Well ,we got back from vacation a week ago and now have time to slow down and get caught up.
Completed duct work for furnace. Thing to remember with furnaces is that they require X sq. inches of flow. So if you design anything other than the size of duct opening it has be sure to calculate the area.

This duct is going under my porta pot storage box. My intent is to raise the short porta pot to the same heigth as a regular seat. The floor of the box is the roof for the duct. This duct transition is for a single 4" diameter duct. It flows towards the rear of the CT.

Porta pot completed. The lid is the right heigth for a comfortable seat after I put a 4" cushion on top. You can see the hole at the floor that is the furnace duct opening. The hole above it is access to the porta pot bowl slide valve. I installed spring loaded cabinet door supports to hold the lid to the box open. Nothing like getting smacked in the back while trying to take care of business in the middle of the night. I also put a latch on the lid to keep it closed while traveling. After I installed the supports, I realized that I probably didn't need the latch since the supports applied enough down pressure when closed.

This homemade duct transition is for two 4" ducts. The part that I made is the end piece that converted a 5.5" sq down to the rectangle. This will come out from under the oven towards the front of the CT. The furnace is the only thing I used from my donor trailer that didn't work. The thermostat works, the blower turns on but I do not hear the igniter clicking to ignite the propane. I will try to diagnose the problem later. Could be the sail switch or the control board or...... No prob. All other appliances worked very well and I am happy with that!!

Water system completed. I installed a 15 gal. tank and also shore water connections. I used valves instead of inline check valves to switch from tank to shore. Valves were less costly and more reliable than inline check valves. This is at the left front corner of the CT.

Front cabinets and power panel completed. The wife likes to hang clothes so I built a hanging closet on the right. More storage on the bottom. The top is a slide out used for what ever. It ended up being food storage. The panel is accessed thru a door at the end of the counter. The vent on the face of the cabinet is for air circulation for the 12v converter. I also set the converter on blocks to expose the bottom for cooling.

Cabinets completed, appliances (microwave, stove and refer) installed & counter complete except for epoxy paint. LED lights are installed over counter and stove. The side splash by the stove is black diamond plate. A computer fan is installed by the window for a vent fan. Most if not all cooking will still be done outside. It is nice to have options depending on the weather.

I got my covered cushions back from my friend. I would have prefered blue denim but off white denim was ALOT cheaper. I don't know if anyone remembers cloth flour sacks but that is what the material reminds me of. 100% cotton, so there is no problem about washing and dying em!

I got the table top cut out. The dinette/bed worked great. It is very sturdy and easy to set up and take down. The Lux HQ foam I got from
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/opencellfoam/LUX-HQ.html Their customer rep suggest this since my wife needed extra firm for her back. She didn't lie!! It is very FIRM. We ended up going into town and getting a 1-1/2" memory foam topper. That was the ticket to the most comfortable extra firm mattress I have ever slept on.

The last pic is actually how we transported the table top. I originally was going to put it against one of the benches but it didn't allow me access to one of my motorcycle tie downs.

Bike loaded and ready to go!! I do have room to haul both bike if I want but for hauling just one I put it over the axles.

The bed in place and then back up for the trip home.

A few shots of our camp site. We ended up at DeGray State Park in Arkansas. Its about 30 miles south of Hot Springs on AR7. We usually go to Joplin area at Lake Ouachita but thanks to the Gov shut down we had to seek alternate camping. It was very nice and quiet for the most part. As usual the wifes family raided us the first Saturday for a reunion and the rest was ours.



You can see the drip caps over the door and windows. They work great. Especially over the door. When only using the rv door latch the door did not seal well. I added extra foam to door to fill the gap at the top but my extra step was to install the drip cap. On the nose of the CT you can see the extra light added.

I installed the diamond plated on the tongue with a cross brace under it and the tanks. I did not like the movement front to back of the tanks so I added the brace to the front wall. It does not interfer with removing or replacing the tanks. It worked great.

This is my new (to me) bike. This is part 2 of the main reason for this build. I have been building with the purpose of relieving as much stress from my wife's back as possible and still be able to do what we both enjoy, camping and riding. We have to haul the bike since she can't ride long distances any more. I had to get her off the ground and out of a tent. I also had to provide a comfortable bike she could be on. For the first time in a long time she only had as much back pain as if she was home. Everything that I did worked great for her. The bed was perfect for her. The bike, she rode with me 2 days. Before she would be stiff and hurting after a ride and totally shot for riding & anything else for a couple of days. Not now, she said this was the most comfortable and perfect ride she had had ever been on. No pain during, after or the next day. I would call this project a complete success with her positive painless (well no additional pain any way) feedback.

As for me, you can tell I enjoyed some time off with some much needed rest. I am not thru, there are things I still need to do to finish up what I have. I also have other ideas to add later. As I have mentioned, I suffer from improvementitis,

I can never leave thing alone. Many thanks to all for the help, ideas and harrassement (Jerry)

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Earnest