I said in a post from last fall, I did get the coach off the truck and it now sits in my yard on an old snowmobile trailer. Ironically, the trailer it resides on was built the same year as the Chinook, 1978.

First step was the anchor point. I didn't have any exposed beams or truss' in the shop so I used timber bolts and lags to attach an LVL to the scissor truss'. I spanned 5 truss' with the LVL and used metal strapping as washers to tie it all together. For an attachment point I wrapped climbing webbing around the LVL 3 times.

post-3216-12755334344905_thumb.jpg

In the first attempt at lifting the coach I used an old block and tackle set up and climbing rope. Didn't work so well. The rope had too much stretch in it and the block and tackle, as well as the strapping system around the camper, took up too much room vertically. It also didn't give me the mechanical advantage I was hoping for.

post-3216-12755350589744_thumb.jpg

To get rid of the rope stretch I switched to steel cable and to increase my lifting distance I got rid of the block and tackle and changed the strapping system.

post-3216-12755354062567_thumb.jpg

I hooked a cum-a-long to my boat trailer (anyone want to buy a 1993 MasterCraft Prostar 190?) and used that to lift the coach. You can also see the steel bar that spans the width of the camper. Lifting from the center of this reduced pinch on the camper and gave me more verticle distance to play with.

Here's the hoisting process.

post-3216-12755359578992_thumb.jpg

And after I drove the truck out from underneath.

post-3216-12755360018843_thumb.jpg

This winter I spent rebuilding the engine on the 4x4 I bought to put the camper on. Slow process as I've been doing it on a time and money basis. Getting close to being done with that stage, waiting on a new exhaust manifold and still need to rebuild the carb. I'll throw some pics of that process up sometime.

Also just finished turning the 2wd truck into a flatbed with a soft top.

post-3216-12755366089317_thumb.jpg

Once that sells I'll have some money to continue the 4x4 project.

Thanks for the recent interest. I'll keep posting as progress happens. Tent camping in the rain this past weekend has rekindled the fire!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice tall garage! I'm liking the lines of the shell more now that I see it stripped of the old truck. Lifting the cab through the windows as you did with that bar seems the best and only method. Toyoguy (Paul) and myself did the same. Toyoguy went a bit more hightech than your bar and my 2x8's :lol:

Those windows appear to be on a slight slant from being plumb? If so, you're going to have to take extra time in sealing those up (especially the bottom).

Fun looking flatbed. I almost did something with my old truck as well only because it had such low miles. I ended up just giving it to the local junkyard (so basically I paid $1500 bucks for a Sunrader shell that I cut into pieces!.. lol) Well I did get one trip to the tip of baja out of it before junking the truck so all wasn't lost. Those old 20r's are great little engines!

Just curious what the overall shells dimensions are? More specific, what is the length from the pass through cutout to the rear of the camper? Looks about the same as mine now (8ft).

How's that overhead bunk for headroom? Looks a bit shorter than the sunrader, but considerable more headroom than the chinook popup? A larger window on the side/s of that overhead would be nice. Especially if you opt to fill in those front windows!

Well hope you earn some $$ over the summer so you can at the least get your shell on your new truck. Going to be a fun camper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

This project has found a new home. Kevin was nice enough to pass on this project to me. I will not be getting to this project till late this year or early next but here is a link to the build thread. Thanks Kevin!

enjoy!

http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4576&hl=%2Bnewport+%2B4x4

http://s1161.photobucket.com/user/galvanizedknight/media/ChinookToyota4x4NewportOmegaProjectBuild_zpsa4984dcc.jpg.html'>ChinookToyota4x4NewportOmegaProjectBuild

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...