Body Mods - More Interior

Insulated Bubbles

The plexiglass bubbles are great for headroom and light, but they sure collect heat, even when the camper is folded. I bought a roll of Reflectix (insulating foil-covered bubble wrap) at Lowe's and cut it with scissors to fit inside each bubble. It helped tremendously, and the pieces were easy to store under cushions when not in use. I also cut pieces for the vent lids, which I left in place.

Front Dinette Bench

Our front dinette was designed with a seat across the front of the camper that covered the front hatch. Taking out that long cushion, when it wasn't needed for sitting or sleeping, added storage space. It was also easier to reach the plywood lids for access to the front hatch. Like the rear bed platform, though, the 2 plywood pieces were very big and awkward to move. I replaced them with 3 smaller pieces of 3/8" plywood, which I covered with vinyl sheet flooring and edged with paneling trim. The finger holes for lifting each section were lined with brass closet-rod brackets.

A/C Drain Drip

Condensation from the A/C dripped from the drain hole and splashed by the step, making a muddy mess. We thought of using a piece of string to act as a wick, but how to attach it to the A/C? The answer was a spring (available from Lowe's in a box of assorted sizes) that we "screwed" into the A/C drain hole. We tied a string, weighted with a large stainless steel nut, to the spring and eliminated the messy splashing. The string and nut were stored inside the A/C cover during travel.

Corner Drip-Edge

We had minor leaks only a couple of times, but other owners complained about water getting in around the roof corners. For extra protection, I cut narrow flaps from heavy white vinyl garage door seal and fastened them with weatherproof double-stick carpet tape around the inside corners of the roof edge. Although they reached only as far as the hinges, they acted as a drip-edge to direct water down the side of the camper instead of around the corner. The flaps didn't interfere with raising or lowering the roof, and the carpet tape held up well.

Window Shades

We had the factory add new window shades behind the curtains on our bubble windows. They were neat-looking, gave privacy and light, and were easy to open and close. We kept the curtains, since removing the track would have left unsightly screw holes. On the front bubbles, I split each single curtain in half and hemmed the cut edge. The half-curtains slid to each side of the window, giving a bit of color and softening the edges of the shades. Since the shades weren't hung in a vertical plane, they tended to droop just a bit as the cords stretched, and the curtains helped hold them back. 

Note: As I was working on the curtains, I found that the "buttons" on the top and bottom track tape were not aligned and the resulting pleats were crooked. When I took off a top tape and resewed it so that the buttons were directly opposite the buttons on the bottom tape, the curtain pleated nicely.

Convertible Rear Twin Bed

We didn't want to fuss with converting the rear gaucho bed into a daytime couch, but leaving it as a double bed meant that we had no place to sit except at the front dinette. The solution was to use our front "guest bed" (see below) for me and remove a piece of the rear-bed plywood, converting it to a twin for my  husband. This left space over each wheel well for a folding floor rocker. The original wheel-well benches were too hallow for seating, so I made deeper plywood platforms, covering them with carpet and supporting the front edges with 1x2 "legs" that are screwed to the cabinets. With a smaller rear-bed platform, I was able to add gas struts to the plywood, making the under-bed storage easily accessible. The disadvantage of having to make up the guest bed each day was outweighed by the extra floor space, more convenient storage, and extra seating that this arrangement offered. For travel, we simply turned the blue chairs upside down on the platforms. Importantly, it is not a permanent change; the seating platforms can be removed and the extra rear-bed plywood put back in place. This reverts the rear bed to its former double size.

Guest Bed

When we were on the road, traveling from place to place, we liked to use the front dinette for meals, and don't like to carry the extra long cushion that went across the front hatch. But twice during such trips, we had occasion to have one extra person spend the night with us. The 4 original 22" cushions were way

too narrow for a single bed, and we hated to lug along an air mattress or cushion for that rare guest. As I was looking at the configuration, I realized that we had room for 27"-wide cushions and not interfere with the baskets and buckets we carried on the long dinette bench. Instead, four new 27" dinette cushions could be made into a single bed - narrow, but equal to half of a standard double mattress and good enough for 1 or 2 nights. It's easy to have linens on hand - they don't take up much room - and with a pillow from the car, we could offer comfortable accommodations  for a visitor. Besides, it gave a "roomier" feel to the dinette area since we weren't perched on such narrow cushions.