Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2020 23:50:02 GMT
I have built a new coach for us to travel in this year. 3-4 years ago I rebuilt an old Chevy Curb van into a motorhome. I needed cataract surgery before I could drive and my insurance was saying no. Someone came along and made an offer I couldn't refuse. Got the insurance straightened out and had the surgeries. A 25' Class A motorhome came along cheap and ready to go so we bought it. It was way too big, used way too much gas and was too complicated for what we needed. I sold it that winter and started on a different Curb van, smaller than the first since we had figured out what we didn't need. We drove it all over Oregon last summer, down to the redwoods, Idaho, Utah, the rendezvous at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, and Montana, the Tetons and Yellowstone. Someone saw it along our travels and paid cash for it, picked it up as soon as we were done last fall. So I got to thinking. I had a cab off an old 1936 IH cabover truck that I had bought 30 years ago, same as my Dad had driven back and forth from Oregon to Maine during the war. He pulled a trailer with his Farmall H and mounted plow. He plowed vegetable fields all winter in Arizona, put the crops in in Oregon before the ground thawed in Maine and off he would go. He had built a "little house" on the flatbed to live out of.
We wanted something even smaller, just a RV toilet, a shower, bed, hot plate, 12v chest type refrigerator, small sink and a 12v water pump. The 2 seats up front swivel for a living area. Neat and tidy. We need something to get from here to there, we "live" and cook outside in good weather. We chase 70 degrees. So I went about redoing the cab, cut out part of the top so we could stand up and enter the box, removed the back of the cab and mounted to a 6-1/2' x 10' van box. Built a frame, mounted the front clip, engine and the rear axle of a Chevy HHR. Insulated the floor, walls and ceiling of the van box. Installed an RV door behind the passenger door into the side of the box, built a boxed step inside and mounted an electric step outside. Removed the roll up rear door, studded up a wall using 1"x3"'s and 3/8" T-111. Added 4 RV windows and 2-3 speed reversible fans in the roof. Repurposed some kitchen cabinets, put down new vinyl and white bead board on the walls and ceiling. Wired in a 120v outlet at the counter to plug in an electric hot plate, wired to a pigtail for a generator, shore power or inverter. Added 3 12v USB outlets and 4 12v LED lights. Have 2 batteries that are charged from the engine alternator, a generator or shore power.
We will carry our little 1000w generator, 100w portable solar panel, small folding table and 2 hard arm, folding chairs. We have a 12v Dometic chest type refrigerator mounted on a drawer slide under the counter and a hot plate to cook on inside or out. We have a 12v electric water pump. 40 gals of fresh water, 30 black and 15 gal grey tank.
I weighed it at a truck scale on our way here to the beach cottage this weekend, it weighs about 600 lbs more than our stock HHR and I had a few tools and some materials along to do some last minute finish work. The box is molded into the back of the cab to cut down on drag. I used 2 small RV swivel seats with arm rests. We have a 6'x8' pull out awning over the entry door.
We will be heading out tomorrow, down the Oregon coast to the central coast of California until we hit 70 degrees or better. Don't know yet, may go to Long Beach to see Sweeties Uncle who is on chemo and radiation for lung cancer. He is doing well for a 90 year old, still bowling every week....James
We wanted something even smaller, just a RV toilet, a shower, bed, hot plate, 12v chest type refrigerator, small sink and a 12v water pump. The 2 seats up front swivel for a living area. Neat and tidy. We need something to get from here to there, we "live" and cook outside in good weather. We chase 70 degrees. So I went about redoing the cab, cut out part of the top so we could stand up and enter the box, removed the back of the cab and mounted to a 6-1/2' x 10' van box. Built a frame, mounted the front clip, engine and the rear axle of a Chevy HHR. Insulated the floor, walls and ceiling of the van box. Installed an RV door behind the passenger door into the side of the box, built a boxed step inside and mounted an electric step outside. Removed the roll up rear door, studded up a wall using 1"x3"'s and 3/8" T-111. Added 4 RV windows and 2-3 speed reversible fans in the roof. Repurposed some kitchen cabinets, put down new vinyl and white bead board on the walls and ceiling. Wired in a 120v outlet at the counter to plug in an electric hot plate, wired to a pigtail for a generator, shore power or inverter. Added 3 12v USB outlets and 4 12v LED lights. Have 2 batteries that are charged from the engine alternator, a generator or shore power.
We will carry our little 1000w generator, 100w portable solar panel, small folding table and 2 hard arm, folding chairs. We have a 12v Dometic chest type refrigerator mounted on a drawer slide under the counter and a hot plate to cook on inside or out. We have a 12v electric water pump. 40 gals of fresh water, 30 black and 15 gal grey tank.
I weighed it at a truck scale on our way here to the beach cottage this weekend, it weighs about 600 lbs more than our stock HHR and I had a few tools and some materials along to do some last minute finish work. The box is molded into the back of the cab to cut down on drag. I used 2 small RV swivel seats with arm rests. We have a 6'x8' pull out awning over the entry door.
We will be heading out tomorrow, down the Oregon coast to the central coast of California until we hit 70 degrees or better. Don't know yet, may go to Long Beach to see Sweeties Uncle who is on chemo and radiation for lung cancer. He is doing well for a 90 year old, still bowling every week....James
