Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Anyone interested in 83 Pace Arrow Tear down and Rebuild?


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fulltimin

Home is where we Park It.

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Posted: 09/24/17 10:50am

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RCtime wrote:

I only see two windows.Additional 1 over the sink and another over the table might be nice.. Where is you closet area?

Will update with new floor plan.

If you want to do something, you will find a way.
If you don't, you will find an excuse.

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Good judgement comes from experience.
A lot of experience, comes from bad judgement.

fulltimin

Home is where we Park It.

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Posted: 09/24/17 08:00pm

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Ok, here is the update everyone has been sitting on pins and needles, and the edge of their seat, waiting to see. ... Lol.

I went out to the motor home yesterday, (Saturday), and just sat down in the co-pilot's seat. My plan was to start cutting, grinding, welding, for moving the entrance door to the passenger side, rear.

I sat there for a while, and was thinking about how we use our rv, and the more I sat and thought, the less I liked what I was about to do.

I don't know, just something didn't sit quite right. So, I sat a little longer, and finally got out, closed the door, and went back inside the house.

I got out my "graphing paper, and appliances", and sat there for a minute. I figured there may be another way to re-arrange the inside, that I hadn't though of before.

So, I moved things around.

Originally, my wife and I were thinking about a rear kitchen. Pretty much a rarity in a motor home.

So, I moved some things around a little, and saw a plan that I think I like much more than I had designed before.

I am all for flexibility. The more flexibility, the better. It's a little like someone who likes to re-arrange the living room furniture, now and then.

So, here it is. Explanation below.

[image]

Looking at the pic, we have the following.

The yellow lines are current windows. They could be moved to a different location, but with this plan, I think they will work just fine where they are.

The pink-ish line, indicates the current entrance door location.

The white line, is a possible location, (maybe), for a window over top of the kitchen sink. At the moment, that is just a suggested location.

This would give us a good triangle location for stove, fridge, and counter/sink area.

Now, if I place the sink, next to the tub, and then the commode to the right of that, I will only have to run a few feet of supply water lines. That also means, I could also run the lines on an angle, and add a valve at the low end of the pipes, which means, all I have to do is to open up the spigots, open the shutoff valves at the bottom, and within seconds, those supply pipes are drained, and winterized. How cool is that?

Also, one of the big complaints I have heard with nearly every rv, is the lack of kitchen counter space. This setup would allow at least 63" including the sink taking up some of that space.

However, the black line in between the shower and sink/counter, indicates a wall, that would fold down when the tub/shower is not in use. That means we can now add another 30" to 36" of additional counter space, with that wall folded down. That would make between 93" to 99", or about 8 feet, of counter space. Yay...!!!! That will make both mamma and me happy.

Now, the green line indicates an area where we can block off, either with a curtain, or movable door, or something, that will separate the front from the rear of the motor home.

That means 3 things. First is, the back of the motor home can become a large bathroom. Using the table/dinette, it would make a nice area for plenty of space to get dressed, do one's hair, makeup, etc. That seems like a win.

Also, if we choose a dinette, that could be turned into an extra bed, which will still allow access to the commode.

Also, with the screen across (green line), we now have 2 semi-separate areas of living. You know, in case you need some "space".

To me, this looks like a win, win, win. Maybe I am missing something, but this seems to give us more flexibility than the last floor plan.

Also, I shortened the sofa bed a little. I cut that down to 72", or 6 feet. That could also be moved to the other side if desired, or towards the left side, right behind the pilot/co-pilot's seats.

On top of that, I don't have to move the entrance door, not that moving it would be a huge job anymore. After all the cutting, grinding, welding, moving the door, doesn't seem like such a huge job like it used to. ... Lol.

So, there it is. I think I like this better than the previous versions, and way better than original.

fulltimin

Home is where we Park It.

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Posted: 09/25/17 07:55pm

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Next step, (pun intended), is to finish the step rebuild.

First thing is to clean up the step area inside, so I can coat it with a couple of coats of Por 15.

[image]

Then I can put in place the step framework that I already build, but needs welded in a few places to finalize installation. It is still in 2 pieces, so I can get it in, and will then weld it together.

After welding in place, it also will have a coat or 2 of Por 15.

[image]

After welding in the framework, then the step can be bolted in from the bottom, and will be much stronger than the original, that looked like this...........

[image]

Jim@HiTek

Gresham, OR, USA

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Posted: 09/25/17 08:02pm

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The refer should go on the other side of the RV and a counter next to the stove. Really need some counter space next to the stove. And you kind of need to be able to see the stove while you're lounging waiting for dinner. And a swing up counter next to the sink area will give that some space too. The refer between the sink and shower wall of course.

Just sayin'.

Jim@HiTek
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Bill1374

northern New York

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Posted: 09/26/17 06:17am

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Or maybe flip the fridge and stove. Add a solid wall next to dinette and you can use a pocket door to close off rear. Then a flip up counter next to stove. I realize that may cut into the door but like Jim said, counter next to stove is handy.
Looks like you may be able to add a small recliner (maybe euro style) across from the couch too.
Are you sure you want to do witout a bathroom sink?
Some really good thinking and work on your part.
Bill

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fulltimin

Home is where we Park It.

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Posted: 09/26/17 09:16am

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Jim@HiTek wrote:

Bill1374 wrote:

Couple of reasons not to move the fridge. First is weight. I am trying to keep this thing somewhat balanced from side to side, and I figured the weight from a fully loaded fridge and stove on one side, will help compensate for the water tanks on the other side.

I don't really have room underneath the floor to put the tanks in the middle, like the newer, longer rigs.

Second, my current plan is to fold down the shower wall next to the sink/counter, to add about 3' of counter space to the kitchen. If I move the fridge in between the sink and counter, I just lost about 5' of potential counter space, so I don't really see that as an option.

We talked about a counter of some sort next to the stove, and were kind of figuring a flip up one next to the stove, even though I had not mentioned it in the post.

However, Bill's suggestion to flip the fridge and stove would actually be beneficial in a few ways.

First, it would allow a larger pop up counter next to the stove, and we generally won't be going in or out of the rv when cooking, so that would work.

Second, the way our stove is laid out, that would move the burners farther away from the fridge, as the burners are towards the left side, with the knobs on the right side, so that's a plus, keeping heat away from said fridge.

Third, that would also allow a wall between the fridge and the dining area, allowing as he said a pocket door, to close off the back half of the rig. I like that.

Another feature of folding down the shower wall over the shower area, next to the sink/counter area is, now we have a work surface in the "bathroom" for makeup/hair/etc. That would work just fine.

Flipping the stove/fridge would also solve the "seeing the food while cooking" from the living area.

So, all in all, swapping them looks like a win.

As far as the sink in the bathroom goes, we have discussed it, and at the moment, are thinking we can do without, but we'll give it more consideration.

Even though it wasn't mentioned, I think we might add a chair across fron the sofa bed, but again, the sofa could be moved. It is there at the moment to hopefully balance the weight on the rig. Some of that could change, once it gets on the scale.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I appreciate it.

New plan....

[image]

fulltimin

Home is where we Park It.

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Posted: 09/26/17 07:41pm

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If you have been following this thread, you know that I mentioned earlier, that I like things to serve more than one purpose. I also mentioned the shower, specifically. Flexiblilty, if you will, is a good thing.

So, with that in mind, lets dive a little deeper into the flexibility of the shower. The shower is one of the most wasted spaces in an rv. Don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting we should not have one. But think about it for a minute.

A shower gets used for how many minutes a day, for 2 people? 30 maybe? 60 if you like long showers and have full hookups. There are 1440 minutes in a 24 hour day. We are using this item at the most, 30 minutes, or maybe you are using it more. So, 1440 x .02 = 28.8 minutes. Close enough for round numbers.

98 percent of the time that shower is sitting there, taking up space, doing nothing. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful thing when in use. But it's used so little, and if you are one who only take showers every other day, now we are at 99% of no usage.

So, what can we do about this? Plenty.

We have a portable washing machine, that my wife just loves. It uses very little water, and has a nice spin dryer, and while it doesn't dry clothes, they usually don't take long to dry just by hanging them up.

She wants to take that along.

Where to put it? How about in the shower, so that when the shower is not in use, it will be stored in the shower area, when the washer is in use, it will still be in the shower space, and if we don't want to use the shower drain for the washer, we can add a separate drain for it. The washer is about 16" deep, and about 29" wide.

Soooooo, that means all we have to do is find an easy way to remove the washer from the shower, when we need the shower, as a shower.

Hinges. Hinges are a good thing. If we build a little platform for the washer to sit on, hinge the platform, then all we need to do, is swing the washer out of the way when we take a shower. When finished, it swings back in to the shower space. Simple, isn't it? Getting it accomplished, may be a little more difficult, but the concept is simple.

So, we can go even farther than that. The shower is tentatively set for 24" deep, 40" wide. That is a general guideline at this point, as it may end up a little deeper than that, or not as deep, but for now, let's assume, it's 24".

So, the washer takes up 16". What about the 8" in front of the washer? How about a nice 8" deep by nearly 40" wide pantry, that fits under the counter top, you know, the one that is part of the kitchen counter, when not using the shower, and is folded down. The pantry is also hinged, only this one swings in the opposite direction. So now, we have that shower space used up below the 36" counter height. Everything compact, in place and out of the way.

How about that? Seems like a win, win, win, situation to me.

If all this is difficult to grasp, below is a drawing, indicating how this would work.

First is the washing machine we want to put in the rv.

[image]

Then we have the shower, with the washer and pantry in place, in the shower, under the counter, which is now part of the kitchen counter/sink area.

[image]

And now, we have the shower, as a shower, and the pantry folded out, and the washer folded out also. When finished, those are folded back into the shower, and the shower wall folded down, and is now part of the kitchen counter.

[image]

Looks like a win....

Jim@HiTek

Gresham, OR, USA

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Posted: 09/26/17 08:01pm

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Very, very cool. Can't wait to see the finished project.

BigRabbitMan

Cottage Grove, OR

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Posted: 09/26/17 11:11pm

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Using a compas to check, will the outside/front corner of the washer clear the far wall when being swung out? If not, it can be on heavy duty drawer slides and slide out then swing.

BigRabbitMan
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