1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post project writeups, ideas, DIY mods and off the shelf modifications and improvements. Also "Known Issues" and their resolutions.
User avatar
Blue~Go
Senior Member
Posts: 3716
Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:01 am
Location: 1999 Concourse

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by Blue~Go »

That must feel satisfying!

I guess your Premier must either have been a custom order or have been previously modded (maybe that's why the mouse hole box was protruding - I've never seen that), because the Premiers got Formica type counters and the Concourses got Corian (once they got into those types of countertops in I think the early 90's, and excluding the very last Premiers which almost became Concourses in the mid-2000's and might have had it).
1999 Concourse
Aikensb
Posts: 36
Joined: September 10th, 2017, 4:17 am

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by Aikensb »

Could very well have been previously modified - other parts were definitely were definitely modified (and poorly I might add!) I did find it odd that the sink counter and the stove counter appear to be a different pattern - not too badly mismatched, but definitely not the same. We haven't had the stove counter off, but, based on your comment, it must be formica. I don't really know the history on this model; I have not done a CarFax report and it's really my mother's - though I just know she's never going to use it. All I know is that she bought it from an elderly man in her area. I'm guessing that he wanted to fix it up and just became overwhelmed - although all of the systems are working fine.

My husband started laying the laminate yesterday! He's about 3/4 done, and I think it looks absolutely fantastic! He told me that he took a large drill bit and made the holes in the back of the laminate to lay over the bolts under the couch, dinette area, and behind the drivers seat. Yes, this does weaken the laminate, but he thinks it will be fine because these are in low traffic areas. We had thought we would first lay luan and cut the holes out in that, but he became concerned that the bottom cabinets under the dinette seats would not fit properly if raised that high. This particular laminate is 8mm thick and has the foam underlay attached.

I will start posting some pics tomorrow.
User avatar
Blue~Go
Senior Member
Posts: 3716
Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:01 am
Location: 1999 Concourse

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by Blue~Go »

Ooh, looking forward to those pics!

I haven't done my flooring yet, but I'm thinking I'll either recess the bolt heads into the existing floor (which is two 3/4" pieces of plywood, so 1-1/2" thick), or switch to elevator bolts. But then I'm going to put in linoleum-type flooring, so I won't have the option of carving that away since it's not that thick.

******

Basically the Premier was the "lower" model, and the Concourse was the "upper" model in the 21-footers. There is a sub-forum here called Reference and in there I posted a Chinook brochure/document that compares the features between the two. Some things are not mentioned in that of course (like stick window framing vs. plywood window surrounds). They are both essentially the same rig. I see plusses and minuses to either model and would have bought whichever one I found that was in the condition I was looking for. That said, I really liked the blue "racing stripe" livery on the Concourse so I was pleased to find one. But if I had a magic wand I'd combine some features from both models vs. having a pure one of either.
1999 Concourse
Aikensb
Posts: 36
Joined: September 10th, 2017, 4:17 am

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by Aikensb »

I'm going to post a few photos of the ongoing work. First, the kitchen rebuild.

I asked my husband what they used to secure the cabinets to the wall, and he said they wedged a 2 x 4 on the wall where the two cabinets join together. The right is bracketed to the "all purpose board" discussed in earlier posts. I didn't get a picture of that side, but will. As I posted earlier, these are RTA country oak cabinets. The seem to be very solidly built. Each individual piece in the cabinet was modified in some way - cutting around obstacles.

We were able to fit the panel box inside of the cabinet with the door, and close the door! Much nicer look IMO.
Attachments
Finished Cabinets Installed.jpg
Inside of Cabinet with Panel Box.jpg
Cabinet with PanelBox Inside.jpg
Aikensb
Posts: 36
Joined: September 10th, 2017, 4:17 am

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by Aikensb »

More pics of kitchen cabinets installed.

On cabinet with door, the drawer is just a front that pulls down to hold the sponges, etc. - the same as the original configuration.

On the cabinet with the drawers, the top one is non-functional and a front only. The bottom two drawers are fully functional. The middle one comes out full length, and the bottom one was shortened, as were the drawer slides. We have pulls and latches that we haven't installed yet.

As I mentioned in my previous post, this work was quite intensive and involved a lot of measuring and cutting as they went. It took two men (husband and carpenter friend) 5 hours to get everything done, including re-installing the countertop and sink. And, they worked like demons!
Attachments
This image shows shortened drawer glides and support board installed to hold the glides.  Here you can also see how cabinet was cut around obstacles.
This image shows shortened drawer glides and support board installed to hold the glides. Here you can also see how cabinet was cut around obstacles.
This is shortened bottom deep drawer.
This is shortened bottom deep drawer.
This is middle drawer.
This is middle drawer.
User avatar
Blue~Go
Senior Member
Posts: 3716
Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:01 am
Location: 1999 Concourse

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by Blue~Go »

Nice job on customizing the cabinets.

Also another interesting difference from the Concourse. Mine is built a little more like a boat (not to overstep, as it would not make it a day in boating conditions, trust me!) in that there is plywood in the walls that's bonded to the shell, and then the cross bulkheads (shower wall, fridge-stove wall, and parts of the "wallettes" (between both kitchen areas and living room) are attached to those. There are no dimensional lumber pieces in the walls (or even up against them except for that couch stringer). Its surprising they would have two complete different plans for stuff you can't even see, but from your report and others who have Premiers it seems there was. Maybe since they were already stick framing for the rectangular windows they just kept on going.
1999 Concourse
Aikensb
Posts: 36
Joined: September 10th, 2017, 4:17 am

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by Aikensb »

Now, some pics of the new flooring - this makes the most difference IMO, really brightens the whole place up! My husband did all of this work himself. I forgot to ask him to time it, but 2 days working 3-4 hours each. The hardest part was getting the finished threshold piece cut and installed between cab and coach - there is a small difference in height there. That took him about 2 hours. He still has to finish the trim. We're not using the Pergo quarter round product, just stained wood quarter round that is nailed with finish nails.

BTW, this is one of very few patterns that resemble the old style 2-3" hardwood floors. Most of the patterns seem to resemble wider planks today - and that is what is in our 5th wheel. But we like this pattern much more because of the variation in the "wood". This pattern is called Haley Oak. It might be too busy for some, but we thought the variation would match the different oak coloring in the cabinetry and fake oak laminate.
Attachments
New Pergo 3.jpg
Here you can see where he cut out holes for the couch brackets.
Here you can see where he cut out holes for the couch brackets.
New Pergo 1.jpg
Aikensb
Posts: 36
Joined: September 10th, 2017, 4:17 am

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by Aikensb »

Thanks!

[quote="Blue~Go"]Nice job on customizing the cabinets.

Also another interesting difference from the Concourse. Mine is built a little more like a boat (not to overstep, as it would not make it a day in boating conditions, trust me!) in that there is plywood in the walls...

Odd, Yes, just hardened foam insulation on these walls, except for the boards surrounding the window frames.
User avatar
Blue~Go
Senior Member
Posts: 3716
Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:01 am
Location: 1999 Concourse

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by Blue~Go »

That would be the "Arctic Foam," which would make you think it'd be like five inches thick, but in reality it's just a shot of foam on the walls. It still serves a very good purpose, which is to keep condensation from forming on the inside of the cold shell; but I doubt the R-value is anything of note. I bought some 3M Thinsulate automotive insulation (comes rolled up kind of like fiberglass does) and will at least put it behind the shower, and maybe a bit behind the interior walls (being careful not to pressurize the interior walls).

Anyway, the Concourse has that too, but it seems the difference is the plywood sections that run in the dining/living/window areas, and then there are plywood "battens" fiberglassed to the walls in other areas to anchor the interior bulkheads. I wish we had a copy of the Premier blueprints to compare to the 1999 Concourse ones we have - that would be fun. Oh well, we do have folks who like to dig in and see :mrgreen:

Nothing like new sleek flooring to really cap things off. And what a dream to keep clean compared to carpeting.
1999 Concourse
chin_k
**Forum Contributor**
Posts: 2257
Joined: June 26th, 2017, 9:38 pm
Location: Southern CA

Re: 1999 Premiere Reno - moved from General Chinook

Post by chin_k »

I have a question on the couch bracket. Did you remove the bolt and take out the bracket for you to install the planks? I tried to see if the bolt is removable, but it seems like there is a nut under the chassis that spins with the bolt, and so I stopped, trying to to drop/lost the nut.
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
Post Reply