Chinook RV

So, this past summer we bought a 1994 Concourse with 50K miles. Good bones, but of course needed tires.

The interior needed TLC, as a tree had fallen across one side and the impact had caused the right hand cabinets to fall down! Because those were so heavy, I hired a local carpenter and his helper to put them back up.

Then my own interior and exterior renovations started in earnest. For one thing, I was not fond of the old "Dusty Rose" and burgundy colors. So I changed it all to greys, which some of you are lucky enough to have gotten stock.

I'll post two pics here, and you can find the rest up on Pinterest at this board:

https://www.pinterest.com/kkadarling/ch ... v-remodel/
----------------------------- I still have other pictures to put up later, such as of the faux granite sink top I made for the bathroom.

I could only work weekends on it, and maybe an hour each evening or so. It felt like it would take forever, but each day I'd get something else done. There's still more stuff on my list, like finish up the cushion covers, but I finally feel like I have most of it done. Whew!

I'd love to see pics of remodeling that others have done. Anyone?

Kevin

Niiiiice job!

Buh-bye, mauve....

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd really enjoy seeing more photos here. I can look at things on Pinterest for about four seconds, and then their self-advertisement slides up and takes over the screen and I can't see any more. Boo!

Did I say nice job? Wow.

Ah, thanks for the kind words! I had so many ideas, that my wife had to edit them down for me. (E.g. she made me take the stained glass out of the rear door window. Darn. I kinda liked it at night.)

Anyway, I decided to post many of my mods, since I have had trouble finding much online about Chinook renovations. Hopefully they'll help someone else who's as hungry as I am for such examples.

On that topic, I really can't believe that no one has written a book on Chinooks. The same basic style was used for decades, and I know that a lot of new owners come online, hoping to find out about wiring, what's behind the walls, etc.

Not to mention just the pure interest in seeing how the styles and interior setups have changed. Heck, even the way the stripes were painted have changed in subtle and interesting ways over the years. From sharp to curved corners. Sometimes darker on bottom, later darker on top. Etc.

Maybe a bunch of us can get together and create something useful and fun. Perhaps a table picture book to show guests. And/or a deeper manual.

AND I'd also like to make a miniature model of a Chinook just for fun. I used to make doll furniture for my daughter, and wired up a dollhouse for her with lights. This could be similar work. I figured I could start with an old ambulance model perhaps. Hmm. Have to look around. Ideas?

Well done remodel! I'm tackling things little by little as well (and as money permits) with my next big project being the carpet removal/replacement. How expensive was the paint job? I've gone to two places and been quoted $3500 and $4500. I'm leaning towards the $4500 because he also does paint jobs for a local car dealer and has all the right equipment.

A book would be doable. Shutterfly.com offers a book you can make with photos and descriptions. I haven't looked hard into it so don't know all the details, but then you could crank out a bunch of books. There may be cheaper or better places, but I'm on their mailing list and get coupons every once in a while for do-it-yourself books.

Skillet wrote:I'm tackling things little by little as well (and as money permits) with my next big project being the carpet removal/replacement.

I'm poised to do that one too. Should be fun (I have already started to take out some sections of the carpet/pad. Heavy workout on the vise grips and 5-in-1 for pulling the many looooooong staples. It's rewarding though. Guess that'll be another thread.

Looks really good. Certainly was a big undertaking!

Blue~Go wrote:I don't know about anyone else, but I'd really enjoy seeing more photos here. I can look at things on Pinterest for about four seconds, and then their self-advertisement slides up and takes over the screen and I can't see any more. Boo!

Is that because you don't have a Pinterest account?

Skillet wrote:Well done remodel! I'm tackling things little by little as well (and as money permits) with my next big project being the carpet removal/replacement. How expensive was the paint job? I've gone to two places and been quoted $3500 and $4500. I'm leaning towards the $4500 because he also does paint jobs for a local car dealer and has all the right equipment.

My Pinterest board contains a lot more pics and info. It also mentions that I masked and painted it myself. Cost less than $200 in paint, tape and vinyl borders. No way was I going to spend a lot of money on a '94

My main trick was to only paint the large sections, and then use 1/2" vinyl pinstriping (~$20 for 150 feet) for the borders. Much quicker and far less to mask / paint.

Plus it's only stripes, so it's relatively easy. Does your 2002 have the Millennium paint job? I can see why that would cost a lot.

Skillet wrote:I'm tackling things little by little as well (and as money permits) with my next big project being the carpet removal/replacement.

If I ever had to do it again, I swear I think I would remove the dinette and sofa first. I think it'd be easier to pull up the carpet as one piece, than endure the time and pain of slicing it along the edges.

Besides the trimming, the biggest problem with putting in a wood floor was dealing with a few bolt heads that stick up about 3/8". (They're usually hidden by the carpet padding).

Some people grind them down, but hey, they hold the body on, so that was not an option for me.

What I ended up doing was using a hole saw on the boards from the back, but stopping halfway through. Then I used a small screwdriver as a chisel to continue removing material from behind, almost to the top laminate layer.

This left a tiny guide hole on the top, which is easy to fill with wood putty and is invisible, while the large opening underneath neatly fits over the bolt.

(When my daughter helped lay the boards, she came to the bolt section and said "Uh oh! What will we do here?" I said grab the next board on the pile... it has a hole for the bolt. She saw the tiny guide hole on the top and said, "But Dad, that isn't anywhere big enough!". I told her to flip it over, and she went "Aha!" )