What we have done so far on Fort Courage

[Joanne Leiser]

Bought 1984 Lazy Daze Class C 22' motorhome January 2015 for $3000.  Had mechanic check out, driveable, good hoses, engine, will need new tires next winter, A/C in cab not working, other than that it's sound and drives good. :)  Crap for mileage, like 7 mpg. lol Pretty high mileage, but all ours. :) 

 

Camper part is ROUGH. Good bones, last previous owners did no maintenance on coach.

New center vent in lounge, new tiolet and floor in bathroom, not sure if done right. Need: Battery, Propane, may need refrigerator, interior chairs recovered, curtains all crap, Ceiling leak around top escape hatch vent. Delamination on driver side below lounge window may be leak at window. All windows chock full of dirt in tracks, none open, guessing no drainage. Carpet original, works for now. Bathroom door doesn't stay shut and swings when driving. Entry manual step stuck underneath. Paint on tire cover coming off. Paint on stripe on side missing in couple spots down to metal. Window trim on top front window shrunk bad, window still sealed. Rust on back ladder, back bumper and bumper looks like higher on one side.  Inside lounge couch has plaid on bottom that must go!  A/C works on shore power. :)

 

Named our motorhome FORT COURAGE. LoL It's going to take a lot to get it fixed up.

 

Fort Courage is now officially a Paniolo Western theme. The cab seat covers are a red, black and white hawaiian print. Didn't want to replace them, too expensive right now, sooooo. lol

First I took down all the valences and recovered them in a Red Bandana fabric, then washed all the curtains, the ones that didn't fall apart went back up by the upper cab bed and kitchen, lol.

Then it rained and the top vent leaked, mother of god! Got the vent top only replaced, told by RV repairman it was bad but vent good. Then it leaked again, holy hell! LOL

So sunday before the game I was up on the top (out the big hatch, chickened out of climbing the back ladder aka death trap! lol) and sealed all around the hatch with some uber Eternabond tape. Phew, it was a 3 hour job!

When the Fort was at the RV shop for the vent I was working on curtains to go between the cab and the lounge. Found some at Thrift store that only had to hem up that are insulated, very cool, denim blue.

Then I replaced the plastic shower curtain with a fabric one with fabric liner and made a new window curtain for in the shower. I cut down the beach scene one we still had, removed the palm tree so it just looks like beach with a boat, and warm yellow liner, makes it real sunny.

Also took the old curtains down in the lounge and used them to recover the couch front to get rid of the tacky orange and brown tweed crap. Staple gun is my friend! lol

Found another two curtains at thrift store, brand new, that I cut down to make lounge curtains that will actually close to provide some privacy. The old ones were just small panels on side that didn't and were stapled up under the valences. YUK. lol Leaving the big pull down roller shades, they look great with the new curtains.

The white ceramic cow skull in the lounge and a dreamcatcher.

Took out the old funky bright brass curtain rod in kitchen and replaced with smaller rod moved down. Now the curtains actually open without hanging up on the stove fan. Geeze, people are just weird. lol

Went to Home Depot and got a replacement shade cut for the bathroom. That window is a big sucker! 60" wide and 40" tall, way to big for privacy issues so shade it is. :) Had to move the bracket, sas en fraze a ding crap dong! So once again took down the valance. Geeze, gettin good at that! LOL Works great though and since its a room darkening it also cuts all the heat coming in. Woot! $22 I call that a steal. :)

DH helped me put up a latch to keep the bathroom door open when we're driving so we can see out that back window. :) Then had to hack at the frame to be able to close the door to the bathroom. LoL

He also cut me a wood piece to go over a couple hangers to hang the fabric shoe shelf for in the closet. :) Works awesome.

I found a whicker paper towel holder with lid at thrift store to hold TP, trying to make sure our one little cabinet has room for all the girly crap. lol

Oh, and found a tablecloth that is a flag print, very cool. And cut up another green gingham tablecloth to make dish towels. Doing those in my spare time when I can.

Local RV repair/store guy did look see and said we needed: New battery (he suggested same kind marine battery from walmart), new charge controller as it is bad, and new refrigerator control panel. His quote $100 on battery, $600 on controller, $1200 on control panel! I think NOT.

 

Did a BUNCH of reading in manual, need true Deep Cell battery with at least 95amps. Also read that if lights are working on shore that the charge controller IS working!, and that refrigerator may be a battery issue. Beginning to think RV guy is know nothing guy!

 

The dips we bought it from always only used shore power, so the battery was shot and the wrong kind. Went to Lancaster and got deep cell battery and DH put it in couple days ago. Took charge! Wahoo! :) (Antelope Valley Battery)

 

Lights and water pump all work on battery. :)

Cleaning with bartenders friend to remove oxidation, washed, applied 3 layers wax. Phew! Looks awesome. :)

Recovered the two barrell chairs. Found more insulated curtains as thrift store, Yahoo! In a white/cream/brown type tweedy look that looks amazing with everything. Just pulled all the old stuff off, used them for patterns, sewed new pieces cut from the curtains and recovered cushions, stapled bottom pieces. 

 

Recovered the botton of the couch with the previous lounge curtains recut and fit. :) Staples ROCK!

 

Found shower mat finally, it's a litter mat, perfect size! :)

 

Retaped Roof around top vent that leaked again. :(

 

Taped roof both side seams, front seam, around sides side seam by ladder. 3/14. Used Eternabond tape. 

 

Cleaned wheels.

 

Tried to get propane filled, couldn't. Gauge leaking. :(

 

Removed top bed foam, added queen regular mattress. :) Real mother to get it in. lol

 

Hooked up shore water with regulator and filter. Tried to fill water. Valve under sink leaks. No water at kitchen tap. Water in bathroom to sink, shower and tiolet. Tank 1/4 full. Go figure.

 

Wrapped water pipe under sink with stretch and seal tape. Still no pressure, not sure whats going on.

 

Shakedown camping trip to Diaz Lake. Drove like a champ! :) No house battery when arrived. :( Generator wouldn't start without the battery. No propane, no water, no frig. OMG! LOL Filled camp jug with water and had bottled water. Bought block of ice and put in dishpan in frig, worked to keep things cold but melted pretty fast overnite. Bummer to get it out to dump melted water. Used outside bbq to cook on. Didn't heat water for coffee worth a dam! :( Used solar lanterns and light, all worked AWESOME! :) Had good time. To windy for awning so didn't put out. Forgot levelers, but fairly level. Have long list to do for repairs.

 

Bought Rocket Stove for camping. Coffee and cooking yahoo!. Just in case propane doesn't work. 

 

DH charged battery. Generator started. Yahoo!  

 

Bought Mr. Heater Buddy heater since the built in one doesn't work. :) Came with long hose for external tank. :) $10 bucks, such a deal!

 

Put another piece of Eternabond on roof vent over bed for last leak. Praying that was spot.

 

Took the Fort to Hardware. Talked to the guy. Still couldn't fill propane. :(

Came home, took pictures of valve, researched on internet. Auto Stop Valve not

Made any more. Got instructions on how to fill. :) Taking back to see if works. 

 

Took back to Hardware store. Valve leaking, so kaput. Looked for new valve, no go at both hardware stores. Rethinking how to get propane without the $800 price tag estimate to replace old tank. Sheesh!

 

Decided to go with external tank and propane adapter tee so can also hook up BBQ or Heater.

 

Picked up Caulking and Caulked between van and coach. Sticky job!

 

Washed top roof. Put two coats roof sealer on roof. 4 hour job! Geeze, I'm whooped! LoL

 

Bath shade won't roll up. Cut bathroom shade off, reglued bottom and reattached. Works good now!

 

Took queen mattress out. Not enough room to ceiling for sleeping comfort. Put 4" foam back onto top bed. Total mother to get the mattress out! LOL

 

Started motor and ran 10 minutes. Put reminder onto calendar.

 

Figured out fan up on top bed was on and draining battery. Turned off and battery

Holding charge! Wahoooo!

 

Bought propane extender and propane tank. DH put extender onto Fort. :) Hooked up propane tank. Tested Range Stove. IT WORKS! Wahoooooo! We've got cookin and heating and bakin. Love that cost less than $100 for extender kit and new 5 gallon tank. :)

 

Tested refrigerator. IT WORKS! WAHOOOOOO! OMG! So Happy! :) We be chillin!

Doing MAJOR happy dance! Owner at XXXXXX RV doesn't know Jack! After putting

Battery in, and getting propane rerouted, nothing wrong with frig!  OMG, so glad online internet (aka Good Old RV site!) has info that saved us. :) Frig was on propane when they ran out. So it was set on LP. As soon as we got the propane it fired right up. :)

 

Turned on Water Pump, still works good. Water on kitchen sink leaked again under sink where RV guy "fixed" it prior to our purchase and I taped it. Key ripes. Going to take off tape and pull out old faucet and hoses. Start fresh. Grrrrrr! Checked everything "the guys" on website suggested, not junk in screen, not pump. Still need to check hot water tank. hmmmm, maybe route around it. :)

OK, as you can see we're making progress and not afraid to do the work to enjoy this classic beauty. At some point we will need to get to the shrunken window trims, dry rot and . . .  and . . . lol, it's a long list still. Again, thank you for adding us. Thank you for all of your posts that have helped us get this far. 

[Rich Thomas]

A word of caution on some of the privacy films. It's only private during daylight hours. When you light the rooms from the inside your no longer private It just tents the glass. 

[Joanne Leiser]

Thanks for the idea about the privacy film and the confirmation on using the dishwasher lines. . :) I didn't scrape the roof before recoating because the bare metal was showing thru in so many places. I just did the eternabond on the seams for extra protection. The top front vent was where our leak was, it was one corner, but I taped the whole darn thing. lol

I know what you mean about picking a system, about 1/2 way I started to do that when I got so overwhelmed. Now that we're down to just a couple of issues it's only money or the weather that holds us up.

I bought 3 d.light solar lanterns for camping, they work great. Haven't installed any different lights yet. Do plan on changing over to LED first and then putting in a solar pkg. The list is still long, but once the water is fixed we will be camping before to long. :)

Its already worth it for the amount of satisfaction we have. No payments helps alot! :)

 

I will look for our before pictures and take some after to show.  

[So ska noname]

You should just scrape and re coat your roof to get all the leaks. It's more work up front but easier in long run. My new to me trailer, sunshine, has a new ceiling and we are putting trim back in. Re painting walls soon. Replacing floor. Don't try and do all at once. Just pick a system-- plumbing, electrical, propane-- and work on that. I am going copy someone else's post and put the window privacy film, found at Home Depot and at thrift store (lol) on several windows.

For plumbing, kitchen sink water lines, I used dishwasher lines with fittings on them that fit my old trailer perfectly. Pictures?

You have done a lot already. But when done you will be happy and all how you want it. I have replaced several lights with solar, will expand on solar components later maybe. I have a couple,old style fuel lamps I love.

[Joanne Leiser]

It does sound overwhelming when it's all on my page. lol It's been spread out over 6 months. Finally feel like we're making progress now. :) Keep remembering my Gramma camping in a tents, about 6, 8 kids, bunch of grandkids and setting up her kitchen on a folding table with coleman stove, cast iron griddle and flipping pancakes while somebody held an umbrella over her to keep her dry while it poured down rain. lol Now thats campin! :) We make do and make memories. 

[Rich Thomas]

I am just worn out reading about all the work you have done, It sounds like you really have a desire to see this project through. good luck to you and hope you hang in there.