'73 Chieftain II Custom interior renovation

Started by Wantawinnie, February 09, 2012, 05:23 PM

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Wantawinnie

Today I got all of the flooring screwed down good including the plywood in the living room the previous owner did. It is all very sturdy now after several hundred screws were added. 

After finishing the floor I cut out the last of the red oak paneling for the bedroom. There were 4 pieces that are under and surround the lounge area and hide the water system, generator, and LP tank setup.

Then it was on to removing the water heater, it came out alright except the heater hose for the motor aid was so old a brittle it cracked and starting leaking antifreeze when I began pulling out the heater.

After cleaning that mess up it was on to removing the refrigerator. I have it all ready to come out but my brother in law will have to help me get it out of the coach. There is a 1/4" of play in the doorway to get it out, should be fun! The particle board below the refrigerator is soft by the outside access door so that will get replaced as well.

Wantawinnie

The old refrigerator is out and it went pretty well. Thank you to  my brother in law for helping and Winnebago for having doors that are slightly wider than the refrigerator. :)ThmbUp

ClydesdaleKevin

LOL!  When we bought our 89 Holiday Rambler, a PO had installed a household fridge.  When I removed it, first I took the doors off, and it still wouldn't fit out the door.  So then I removed the rear sheet metal...still no dice, since the coils were covered in foam.  I chipped away the foam, hammered the coils a little flatter (Gaining me about an inch and a half) and was finally able to remove the stupid thing!

The Dometic I replaced it with fit with a quarter inch to spare, even without removing the doors. 

I have no idea how they got the household fridge in in the first place!  I'm guessing they removed the driver's seat, and came in sideways through the driver's door.

Kev
Kev and Patti, the furry kids, our 1981 Ford F-100 Custom tow vehicle, and our 1995 Itasca Suncruiser Diesel Pusher.

Alaskan Itasca

I've heard some of those larger than door refrigerators are installed/removed after removing the windshield.
1978 Itasca 27RT - RIP
1992 Fleetwood Pace Arrow 30E

ClydesdaleKevin

 D:oH!  We had just bought the Holiday Rambler, and I wasn't even used to having a driver's door...never had one before on an RV.  It didn't dawn on my that I could have removed the seat and came out through the door until after I removed the household fridge.  LOL!

Kev
Kev and Patti, the furry kids, our 1981 Ford F-100 Custom tow vehicle, and our 1995 Itasca Suncruiser Diesel Pusher.

Wantawinnie

A little more progress to report.

The water heater is nearly installed. I have to remove the motor aid lines coming up through the floor in order to slide the new heater back another 1 1/2". Otherwise the modification for the 10 gallon heater install went pretty well except that I slipped while trimming a last little bit of aluminum siding and cut my index finger pretty good. :'(

Here is the original opening.



Trimmed exterior siding pic taken while finger bleeding nicely into paper towel and masking tape bandage.



Rotoziped out the thermopanel insulation. I set the depth to remove the insulation first and then the interior paneling came out last.



Heater slid in place with about an inch to go.



Looking down from above. The heater needs to come back past the motor aid lines that are connected by the black heater hose going into the floor. The original piece of wood bracing to the right of the heater will go back in above the heater on the inside paneling for support.



Wantawinnie

I also got the cabinet trimmed out to install the new frige that is a few inches taller than the original.

While there I figured it was time to tackle the rotted particle board base in the refrigerator cabinet and remove the last remnants of once mouse infested shag carpeting in the cabinet under the frige. It was nice to get that nasty stuff out and lay some new OSB down. I will caulk around the edges before the frige goes back in.



After that the new stove cutout was next. Here is what I started with.



Trimmed out the cross bar and measured 16" down from the countertop and cut out about another 2" of cabinet. I had to use some 3/8" wood filler stock on both sides of the countertop to bring in the opening for the stove to rest on. The back of the counter will need to be filled in as the old cooktop was designed different.



I was a little worried if there would be room at first but the built in vacuum fit nicely under the stove like it was meant to be there.






 

ClydesdaleKevin

Looking great!  I love seeing jobs done right!   :)clap

Kev
Kev and Patti, the furry kids, our 1981 Ford F-100 Custom tow vehicle, and our 1995 Itasca Suncruiser Diesel Pusher.

moonlitcoyote

Your doing a great job! Keep us posted. I wish my Winny had a built in vac :(

Wantawinnie

Got the rear windows installed and sealed back in with caulk tape. Still need to silicone the outside yet. Not much done other than that except I had to move it out of the building I was working in and now have it stored in another. Here it is out in the light of day after quite a while in storage.


moonlitcoyote


DaveVA78Chieftain

Show off. 

LOL nah, really it is looking great.

Dave
[move][/move]


Wantawinnie

Thanks, it was close to 90 degrees here yesterday so I kicked the air on and put the windows back in without breaking a sweat. Hopefully the A/C keeps working as I do more stuff this summer inside.

burt6666


Wantawinnie

I located another '73 Chieftain parts rig and scored a ton of usable parts. :)clap It is a D24C that features a rear bath and side by side bunks. I was really planning to just get a front drop down bunk out of it but the owner wanted it gone so the whole thing came home for cheap. The roof, ceilings, floors, and the exterior are rough but the inside is suprisingly nice.

After looking at the floorplan and considering our needs my wife and I decided to use the dinette out of it in place of the couch. With a family it will be nice to have a gathering place for meals. I plan to use one of the rear side bunks and cut it down and make a bench/lounge adjacent to the dinette.

Here is the dinette.



Matching rear bunks.



Sad part is that it has the original stove that I was looking for forever. Unfortunately, I already have the new stove in place. I will try to use the original oven in such a way that a small microwave can be used inside it. Don't know if that will work yet or not.

Here is the original stove. 



There are a ton of other small parts I can use out of it as well like light fixtures, paneling, cabinets, and plumbing parts.




Wantawinnie

Had a little rain last night and confirmed what I already knew. The roof on the donor is a big time leaker.

Worked some today on dismantling the interior of the donor. The drop down bunk is out and the dinette is disassembled and out.

Look what I found under the dinette taking it apart. A previous owner switched over the freshwater tank to a newer 40 gallon plastic tank and installed a Sureflow water pump. I needed to replace both of those in the Chieftain II so that was a pleasant surprise.

   

Oz

Definitely!  That's one sizable project in itself you can take off the "wish list".  I had this conversion in my Indian and LOVED it!
1969 D22, 2 x 1974 D24 Indians, 1977 27' Itasca

ClydesdaleKevin

Looking good!  Little by little you'll get her just the way you want her!

Kev
Kev and Patti, the furry kids, our 1981 Ford F-100 Custom tow vehicle, and our 1995 Itasca Suncruiser Diesel Pusher.

Wantawinnie

I'll tell you one thing, all these little projects stacked together have turned into one rather large and ominous undertaking. D:oH! 

It really is in pretty good shape overall and will be nice when done. I just want everything to have a good going over to be as reliable as possible.  Y! 

Wantawinnie

The drop down bunk is now installed in the rig. It was a little challenging doing it myself but overall it went pretty well. The hardest part was putting the bunk platform in once the springs were installed. There isn't much room to get it in there.

Puttered around with the floorplan some more as well. I like the dinette idea but a couch would be nice as well, can't have both unless the L kitchen countertop is removed. I would rather not do that because it is a main feaure of the Chieftain II and is rather unique. The other option I looked at was to mount the table in the rear bedroom off the back wall and have it drop down like a dinette for a bed. I'll get this figured out eventually. ;)

Oz

Quote from: Wantawinnie on July 16, 2012, 04:43 PM
I'll tell you one thing, all these little projects stacked together have turned into one rather large and ominous undertaking. D:oH! 

It really is in pretty good shape overall and will be nice when done. I just want everything to have a good going over to be as reliable as possible.  Y!

I think that's exactly where most of us find ourselves once we really start to dig into things.  That's why it truly is a "labor of love".  But really, it's par for the course and, not only do we get to know our RVs quite well, it instills a well deserved sense of pride in our ownership, above and beyond simply "owning" an RV. 

Great job with the updates and thank you so much for sharing this with us!  :)clap
1969 D22, 2 x 1974 D24 Indians, 1977 27' Itasca

Lefty

you can always add a removable tabletop that can be placed in front of the couch. That's what our Georgie boy has. It uses two flush mount floor recepticles, and two removable chrome posts that the table top sits on. The table top stores in the pantry vertically when not in use, and the posts store in a compartment under the couch. That way when your not needing a table, it isn't in the way taking up floor space. You can get all the parts from Camping World to build a set up like you want. (you can buy 3/4" birch plywood, which is furniture grade and smoother/flatter than plain plywood.. and cover it with laminate to match your countertop.)
I reserve the right to reject your reality and substitute my own...

Wantawinnie

Thanks Mark, I am thankful to have all of the help and suggestions from everyone here. It is especially important to a newbie RV owner like me to learn from the veteran RV'ers. :)ThmbUp

Lefty, that is a good idea. How wide of a table does your Georgia boy have? The original table in the Chieftain folds down and out of the way but it is very narrow(maybe 20") and somewhat cumbersome with the leaves that need to be added. I could also put another table and leg in the back like you suggested and still use the rear lounge setup that was in there. That would be a nice spot for using my laptop when on the road checking in with you guys. Y!   

Wantawinnie

The temperatures are finally back in the 70's so I can work on the rig without running the A/C nonstop. Got some time to remove the old motoraid water heater lines that were in the way of the new water heater today. After that I plugged the holes in the floor from the lines and the water heater is now in place and secured. A trip to Menards for some PEX pipe is needed before the water heater can be plumbed back in.

The frige is close to going back in. I stained the new pieces of the red oak paneling that were cut out for the new larger size frige opening. After the stain gets a coat of poly I can get the frige back in. Little by little it is gettiing back in shape.





Wantawinnie

Finally figured out the wiring for the bedroom, bathroom, shower, and wardrobe ceiling lights. The PO had redone the ceiling and left a bunch of loose wiring for me to figure out. I was getting quite frustrated and almost to the point of ripping out the rear roof to see what was going on up there. Fortunately, I was finally able to trace the power and ground wires that feed everything using a test light and a bunch of trial and error. Both wires were run using the same color so it was quite a headscratcher.  Plus, there is a light switch thrown in there turning the bedroom lights on and off.  D:oH!  Glad that is over with and now I can see in the rear of the coach without a flashlight. :)ThmbUp   The bathroom exhaust fan is on the same circuit and that now works as well.

The donor rig is proving to be a treasure of original hardware. In the kitchen I was able to salvage the original stainless steel hood vent and it works like a charm! I used both of the front seat reading lights in the rear bedroom as the Chieftain II uses the same fixtures back there. Much of the ceiling lighting will be used in the bedroom as those are missing also. The rear speakers and grills will be going back like original to finish off the bedroom. 

Take a little more off the to do list.