MontanaChinook

In case any of you were dying to know... I finally got around to changing my oil, and actually looking closely at my engine compartment. I noticed that the tag says "L43". So yeah, somebody swapped in a 5 speed. I pulled out the seats and carpet, and found this. Pretty nice! The old "peel back the floor sheet metal and cover the old hole with an old license plate" method. I like it. The good news is that I have a 5 speed. Bad news is that I know nothing about the mileage. But it shifts smooth, and it's nice and quiet, so I won't worry about it.

Nice fj40 in the background! That's always been my dream vehicle...not so practical, though. But then I guess dream vehicles rarely are...

That IS nice.

It's not stock. I'm guessing that's the confusion? That's an 82 or 83 pickup (square headlights give that away), with a 70's Chinook camper taken off a 2wd.

I guess since we're in the mountains, 2wds are pretty rare. If someone wanted to, they could buy and sell 4wd Loyales and GLs monthly. A friend of mine had three GLs recently. One for parts, the others he was driving.

Make a trip out west someday. They're all over the place!

I see. I'll measure mine this weekend. I can imagine that the first time I camp in hot weather, I'm going to wish it would open...it came from Seattle. Rain central. Doesn't rain so much around here. We get something like 300+ sunny days a year...

Yeah, it's mud city here. 52 and sunny is the forecast for Saturday. Burn baby burn... Yep, getting close! Yeah...that's almost embarrassing, but not really The only place that takes bottles is the transfer station, and only renting my house, I don't have a dump pass. So my recycling builds up for a long time..

Just some more photos before it starts going back together. New converter, other new stuff like tires and insulation, more exterior photos, photo of the infamous rear "fat tire", and the Subaru thrown in just to make JDemaris jealous. Along with the "junk pile". Can't wait to clear that crap out of my garage.

Welllll...what do you mean by roof vent? I'm new to rvs. I have a grey water vent which is just maybe 2" and round. Above the cab-over, there's a sun roof/vent. I'm not there looking at it and haven't measured, but I'd say 14" square would probably describe it. The previous owner got sick of it leaking and sealed it shut. I haven't looked really close to see what all he did, but I think it involved screws, sealant, and who knows what else. I guess it was his 3rd or 4th attemp and damned if that thing was going to drip on him again... Haven't decided if I'm going to get it working and sealed correctly...

A new sunrader just showed up in my town in Montana! You out there??

Alrighty!

No.... I've noticed! I think people always get more than they bargained for when they post questions... Ok, cram I will. Yeah, I would imagine its more of a northwest, Midwest and eastern problem, and not so much in the intermountain west. And honestly, there's NO insulation in there now. Anything is an improvement, and I mostly want to put a radiant barrier in for keeping out heat from the summer sun. A little r value and sound insulation is just a bonus. Though a little added structural stability couldn't hurt... Thanks!

I have an old Coleman three-burner and I love it. Every now and then an old Forest Service cabin I stay in will have a wood cook stove. Always fun and interesting...

Ok. So foil somehow attached to camper fiberglass wall with adhesive. Layer or two of foam right up against that. Then maybe even another layer of foil, attached to the interior panelling. ? Thanks for the input so far!

You aren't going to be rebuilding an engine with a hole in the block. But welcome to the forum! That's a really cool vehicle you bought. Yes, 22R is 22R, any will work.

Is it just me or this forum paaaaiiinnnnfully slow lately? http://www.frugal-mariner.com/Insulating.html Here's what I'm talking about. A boat people live on would get a lot of condensation, right? I'm fairly set on using the insulation I bought, since I've got a bit of money into it...but not if it's just really a bad idea. The searches I've done show more than a few people insulating their rvs with foil, which I know doesn't mean it's the right way to do it, but...

The foil company said to leave an air space on one side of the foil, so I figure it matters. Maybe in the end its not a big deal, but I think the foil people believe that for that insulation to work as a radiant barrier inside a wall, the air space in important. But I'm curious to know more about the facts of insulation, and what to avoid and whats good and bad! I don't really know much. There's a boat thread from another forum that someone posted, and those people went with foil against the inside wall, then foam, then another layer of foam, then the wall. No spaces. So I really have no idea...don't even know if those people knew what they were doing.

Thank you for the suggestion. But...I've spent the money (not an insignificant sum) on radiant barrier (foil) insulation to keep sun heat out, and a roll of foam insulation to add some R value to the insulation. So I'm just trying to figure out the best installation method.

Cast iron is the best. The legs are perfect for cooking with charcoal. Most of the people I met when I first moved out west had old recipes, and they explained the process down to how many pieces of charcoal under the oven, how many on the lid, and more or less the exact placement. I'm thinking for my little Chinook one of those is worth the weight. There's no oven in my rv, so if I want anything baked, one of those Dutch ovens with legs are the only way I'm going to get it. A deep Dutch oven without legs is only good, in my opinion, for trying to recreate, on a burner, the REAL experience and taste of cooking with a Dutch oven over fire coals or charcoal. But that's completely ok, and I even own one. I'm no purist

I have a roll of foil insulation (innovative insulation double bubble radiant barrier), and a roll of thin foam insulation. My walls are out. I plan to put the foil right up against the inside of the rv walls, so it can reflect sunlight. The foil calls for an air space on one side. This is where I'm a little unsure how to proceed...the "wall studs" are only 1"x1" beams. Not much space...and it seems like it'll be kind of hard to "mount" that foam with a gap between it and the foil. So I'm wondering if anyone has ideas? The one thought I've come up with is to actually mount the foam to the underside of the new walls, and just screw right through the wall and foam when I put the walls up. It's just 1/8" squishy foam. Thoughts?

I'll be interested to hear how many have done this. I have a rack on the back of my Chinook, that I remember reading somewhere was specifically NOT for motorcycles...but it would be really nice to be able to put a scooter or light dirt bike on there.

Yeah. People will run something like that or automatic transmission fluid for a few miles or maybe for an oil change (one quart tranny fluid, the rest regular oil) to clean out an engine and maybe try to stop hydraulic lifter sticking...but on an old toyota engine, it would be like switching to synthetic oil...will clean out all the gunk that's been holding leaks back. That's what I hear, anyway.

Ok. Other side? Maybe your engine is different. My alternator is on the drivers side. Doesn't matter. So yeah, probably you also have a power steering fluid leak. Ok, I couldn't tell from your last post that you were talking about past leaks that had been fixed. Good that that area is dry anyway!

Gotta love those east coast engines! Holy rust! We just don't see that kind of corrosion out here. Whether you're looking at you power steering pump or alternator, neither of those is your oil consumption/leaking problem. If power steering, it too could be leaking and causing the oil there. But either it or the alternator could be collecting oil from an engine leak.