Well folks, we got our tow vehicle and are almost ready to hit that road.
To compliment our "lovely" green striped 20 ft. Prowler, we just purchased a smashing green and golden '94 Chevy Gladiator Conversion Van.
The van is in amazing shape. It's got 106,000 on it, but it was maintained to a borderline psychotic standard. You'd think it was brand new on the inside and as far as mechanical. The top of the vehicle has some sun wear, and there's slight paint bubblage around the windows, but otherwise the van is impeccable.
We were going to get a normal, empty van, and add shelving and storage bins to it for our storage needs. THEN we saw this van sitting in a dealer's lot almost right across the street from my mother-in-law's house. We took it for a ride and LOVED it almost immediately. It had some dash issues that needed to be fixed, the odometer and the fuel guage were not working, and the dealer fixed it for us. So we did some googling and read the reviews on them, which convinced us even more, so we bought it.
The Prowler is almost done. We decided to rip out the original couch/convert-a-bed system, and make a "more than KING size" bed out of the area. That's almost done. We're waiting on our topper for that.
I took the hide a bed from above the couches, and cut it down to use as our office area that we have converted the kitchen table area into.
Now, i'm only looking at re-tarring the roof, and fixing the bathroom ceiling, and getting new tires for it.
We bought almost all our camping needs, including a phenomenal grill that was on sale at Wal-mart.
Oh... and i have to learn to drive the damn thing when it's all hitched up. Haven't done that yet. Lots of big parking lots around here, so I think I'll practice for quite awhile before taking her out.
All this SHOULD be done within the coming week. Things went very well for us, as my severence arrived two weeks early. So we're far ahead of schedule, which will allow us to practice a bit more in the local area, before heading out to NE for October and then to SC for the winter.
Again, I can't thank Howard and Linda, and ALL OF YOU, for all of the amazing help and advice around here. I love this site and this forum is probably the best one I've found on the net.
Pics will be coming. I need to load and edit.
PIEERE said
10:33 AM Sep 16, 2010
Don't use tar on the rv roof as the hot sun will melt it and it will turn back to liquid and run down and make a huge mess. Home Depot and Lowes carry KOOL SEAL in white color which reflects heat and will keep the interior 15-20 degrees cooler. Enjoy and BOL!!! PIEERE
Remi said
10:39 AM Sep 16, 2010
Congrats... Getting there myself. See ya on the road :D
Racerguy said
10:40 AM Sep 16, 2010
Congratulations,another step forward.
Necro said
05:22 PM Sep 16, 2010
PIEERE wrote:
Don't use tar on the rv roof as the hot sun will melt it and it will turn back to liquid and run down and make a huge mess. Home Depot and Lowes carry KOOL SEAL in white color which reflects heat and will keep the interior 15-20 degrees cooler. Enjoy and BOL!!! PIEERE
Yeah, i worded that "tar" just cuz it was easier. I bought official RV roof sealant. Sorry. :(
janni said
05:32 PM Sep 16, 2010
Congrats and Good Luck!
mktobob said
05:39 PM Sep 16, 2010
Wonderful news....Best wishes on your new adventure!
Necro said
06:29 PM Sep 16, 2010
Went to Gander Mt. and Wal-mart and saved a lot of money on camping gear cuz the season is just about over in Pa. Good timing on that.
Didn't get a chance to work on anything though. Getting the carpet tomorrow, but really don't want to continue on anything until we replace the damaged wood in the front end roof, and the bathroom roof, where there was leakage. Not huge, but definitely need to replace these areas. Will probably do a full replacement on it next summer, when we return to Pa.
This has been a ball. I've never been a complete handy-man before. I always rented, so never got to do things I really wanted in our houses. I've always watched DIY shows though, and got some experience at my jobs through the years, so it's working out well. My wife is really into the interior design of it all, so she's been working on the whole bedroom redo. I really can't wait to see the whole thing when it's done.
Only big items left to get are a generator and maybe a water pump. I think it's dead, but a friend wants to look at it first before we pronounce it dead for sure. :) Hopefully it'll be all done by the end of next week. This is more exhausting that going to my old job all day, but a heck of a lot more fun.
Are there Chilton type manuals for RV's? I could really use one of them.
earthmommy said
09:44 PM Sep 16, 2010
Congrats! We're in Charlotte NC so feel free to look us up when you get settled in SC for the winter!
Necro said
06:58 PM Sep 20, 2010
Spent the weekend camping. Our kids slept in the van and we slept in a tent. It was a great way to close out the summer and spend some serious time with the twins before we ship out. Came home today and had my wife's cousin, re-do our roof. He did a great job. Well... it looks great anyway, guess i won't find out 'till it rains again.
Tomorrow I replace the bathroom ceiling and the ceiling in the front end that both got water damaged. Should be a rather easy job, just not looking forward to it. Then the carpeting, bed, tires and we're ready to load her up.
This little weekend excursion has me chomping at the bit now. We spent a lot of time hanging out with Ed, the camp host. He's been doing this for four years now, and gave me a lot of advice. Most of it, I'd already learned, by reading forums and sites like this, but it was still great to hear it from first hand experience. I was really glad to have met him.
To compliment our "lovely" green striped 20 ft. Prowler, we just purchased a smashing green and golden '94 Chevy Gladiator Conversion Van.
The van is in amazing shape. It's got 106,000 on it, but it was maintained to a borderline psychotic standard. You'd think it was brand new on the inside and as far as mechanical. The top of the vehicle has some sun wear, and there's slight paint bubblage around the windows, but otherwise the van is impeccable.
We were going to get a normal, empty van, and add shelving and storage bins to it for our storage needs. THEN we saw this van sitting in a dealer's lot almost right across the street from my mother-in-law's house. We took it for a ride and LOVED it almost immediately. It had some dash issues that needed to be fixed, the odometer and the fuel guage were not working, and the dealer fixed it for us. So we did some googling and read the reviews on them, which convinced us even more, so we bought it.
The Prowler is almost done. We decided to rip out the original couch/convert-a-bed system, and make a "more than KING size" bed out of the area. That's almost done. We're waiting on our topper for that.
I took the hide a bed from above the couches, and cut it down to use as our office area that we have converted the kitchen table area into.
Now, i'm only looking at re-tarring the roof, and fixing the bathroom ceiling, and getting new tires for it.
We bought almost all our camping needs, including a phenomenal grill that was on sale at Wal-mart.
Oh... and i have to learn to drive the damn thing when it's all hitched up.
All this SHOULD be done within the coming week. Things went very well for us, as my severence arrived two weeks early. So we're far ahead of schedule, which will allow us to practice a bit more in the local area, before heading out to NE for October and then to SC for the winter.
Again, I can't thank Howard and Linda, and ALL OF YOU, for all of the amazing help and advice around here. I love this site and this forum is probably the best one I've found on the net.
Pics will be coming. I need to load and edit.
Congrats and Good Luck!
Tomorrow I replace the bathroom ceiling and the ceiling in the front end that both got water damaged. Should be a rather easy job, just not looking forward to it. Then the carpeting, bed, tires and we're ready to load her up.
This little weekend excursion has me chomping at the bit now. We spent a lot of time hanging out with Ed, the camp host. He's been doing this for four years now, and gave me a lot of advice. Most of it, I'd already learned, by reading forums and sites like this, but it was still great to hear it from first hand experience. I was really glad to have met him.
I can't wait to get going.