Figured I should consult experts before begining an expensive proposition... New to posting here, but have been reading your forums for a few months now...
We came to the realization last year that our tents are totally worn out, we camp too often in bear country, my wife REALLY likes to have showers - and the 3am wakeups to take a 5yr old to the potty (or squat in the woods) really sucks
We're usually boondocking (great public lands in alberta; and we usually make a run through BC every year), as we go camping to GET AWAY from the world, not to be surrounded by people. Last year we managed 17 weekends out camping, this year will be less, but I do intend to catch-up
We're looking at some 70's and 80s vintage (mostly) Okanagan TC's; Basically my question becomes, am I insane to be considering retrofitting water tanks (water, grey and black); water pumps, a full bath - into a unit like this? Likely I'm going to rip out the stove/oven (only really want the sink and fridge/freezer - we prefer to cook outside, on the coleman or the fire), and try to update the interiors some (why do they have to be ugly dark oak paneled?)?
Sounds like a pretty gnarly proposition to me.....expensive too. Once you start buying tanks and all that stuff it will get spendy. From my experience the tanks are custom built to fit the camper anyway so you may have issues finding something that fits.
I did do a mojor repair on an 85 Bigfoot and I found tearing apert the interior wasn't a big deal.
In fact with the Bigfoot molded fiberglass construction (Northern Lite too), I think they would be an ideal candidate for modifying. WHen you rip the guts out of a Bigfoot structurally the shell still holds itself together. I took ALL the floor structure out of mine and replaced/upgraded it. I tore it down to the skin from the inside.
I would venture that you would be WAY ahead money wise to simply find a camper that more closely fits your needs then to try to redo a bare bones unit. Adding a plumbing system is pretty involved.
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My last TC was a 10-foot, 1972 Six-Pac. I paid $400 for it. It had a bath. I repaired dry rot in one wall, painted and Formica the inside to get rid of the dark paneling. It had no battery or charger. Cost about $300 to modify, without a battery. It did have a converter.
In answer to the question of your being insane to consider retrofitting water tanks (water, gray and black), water pump, full bath, rip out the stove/oven and retain the sink and fridge/freezer. You could be borderline. I think it is fun to rebuild TC's, but it can get expensive. My sanity has been questioned many times.
I suggest you price the tanks, and think of where you are going to install them. If it has none, not easy to retrofit.
They have to be ugly dark oak paneled during those years, because that was the in thing. In a few years someone will ask the question; "Why are all the interiors white inside."
My suggestion is to find a 70's to 80's vintage TC that is equipped the way you want it. Then refurbish (paint and paneling) it to your liking. In all probably, you will spend over $500 just to install a battery and three-stage charger in it.
You've gotta hunt for them, but there are several mid-late 70s campers with fully self contained showers/bathrooms. I myself own a 1974 KIT 1106 camper that has a modern-style one-piece fiberglass bathroom with standard RV flush toliet.
These are far easier to upgrade ammenitiy wise to suit your tastes.
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It is plenty of fun (really) to add a good converter and inverter, AC, cat heat, generator, a few thin-lites, a microwave, a TV, custom mattress, fantastic fans, eternabond, and other stuff like that to an older rig. But I think I would draw the line at adding an enclosed shower to a unit that never had one. Especially if you consider that well-optioned and clean older units like Joe's are still out there.
An outside shower, or a hand-held sprayer for shampooing in the sink would be much easier.
First hello to RV.net, second hello from someone just to the south of you (Lethbridge).
I am new to the TC thing myself, but have learned a lot in the last couple of months. From reading your post it looks like you may want to use the TC this year. Well if you need to gut it to fit things in forget it. It may be possible but from my experience parts and supplies are not going to fit right, be in stock or things are not going to run smoothly (like three weeks of solid rain). Add to that the fact that once you start work you are going to find things that need extra work and you most likely will not be seeing much outside of the camper for the next several months. Then figure in the price you paid and the costs for the supplies to upgrade and you are further ahead to spend more to get what you want.
What I would do - okay what I did - was find a good used unit that has what you are looking for. Sure you may need to fix, repair and add things but that is normal. With all the units that are on the market now you have a lot to choose from.
I took the liberty to search Kijiji and found a few that are below (yes even with having mine I am still looking, great way to get more ideas) I hope the links work;
Looked at most of those (not the stupid expensive combo tho) if it wasn't for 139 oil I might have considered the bigfoot... All of calgary unfortunately doesn't work in the patch
Maybe I'll have to rethink; how does the hot water heater work on the newer ones? Is it a true hot water heater or more like those coleman on demand things? Contemplating just a slight upgrade over last years tarp & solar shower (could probably add a mount on the outside for a true shower curtain now that I think of it. Most of the toilets have been cassette types - still workable; but nicer to have a larger capacity.
One of those major issues has been that almost tethering to shore power of the old units... Most could run for a few hours without shore power, but that's about it - or so it seemed. We'd definitely be looking at a genset & maybe solar for topup (any thoughts on that coleman 54w at costco for 300$?)
On the gen set - think Honda portable EU unit.
You will find many of the new TC's are going to compartments for them. You have a portable Generator as well as power for the TC, and from what I have read much more fuel efficient.
I was thinking older...less expensive TC when I bought mine....but glad I took the plunge to buy the newer model. DW insisted on some features, and after looking at a bunch of older models we decided that we could spend our time rebuilding/re-modeling or we could spend our time camping....we opted for camping.
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New to posting here, but have been reading your forums for a few months now...
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