Sub2RainEN wrote: ↑Mon Aug 16, 2021 5:47 pm
We definitely ended up with the right rigs. I don’t have the resources, tools, knowledge, or space to do the work you have done on your new old B.
Thanks. I'm running up against my limits, though, as I don't have an interior place to work on it, and this next step will likely require things like removing the air conditioner and windows. I guess a long tarp would work, though.
Do you think you will rebuild similar to the original plan or use this as an opportunity to personalize/update the rig? I remember you said the shower was too low for you — maybe a shower pan or outdoor shower? I actually like the closet. Other than adding shelves to the upper part, I find it very useful. Is there anything you would change?
Someone posted a picture on the group a few weeks back where they used a shower pan from a certain model of trailer to replace the bath tub, which makes the shower a LOT more usable. I might do that, but I haven't decided. Probably should. Shamelessly stolen from that post:
- b190_shower_conversion.jpg (53.09 KiB) Viewed 61013 times
Also, quoting his comment on it, so we have it for future reference:
it is one that they currently use in new rockwood travel trailers. It wasn't meant to be a wet bath, but worked well.
My wife hates the mouse fur, so she'd be happy to see that go (from our trailer, too, which has even more of it...). So I would definitely remove that. Fortunately it's only on the walls on the fiberglass top, and the ceiling. I'm thinking I'd just redo those walls and ceiling in bare aluminum. Originally I was planning to glue an aluminum sheet to Luan over the bunk, but part of me is thinking I might be better off just using the aluminum itself and perhaps pop riveting it in place. And I think that would work even better on the sides. I might have to put the aluminum ceiling piece I've already cut in place temporarily and see how it goes.
The shelf in the closet is wrecked. I don't think I took a picture, but it's completely warped and separated at the end at the back of the camper, which is what caught my attention for how bad the issue had gotten. So I clearly need to remake that. I'm thinking a piece of wood, with aluminum glued to the top of it. Another shelf might be a good idea, but it might be a situation where it's only a half-shelf above the back half of the closet, with some sort of retention system for stuff. I haven't really fleshed this out (and it can be done any time, after things are reassembled, so it's a lower priority). I'm afraid a full shelf would provide lots of places for things to get lost, but maybe I'm wrong about that.
If the shower pan is coming out (which it probably has to, because that wall in front has to come out), I'm definitely taking the time to upgrade the electrical connection. I'm going to put in one of those 30 amp Smartplugs. I've never liked the current setup, it's kind of annoying, and it's an obvious air leak. One thing about that shower setup - I think I'd lose the storage under the tub, so I'd want to think about where to store the cord (and I used to store the sewer hose in there, too). I guess it could go in the closet somehow, maybe coiled on a strong hook.
I'll replace the phone jack wiring with 12 volt wiring, the thinking being that I'll (eventually) put a USB port in its place outside. I could use the spot where the phone jack is inside for USB ports as well. I know it's funny now, but I love that Airstream put that phone wiring in place. They were trying to think ahead about how people would use their B190s and guessed wrong on that one, but I can't blame them for that - instead, I'm glad they tried it.
In an ideal world, I'd run heavier wires for a solar system, and I'd run some wires for things like a Wifi antenna and a cellular antenna. With adding a bunch of aluminum, signal quality will go down. Of course, these wires run down the lower walls that I wasn't planning to tackle. Maybe if I can just get them to the speaker cutout on the driver's side for now, that sort of thing.
I might disconnect the roof TV antenna wire entirely because, let's face it, it never worked that well (and we don't really watch TV while camping anyway). Hey, that might be a better spot to run the wifi and cellular antenna wiring...keep the coax available, too, because some things do use that, like the Wifiranger we have on the trailer. That would free up the spot where the cable tv/antenna selector is, potentially for something more useful.
Of course I still need to redo the rear brake light (mine's all cracked and broken). I also plan to run power and video cables for a rearview camera. I haven't decided which camera setup I'm going to buy, but I'll run both the four-pin cable some cameras use, as well as the standard video cable other cameras use, and power. That way when the camera I buy decides to fail and I have to replace everything, at least the wires I need are already present regardless of what I buy. (Actually, being prepared for failure will probably mean it'll work perfectly forever.)