naganthunter

Thanks Don! I appreciate you taking the time to answer before you were properly caffeinated!!

Thanks so much! Like I said, I don't know that I would use that product for the cabinets if I had it to do over again. We'll see how well the product holds up to the rigors of camping. We really like the floor plan. The u-shape that I've put in will be much more comfortable for the kids while we're driving down the road, and it will make for more comfortable sleeping as well.

Perspective.

Hey All, I've been really, really happy to have found this forum. I haven't asked a lot of questions here as the search feature seems to answer every one I've had! I wanted to share my progress... First of all, when I bought this, I didn't want another project. Unfortunately, it's become one. On it's face, the camper was in good condition when I bought it. I knew that I was going to want to resurface the cabinets and put in a new floor. The prior owner had only had it a couple of months. He'd bought it for the rear dinette setup - but really wanted a u-shape in the back. He ended up finding what he wanted and put this one up for sale. When I went to buy this one, he had two sitting side-by-side. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that the prior owner couldn't have known what lurked below - neither did I. When I got it home, the very first thing that happened was that the roof leaked - badly. It destroyed the ceiling inside of the camper. I had inspected the roof when I went to buy the camper. It had a lot of sealant on it, but I didn't see any water damage inside. I figured that I could get around to fixing that at my leisure. That ended up turning into a 2 month job where I replaced all of the roof components with the exception of the AC. I scraped, sanded, cleaned, and eternabonded the roof a la Back East Don's posts. What a pain in the neck. I still need to get the coolseal up there, but I have been busy on the inside since I rendered it watertight. When I started to pull up the flooring, I found that there had been a lot of other water intrusion. That required a whole lot of dryrot removal and rebuilding. I decided that since I needed to rip everything out of the rear of the camper to fix the problems that I'd just build in a u-shaped dinette as it would be a better fit for my family. So - here are the photos. I love looking at photos of people's work. My wife calls it my "porn." BEFORE: As you can see, it looks pretty nice. The cabinets however had been slopped with polyurethane and needed fixing. The floor was peel and stick parquet - and I am not a fan of parquet. WORK IN PROGRESS: I didn't take any photos of the roof work. But, since I had all of the roof vents off it provided easy access for me to be able to run wires for updated electrical, lighting and AV stuff. You can see the wires hanging out of the ceiling. Then I found the rest of the problems on the floor. I found that the battery door on the driver's side and the propane door on the passenger side were the culprits of the leaking in addition to a roof leak that had run down the rear corner on the driver's side. Both of the side doors were poorly installed at the factory. An undetectable leak waiting to happen - and had been happening probably since the mid 90's. Upon discovery, the language may not have been safe for a sailor. Tearing the inside out was not what I had planned to do: After the dryrot removal I had to put in a new floor and built the bottom for the u-shape dinette. I gained a lot of extra storage here. I installed some outdoor speakers and motion sensing porch light: I also installed a microwave over the stove. The camper was wired for one over the sink, but that cabinet is very large and my wife wanted to keep it for kitchen stuff. Happy wife, happy life. The microwave was rewired and installed on the other side: I refinished the cabinets using Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformation product. It was A LOT of work. I am only marginally happy with the results. They look better than they did, but not as good as they should have with the amount of work that went into them. If I had it to do over again, I'd have just used my sprayer with a good paint. I'm also a little concerned with the durability of the product for RV use. I've also installed a headliner on the ceiling after repairing the damage from the leak. I've still got a lot of work to do, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I quit counting how much money I've spent as I think it would make me ill. My wife and I are dying to get it back out on the road. All of the help I've found here has gone a long way toward getting it finished, so thank you all!!

Hey everyone. First of all, sorry for the large photos. I can't resize them. I just purchased this weather station for the Toy. The AC adaptor output shows 5vDC at 150mA. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PKU3LEW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I want to hardwire it in to the 12v system. While it will run on AAA batteries, in that mode the display only lights up when you push a button. I would imagine I need to step the 12v down to 5v for the unit? If that's correct, would something like this work? It shows it will stepdown to 5v 3a. Is the 3a a maximum rating, or will it always pull 3a? Am I on the right track? Other suggestions? I want to keep power consumption low. I know the best way to keep consumption low would be not to include this - but I like gizmos. Thanks in advance. https://www.amazon.com/Nextrox-Converter-Power-Supply-Module/dp/B00A71CMDU/ref=sr_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1469896482&sr=1-4&keywords=12v+to+5v

Amen!! Especially since she's just as excited about the project as I am!! She is eager to help, but there's just not enough room in there for two people to work on two separate projects without tripping all over each other.

I've been slowed by an awful lot of heat and humidity lately on the Toyota project. I was complaining the other night about how it was just too dang hot inside of that motorhome to get any work done in it. I step in and I'm immediately cooked. My wife asked me one simple question: Doesn't it have an air conditioner? OMG. I feel incredibly stupid. I fired up the AC (after making the unfinished connections safe and only turning on the AC breaker). Imagine that, after 30 minutes it's the most comfortable place to be inside of or outside of my house!!! Maybe now I can get some stuff done.

Having a Camping World/Good Sam membership is ok to have, provided you have a Camping World near you to shop at. However, you can get along just fine without it. I'm remodeling the interior of my Dolphin, and I would guess that 90-95% of the stuff I've needed has been purchased via Amazon or at Lowes. The Camping World purchases are usually the ones where I'm in the middle of a project and need one small piece that can't wait on shipping. Even with the 30% discount, Amazon is usually a cheaper alternative and they have many, many more choices available. If you're not sure about the Camping World/Good Sam membership due to the cost, I would say spend the money on Amazon Prime membership for free shipping - financially I've found it to be a much better choice.

yeah, a little expensive.

This is not mine, but I know these floorplans are hard to come by. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/rvs/5694583857.html

Hey All, Does anyone know where to start looking for the rear bumper cover - it's this one: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B09z5B2QO-lRTE9NcldxeDlEN00 Mine came without one: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B09z5B2QO-lRcnhaN3kyTGxNeD Thanks in advance!

So do I. I travel a lot as well, which eats into my time to work on the camper. I hope to get out in it as much as you did.

I am in the middle of an interior remodel on mine, which is about 1/4 of the work you're considering. It will take T-I-M-E to do it right. If you're ok with that, I say engines ahead full! If you want something that's done by a certain date, buy one that doesn't need work. It won't be done when you want it. I can almost guarantee that. It's a lot of fun to do - especially when you finish a project and stand back and think: "Dang, that looks really nice" about your work. I've experienced more moments of that than I would have thought. I'm really looking forward to how good it will look when I'm done. In my mind, it will be the best Toyota Motorhome on the road. But I can guarantee you that just about every owner on this forum who has redone his or hers will argue against that! THAT is the fun thing about doing it - it's YOURS. Just the way YOU want it. As a fellow "computer geek" I can tell you that re-doing the coach is cool because I can customize it ahead of all the modern gadgets I'm going to put in. I'll admit that I do get frustrated that it's still not done - I bought it in December and wanted it ready for the summer season. That's not going to happen. I've also spent way, way more money than I thought I would too. I wouldn't trade the time or money back. Best of luck!

I would have chewed him out as well. Don't feel bad.

I hear what you're saying. Shopping is half the fun. I spent nearly a year looking for the right one, and when I found it I realized I missed looking at them. I enjoy working on it, but I really want to get out and USE it. Unfortunately, mine's not there yet. I'll most likely miss the summer camping season. I hope to have it ready in time for this year's desert season.

You must have forgotten the pain that accompanies the work! I'm 6+ months into my "I don't want another project" project.

I just thought someone may be interested in this - it's not my ad: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/rvs/5679658041.html Handmade Full set of Custom curtains for Toyota chinook. Includes throw pillow. Never used. Cost me $600. Made from extremely durable, high quality materials. 7605296904

Just another doo-dad to install in the cockpit. Sigh. Count me in.

Yup. Best idea ever. I was so glad I did this. I discovered sooooo many issues that were causing damage inside the camper. Water takes the path of least resistance, and you'd be surprised about those pathways. Remove and replace everything. Dicor, eternabond tape, more dicor. Mine's so watertight now that if you dropped it in a lake upside down it could double as a boat.

My plan, once I finish the ridiculous remodel I've embarked upon, is to find remote boondocker camping in the high desert near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas. Plenty of free places to camp and get away from the nonsense. Good fishing too in many locations such as Bishop and Lee Vining. I live 1 mile from the beach but still love to camp at some of the local spots. There's nothing like waking up to the roar of the waves. I suppose that's why oceanfront property is only purchased by the filthy rich. I can't wait to get the rig done and back out on the road. The info here has gone a long way towards making that happen. Whether or not it's made it any faster is debatable. I've found too many "oooo that looks nice" ideas here. I shop just stop looking and stick to working. I also need to keep the wife off of Pinterest. That app will be the death of me!!

California is the same way. Beach sites go 6 months in advance - and if you want a specific weekend in the summer, you had better be typing the minute the spots are available. The popular campgrounds can be hard to get into if you don't have any flexibility. On holiday weekends, it's like trying to win a prize on the radio.

Wow. That's awesome. I think I just became strangely excited!

Welcome to the group!! Nice looking rig there! My wife and I bought ours in Santa Cruz, CA and drove it home to San Diego, camping for a couple of nights coming down Highway 1. It's the only trip we've been on since December as I have her all torn apart fixing old problems and updating the interior. This wasn't supposed to be a project for me - now it's become an addiction.

Welcome to the group. Hello, my name is Eric, and I am a recovering Toyotaholic... I am 6 months into my "I don't want a project" camper. So much for that! I have found SOOOO much info here. This is an awesome resource.

I haven't installed it yet, but I am going with a roof-mounted flip-down. I did this in a pop-up I had several years ago, and it worked quite well. http://www.walmart.com/ip/BOSS-AUDIO-BV12.1MCH-12.1in-Flip-Down-Monitor-with-Built-In-DVD-Player/26962939?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=339&adid=22222222227018926028&wl0=&wl1=s&wl2=c&wl3=59502989409&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=92849458809&veh=sem