Putting lipstick on a Pig

 So the Lady that had our Roadtrek before us kept the interior in immaculate condition but the exterior was in rough shape the fibreglass roof was covered in lichen and the paint is chalky. The worst though was the rust due to her time on the Californian coast. I had one really bad section that I had repaired professionally but I did the rest of the restoration myself. And now for the before and afters.

Unfortunately, the weather did not want to cooperate and I had to tarp the van to work on it.

Bottom of the doors and step after some grinding of the rust I found holes that needed patching.

All patched and painted.

The windows also needed some help.

Some filler and paint make a difference.

Now for some fun, Karin and I need to pack up as we are heading out for our first trip along the south shore of Canada from the St. Clair rive back home, just exploring along the way.

Tecno Electric Stuff

 So the Galavan 3.1 is old and technology has changed. The converter that came with the Galavan would be on any time there was 120v supplied to the system this could cause a problem with the Inverter supplying 120v it would try to charge the battery with battery power, not the best situation. 

So I removed the converter and replaced it with a NOCO smart battery charger rated for the high amp hours and AGM of the new battery. The is directly wired to the shore power side of the transfer switch with a fused connection so it will only charge the battery when plugged into the shore power.

I also installed a 12v to 12v battery charger from Renogy so that I can charge the AGM battery without frying it which would have happened with the higher voltage from the alternator in the Van itself. Now when we drive the house battery will be charged at 14.7v until it's charged and then it will automatically switch to a float charge of 3.5 to maintain the battery.

I will monitor the systems as I may need to provide some additional ventilation for the new electroics.

Here's how it looks now.

Needs some tidying up of the wires but everything seems to work as it should.

 Been puttering along fixing and improving things getting ready for adventures.

I installed a new radio as the old one was not working. This turned into quite the task as the new digital technology did not really want to get installed into its new-old analog home. But after an hour on the phone with the tech support people it's now sounding great.

I also installed a rearview camera that I can view through the GPS screen,  running wires for this was a task made difficult by how well Roadtrek built the unit.

Speaking of running wires I got the Inverter installed, it's a 2000w pure sinewave one that should allow us the use of 120 volts while not connected to shore power. It also has a remote switch and monitor so I can turn it on from the cabin and monitor the system at a glance. you can see it in the corner at the bottom left of this photo.

I lucked out here because the installation was made easy by the fact that the van's power converter was set up for a generator so I just used that circuit for the inverter instead as we don't have a Gene.

Karin and I went through all the things we'll need (pots and pans, dishes, and towels) from the other Galavans and have started to pack up.

 

Getting up and running as it should

 Spent the day getting things running like they should. 

First I removed the old house battery as it was dead and found that the box for it, which hangs down below the floor was just about to let the battery drop onto the road.

so out it came.

As a replacement, I could have rebuilt the box and replace the same battery but the best I could get in that space was only about 35 amp-hours.

So being the kind of person I am I bought a 185 amp hour AGM true deep cycle battery as it is slightly larger (compare hole to the battery) I decided I would install it under the bed as it is unvented this should not be a problem. 

I had to strip the old cables out and replace them with new ones. Unfortunately, I can't finish until I get new battery connections they are back ordered.

I patched the floor so it is good to go. 

I also tested the gas lines and got the furnace, stove, fridge, and water heater all working. 

I'm quite happy with the fridge it works on 120v, 12v, or gas, the 12v will help save propane as we can run it on that while driving and with that battery probably a day parked, probably not until I see it power consumption.

I also repaired the screens for the back side windows to keep the bugs out and now it's time for dinner and a beer.

Galavan 3.1

 So after the last Galavan, we decided to cut our losses and sell it. 

We played around with a tiny Spitfire 

While fun to drive I don't think the dogs were ever very comfortable.

We decided to sell it and see what was available in a new to us motorhome. We were looking for something on the smaller side as we found the "A" just too big and hard to find parking for trips to the store etc.

We looked at a few smaller "C' class units but everything we found in our price range just wasn't taken care of and dirty and way overpriced, I think Covid has something to do with that.

We saw a Roadtrek for sale over our price range but were intrigued by the design and went to see it just to see if it was something we could live in. We really enjoyed the interior and found the layout very spacious feeling and bright and airy. Unfortunately, it was twice what we wanted to spend and missing a two-way fridge, heater, water heater, but we found the unit we would be interested in looking for.

We searched the online classifieds and while we found many Roadtreks most were in such horrible shape we passed on them as we didn't want to get in the same situation as the last one.

Getting really discouraged after seeing yet another rust bucket with missing appliances we had a quiet drive home until Karin suggested that we contact a person who we had seen selling one a couple of years ago but it was still in their driveway. So I headed up to knock on their door to see if they were still thinking of selling it. When I arrived the only person there did not speak English but after a bit of back and forth, I managed to get a phone number, which I called only to be told that they had decided to keep it but agreed to let us look at it. When we arrived the owner told us that she had called her sister and they had agreed to sell it after all.

Karin and I gave it a good once over all the appliances were there it was clean it didn't smell and the interior was in good shape. The exterior only had a couple of rust spots that should be easy to fix as they are only on the surface for now and considering it was built in 1997 was to be expected.

We made an offer and it was accepted so now let me introduce you to The Galavan 3.1

It's a 1997 Roadtrek 190 Popular. Its 19 feet in length built on a Ram 3500 van chassis.

looking towards the back there is a table that can go in to make a dinette but we will probably just leave the bed set up. The drawer unit is removable to make the bed.

The kitchen with more counter space than most of the bigger Motorhomes we have had.

The back seat and behind the mirror is a toilet and you can see the drain on the floor for the shower.

The track for the shower curtain, the doors on the toilet and the closet behind open up to make a private room.

The toilet yes it needs cleaning.

Another view of the kitchen and the cockpit both captain's chairs spin around and there is another table that we will use as a dining space.

A bit better shot of the cockpit.

There is a ton of storage with every nook and cranny utilized to the fullest but it is still roomy.

It passed the safety test we have to have done to licence it with only a couple of bulbs to be replaced.

The next tasks will be a thorough cleaning and fixing the rust spots but that is about it and the cleaning is mostly to do because of dust, not filth.

Stay tuned for more adventures.