chinook concourse diesel 4x4 progress

[markatherton]

Major tune up done on the diesel (7.3) approximately 50 hours of labor; 4 wheel drive conversion is complete; Front bumper with warn 16.5 Ti winch and digital lights installed; Seven new 235/85/16 BFG's and new Alcoa aluminum forged wheels installed; New ac unit; propane generator serviced; Now it is time to make it prettier; The stripes will have to be completely removed or repainted; MDF on inside needs extensive replacement with oak plywood. The saga continues...

[chin_k]

I would like to hear your progress. Keep us updated.

[68camaro]

Whose front bumper did you install? Any idea on weight?

I was looking at a Weldtec but they stopped making them until they get a new fabricator/welder.

Right now I have narrowed down to Ujoints own and Move Bumper.

[Hea!]

Where did you get those wheels!!!
My Chinook needs a 4x4 swap!

[Warthogg]

Looks great.

I'm curious about the lug nuts. Did you get them from Alcoa? I'm tired of the lug nut covers I'm using.

[markatherton]

I love the aluminess products but I did not like the look of their front bumper. I bought this bumper from a company called Buckstop; It has more of a baja look. I bought the wheels and lug nuts on ebay. I think I paid $800 for the Alcoa rims.

[sm350bl]

Its looking great Mark, I do like the flare the alcoa's add to the overall profile. I am very interested to see your interior work for ideas / confidence to tackle some in my coach.....

[markatherton]

I am not a woodworker but I do own a table saw. My plan is to carefully remove the damaged mdf and duplicate it with oak veneer plywood. I will probably seal the backside and edges with something that will waterproof it. I have ALOT to replace. I am just going to do it at a snail's pace. Personally I like the factory layout, so I won't be redesigning anything...just duplicating

[Hepburn]

How are you certain oak veneer plywood will do the trick, Mark?

[SMan]

I have a fairly extensive background in woodworking and am a big fan of Baltic Birch plywood. I have been a carpenter for most of my working career and in retirement build and repair acoustic and electric guitars. Baltic Birch (Russian Birch) is much higher quality than traditional plywood with more cross plys which makes it far more stable and less susceptible to warping than traditional plywood. Exterior grade Finnish Birch is also much less susceptible to moisture as the glues used are different. The edges are also much easier to seal. The down side is that it is quite expensive. Baltic Birch is used extensively in boat building.

That said if you have a Coach with an Oak interior and do a good job of treating the edges and applying a finish Oak veneer plywood would be far superior to MDF and would be a better match to the existing interior IMO. My Premier has the Maple interior so any panels I replace would be with Baltic Birch.

Just my .02 cents.