Chinook Renovation - December 1

Thinking Out Loud

• So far I have removed the jackknife sofa, the dinette, and most of the carpet. I will be replacing the jackknife sofa with a pullout, slat sofa that will be sufficiently sized for two to sleep. I will hinge the sofa near the wall so I can lift the sofa up to access storage and all the goodies underneath, like the freshwater tank and water pump.
• I have removed most of the carpet. Fun times. I will be replacing the carpet with laminate or vinyl flooring. In the driving area, I will also be replacing the carpet with some sort of pre-cut vinyl flooring available for the Ford E-350 chassis.
• The Chinook has two radios, neither of which has USB connections or Bluetooth capabilities. Although this is not a priority, I’m going to change these out eventually.
• I am not sure what I will be doing with the dinette area. I may build cabinets on top of the furnace for additional storage, put the passenger seat on the swivel so I can turn it around facing the living area, and place a small chair in the space opposite the furnace (nearer to the kitchen).
• Regarding the electrical system, I will replace the tired, worn out old batteries with 2-12V AGM sealed batteries with a targeted capacity of 200 to 300 amp hours. I will remove the batwing television antenna (leaving a hole in the roof for solar cabling) and the existing 50 W solar panel and install two 100 W panels in their place.
• Based on my reading, the stock charger/converter could stand an upgrade. It looks like quite a few people have had good fortune using upgrade packages via bestconverter.com. The install seems straightforward.
• And while I’m upgrading things, I will go ahead and upgrade the solar charger and monitoring system. I’m thinking about the SunRunner Victron MPPT 30A.
• And while there’s a hole in the roof after removing the batwing TV antenna, I might as well wire it for a cellular boost system and a ham radio antenna. I have already removed the VCR and television. We will watch content via downloaded videos when Wi-Fi is unavailable.
• Speaking of holes in the roof, I’m planning on removing both of the ceiling vent fans (one in the main living area and one in the bathroom) and replacing them with new Fantastic Fans.
• I’m not sure whether I’m going to remove the microwave. We hardly use the one at home. Would be some good storage space.
• I’m also thinking about painting the cabinets a version of white.
• And then there’s the low voltage disconnect hiding behind the driver’s seat. Is that thing necessary? I’m not sure I’m going to mess with it.