B190 Enthusiasts

Lets face it, many of our B's are pushing 30 years old and vehicles have come a long way as far as creature comforts and neat little things go. Have been thinking of some little projects over the winter like changing out the $29.00 Wall Mart stereo to something w/blue tooth, maybe new speakers threw out , outside ambient temp gauge...
What have you done to your B

Stereo with a Sirius tuner, but we’re going to change that a bit. I rewired the stereo to the coach system and got a good remote for it, so it serves as a nice stereo system for the camper. (Down side - it doesn’t automatically shut off when you kill the engine, but it’s worth it.)

Plans include a back up camera; keyless entry/remote start; and LED lighting - though we haven’t decided if we want new fixtures or LEDs in the current fixtures. We’ve talked about a new mattress for up top, too.

skater wrote:Stereo with a Sirius tuner, but we’re going to change that a bit. I rewired the stereo to the coach system and got a good remote for it, so it serves as a nice stereo system for the camper. (Down side - it doesn’t automatically shut off when you kill the engine, but it’s worth it.)

Plans include a back up camera; keyless entry/remote start; and LED lighting - though we haven’t decided if we want new fixtures or LEDs in the current fixtures. We’ve talked about a new mattress for up top, too.

I put the LED bulbs in, much brighter, maybe new fixtures down the road, I am missing one mattress up top so I cant extend it all the way out yet, it is on my list, got a twin memory foam for the couch, need to get a stiffer one for up topside. It will never end. lol

YES, THE LIST GOES ON....

Ok, did take B the camper on two nice trips. One to visit my son at his college soccer game(thank you Berry College for having free hookups for parents) and down to the Hiawassee,GA gathering at an Airstream get together. All those trailer folks were very welcoming and wanted to know all the things that I have been doing with the B190. This truck took those mountains roads on up and down....many steep.

The couch was taken out yesterday and is having new cover put on it(seriously, 25 years of odor on upholstery) which gave me a chance to clean 25 years of dust out of the back and bottom of the couch. I had a mountain of dirty rags and wiped the wiring free of dust, wheelbase, carpet)

New waterproof flooring like Coretec Plus going in soon. Warm to the touch and in case of leaks which caused me to pull up carpet from the fittings back of shower.

The guy that owned the camper put in this real high end radio, speaker system and it does sound amazing.

Ok, after much work which I will list later and some maintenance work(oil and filter change, water pump, transmission fluid, tires...) I noticed a slow leak forward of the oil filter. Not knowing anything about engines(but, learning)...found out there was a pin hole leak in the transmission line because of rust which they DO NOT make those lines anymore we found out. Camper is now at City Transmission in Asheville getting the line "fabricated" because no ability to get one. The guy said we fabricate
them all the time and very familiar with Ford Econoline engines. I figure I will get most of the bugs worked out before a cross country trip in May 2018. In the mean time...Modernizing/personalizing B

Choptop wrote:Lets face it, many of our B's are pushing 30 years old and vehicles have come a long way as far as creature comforts and neat little things go. Have been thinking of some little projects over the winter like changing out the $29.00 Wall Mart stereo to something w/blue tooth, maybe new speakers threw out , outside ambient temp gauge...
What have you done to your B

Oh, Choptop I did get rid of the mattress that was in the van because well....while I washed all the covering and had mattress pads, nice clean sheets just would not sleep well. Ordered a new mattress that sleeps very well and it is brand new and one less source of odor. While the camper smells more like non bleach cleaner, rug carpet cleaner I just want to eliminate any potential source and have a healthy camper for folks. Now that is an upgrade and modernizing aspect since it was organic cotton.

mountaindent wrote:

Choptop wrote:Lets face it, many of our B's are pushing 30 years old and vehicles have come a long way as far as creature comforts and neat little things go. Have been thinking of some little projects over the winter like changing out the $29.00 Wall Mart stereo to something w/blue tooth, maybe new speakers threw out , outside ambient temp gauge...
What have you done to your B

Oh, Choptop I did get rid of the mattress that was in the van because well....while I washed all the covering and had mattress pads, nice clean sheets just would not sleep well. Ordered a new mattress that sleeps very well and it is brand new and one less source of odor. While the camper smells more like non bleach cleaner, rug carpet cleaner I just want to eliminate any potential source and have a healthy camper for folks. Now that is an upgrade and modernizing aspect since it was organic cotton.

I take it you are talking about the Over cab mattress's, As I mentioned before, I am missing one mattress that keeps me from pulling it out all the way, looking into replacing all w/firmer mattress's , to soft and my Sciatica starts acting up. Always something to do.

Well, I have the mattress that will make it extend into the larger bed. However, I took it out of the upper bed area which reduces the weight up top. I find that I extend the bed area just for safety reasons so I do not fall out of the bed! Fortunately, I do not move much but, no one ever knows and if I do move I will hit the area of just platform which should wake me up.

I just got rid of my '93 E150 Hitop conversion van. One of my favorite personalization's was installing a billet grille to the front, just loved the look from the front after I installed it. Have looked all over for one for the '90 but apparently they do not feel the need to produce one for series of years that my B falls into. Now they make a billet grille for the '90 F150, like the '93 E150 I sold, the billet grille is a separate entity from the headlight surrounds were as the '90 is all 1 piece. I ordered the billet grille for the F150 and my hopes are that I can remove the individual squares section between the lights, leaving the rest intact and replace the center w/the billet grille and have it look factory. A winter project.

and billet grille is for protection of the engine in case of deer or other traumas? just curious.

mountaindent wrote:and billet grille is for protection of the engine in case of deer or other traumas? just curious.

When I say billet grille, this is what I mean, this is for a '90 F150.

Ok, now that is a first for me to see that. Is this a style statement or is there a functional reason? Both have valid reasons for doing it but, curious. Thanks for helping me learn about vehicles, trucks cars and camper van.

[quote="mountaindent"]Ok, now that is a first for me to see that. Is this a style statement or is there a functional reason? Both have valid reasons for doing it but, curious. Thanks for helping me learn about vehicles, trucks cars and camper van.[/quote

It is a style thing, serves no useful functional purpose, kinda like putting fancy rims on or swapping out the radio or ...

Just installed a billet grille. Looks a whole lot better than the faded plastic grille and a pretty straight forward install. About $70. Just remember that you’ll need to carry a long thin screwdriver to release the hood safety catch.




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Put the same grille in my '93 conversion van, loved the look and carried a piece of lathe to get at the latch. lol Have a billet grille for a '90 f150 that looks like it could replace the center of the '90 B grille, waiting for it to be delivered and then decide whether I can do it or...

lido14co wrote:Just installed a billet grille. Looks a whole lot better than the faded plastic grille and a pretty straight forward install. About $70. Just remember that you’ll need to carry a long thin screwdriver to release the hood safety catch.




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That does have a look that catches the eye!...however, after finally enjoying the fact I can easily release the hood without too much searching anymore...it would be down on my list of bling. Heaven knows how many other things I want to do to personalize.