Wills250psd wrote: Just curious, did you get a title? and good luck with the rebuild
Great question. Answer is no. I checked at the (Texas) DMV and the VIN is not in the system. That means that it hasn't been registered in Texas for at least twenty years, possibly never. There is a process for pursuing a bonded title. I'm still checking into that. I might be able to get a 'homebuilt' title.
*unresolved*
I'm adding the outside shower as well. I'm curious about dropping the gray tank and downsizing the fresh(Why?). I assume you'll be combining gray/black (only from the galley)? Is your goal to save weight, free up space or reduce complexity? I'm a total noob so I'm trying to learn. Believe me, I'm not advocating anything. Just trying to get a handle on different approaches. This HR had no gray tank but also no ability to use the black tank for the gray. The gray drains tied into the outlet piping after the black dump, so the gray would not be stored. (The black tank was Higher than the shower drain, so, no capping the outlet and cheating))
The black tank is a largish 35gal, with the removal of the shower, I have more room for bunks.
Not having the need to haul around so much waste, grey water, weight will be better as will ease of plumbing.
I plan to add a valve to diver the sinks so they can go straight to the ground when out in the woods and into black tank when in a parking lot.
I'm shooting for 2 operable roof vents being the only holes in the roof, I'll be poking the vents for plumbing out the walls.
As to the fresh water reduction.
The TT came w/ both Grey and black tanks well behind the axles and 45gal of fresh all the way upfront.
From my LIMITED knowledge and reading in here too much weight in the rear and not enough on the hitch is a bad towing experience.
I could just see using up all the fresh water, ~800+ lbs of weight gone, and the tanks NOT empty adding weight to the rear.
Most of my camping will be done in the winter, ski area parking lots, when using the H2O system is useless anyhow, the smaller tank fits under one of the beds we have in mind.
We are moving up from 6 gal in our TC that lasts 4-5 days w/ just the 2 of us.
We drink bottled water so it helps out too.
Repo
05 Tundra 4x4
1976' SIX PAC, cut to size and function.
$800 1977' Road Ranger, not yet road worthy (AUG '11')
The black tank is a largish 35gal, with the removal of the shower, I have more room for bunks.
Not having the need to haul around so much waste, grey water, weight will be better as will ease of plumbing.
I plan to add a valve to diver the sinks so they can go straight to the ground when out in the woods and into black tank when in a parking lot.
I'm shooting for 2 operable roof vents being the only holes in the roof, I'll be poking the vents for plumbing out the walls.
As to the fresh water reduction.
The TT came w/ both Grey and black tanks well behind the axles and 45gal of fresh all the way upfront.
From my LIMITED knowledge and reading in here too much weight in the rear and not enough on the hitch is a bad towing experience.
I could just see using up all the fresh water, ~800+ lbs of weight gone, and the tanks NOT empty adding weight to the rear.
Most of my camping will be done in the winter, ski area parking lots, when using the H2O system is useless anyhow, the smaller tank fits under one of the beds we have in mind.
We are moving up from 6 gal in our TC that lasts 4-5 days w/ just the 2 of us.
We drink bottled water so it helps out too.
Repo
Thanks for that. It makes perfect sense for your situation, you are essentially custom-building for two specific persons and their specific needs/methods/environment. That sounds like the ideal plan.
My situation is completely different but the same reasoning comes into it. The biggest difficulty I face is that I have NO IDEA how or how often this rig will actually be used. My first use (as soon as possible) will be at the deer camp. Probably by myself and only for a weekend at a time, though the TT will likely remain set up there until Feb. There will be AC power there, and nearby there is water and sewer... but no water or sewer hookups exist. I will have to use a wheeled dump can to transfer the black; fresh water I will have to tote. Once away from deer camp, it will be used for family camping, weekends at state parks,etc with kids and Grandkids and a pup tent.
From my LIMITED knowledge and reading in here too much weight in the rear and not enough on the hitch is a bad towing experience.
I have had the regrettable experience (30 years ago) of attempting to tow this way, fighting it, losing the battle and riding it out to the logical conclusion. TV destroyed. I learned many things that trip...I've never stopped towing, but I stopped towing stupid(!) There's a looong story in there somewhere for a rainy day. Suffice it to say that too little tongue weight can be disaster.
MrSurly wrote: ...
I have had the regrettable experience (30 years ago) of attempting to tow this way, fighting it, losing the battle and riding it out to the logical conclusion. TV destroyed. I learned many things that trip...I've never stopped towing, but I stopped towing stupid(!) There's a looong story in there somewhere for a rainy day. Suffice it to say that too little tongue weight can be disaster.
Ricky
It's snowing, windy and I'm running on generator power for 5 hours now.... great story time for me
If you have the time start a thread, I'm thinking many may learn from your hard lessons of the past???
No time to shift into my scribe's hat but I really should write it out sometime. Didn't involve a TT, but it was flat-towing a tandem axle trailer. And Oooooooh, yes. It was StooPid with a capital P.
I don't know where I'd post it here or even if it would belong but I'll write, soon, I promise.
Ricky
Hi I found the picture of you taking apart the furnace very useful. I am planning on taking mine apart when it gets colder and cant work on the inside of the trailer. I just bought a 1971 holiday rambler traveler. I just started the renovation project. My model was the ugly avocado green, which thankfully last owner switch carpet to Laminate hardwood. I just purchased fabric to make new seat covers. I had to bought 26 yards to make covers. This weekend I am planing on fixing the ceiling. In the past it looks like their was a leak where the front come down from the bunk area. I took the panel that was damaged down to go to a hardware store to order and the roof trusses a rotten. The good thing is it only seems to be in the one area. I plan to build some trusses this weekend and get it back together. Good luck with your project.
Update: Hi folks! I am back into do-something-with-the-camper-mode, having completely stopped work on it many months ago. It has been sitting while so many other things have taken up my time. It has been over a hundred degrees so getting enthused about this project has been difficult. Now it's time to resume. It's almost hunting season again!
Since my previous posts here I have finished installing the grey and black tanks(!)
The original black tank removal left a large hole in the floor that I had to repair and then I fabricated some heavy angle to support the new tanks.
Measure three times before drilling!
I almost screwed this up as my first plan placed the toilet hub right on the reinforcement rib of the tank and that would've been really bad. Triple-checking saved the day. Due to ground clearance concerns, I positioned the new tanks so that the outlets faced forward and the dump piping would be located between the tires to reduce the exposure to terrain drop offs.
The piping runs to the left and then 45s to the rear, exiting just after the left side tires. The pics provide some context.
I do wish I had scraped and painted the frame; it would only be aesthetic...but it would look nice and I may still do it. I then started on the bathroom in earnest.
I Like the thought of ripping it all out and replacing all with new.
The reality of costs dictates otherwise. I need a new toilet and all new piping, a water heater and a demand pump. I'll have to save money on everything else, it seems. I started by stripping out all the piping as well as the shower pan. The copper was good as it entered the bath area, so I cut it there and added PEX pipe adapters. I finished the repair of the flooring cut out and started working on preparation for the new vinyl. There was quite a bit of water damage to the bottom of the cabinets around the entire bath. I used a handsaw and a sawzall to remove about four inches of the bottom of each piece to clean things up and to ease installation of the flooring. I would need to rebuild these pieces later. A trip to the flooring store produced a remnant of flooring that would do. The glue for it cost more than the flooring. I glued down the new vinyl without having to do any cutting around anything; that was nice.
Before getting too far along, I needed to decide on how I was going to change the shower, so I could determine where to plan on drain and vent piping. The major issue with the shower is the diminutive proportions of it. I'm not a small guy and standing in the shower I find that I can't even raise my arms to wash my hair! The sides of the thing are just too close! I started out with the idea that I would simply buy a larger shower pan and relocate the sink/vanity a bit. I ran into two difficulties: The original plumbing vent location in the roof, and the surprising expense of a shower pan. I don't want to add new roof penetrations, so using the original location would be preferred.
Shower pans are priced 2~4 hundred dollars!
I started to re-think this and decided that the small shower pan would be OK, if I could just free up some elbow room. The trick here was the vent stack which had to be relocated.
I came up with a plan for this and, satisfied with the plan, I resumed working on the water piping, leaving the vent project for later.
For the water piping, I installed PEX piping (my first) throughout the bath and added the outdoor shower box while I was at it.
I retained all the original faucets (budget again). As a side note: The old faucets don't look so hot, but they are actually brass and will probably last another forty years!
(more to come)
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Good to see you back at the restoration! I took a low budget appoach on the water valves in my rig, I opened them up, cleaned the innards and replaced the rubber washers and o-rings. With a little dab of faucet grease, they turn like new. Good luck with the bathroom, you're tackling the roughest part of the build, IMO, and it will be all downhill from there. I promise!
Thanks for the encouragement. I've added some pics while you typed.
I've ordered a water heater and water pump today. I've got to get my act together and make some headway on this thing. Once the bath is completed I'll feel like I've done something (!) then it will be time to get to work on the interior paneling. I really think I'll make much better progress at that point.
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and good luck with the rebuild
adding weight to the rear.
and then I fabricated some heavy angle to support the new tanks. 
I finished the repair of the flooring cut out and started working on preparation for the new vinyl. There was quite a bit of water damage to the bottom of the cabinets around the entire bath. I used a handsaw and a sawzall to remove about four inches of the bottom of each piece to clean things up and to ease installation of the flooring. I would need to rebuild these pieces later. A trip to the flooring store produced a remnant of flooring that would do. The glue for it cost more than the flooring. I glued down the new vinyl without having to do any cutting around anything; that was nice. 
The trick here was the vent stack which had to be relocated. 
