DaveO Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I am new to the RV community as well as the forum. But I recently purchased a 1983 Sunrader that seem to be in pretty good shape (only rot by passenger side front window). I have removed all paneling and am now left with the cabinet skeletons and appliances in place. This bathroom area has been left untouched as the floor has multiple cracks and is guaranteed not water tight. This has brought me to my current situation. I am a pretty sound mechanic and have done everything from full gasket changes to axle rebuilds and suspension on Jeeps, the same goes for carpentry. I am trying to drop the weight of the vehicle as much as possible. I will be living in the RV full time and working a 9-5 job. I will have money for a gym membership and plan to use the Toilet & shower in emergency situations only. It does get well below freezing and I do not want to deal with the risk of broken plumping (mainly contaminated water). looking for insight & any instruction on the following. Removing: - Toilet - Shower - Sink (bathroom) - All plumbing aside from the kitchen sink - Black water tank (possibly grey water) - Oven Adding: - Fixing cracked bathroom floor - Suburban 3 burner Stovetop - 5 gallon self contained toilet - Pocket Shower (camping style) should I allow this to drain out directly to ground or can this be tied into the grey water tank. - putting a bucket under kitchen sink to catch water I am mainly interested in any feedback on ideas & how hard it is to remove the bathroom components & black water tank from the RV while maintaining the Kitchen sink & hot water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunrading Arkansas Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 For the floor, my K.I.S.S. solution was to sand the floor, use marine epoxy on the crack (or cracks in your case) - allow to cure for 48hrs, sand again, and spray the entire floor with Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy (color: Almond was a good match in my '83). So far it's holding up well and looks great; I had researched the fiberglass solutions from the big orange store and seemed to be a mixed bag at best....just my $.02.I would agree that, if it were me and without knowing the state of disrepair, I'd leave the Black Tank, Grey, and plumbing as is for the same reasons @karincorbin stated.As to the rest, I'm not sure but I seem to remember this gentleman (http://timmystoyota.blogspot.com/) had a cold-weather friendly toilet solution... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphinite no longer here Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 DaveO, Leave the tanks and plumbing in place for now. You can always remove them later after you know for sure that you don't want them. The plumbing is easy to re-do if you find out you want it back in at a later date but the tanks aren't made any more and trying to fit in aftermarket tanks would be royal pain and VERY expensive!. The tanks and plumbing don't weigh enough to matter if they're empty. Another thing; having a toilet at your disposal is mighty handy when you have to go at three in the morning and emptying one of those portable toilets is a much bigger headache than emptying a holding tank. I know this for sure. I've done it and it sucks! Fiberglass floors are easy to repair like Karin said. You seem handy enough to be able to tackle this problem, just go for it. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 What ever you remove you really need to try to save it. Maybe not the toilet but the holding tanks would have to be custom made to replace. Someday you might want to sell this rig and others are not going to want to rough it quite as much as you Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 Thanks for the input everyone! I guess the plumbing will stay. Does anyone know about gettjng rid of the bathroom sink and replacing it with just a shower head? I couldnt find many options to go that route. Also has anyone replaced the oven for just a stovetop? I removed the overhead fan as it was toast and was going to replace the counter and make the additional space for storage once the oven is gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 Karin, The Stove & Oven are both toast. I didnt pull it yet but I pulled the board around my Frig, etc. Did you remove the countertop yet? There is a tool called "The Tool" that I used to cut mine and I am going to cut the counter top out the rest of the way. Building Cabinets, etc isn't a big issue for me as I have all the tools and have been doing it for quite sometime. It would be much easier than making a new cabinet and you can level the new counter top with shims. This is all much easier as my interior has almost all the paneling & flooring removed. So I am essentially redoing everything but the plywood on the floor & Appliances. It is sitting in my driveway for at least the next 3 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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