TacomaSue

In my part of the world, some of the best coffee is Vashon Ferry Coffee, best made and poured immediately into a large 2 qt thermos and shared with friends---7 cups freshly brewed hot coffee + 3/4 cup kahlua + 3/4 cup dark rum and a little vanilla extract. This is about 1 1/2 tablespoons kuklua and 1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum per cup of coffee if you want to make it by the cup or in smaller portions. I personally like to add a small dollop of whipped cream.... This is especially tasty on drizzly days, of which we have many or when the wind is howling.

Wayne and Irene: You do such a great job organizing the Vancouver Isl Rallies. The Vancouver Isl Rallies have been great fun and it would be wonderful to see everyone again this year. Almost anytime this summer works for me: I prefer the end of June, the first couple weeks of July or anytime in Sept. I cannot be there July 25-28 or the last week of August. Looking forward to hearing from others. Sue

This is totally amazing. Good job. Sue

You think Montana will be thawed out sufficiently to go anywhere the end of February? That's a good idea about cutting your own cup holders. s

Zach: I found the square-type melmac dishes in white at the local Dollar Store (I think that the large plates were $1 each and the smaller ones and bowls 2/$1 ) and round white melmac at KMart. KMart seems to have a more reliable stock. None of the melmac dishes are microwave safe, if you use a microwave. I like Corelle, but the caution is that if you drop it, it does not break---it shatters into billions of pieces that seem to go everywhere and it takes (what seems like) weeks to clean up. I will drink morning coffee out of anything, but I enjoy it most in glass or china cups (fussy, huh?) so I've looked long and hard to no avail for light-weight stackable cups (to save space)---always something. Sue

Hi Donnie: I do not have a Chinook, but a Sunrader Adventure pop top. It also has a cord on the inside that pulls the canvas in when the top is lowered. I purchased bungee cord to replace the original at the local Ace Hardward store. They had several reels of different weights of bungee cord, sold by the foot. It was pretty inexpensive. The one I got is about 1/8-inch (3mm). I do not know if the color of bungee cords means anything---this is white. So far, it has worked well. Sue

I were going camping with a group of Westies, or better yet, Sprinter Vans or Mercedes, I would put a Westy or Mercedes decal on the front...... fit right in.....and be one of the group. Sue

By the time I read all the way through this thread, I was laughing so hard I could hardly sit on the chair. Stamar, you sure do not listen! You are one stubborn, thick-headed ___________ ! Attached are 2 pictures of the 1977 Bandit that I used to own. When I purchased it there were the shipping orders from Japan to the manufacturer Bonanza Motor Coach. The mechanism for raising and lowering the Bandit pop-top is somewhat different than the Westfalia as I remember checking them out at the time. The top was very easy to pop up on the Bandit. The 1977 Bandit had 2 windows...later models, like in the picture you posted, had only one window. BTW the little 1977 Bandit is still on the road and the new owner made a 6000 mile trip last year. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the lift mechanism, but if you want more pictures of the Bandit, please send me a pm and I will send you a whole set. Sue

This is very well done. It lightens up the interior a great deal. Thanks for posting. I'm interested to know the brand of 12V cooler that you have added. I have a 12V cooler that I am not entirely happy with.

Yes, it was a short visit for me on Vancouver Isl.... So good to see everyone, though. I cannot do the mechanical, but have enjoyed the interior work---learning as I go. This forum and the pictures members have posted have all been very helpful. Sue

The $.69 cabinet latch. This is a simple solution for securing cabinet doors that has worked well. When I rebuilt the cabinets in the Adventure, I used IKEA full-extension drawers inside the cabinets. These drawers slide easily and are heavy when fully-loaded. I’ve been afraid they would fly open if I hit a bump or rounded a curve too sharply. After deciding against using many different types of latches, I made an inexpensive spring-loaded latch that has proven to secure the cabinet doors. Materials: a 1 x 3 1/2-inch piece of wood (left-over cabinet wood door), a 3 1/2 -inch carriage bolt, a 1 1/2-inch spring, a couple of washers, and a couple of nuts. I drilled a hole through the wood piece and cabinet frame (slightly larger than the carrage bolt), pushed the carriage bolt through the 3/8" plywood strip and the cabinet frame and on the inside of the cabinet, put a washer, the spring, another washer, and two nuts. The spring was quite stiff, but could be squeezed more than the 3/8-inch thinkness of the cabinet door. The latch blends in with the cabinets and locks the heavy cabinets in place. The pictures show the latch unlocked and locked for travel, and the parts---$.69 for the carriage bolt and spring---the nuts and washers were out of my extras bin.

Where did you get the channel slides for the table? I had a similar set-up on another motorhome and really liked it, but was not able to find metal for the slides. My current motorhome had no table when I brought it home. I purchased a 4x4-foot piece of 3/4” oak plywood at Lowe's. It had been damaged on one edge so it was less than 1/2 price. I cut it to fit the space and finished with it with several coats of polyurethane. I used a marine table stand for the base so that I did not have to drill through the floor.

What a lot of work! Thanks for posting. Hope you take time to enjoy and that your maiden voyage goes well.

Hi. Welcome to the Forum. I saw the ad that was posted in Missoula and it looked like that Sunrader Adventure was in excellent condition and with low mileage! I am so excited that someone purchased that Adventure who is really going to love it. I had driven an '86 Sunrader before I purchased this one and I have found the lower top easier to drive and park. I love the big rear door and backing into a site with a nice view and opening the whole rear door and sipping some beverage. What I wish I knew before about the Adventure...... There are some small things: I previously owned a 1977 Bandit and the windows in the coach were much bigger. I miss the larger windows especially on the passenger side when driving. I believe that the pop top on your Adventure has a hand crank and that makes it much easier to raise the top than mine which I push up. I've reworked much of the interior to fit my own quirks so it works pretty well for me although I am still making little adjustments (a never-ending process). It would be great to get together some time to compare notes---will you be in the Seattle area anytime soon or maybe in E Washington half way between Seattle-Tacoma and Missoula? Sue

Are you planning to go all electric? Solar?

Derek: Thanks for the link to the photobucket. I did not save it when it was up before. Gregor: If you PM me with an address, I will mail you a sample of the trim that I used to replace the original trim around the top. I will also send you the name and address of the auto fabric company that I ordered the trim from. You might also be able to order it from All-trim http://www.all-rite.com I checked with several places around town and no one here seemed to have it. As Karin has pointed out, a boat canvas repair place may have it. I did not check with any of them. I like the look of the replaced trim, but I believe the trim may be more for looks and protecting the rough edge of the fiberglass top than for protecting the motorhome from leaks. When I purchased mine in CA, I could push the top up with no problem, but after a week of rain in Washington, I could barely push the top up by myself. What I learned was that one of the previous owners had installed a vent on the roof which leaked. The water did not drip into the inside of the motorhome. The water ran through a couple of screw holes on the vent flange and into the foam that is sandwiched between the exterior and interior fiberglass of the roof. After the foam dried out, I sealed the vent and I can now push the top up pretty easily.

Yep. Replacing the canvas would be almost impossible so anything you can do to waterproof it would be better. The product that Karin suggested would likely be a very good choice. I had to unscrew the canvas in spots on the top edge to remove old headliner and it was difficult. The headliner and the canvas must have been put onto the top before the top was put on the rig---while the top was upside down and on the floor. I would rather have had zippers around my screen flaps as the velcro that holds the flaps in place is not working well. It was sewn on to both the flap and the main body of the canvas. Fixing the velcro is still toward the bottom of the long list of things that I want to fix or that really must be repaired. Wiring and rewiring is one of the on-going problems as connectors are failing and previous owners did odd things. There are photos on a couple of Sunrader Adventure pop tops at Yahoo Toyota Mini-Motorhome Group . One is by dutch and titled 87 Sunrader Pop Top. This one shows the most factory original. The other picture is by bobs92504 and is titled Sunrader Adventure II. Sue

Gregor: Is your canvas just canvas on the exterior of the poptop? On my Sunrader p t, the exterior of the canvase is coated with a plastic-like material that is waterproof. Velcro strips rather than zippers hold the canvas covers over the screens in the canvas top. I scrubed both the inside and the outside of the canvas last year and the outside looks almost brand new. You can see what I have done to my Sunrader in the thread Adventures with the Adventure in the section on Improvements you have made... In addition, I replaced the seats in the cab with seats from an SR5. Sue

Gregor: I have a 1986 Sunrader PopTop and feel like I just found a long-lost relative. I thought I was the only one on this forum with a Sunrader PopTop. My '86 does not have the crank system for lifting the top; it is all muscle power. I looked into installing a gas struts to assist with raising the top and finally decided it was not worth it. It would be really difficult to secure the struts and I had considerable other work to do to make it comfortable for me. I have not had the PT Rader out in heavy wind. I would guess that while it would hold up fairly well, it would be pretty drafty as the wind would likely blow the screened vents open. Welcome to the forum. Sue

Thanks so much for the video! Very nice... I like your camper. I attached some picture. The rear hatch door is solid without the extra door. The window is supposed to be an egress window, but it has long been sealed. Originally, the door was held up by a 7' pole placed on the ground and centered on the bottom edge of the door. The weight of the door (approximately 35-40 pounds) held the pole in place as long as you did not bump it. The previous owner added a modification to hold the door open. The brace, an aluminum tube, is attached to the inside of the door by a swivel. The other end of the aluminum tube has a rubber table leg end (or cane end) and fits into a u-shaped holder on the exterior of the Adventure. The swivel allows the brace to swing around and clip into a bracket on the inside of the door when the door is closed. (There is a similar brace for the passenger side, but it is off right now.) I have looked into replacing the current set-up with gas struts to make it easier to use. There is not a good place to attach the strut to the inside wall of the rig without extensive bracing. And the strut needs to be quite long to work well. There are pictures on the Toyota Camper site of showing the addition of struts to a hatch-back Toyota Motorhome. He put two struts together end to end. After looking at struts and thinking about sizes and installation, I did not think that it would work for me. You may be able to add struts on yours because all the brackets that hold the braces are inside the motorhome. Sue

I am interested to know more about the brackets that hold the rear camper door open. Are they gas struts or some other type of telescoping arms? Thanks. Sue

You're right--- $800 is cheap and a great deal--if not rusted out. On my Adventure, the refrigerator vent is on the other side so I was curious about interior layout and whether the stove and ref were together in one kitchen area. One of the Adventures that I have only seen in pictures had no toilet/shower facilities. Interesting about the do-it-your-self interior Chinooks. Sue

Currently, I think that I am the only one on this Forum who has an Adventure. I've worked on cleaning up the interior and fixing all the leaks that appeared after the move from dry CA to rainy WA. Too bad there aren't pictures of the interior and the other side of the rig to get a better sense of the condition. Mine is very nice to drive and holds road well better than my '77 Bandit did. Sue

Hi Wayne and Irene---Great Van Isle Organizers: I have all of last year's leaks fixed...(hope PT doesn't spring any new ones before the rally). Planning to attend where ever you have it on Van Isl. It would be great to see everyone. Living Forest is a really lovely area and I'd go there again in a flash. My friends from N Saanich just spent a couple of days here and they suggested Riverman Falls Park. I googled the area and while the park is beautiful, the pictures of RV parks around there were stark and bare looking, some had limited hook-ups. The end of June works for me although the threat of rain is greater. A second choice would be after the first of September. The later date may not work for families with children in school. It would be nice to get it nailed down soon. Sue--with PT Rader (pop top Sunrader)

Thanks for sharing....looks like a lot of fun memories with friends and family. Did you glue the project board into the cabinet frame or does the board fit tight enough to stay in place without nails or screws? Sue