Foretravel Owners' Forum

We'll post plans and pictures over the next couple days as we drive down from Richmond VA to Nac.  Current plans have us stopping outside Johnson City TN tonight then hitting Huntsville Al and visiting with friends there for a few days before hitting the road again Thursday morning with hopes to be @ FOT Friday afternoon/evening.

The main parts of the remodel of our 1998 u320 4200 (rear carousel closet floorplan) will be focused on:

1. Putting in a loft bed/flip curb side down locker to bed conversion for our daughter.
1a. Separate privacy curtains for both the new loft bed and in a "C" shape around the jackknife sofa.
2. The current kitchen table will be flipped 180 deg and become the top for a desk that will re-use existing nightstand cabinetry from the bedroom etc and be located under our daughter's new bunk just behind the passenger/co-pilot seat.
3. Flip out desk (like an old school chair with the desk that slides up then fold over) replacing the end of the sofa to create a workstation for our son's computer programming endeavors.
4. New wider kitchen table that slides a bit more over the J lounge.
5. Possibly adding LG ventless washer/dryer under buffet.
6. Possibly changing aging convection oven out for a 240 volt Advantium over range oven.
7. Adding new soundproof wall separating bedroom from bathroom.
8. Change out lift up Queen East West bed for adjustable base Double/Full East West bed.
9. Remove existing night stands and replace with thinner symmetrical night stands with laptop slot.
10 Fixing the asymmetry in the lockers, bed etc (not a lot of changes needed to do so).
11. Putting curtains around the windows in the bedroom that over lap the ends a bit to hide the asymmetry in the bedroom window placement.
12. Totally remove the rear closet and replace it with custom designed office setup with two people sitting on benches (on the engine hump) facing the walls with flip up desks, monitors on swing arms.
13. Shared desk on bottom of rear wall with a storage hump running between the backs of the two benches that has a flip up white board, shared work and storage space.
14 On the driver's and curb side of back wall will be storage (hanging lockers, drawers etc) along with space for shredder on the curb side and safe on the driver's.
15. Center top of back wall will be a LARGE 55-60" monitor that can be shared by both laptops and can break out into 4 separate displays on the same screen (4k UHD) with shelving below holding scanner, printer etc, all behind louver doors.
16. Existing Mac mini and raid storage array will go in the console/hump running front to back between the two benches.

We've spent weeks working on the plans to ensure we're re-using almost everything here from the massive louvered doors in the back, to drawer fronts and cabinets. Susan's a gifted artist so she drew up to scale plans of the renovation projects.  I'll try to upload them into the gallery and post links here.

We're trying to plan things so that we have a lot of things that we can do ourselves (demo etc), and may leave off a lot of the assembly and finishing work and do it ourselves after the stuff we CAN'T do ourselves has been done by the service folks and Dave's crew at FOT.     

We're also planning on a quite expensive battery replacement, switching out the three VERY anemic 8D house batteries for 2 8D Smart Battery LiFePo4 lithium Ion batteries (300 amp/hours each with 100% discharge, they are actually 400+ amp/hr with built in limiters that prevent them from being over charged OR discharged).  They run about $3500 a piece, but the long term cost analysis is very compelling and the protection from over discharge damaging the batteries will almost certainly be invaluable. They also save huge amount of weight, replacing about 450 lbs of gel batteries with 186 lbs. 600 amp/hrs (2 8d Smart Batteries) also beats the heck out of 386 amp/hrs (3 8d Lifeline 255 amp/hrs batteries @ 50% levels).

Eventually we plan on adding about 1600 watts of solar on the roof, so these batteries will be hugely useful in leveraging that capability for dry camping.

I'll be starting separate threads/topics to ask folks for opinions and feedback on several different issues, but I'd like to thank everyone up front for all the help you've already provided to our family as we move through the final stages of finding, buying and renovating our new home on the road! If anyone's planning on being down in Nacogdoches from Friday through sometime early/mid March please stop by the FoT campground and look for Shadow Beast's distinctive Grey and Black. We'd love to meet and talk to any and all, we have much to learn! :-)

James and Susan
Alex (13) and Elizabeth (12)
Gigi (black Cat-dog) and Tortie the fluffalump.

Be sure to have the lift desk secured properly.  I had mind done and it did not stay at first.  This sounds like a major project, will you be there while it is being done?  Many times you will adjust the design as you put it together.

::nods::

We're going to be there the whole time.  Will stay on the rig when feasible and in a local hotel in Nac when not. 

We fully expect this to be an iterative process, where we start with our initial plans/drawings and work with Dave and the renovation folks to figure out the things that are feasible and worth having them do vs. doing them ourselves. Now that we're safely hooked up on a really solid wifi I need to get some of the images of the plans uploaded. :-)

James

WOW    ^.^d

Ok.  I can get the .jpg versions if it would work better, but since we're putting the plans together for Dave in a .pdf all the sections are currently setup that way.  Can anyone else see the results if I link to the album this way?

http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=402

Does that work on your end?

James

Ok, replaced the .pdf with .jpg images so it should be a lot easier to look through.  Can anyone else see the images?

James

Yes, much better, can now download and zoom in to see the detail. 

Wow, what a project, can't wait to see the progress on this one.  Looks like you have a great plan.  One thing I'd be sure to add; USB outlets near each sleeping area.  It's nice to be able to just charge electronics without needing the regular plug portion.

James,

Did you mean 90 degrees?

Trent

@tothetrail
  Susan's been lobbying for the same thing re the usb ports in the outlets.  I kind of want to avoid running individual protocol/standard specific ports as they invariably get outdated and become nigh useless in a few years.  I've been focused more on making sure we have ample (and easily used) conduit so that we can run anything needed, to anywhere.  Power cords, data cords, network cords, video cables, usb, thunderbolt etc.

But.

I think you're both right that usb ports as a power source standard is simply too wide spread and too useful.  I can just put in some of the outlets with built in usb power outlets, or otherwise provide powered usb ports on both nightstands.  The outlets could always be replaced in the future if standards change, it's not like removing skeins of cables from walls. ;-)

@TulsaTrent

Sorry, I should have been more precise.  It will be rotated 180 degrees so the cut out in the corner of the table faces the driver's side front rather than the corner of the J lounge curb side rear as it currently does.  It will ALSO be removed from the kitchen and moved to the desk behind the passenger seat.  The kitchen will get a new table, probably walnut.

I'm sure the plans/sketches will evolve over time and (esp) discussions with Dave and his crew etc.  There are a ton of details I didn't go into in the writeup above, I didn't want it to be even more of a wall-o-text than it already IS! :-)  Our idea is that if we have the full blown plans in place, than we can always grow into it piecemeal if needed, but at least we'll be able to avoid rework, and hopefully be able to focus on what's it makes the most sense to have Dave and the remodeling crew do at FoT.

We've been working, planning and dreaming towards this for about four years now. It's both incredibly affirming and stressful at the same time to finally be in our new rig, headed to FoT with plans in hand and funds in the bank. What a long strange trip it's been... And what's ahead? :-)

James

James,
Sorry, I was thinking of my coach which has the standard rectangular table across from the kitchen sink. I have been thinking of turning it 90 degrees so it does not take up so much space out of the center of the RV.

Good luck on your project!

Trent

Ah a real project.  Did quite a few total build from scratch non standard oreds/unihomes long ago.

Remodel is harder I would think.  If anyone can do this its Foretravel.

Foretravel hated me ordering a verathaned interior woodwork medium glossed u300 back then but they got over it. Took three coats.  $5k then

You might want to think about adding additional shelves in the upper cabinets.  You will dramatically improve the utility of the storage space.  Also add LEd lighting in all of your cabinets and closets.  On on/off switch for power and a magnetic proximity switch to turn the loihpghts on when you open the door.  Big improvement, low cost.

Roger

Great ideas! :-)

I've started changing over all the lighting to LED's, found a great 2/$10 LED halogen puck light replacement on Amazon.  That reminds me I meant to chime in on one of the LED topics with a link to that. Super easy to work with.  Do you happen to know a good source for the switches off the top of your head?

James

Just bought some of these Amazon.com: Magnetic Switch: Car Electronics (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009SUF08/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
from Amazon to put in closets.  May not be the cheapest, but quality is good, and since it's Amazon Prime, they got here fast.

One caution if you get these - make sure the triangles on the switch and the magnet line up for max sensitivity.  Some commenters on Amazon seemed confused...

Awesome.  Amazon Prime has be wonderful these first couple months on the road.  Getting it in 2 days makes it a LOT easier to get things delivered for projects.  I'll have to give those a try, thanks!

James

Welp... Shadow Beast has arrived in Nacogdoches to start the planning and preparations for the latest metamorphosis! If anyone else is here, look us up.  :-)

James

@Tigratrus:  See the latest posts in the "ChatBox" for other members presently at FOT.

Thanks!
"Chatbox"? Don't see it in the forum listing?
Susan and I are going to go get some dinner, but it's beautiful here so we'll probably be hanging out outside later. :-)

James

NVM.  Found it. :-)

James

So, progress on the back bedroom/office space! It's gone from a 8' x 8' bedroom with a 5' x 8' closet set at engine hump level (so lose 40 cubic feet) BEHIND CLOSED DOORS to a wide open 13' x 8' bedroom/office space. New carpet comes in Thursday, install Friday and then we'll put in our adjustable base in a Full instead of a Queen and regain 17" of space at the end of the bed when it's pulled up. SO much more functional for us!

Progress on the bunk in the front of the bus:

Finished laundry hamper!

OK I am going to most probably get booted off Forum for this comment but I will say it anyway. Can members PLEASE post pictures the right way up, and if using one of those stupid cameras in a cell phone, chuck it and take pictures with a proper camera so we do not have to keep turning the computer around all ways to see what they have posted.!! I post the right way so do others so why not all of us?
Sorry but it has bugged me for a long time.
JohnH

Thank you John, I was biting my tongue.
Gary B

My pictures WERE the right way up when I posted them. Sorry to have offended with my crappy cell phone (what MOST People have for a camera these days). I'll just remove them. 

P.S. I owned and ran successful forums for 9 years so while I'm familiar with forum etiquette,  I'm still getting used to this particular forum (and its quirks). I appreciate your comments on your annoyances, but I will say that it's better taken (especially by a newbie member) when accompanied by at least a *little* comment on the actual topic of the post.  Again - sorry to have offended you.

OK, I for one am able to turn my computer upside down!  Love to see them back up.  I think on an iPhone you want the button on the right to get them the right way up.

Appreciate your excitement and enthusiasm, can't wait to see more pics.

I actually was NOT trying to offend anyone just figured in this day and age that SURELY these systems have this all figured out and I use a laptop and desktop with Win 7 so again am surely not the only one with this OPERATING SYSTEM or similar. I will say sorry if I did offend (and really mean it as I am usually not into that-as hopefully others that know me will attest to). When I go to post a picture I save it then look at them to make sure all is ok then post- but do use a real camera- not a cell, so do not run into this problem.
I guess really it is just an extension of my present feeling that these bl--dy cell phones are ruining conversation etc as everyone has their head down looking at the screens-even in restaraunts- and not talking to each other. I shake my head at them.
Rant over I guess.
JohnH

I can download a screen capture of the photo and turn it around on my computer before I look at it if I want to see it right ways.

I think it's probably worth bearing in mind that the point of the topic was a renovation that a tremendous amount of time, effort and hard won resources is going into.  I know that when I have an issue that I feel the need to raise I always try to at least consider how the person reading what I write might take it.  I'm not perfect about it, I doubt anyone is.  But raising kids has really helped me to get better about trying to consider how I might feel if the positions were reversed. 

I think that what really set Susan's teeth on edge was the fact that she DID go to some lengths to collate, export and prepare a group of images (with proper orientation) because some folks on the forum had requested them, and she was excited to share.  I think most adults are pretty good about dealing with some constructive criticism. When the criticism isn't particularly constructive and doesn't say anything at all about the topic, I'm sure most of us can understand how it can come across as inflammatory.

The whole thing about a "real" camera was a bit heavy handed even to me.  The best camera is the one you have.  In addition to that truism, the modern iPhones actually take excellent pictures.  Once upon a time a "Real" camera had a hood and a flash bar.  More recently a "Real" camera always used film and digital cameras were never used by a professional photographer. Things change.  Always have, always will.  Not everyone is comfortable with that, and that's fine.  I totally understand how John H feels about cell phones, and seeing everyone staring at phones during meals rubs me the wrong way too. But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater, hmm?

Do you think we could all just try to treat each other with respect? If we feel the need to criticize others, perhaps a little empathy is in order?  At least address the topic itself in addition to venting, if venting there must be.

Everyone here (as far as I know) is a mature, reasonable adult. Pretty much without exception, all of the Foretravel owners we have met while here at FOT have been wonderful people. So maybe we should just take a step back and try again.  I'm sure that Susan will come back and post some of the updated photos.  I know she was very excited to share with others who would understand why we're investing so much blood sweat and tears in order to share a wonderful adventure with our kids. I know that she would love to hear any comments or suggestions about the project.

sounds like some very creative and unique mods.  I salute you for your ingenuity  b^.^d

Yes, please keep posting, this is one of my favorite threads!

I like more pictures right or wrong and they were correct on I-Pad
Regards,Irwin

Funny thing I am a photographer and have printed pictures taken with my iPhone.  In good light it does a great job.  Also sales of cameras are way way off and the iPhone is the second most posted pictures on flicker.  That being said, take pictures and post them. We all want to see this modification though I bet we will see a few shots of it at the GV this year too.

Ok, morning rises and cooler heads prevail. ;) Attached are the (hopefully upright) photos of the current progress in the bedroom/office. We have removed the entire wall separating the closet from the main bedroom space, and removed the bed base. We did most of this labor ourselves with the help of a great neighbor here at FOT.  ^.^d 

You can see the beginnings of the two upright cabinets in the back of the office space that will provide for hanging storage and adjustable shelves behind closed doors. These will be walnut on the outsides and carpeted on the inside to help with sound deadening and budget.  :P  Yesterday they were glueing and screwing the face frames, so we are hoping to see them installed today.

Also pictured is the carpet we picked. RED! 

Way to go, Susan!  I  L o v e  the red. Go for it. Keep the pics coming.

I do love seeing all you are doing, keep the photos and more coming.  Thanks for taking the time to share with all of us.

John, oops! Mea culpa. I have learned how to get them upright, now. Hey, it was a major achievement for me to learn to post a picture in the first place.

Love the red carpet, can't wait to see the final product ^.^d

Larry

More progress on the bedroom/office today! Face frames constructed and in one of the pics below, you can see it tacked up in place.  The wiring plan got worked out for the desk area, and tomorrow we may get the new bedroom ventilation fan.  8)  Tomorrow night we take up the carpet, and on Friday, new carpet plus hopefully our new adjustable full-sized bed. I'm too old to be sleeping on a mattress on the floor during reno!

Susan

This one is going to be epic.

Hope so! It's certainly a HUGE project and nerve-wracking to say the least. We're going to be documenting our experiences online on a new site we're building and writing the whole thing up in a little more detail. Things like "How to Survive a Full Rig Remodel with Four People in 336 Square Feet."  :P

Today, when the guys take their lunch break, we'll go remove the carpet in the bedroom and prepare it for them to put in the carpet padding. Carpet comes in on the truck today, and we hope to get the bed installed before the weekend.  No new pictures for now, but maybe later today if the cabinets are completed... *fingers crossed*

Susan

Well, I can say 100 percent you will survive. I have totally remodeled my coach. Pulled the couch and table put in a new couch and dining bar, extended the slide room floor. We replaced the shower, pulled the solid surfaces and stove and put in granite, an induction stove, a stainless steel sink and also a residential fridge.  This let us pull the propane tank and put in a 4th battery in its place for more capacity.  Also replaced the toilet and cut down the desk and hung a part on the wall, put in a new table behind the passenger seat and new drivers and passenger seats as well. IN the Bedroom we put in a ceiling fan and built out window boxes around the bedroom windows and replace the TV too.  Changed out backsplashes and  faucets as well as new tiles and a wood floor in the entry and covering on the entry steps.  Replaced all marker lights with LEDs.  It took a while but it a great.

FYI the padding in the bedroom that came with the coach was sound and heat deadening. It is very expensive to replace if you can reuse it, I would.  Oh yes, we replaced all the carpet too.  Twice in fact.

Thanks! Today, we pulled up the carpet and got new "elephant hide" - that rubber covering that deadens sound and heat from the engine. The existing was all squished down and they had some scraps they could use just around the engine hump. Because of weather, I'm not sure if the carpet came in today, but hopefully tomorrow we'll see that. Some progress was made in completing the framing for the wiring to the cabinets and adding electrical outlets to the outsides of the cabs (above the desk and above the shelf.  Shelves have been cut and fitted and covers made to hide the wires in the backs of the cabinets. Doesn't seem like much, but every step is closer!

Susan

Argh! No carpet 'til Tuesday - the salesgirl was 'mistaken.'  :'(  We'll still get the new bed in before the weekend, and just re-place it after the carpet comes in next week. Boo! A queen sized mattress (8" thick or so) easily bent and fit through the front door with no necessary wrangling, btw.

Shelves are going in the upright cabinets today, and the guys said they'll get the face frames on the fronts of them. All the conduit/chases for the wiring are in and covered nicely in the rear of the structure and the outlets are in place. Yay!

Susan

Ok, talking more about my part of the remodel ;-) we've nailed down some of the details of the solar/electrical updates.

Phase one:

Victron Multiplus 12 volt 3000 watt 120 charge.
2 Victron 75/50 MPPTs.
Victron Color Control GX control/monitor panel.
2 banks of 3 160 watt panels from AMSolar with relevant hardware for a total initial of 960 watts.

We'll be mounting 3 panels on the front and 3 panels on the back of the roof (with 7" between panels) with each bank of three wired in series and feeding one of the MPPTs.  I spent some time on the phone with Dave at AMSolar talking through possibilities and making sure we'd be able to tilt the outboard panels if we connected them directly to each other side by side.  We specifically talked about parallel vs. serial, and he said the Victron MPPTs were MUCH faster at dealing with changing conditions than some of the other charge controllers so he didn't think there was a strong reason for going one way or the other all other factors taken in consideration.  Putting them together in series side by side will greatly reduce the install complexity with no combiners and little voltage drop, while still staying comfortable below the 75 volt incoming limit of the 75/50 MPPTs.

Down the road we plan on adding a second phase of panels and controllers.  We'll have plenty of room left on the roof, but I'll want to spend some time going through the learning curve before we do the rest of the array.  One of the things I did decide was to take the huge Sat TV dome off the front to free up space.  The modern portable units are a lot smaller, lighter and can be set up quite a distance from the rig if you happen to be parked in a site that doesn't have a direct line of sight.  We really don't watch TV much at all though, so it's not a major focus for us and the space freed up is substantial.  Less windage/height too. ;-)

Not sure how the weight issue is going to come out in the end, but we're shedding about a hundred pounds changing to the lithium ion battery, so between that and removing the Sat dome I figure we'll offset the 120 lbs on the front, and with the tag axel the weight in the back isn't an issue at all.

We had a meeting with some of the FOT folks to talk about the electrical changes and I have to give them some recognition for the focus on making sure that everyone will be safe.  The main concern was about putting the battery bank inside the living space, they just want to be sure it's safe to do and that nobody would be at risk.  They had a good idea about getting the manufacturer to provide a written statement that the batteries are safe to install in a sealed section of the living space.  We know it IS safe to do so, but having it in writing is always best for many reasons.

We're going to wait until the remodel crew is almost done as switching out the batteries, inverter etc will shut down everything in the coach.  We also need the new battery box ready, so that has to wait until the new fridge is installed.  We'll probably be able to do the solar panel install earlier, that's really just waiting on the arrival of the panels.  I did opt not to buy the 10/2 wiring from AMSolar, they charge $2.50/foot and FOT only charges $.52.  The initial reason for leaving off the wiring was the inability to determine exact length until the infrastructure is in, but the price difference made the choice pretty dang easy.

I'll post pictures as we get to a point where there's something installed to take pictures OF. ;-)

Face frames on cabinets and new adjustable bed in place today - the difference in the amount of space to walk by the end of the bed now is unreal. If you look at teh picture, the black line on the floor is where the old base for the queen sized bed sat, plus an extra couple of inches overhang on the platform for the mattress. It was TIGHT!

Plus Larry is back from his trip to Florida to pick up a rig, so there's been more work on our daughter's bunk in the front. So nice to have visible progress!

Susan

Well, we took a risk buying that adjustable bed base and mattress online (for less than 1/2 of what Mattress Firm, etc. wanted for same basic thing) and it turned out! Great night's sleep and after getting up all week at 5:30am to be in the shop at 7:30, it was very nice indeed.

We got some projects done ourselves today. We installed fabric roller shades in the front of the bus overlapping to allow cats to slink through.  We think it turned out great and it only cost me getting my pinkie closed in the RV door once!  :o

Susan

Ours are like that, too, and our cats love to slink in and out between the shades. 

We LOVE your fabric shade upgrade, and we really want to do that, too.  Ours are vinyl-ish, and kinda tacky.  Where did you get them? 

I just wanted to give you both TWO THUMBS WAY UP!  ScubaGuy and I are thoroughly enjoying your daily posts and pictures.  You both have a LOT of courage and faith.  I appreciate all your guts, sweat, hard work, and love that you are pouring into your new home and new exciting adventure with your kids and furry kids.     

I am glad the bed worked out too. It is amazing what you can do to the insides of these coaches.  I have only seen this done on bus conversion before I started my complete upgrade.

Exactly.

I wanted to clarify that the shades on the front was SUSAN's project. She did the whole thing, I only tightened a single screw that she needed an inch or two more to get to. The thing that speaks loudest of her handyperson skilz is that she stopped and asked for help because she didn't want to burr the screw head. :-)

Still need to nail down where water is coming in and showing up at the curb side very back corner of the bus at the bottom. FOT did a leak test, but it might not have shown if the water is getting in from somewhere in the engine compartment area. I also suspect the air scoop vent type trim back at the end cap joint.

Today's projects will probably include installing the new kitchen faucet.

Thanks! The encouragement is good and helpful - it's a bit harrowing having all this done ALL AT ONCE! We know it will be worth it, but it's all so surreal at times - a dream forEVER finally coming to fruition.

The roller shades we purchased at Lowe's, off the shelf. They're Bali and they can be custom cut so you can get just the overlap you want.  The whole project took me about 2 hours (including cleanup), working mostly by myself. The hardest part was the gymnastics required to drill the holes for the brackets over the driver's side! You have to literally straddle the hump of the dash to get to it, but then again, I'm exceptionally short so it's probably just a *me* issue.  :P 

Thanks again for the kind words - it really helps! :)

Susan

Actually, I've just realized a potentially grave tactical error on may part. ::)

I don't *like* getting up early.  I certainly can, and do when needed, but it's not my preference being a natural night owl.

Now Susan (who always gets up before me) has a remote that can be used for squishing me in the bed. Repeatedly. Ugh. Ugh.  :o

This is really really cool.  This is the kind of thing I would be doing 100% so it is incredibly exciting for me to watch your progress.  I hope to meet you guys some day and see the coach in person!  I am curious what happened in the back corner of the bedroom?  Looks like some water got on the floor once upon a time.

Have you talked with them about reducing the height of the engine hump at all?  I wonder if that would be possible.  What I'd like I think is to raise the floor beside the hump, reduce the height of the hump an then I have carte blanche back there.  You wouldn't be able to stand upright but you sit on an office desk right?

Here's the somewhat outdated plans for the rear: http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=402

We're not doing the raised floor right now, and instead of the louvered doors on the sides, we'll have 2 sets of 2 doors, top and bottom. Top is hanging gear, bottom is adjustable shelves. In the middle of the engine hump is a console (like in a car between the seats) that will open to provide file storage, and when closed will make a back for the two bench seats that face outwards toward flip up tables mounted on the sides of the bus. Make sense?

We'd love to meet you too! Whereabouts are you guys?

Susan (posting under James' account because children stole my computer)

UGH. Leaking window = $1400. Thankfully they had the same window in stock (a rarity, apparently) so I'm taking that as my "good luck" for today and we've asked them to find no more expensive repairs this week, so we should be good from here on out.  :P 

Susan (posting again from James' account)

Enjoying your posts and progress.  ;D

I don't actually think I get it but I will when you guys make more progress back there I'm sure.

Well, to make a long story short, we will sit on the hump on two short upholstered bench seats, each facing opposite sides of the bus and have flip up desks there on the sidewalls for our laptops. On the back wall, there will be a 55" wide desk surface over the hump (between the two new upright cabinets pictured earlier in this thread) and a shelf up above it with space for a monitor/screen above that. Between the two bench seats, toward the front of the engine hump, will be a console like that in a car that will serve as additional storage (files) and a mutual back to the two benches on either side. Clear as mud, right? ;)

Susan

No, that makes perfect sense now actually.  A very clever use of the available space.  I would have trouble giving up my typical rolling office chair though.  I attached a window into my madness ;)  The rest of the rv is a lot cleaner!  Just got a new chair since my ikea one was madly uncomfortable.  The new one has aeron style mesh.

Your setup is going to look really cool though.  Very mission control style.

Shelf and desk! Carpet should come in on the truck today, so we might see that in place tomorrow.

VISUAL PROGRESS!! So excited!

Susan

Nice, now I see how the "office" works with the East/West bed

Very cool.  I'm very interested to see the final product on the office.  It's such a great use of the space.

Thanks!  It'll be a lot easier to see once the bench seats are in with the "console" (a lot like the center storage area between the front seats in an SUV etc) to provide the backrest. We'll probably wait to install the flip up desks later as those are pretty easy DIY projects.  :-)

It's great seeing it all starting to come together.  Still a lot of parts of the project to go, but it's great to see some of the key quality of life changes coming to fruition.

Great to see the plan coming together. 

And I learned a very import thing from your photos.  We have the wall mounted lamps and have never thought to use them as my much needed hat racks!  Now I know what to do, and where to hang the hats.

Oh, cool! Those are our kids' hats. Two tweens and too many fedoras. lol  :P

Migraine tonight  :(  so no new pics, but things were a little slow in reno today. Mostly planning and widgeting. We did pick up some track lighting components at Lowes to put over the office area and we have that and a couple other little projects for this weekend.

Oh, and our air system is holding pressure! Woo-hoo - no more phantom step cover!

Susan

We have lights and electrical in the bunk area in the front of the rig and maybe we'll get a final product tomorrow? We're hopeful. Larry's work is meticulous and beautiful. In the rear, we have a sealed engine compartment now (turns out, it never sealed right) and a smooth surface on the hump, ready for carpet install. The overhead cabinet was trimmed and adjusted and is ready now for the new wall to be installed between the bedroom and bathroom (no pics of that today). We put in a new motorized vent fan in the bedroom which would have otherwise been ventless after the new wall goes in. Oh - we also got our cord port installed on the desktop - love it!

Susan

They're making our wall! Steel uprights will frame the door, which will be 30" wide and will sweep the base. The wall will have two layers of the sound deadening "elephant hide" that they use around the engine and generator squeezed between two 1/4" panels. Foretravel manufactures their own single-piece door jamb that keeps the whole thing square.  I'll get pictures later. I'm not sure we're going to get a whole wall today, but they're laying out the pieces!

Susan

We've added a few touches this weekend - LED track lighting on the 110 overhead and a converted the 110 outlet to an outlet and switch. We put up a couple of hooks for plants (not the most beautiful, but functional for now).  Tigger polished up the brass piece we picked up from Habitat for Humanity here in Nac which will serve as not only a conduit for elec for the array to be positioned below, but will also provide some ventilation for the unit. We put up the closet rods and the interior shelves are sort of in place. Wood Doctor is my friend. :)

We're working on a couple other projects today and hope to finish up this hump with carpet, benches and a console this week. One flip up desk has a chance of getting made.  Thanks for indulging me in sharing our pics!

Wow this is starting to really come together.

It's the plants. :)

Today we got some more work on framing for the new wall, the face frame for the cabinets on the bathroom side, and new wiring to extend the Intellitec into the bedroom (now 9 1/2" further aft).  There were several other big reno jobs in the bays today so we didn't get too far in visible progress, but I know Larry was working on the front panel of the bunk. Hope to have that done by week's end!

Susan

Ok, finally an update! Here's the bedroom/office mostly complete. We have a new wall between the bathroom and bedroom, and a slot for a small ironing board in between. There is a new 8" wide cabinet on the other side of the bathroom behind the new door that will give the kids some additional clothing storage NOT IN OUR ROOM. :D We installed a lighted mirror in there this afternoon also.  Tomorrow we should see the final stages of the office area - 2 18"x27" bench seats and a 15" tall 'console' in between that will not only support the front edge of the desk, but will serve as some necessary storage for files and office supplies. It will have the same bench top as the two seats, but will lift open like the console in a car.  Should make more sense when we have some pics...

Susan

NICE!!!!

what's an "iron"?

:-)

I had the pleasure of meetng the whole family and to get a tour of the remodel in progress.  Wow to them for their design and their patience to live in their coach as it does come together.

That is very impressive.

Thanks! It's really down to last bits in the bedroom/bathroom and it's just what we wanted. Whew! It's been a bit nerve-wracking, and we're getting weary, but it's really coming together.

I forgot to get pics of the desk area with the louvered doors UP. We found a clever bit of hardware that holds the doors folded up, horizontally against the ceiling and out of the way for viewing of the (eventual) monitor that will live on the back wall up top. The two pieces to the sides of the louvered doors are repurposed shelves from the prior cabinetry. VERY serendipitously nearly the exact right measurements.  ^.^d

Dave, it was a pleasure meeting YOU and we're sorry we didn't get to meet Dolly. We'll see you again, I'm sure!

Susan

The quality of the workmanship appears to be absolutely outstanding.

I just don't understand the utility of a carpeted engine doghouse next to the bed, and don't see how engine access from above works out. I like lifting my bed to access the engine.

Think of the carpeted "doghouse" as a double sided bench with storage (hanging files etc) built into the shared backrest.  Engine access will be just as good as ever.  All the things on top of the engine access hatch and on the back wall above the engine hatch are designed to be easily removed.

Our original design was actually based on moving the bed to a North/South configuration instead of the East/West it came with. The costs involved with that (reconfiguring the ceiling, building overhead cabinets, nightstands etc) were 3 to 5 times greater than doing it this way, so it really wasn't feasible.  We get a LOT more storage and flexibility this way. As an interesting piece of serendipity, we found that the new bed actually CAN be turned sideways and slid onto the engine hatch.  So in the end we'll have a bedroom that can be configured either way; two person office with attached East/West bedroom, or North/South bed with a huge open space.

Hope that clarifies things a bit?  The bench seats and the center console/shared backrest are almost done and we have the walnut boards for the two flip up desks that will be going on the walls opposite the bench seats.  The hinges for the desks probably won't be here till sometime next week though, so the desk photos will take a while longer.  Hopefully we'll have the bench seats and console in by the weekend though. :-)

James

I think we got one of those for a wedding gift ....38 years ago. I think I've still got it around here, somewhere.

The console for the engine hump is almost done and so the office should be completed very soon. Pics below of the storage inside (hanging file folders on one end, and a shallow tray with storage underneath on the other end. We'll install 12V power outlets here for our computers). This will form the backrest for the two bench seats to be installed on either side of the hump, facing the side walls. Fold-down desks (18"x24" walnut cutting boards!) will be installed on the side walls, hopefully this week to complete the setup for business.

We hustled all of our cold stuff out of the fridge early this morning and they've already taken out the windshield, the old Dometic and put in the new Vitrifrigo marine fridge on board (It's tiny!) AND replaced the windshield. Big progress today, but we might be eating out for a day or two.

Susan

sorry - mistaken posting!

Susan and James, you have an amazing family and will soon have an amazing  motor coach! b^.^d
Thank you for giving me a tour this morning. Your ideas and Larry's execution are exceptional.
Remember what I told you about insurance.  ;)

Mogan David - Thanks so much! We enjoyed meeting you and taking you through the rig.  Hope all's going well over at Xtreme and we'll see you again later this week? Take care.

Susan (and James)

Updates on last week's work. New Vitrifrigo Marine fridge is in and we gained two pullouts behind the tall door to the right, two drawers underneath, and a cubby to boot. The fridge is 8.1 cubic feet vs. the 7.97 usable space inside the OEM Dometic 7832.

The console for the engine hump is mostly done and has space for the files, and for office supplies and stuff. The two benches face out to the sidewalls where we're going to install two flip up desks.

The living room desk is coming along. Pics show the cat tunnel and the slide out keyboard tray that Larry built. He's a wonder!

Susan 

A few updates from today:

The desktops (18"x24" walnut cutting boards!) came in today, so tonight's project will likely be installing them onto the adjustable fold-down brackets.

Cat tunnel in evidence in the living room desk. This is how the cats access the litter box, and the flip down door in front is how we will access it to clean, etc. We'll install a rubber mat on the inside to line it for easy cleaning. The weird space at the end of the desk is for the girl's cat to sit with her (but not on TOP of her) while she's at the desk. And yes, if *she* puts him there, he will sit there. Forever.

Susan

Looks cool.  The only thing I would need is something to prop my feet on.

Yes! There are plans for a raised floor (with storage underneath) in the future, but for now a footstool will work. :D

Susan

Eventually.  She'll probably have to put him there more than a few times until he "gets it", but honestly he's total putty in her hands. :-)

Didn't get the desks installed last night, but I think we'll see if we can't get it installed this morning.  It's almost getting to the point where we can set up the office for, you know, doing WORK! :p

Your magnificent project is fascinating to follow - thanks for the great photos and progress reports!

We would like to know the source of the walnut cutting boards, please.  We might pick one up to use as, you know, a REAL cutting board.

We got them on Amazon and it's nice because they're 3/4" thick, so not too heavy for this application. Amazon.com: Butcher Block Premium Reversible End Grain Walnut Cutting Board... (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UJK07YU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)  We accidentally ordered the wrong size the first time and have two that are 16"x20" so we'd be interested in selling if you're interested in buying.  Can't seem to get a response from the seller on how to return the items. :( Might end up with a 'cutting board' or two ourselves!

Anyway, the first one (MINE) is installed. It has a level setting and then two settings that are slightly and less slightly angled which works for the laptops. Eventually, we'll mount secondary monitors on the wall above, but for now, this is the office! ETA: Overview of office with one desk installed and console and benches in place. w00t, w00t!

Pics below, along with (for fun), Larry's latest addition to our daughter's desk: a pencil tray. Who can guess what it was in its former life? lol

Susan

Tech Update:

So the 6 solar cells are on the roof. 

The new 10 KW Lithium Ion battery is installed in it's new home in the front driver's side basement bay. More on this below.

The two 75/50 Victron MPPT solar charge controllers are installed and mounted to the wall in the existing battery bay.

The Aquahot expansion tank has been moved to the forward bulkhead instead of the rear bulkhead next to the legacy inverter to make space for the new inverter to be installed where the expansion tank was.

The Color GX control panel mounting location has been moved from the rear office driver's side wall to the forward refrigerator wall. The installation will be much simpler, and the insulation behind that wall will allow an inset mount instead of building a box for the panel.

Ok. The battery's new location: Originally the battery was going to be in the living space either under the fridge or possibly in the rear.  The vendor (Balqon) did not have the sheetmetal to build the 9 KW 12 volt battery we had settled on, but offered to build a 10KW battery that is usually a 24 volt unit as a 12 volt unit for the same price as the 9 KW.  We had decided to move the battery back down into the existing battery bay to try and keep things simpler, but when it arrived it was enough longer that it would JUST not fit into the existing battery bay.  After discussing options we decided to move the new battery forward into the front driver's side basement bay and put all the rest of the electrical system components in the old battery bay. The plan is to use the existing electrical buses and just run new cables forward to the new battery.  The battery monitor shunt will be co-located with the new battery, but the monitor itself will live in the old battery bay with the MPPTs and connect to a usb hub with them.  A single usb cable will run from the hub in the old battery bay to the Color GX control panel along with a cat-5 UTP cable from the inverter.

One nice side effect of the new layout is that the entire system can be installed and ready before we disconnect the old batteries/inverter.

We lose some space in the forward bay, but gain a lot back in the old battery bay.

The rear office is essentially complete now that the 12 volt has been run back and installed so the laptops can run directly off the house battery instead going through the inverter.

The refrigerator is completely installed, wired to AC when it's available and switching over to 12 volt when not.  We've been very happy with the improved internal layout of the Vitifrigo as well as the extra storage space we've gained (two pullouts and two large drawers).

The flip down bunk and the desk below are complete as well as the flip out desk on the end of the jackknife sofa.

The only remaining interior renovation change is the new kitchen table which should be done shortly.

The front door has been fixed so that the deadbolt works with the remote lock/unlock system again as well as the posilock being replaced and the weather stripping being replaced so it actually seals.

Now the bad new:

We found that the leak that has recently developed in the steering system is actually on the output shaft, not on the input. Long story short, the unit needs to be replaced and doing so is a total PITA. It's going to take three days to remove the genset radiator etc, replace the steering unit and put everything back.  It could actually be done in two, but doing it in three means we can have the rig back each night instead of staying in a hotel tonight.  No difference in labor costs, so avoiding a hotel stay seems like the way to go.

Less bad news:

Got the final fiberglass and paint estimate and it's actually a bit less than we initially expected.  One of the wonderful members here (Mogan David) gave us some great advice about submitting the costs for the fiberglass repair to the PO who was driving when the crazed pitbull decided to chase after a crossing cyclist and committed suicide by bus. I love dogs, but this was NOT a sweet family pet, it was chained in the yard with two others and made a habit of slipping his chain and trying to attack cyclists.

It sounds like they can get us into fiberglass/paint once the steering gear is fixed, and that will give the battery monitor time to get here for the final electrical completion and switch over.

Will post pictures later, but that's the current SOTR (state of the remodel/rig). :-)

 

Out of the shop early today, so I've got some pictures to go with the above.  Susan likely has some more specific ones as well.

WOW that is a huge update you have done.

L:ooks good and makes all our updates pale by comparison!!
Nice to see cabinet on right side of new fridge as I did 2 yrs ago when installing Res one. I made mine a slide out though and it is easy to access things.
JohnH
John Haygarth's fridge and pantry upgrade (What did you do to your coach today) (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=15228.msg91908#msg91908)    added link for my cabinet

Nah, no comparisons. It's not a competition...besides, DIY gets the high points in our book. ;)

Next to the fridge are two pullouts behind that one door. It was a tradeoff, but it works. Oils and spices and everything nices for the cooking tasks.

A couple more views are attached.

Susan

Man that bunk is cool!  I love that.  Also you might be doing yourself a service by putting the battery pack in the forward bay because Technomadia is finding their pack degrading more quickly than expected and they expect it is heat related.  I would actually consider installing a pack like that in the living area somewhere.  Which EMS did you choose for the Lithium pack?

As for the steering gear, here is the link for the place James Stallings said you should consult:
PSC Motorsports Online (http://www.pscmotorsports.com/)

Sorry for the delayed response, things have been hectic here for various reasons. :-)

The battery is from Balqon, and has their HIQAP ESS as the BMS. We're hoping to get it all installed tomorrow :: crosses fingers :: so we'll see how it all works out.  The Color GX Control panel is installed in the wall of the fridge cabinet above the cooktop area lighting control panel.  I would have preferred putting it back in the office above my desk, but it was a LOT easier mounting it where we did.  In the future we'll have to run additional wires so the Victron inverter can charge the chassis batteries as well as so the control panel can monitor them.

Re the temperature of the Lithium Ion battery:
In the near future we'll add a new wire to monitor the temperature of the Lithium Ion battery (which the battery monitor we bought can easily do).  The particular battery chemistry of this battery uses Yttrium instead of Manganese as the Technomadia battery pack.  The Yttrium chemistry is supposed (from what I understand) to be the most heat tolerant and the battery engineer @ Balqon indicated that warm temperatures won't bother them at all, in fact he said they like to run a bit warm. We'll monitor the temperatures and see how it goes!

More later...

Thanks for the info and comments! We're nearing the end, with just a few bits and pieces to put together to make all the electrical stuff work (yes, that's my technical explanation). Reno is complete, and we're finishing up our own odds and ends - cut a piece of carpet for the closet floor, put up the shower supply pump thing, lined the catbox area with a plastic matting and carpeted the tunnel, and Tigger is turning the former refrigerator panel into our new headboard (old headboard became the desk - haha!).

We got all of our stuff out of storage over the weekend, and did the big shuffle -- I"m sure many of you have done it -- everything out from down below and then reorg! The Airstream folks who were here over the weekend were taking bets on whether we'd get it all restowed before the torrential hailstorm that let loose (we did). So that was fun.  :P

Enjoyed meeting many new and old Foretravel friends here over the last few days and weeks. Such nice peeps you are! Thanks as always for letting us share. We love our rig and are so glad to have found a community of like-minded folks!

Susan

Please keep posting as I'd be interested in hearing how the battery pack performs over time.  Great reno!

you're actually going to LEAVE Nac ?!?!  :o
It hasn't even been a year yet!  Why so soon?!?! :giggle:

If the current rate is still a coach buck per day, I can see why.....................

Haha, Mogan David. We're thinking it will be Friday, but we have some other business to wrap up here as well. Hope to be back in Virginia by next week. It will be nice to drive this rig farther than AROUND THE CORNER. Every. Single. Day. ;)

Susan

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.  On my way home from Nac, I saw a lot of debris on the road (some of it behind the wheel  :whistle: )

Thanks! We are finishing up tomorrow. Getting a bath and blowdry in the morning and then we have one final part that needs to be installed on the electrical system in the shop. Even so, we were capturing solar power this afternoon and Tigger was configuring all the systems to monitor and control the new battery, inverter, etc. I'm sure he'll follow with a more detailed post on that side of things. I wouldn't know - I'm interiors.  :D 

We plan to stay through Monday at least though so that we can give the systems a run and make sure we're not forgetting anything. We might actually escape the parking lot and take a trip for the weekend! If you're here at FOT, stop by and say hello!

Susan

It is so tempting and desirable to just get going when all is nearing completion.  There are some nice Corp of Engineering campgrounds just east of Lufkin on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir, a short ways away, not in the parking lot, for a day or two (or more) of shake down.  Close by (closer than Virginia) to get back for any adjustments.  All of your changes have been fun to watch as they come together.  Have fun!  Roger

Thanks!

A park near Lufkin might be perfect.  Our daughter soooo wants to go to the "Which Wich" in Lufkin anyway, and getting the rig on the road there and back would be a great shakedown drive.

The last part going in today is a heftier thermal block for the Inverter/Charger.  I'm also still waiting on a reply from the battery manufacturer to figure out why the BMS is tripping the battery offline @ 14 volts.  The published charging curve has the absorption phase set to 14.2, so having the battery trip itself offline @14.0 is kinda a problem. :p  An even bigger related issue is that the alternator trips the battery offline pretty much every time we drive. Growing pains.

I really enjoyed being able to connect to the Solar Charge Controllers (MPPT) and the Multiplus Inverter/Charger using the Parallels install on my Macbook and change the configuration on them quick and easy. Still have to configure the battery monitor (BMV 702), but that's just waiting on some detail info from the battery manufacturer.  Seeing it all working and WATCHING the solar panel charging @400+ watts yesterday late afternoon was really cool. :-)

Waiting until I've got it all working right before I do all the pictures and detailed write-up, but that's the quick version.  For anyone having anything similar done @FOT, I highly recommend Aaron as the tech of choice.  Great person/tech with an amazing story about how he came to work in the shop.  He's very skilled and motivated, and loved working on cutting edge systems. Really thrives on challenges and makes sure it's done right. :-)

That there's one fine coach. I considered myself lucky to have gotten the guided tour last week. Glad to have met you and your great kids!  You made dealing with the waiting room a lot easier. Good luck guys and many happy travels in the days to come.

Bruce

P/S Please remember to invite me to the grand opening of Chez Elizabeth when the day comes.

Thanks, Bruce! It was great fun meeting you and hanging out for a few days. We were just talking this morning about needing to know our new height since we removed the sat dish and contemplating your method...measure the height of the lightpost, the shadow's height, apply some math...LMAO. Too much. Anyhoo - take care, and next time we want to meet your lovely wife and hounds. :)

Susan