Foretravel Owners' Forum

Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Renovations => Topic started by: barndog on January 12, 2018, 05:27:36 pm

Title: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: barndog on January 12, 2018, 05:27:36 pm
OK the renovations have begun.

1. New hard surface counter top, back splash, built in hard surface sink, and new faucet in the Galley.
2. New hard surface counter top, built in hard surface sink, back splash, and new faucet in the bathroom.
3. Removing the two person dinette and replacing it with a 68"x 24" desk with hard surface desk top to match the galley.
4. New laminate flooring back to the bedroom, and new carpet in the bedroom.
5. New bed stand wrap, and new bedspread, and lets not forget the shams (per my wife).
6. Recovering head board.
7. Recovering all of the valances.
8. Recovering the sofa.
9. MCD shades through out, including a power shade for the windshield.
10. Replacing all of the cabinet knobs.
11. LED lighting through out, along with new light fixtures on the walls.
12. And last but not least, rather than doing a full body paint I am going to do a full body wrap!
 
All of this work with the exception of the wrap is being done up in Indiana by an Amish friend of mine, along with some of his Amish friends who are building my desk,  Another one of his Amish friends is making my counter tops, and still another Amish friend is doing my upholstery work.
    I am excited to be doing this, we anticipate this to all be done sometime in March. I will have lots of pictures when we are finished.


Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Mike Leary (RIP) on January 12, 2018, 05:35:28 pm
  Removing the two person dinette and replacing it with a 68"x 24" desk with hard surface desk top to match the galley.

Wow, that's quite the bucket list! If I still had my woodworking tools, I'd do the same in that waste of space. Wonder if there's any Amish out here in Arizona?  ^.^d
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Chuck & Jeannie on January 12, 2018, 05:40:53 pm
I will have lots of pictures when we are finished.
You better!  If you don't have photos, it didn't happen.  8)
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Jeff & Sandy on January 12, 2018, 06:11:51 pm
Look forward to seeing pictures! I had a great experience in Shipshewana with my coach.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Ted & Karen on January 14, 2018, 10:35:03 am
Looking forward to seeing your "new" rig Rick.              ^.^d
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Dub on January 15, 2018, 12:57:44 pm
Crap I worked on my head light lens and made them look new and I was excited. I reckon you are excited sure nuff.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Tim on January 21, 2018, 07:54:10 am
Where are you getting the wrap made?
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: barndog on January 21, 2018, 06:54:58 pm
Local guy here in the Tampa area.
I will share everything when the job is done, probably in March after I get the interior finished. My guys up in Indiana are working on it after hours. They are probably half way through, and the biggest hold up is the new shades. they will be ready in about a month from now.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: barndog on January 28, 2018, 07:32:11 pm
Hey everyone this is a photo of my demo when I worked at Foretravel. I think that I am going to do a variation of that on our coach, but with a white base instead of the gray. It's probably a little out there for most of your tastes, but then I might be a little out there myself.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Tim on January 29, 2018, 09:57:09 am
Love it. My wife and I had to reload the photo several times because we thought the computer rendered the photo wrong. The checker pattern will affect safety because of all the double-takes.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: barndog on January 29, 2018, 10:25:59 am
Right now I am struggling with wrapping our motor home similar to the demo with the checkered flags, or wrapping it like this Nimbus. So I am going to take a poll....Checkered flags or Nimbus? The more opinions the better, so c"mon everyone help me out here.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Tim Fiedler on January 29, 2018, 10:32:41 am
I am no help

Cool = checkered flag
Resale = Numbus

split vote
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Bill Willett on January 29, 2018, 11:11:28 am
Nimbus.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Mike Leary (RIP) on January 29, 2018, 11:59:55 am
Or, you could go "retro" and stripe it like this:  :D
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: evantwheeler on January 29, 2018, 12:01:19 pm
Because you asked for opinions, anything but the checkers!  My preference is simple & clean, like most Foretravels came from the factory.  Simple & clean is timeless.  Checkers and even the Nimbus graphics are definitely not timeless.  But, in all reality, it only matters what you think.  If you like it, go for it!
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: rbark on January 29, 2018, 12:22:10 pm
I'm not a fan of dark colors on the upper half of our coaches.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Bob & Sue on January 29, 2018, 12:40:31 pm
I'm a fan of original equipment style paint, but with with a serious custom twist for originality. Probably no help either
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: drcscruggs on January 29, 2018, 11:11:57 pm
I live in Texas.  Because of that I would prefer a lighter color.  Frankly like both of them but would lighten them up somewhat.  I might do a gold and white Nimbus style or a checkered flag with a lighter background?  Best of travels. 
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: stump on January 30, 2018, 10:54:29 am
Go all checkers  no grey and get this great driving suit to go with it! You'll be the King  at the local KOA!!
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: barndog on January 31, 2018, 07:39:01 am
I'm a fan of original equipment style paint, but with with a serious custom twist for originality. Probably no help either
Well after a few phone calls to some people that really know the coaches that were built in that era , I have changed my mind once again. I have made that decision based on the fact that the glues that were used back then may not be compatible with dark colors (as some of you have mentioned). My contacts in Nac. have shared with me that they have seen on several occasions dark repainted coaches, (and not necessarily just full body paint jobs) with delamination issues. So back to the drawing board.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Don & Tys on January 31, 2018, 12:49:57 pm
Why not get the decals stripped and the fiberglass compounded, buffed, and waxed to see how severe the ghosting is? At the very least, going commando gives you the blank canvas to start from. After all, the old decals would have to come off anyway and it would be best for the long term to get rid of the oxidation before wrapping, no?
Don
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Mike Leary (RIP) on January 31, 2018, 01:13:25 pm
going commando gives you the blank canvas to start from.

Chances of ghosting are almost 100%  I wish I had the pics of ours that was re-painted before the new stripes were applied, it looked like a snazzy prison bus!  ^.^d
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: barndog on January 31, 2018, 02:27:44 pm
I have small hairline cracks in the gel coat at some of the windows that I would like to not see..you have to look real close to see them. And
 I really don't have any oxidization.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: barndog on February 06, 2018, 06:11:13 pm
Here are a few photos of the work that is going on. The Quarter round is going down today and the floor will be finished. One of the photos is a picture of the valances and the head board, another is obviously the floor, and still another is the step well. I have removed the dinette table and I am replacing it with a desk. As you can see in the picture. The desk top will be the same as the galley counter top and the lavatory top. The sofa and Valance legs are being finished this week and I will send more pictures. I have included a sample of the new counter tops. Oh and I almost forgot the new bedspread and pillow shams.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: Green99 on February 20, 2018, 09:23:53 am
It is really looking good.  Should serve you well for many years.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: barndog on February 22, 2018, 08:20:41 am
The  MCD shades were shipped out yesterday from Texas and will be installed next Tuesday or Wednesday, The valances then go back up and she will be finished inside. I will pick her up on Friday, head back to Florida the following week, to begin with the wrap....I'm pretty excited and will post pictures.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: floridarandy on February 22, 2018, 08:46:15 am
Really happy for you Rick!  Bet you're glad we didn't buy the coach now!  We'd love to see the inside when it's back in Florida.

Randy and Karen
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: barndog on February 22, 2018, 03:23:33 pm
You are so right, and I will be happy to show it to you when I get it finished.
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: evantwheeler on June 25, 2019, 03:23:08 pm
@barndog  Any updated photos of your interior remodel?  Curious how the new black countertops look. 
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: evantwheeler on June 25, 2019, 03:30:08 pm
@barndog  Any updated photos of your interior remodel?  Curious how the new black countertops look. 

Whoops, should have serached first.  Finished photos here:

Interior Complete (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=33583.msg305864#msg305864)

Looks tremendous.  Really like the black countertops!
Title: Re: Complete Renovation of our 1998 U 270
Post by: craneman on June 25, 2019, 03:52:24 pm
Whoops, should have serached first.  Finished photos here:

Interior Complete (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=33583.msg305864#msg305864)

Looks tremendous.  Really like the black countertops!
That coach burned down.