Rebuilding “Ms. Merry” the Amerigo–Merry goes to the wall – Part 1

Progress has been a bit slow on Merry in the last couple weeks, partly due to the ER visit a couple weeks ago, due a nose bleed that wouldn’t stop.

But, its good progress that is being made!

Already, we have the first of the inner bathroom walls in, plus the main cabinet wall frame is now in as well!  

I pulled the sink during this, as it still needs the bottom edge trimmed to match the slope of the new bathroom floor (It slopes down to the drain point), once its trimmed I can start building the rest of the inner wall frame that will get tied into that open large gap on the left.  

We ended up building the cabinet wall to be a bit extra sturdy because it will be carrying a big hunk of the Air Conditioner load on the roof down to the floor of the camper, helping to keep the roof crowned and from sagging under the weight of the unit as time passes. 

The small framed in openings in the lower section are for a Cadet Com-Pak 1000watt in-wall electric heater (Our secondary heat system, borrowed from NetBoy’s design that they did so many years ago, been waiting years to use that one ) on the left and the new Progressive Dynamics dist ribution panel on the right.

The notch out in the wall behind it is so that there is path for the air moving through the 3-stage converter to travel (I actually ended up cutting the plastic back section off the panel near the board and heat sinks so that the air could travel trough that tunnel space, there’s going to be a little grate in the corner wall near the kitchen for the air movement so the blower can properly cool the converter).

With the wall panel installed .   The upper section will have the finished maple frame installed on it covering over the framing.   One thing we’re doing different is I’m getting rid of the two drawers below the main wardrobe cabinet in favor of another cabinet space, in which we plan to store the towels.  This cabinet will have a removable false bottom to sit above the wires and pipes that will be running underneath which can be easily lifted out if service work needs to be done.  

With the Progressive Dynamics Power Panel and the can for the heater temporarily installed in place.

You can see that our heater has ample clearance around it and a bit more clearly on how the indent works for the back of the distribution panel.   Soon, we’ll be able to take that giant spaghetti of wires and bundle them together and finally tie them into something!  

Rebuilding “Ms. Merry” the Amerigo–The new Loo–Part 1

Time for another chapter in the rebuilding of Ms. Merry the Amerigo!

This time around, we’re doing the platform for the new raised bathroom floor and cutting the holes through Merry’s new floor for the plumbing and heating ducts to go . 

First off, we had to haul out Merry’s new Dometic 320 Series Standard Height Toilet from storage in the barn and dig out the installation instructions for the rough-in dimensions for the toilet itself.  

It took a bit to locate the instructions, as they weren’t sitting with the toilet in the box or any of the packing cardboard surrounding the toilet to protect the china bowl from damage.   In the end, I had to pull the toielt out of the box and open the lid before I found the owner’s manual, plus a free sample of TPS tank treatment chemicals included, hidden in the bowl.  

With the installation guide in hand, we now had the offset from the back wall that we needed to locate the center of the toilet flange through the floor. 

Since the new tank has our diversion valve setup on it, it offsets the tank back from the wall further than a normal straight down flange connection would allow for and still have it dumping into the tank.

The fix was to take a page from my bathroom remodel project I did on Mr. KIT back in 2009.

Using these two parts, I made an offset flange to shift the inlet into the tank far enough forward in the floor to allow to connect into the tank.  

Canplas 113628SS 45-Degree ABS Discharge Closet Flange with Stainless Steel Ring, 4-Inch by 3-Inch

 

Lasalle Bristol 632403 3X45 ABS 45 degree Elbow

 

Glued together they shift the intlet into the toilet perfectly, and from using the same setup in the past on my KIT, I know that this angle of offset does not interfere with the operation of a standard Gravity fed RV toilet.  

A small piece of 3” ABS pipe will be glued into the end of the elbow which will be glued into the inlet on the tank when the shower floor is permanently installed.   If we have to replace the tank at some future point, the elbow can be cut through using a reciprocating saw from the access hatch that will be at the front under the bathroom door. 

With the flange made, I temporarily installed a couple pieces of plywood representing the thicknesses of the rear and side walls and then snapped the dimensions of our expanded bathroom and cut a sheet of 5/8” plywood from the piece of temporary floor we had originally used in Ms. Merry when we were finishing up installing the raised ceiling and skylight dome.  

I like to call that floor section the “temporary floor” but the real reason I call it that is the initial piece I had somehow screwed up one of the measurements on and it didn’t snugly fit in the space at all the joints and had to be replaced.   Rather than waste a perfectly good piece of plywood, it got reused as a temporary work bench and when pieces of 5/8” plywood were needed that were within the dimenions of that incorrectly cut piece, I cut them from it vs cutting a piece out of a whole new sheet. 

After making the initial cutout, which was still just a rectangle at the time, I laid it back in place to make sure it fit correctly (it did!) and then marked out where the flange opening needed to be.  I added an extra little bit to the original eleven inch offset from the rear wall, using my wall representing board to simulate the walls being in place, to accomodate for cleaning behind the toilet and to take account for the extra 1/16” of an inch or so that a sheet of FRP board will add. 

Once check and rechecked, I used the largest diablo hole saw blade I had and cut the inital hole, then used my jig saw to widen the hole to allow for the forty-five degree offset on the bottom of the flange. 

I temporarily anchored the flange through the hole then aligned the pipe and then cut and installed the support board that would be going under the plywood to raise the floor and to help give it slope toward where I planed to locate the drain in the front right hand corner.  

The small hole you see is actually not the drain pipe opening, but the hole for the vent pipe that will be coming up from the tank, its pipe running from the tank under the floor and then out through the roof.  It will be visible inside the bathroom, but like the vent pipe in Mr. KIT, will be painted bright white to match the bathroom and then used like a support bar to hang washcloth rings and what not from.  

One of the things we do plan to do is use a dedicated faucet knob for the shower controls separate from the sink so we can use higher quality parts in its plumbing than the fairly cheap plastic parts that come with standard RV fixtures.  

Out of the entirety of the original shower stall, we plan to salvage the wall section with the sink and the corner to reuse in the new bathroom, and maybe the flange portion from the floor to glass into the new shower pan, the majority of the new floor will be made from FRP board, same as the bathroom walls.   The rest of the shower unit will end up in the dumpster, as its not worth trying to reuse.  

With the floor ready, it was time to test fit our new floor in place.

Fits like a glove! 

As you can see, there’s a diagonal corner in the front, this is to accomodate for a walking path from the door to the forward end of the camper.   The angle starts where the original fiberglass shower stall originally ended when installed and angles back to the minimum size bathroom door opening I thought prudent for me to fit through (I’m far from small).  

The 2x2 that goes on the right hand side will have one side of it tapered to match that angle so that all fits well.   The wall in the corner will actually be made of a piece of five millimeter plywood with FRP on the inside and wall paneling board on the outside.  

Unlike the original Amerigo bathroom door wall design, the new one will not look like a cabinet, but instead will have matching wall paneling installed similar to the rest of the camper. 

The new door will be hinged on the left side and the handle will be on the right, this will allow for the door knob to swing into the Snap-N-Nap opening and for the door to open flush to the rear wall. 

The dinette seat nearest to the bathroom will be angled on the outside, going to the minimum width for the battery compartment it will house to the normal seat width that it originally was to provide ample passage space past the new, larger bathroom. 

We plan to make the wall along the back of the dinette by the door solid, to help act as a framing member to prevent the rear walls on the tub from sagging like they originally did as the camper aged.  This wall will be built like a truss on the inside to help keep it square.   The switches for the patio light and light above the entrance will be in this wall.  

In addition to helping with the tub sag, it will also act as a lateral brace for the side to side strains coming from the rear jack mount attached next to the door.   A similar, smaller wall will be built along the back of the bathroom sink to perform a similar function on the driver’s side. 

Ah… we seem to have side-tracked a bit, time to get back on topic!

After test fitting the floor, I took it out once more and then after measuring the offset distance on the new flange, repeated the flange hole process on the main floor itself taking into account the offset of the flange pipe.  

Once again, I cut the initial hole with the same hole saw, then cut a second directly next to it and squared the opening off with the jig saw once more.   The extra opening space is allow for the flange pipe coming through the floor on its way down to the tank. 

Once the main floor opening was cut, I reattached the flange to the floor and tested it again (forgot to take a picture!), it fits perfectly, with enough space around it to allow for flexing of the camper without putting strain on the pipe. 

With the main hole done, I calculated the offset for the grey water plumbing’s passage through the floor, and widened the hole to allow space for the flexible heater duct line to enter into the tank compartment near the valves. 

Last I cut the hole for where the vent pipe will come up from the tank before doing its horizontal run between the main floor and the raised shower floor before coming up through the shower floor in the corner. 

The vent pipe will be going into the tank at the deepest end near the drain valves.  

This wraps up all that’s going to be done at this time for the bathroom, I mainly wanted to get the holes done in the floor so that when we shift to cutting insulation for the ceiling and walls, that the openings were already in place to cut out the matching holes in the insulation while its easy to do. 

Just for fun, I set the remainder of the original bathroom back in place on top of the new one to give you an idea of the size difference. 

P.S. Yes, I know the slope is off on the shower floor, I didn’t have the sloping shims in place on part of the floor, it was just sitting in their loose . 

Thanks again for reading!

Rebuilding “Ms. Merry”, the Amerigo–And The Mystery of the Trampoline Floor–Part 3

When we left off in Part 2, we’d just finished busting our Merry’s old rear floor.  

Now, we’re building in her new floor frame . 

Because we wanted to try and eliminate as much floor sag as possible from Miss Merry’s rump and make it strong enough to support the new, larger holding tank, we beefed up alot of her floor with new 2x4s and 2x6s to take the strain. 

We also needed to beef up her floor frame to take the strain from her new three step folding staircase that was going in as well . 

Sadly, we’ve apparently lost some of the photos, likely when Mr. Tabs had a bad case of the busted operating systems and had to undergo emergency overhauling to get him back into functional condition .  

As part of our process to eliminate the rump sag, we put in some diagonal bracing at the bottom of wing wall on Miss Merry’s driver side and extended the 2x6 load bearing timber clear up to the main carrier beam at the top of the wall. 

You can see Mr. Pumps the bottle jack where he came to rest on the floor when our cribbing blocks gave way and popped me in the face with a 2x3 we’d been using to stretch the framing in the rear of the driver’s side wall back into shape and remove the bend in the lumber before we secured the new 2x6 in place to carry the load from one of the Atwood Jacks.  

Miss Merry’s temporary floor can also be seen that was used while we stretched the wall.  

From underneath, you can see the new front 2x5 (We had to cut off some in order for the beam to clear the bumper) that took the place of the original 2x6 that ran the width of the floor when Merry was first built and had been cut away by the last owner and replaced with a chunk of angle iron in order to fit Miss Merry on his much newer pickup. 

A second, full 2x6 was installed and through bolted through the base of Merry’s rear wall to help remove the side to side sag that the rear end was having.   The last bit of the sag won’t be completely gone until we reinstall the interior walls that helped support Merry’s rear weight, since these bolts are accessible even after completion, we can adjust their tightness over time to take up any slack that may form in the wood as Miss Merry flexes from traveling. 

The photos of this were sadly part of what was lost, so we’ll have to take new ones later one when we show the under side work for the new mixed waste tank and the enclosed compartment.  For now, you’ll just have to go by our description . 

The rear wall 2x6 takes the place of the piece of 5/8” plywood that originally was part of the over hang skirt that goes around the underside of an Amerigo’s overhang.   We had to temporarily stretch Merry’s fiberglass rear skin back just enough to allow for us to drive twelve inch carriage bolts through the bottom of the rear wall frame, 5/8” of plywood and the 2x6” stiffening beam.   A total of ten of these bolts go through the frame and the beam, with 2x3s glued and anchored over their heads.  

Why didn’t we go through those 2x3s and well?   There was no way to get a straight on angle to drive the bolts in with the extra thickness, it was barely doable with the original beams and we wanted to be able to retighten these bolts later when the wood dries and shrinks (Causing the bolts to loosen), something that wouldn’t be possible if we flipped them over and put the nuts on the inside of the wall.   So, our compromise was going through the original beam and then laminating the two, bolt heads and all together.  

Before the finished floor was put in (all once piece of plywood, now), we temporarily fitted the new stairs in place so we could drill the holes through the frame, that way we could easily punch through the plywood later to make the counter sink holes for the nuts, unlike the wall, the floor in Miss Merry will be floating, so all we have to do to tighten those bolts is to remove a couple pieces of trim and lift up the vinyl flooring. 

Once that was done, we were able to cut the finish sheet of plywood and permanently install it in place . 

Again, the photo after it was installed was lost, so we’re using one of the later photos to show you the new floor in place as best we can.  

Once the new floor was finished, we turned our energy towards installing the extra framing being added to help support the load from the much larger three-step folding steps that were taking the place of the original two step.  

To help accomodate this, an extra 2x4 was installed in the floor frame and then from underneath, a lamination of a notched 2x6 and a 2x4 were attached and then through bolted through the floor and clear through the beam.   A section of 5/8” plywood was cut to match and then laminated onto the front to give the beam coverage as a nice clean solid surface.  

In the shot below its still in its gray primer, the finished area with its spray skirting to protect the stiffening beam of the rear wall were given four coats of flat black oil based enamel paint to finish them once in place (missing some photos here as well, we’ll include some finished ones in “Miss Merry gets a Step up!”).   The stiffening beam was also painted before the skirting board was installed.   All screw heads were counter sunk slightly and the holes sealed over with black elastomeric caulk.  

The opposite side will receive a similar treatment but with a longer board made of 1/2” plywood to match the sides of the tank compartment, which hangs down to the bottom of the bumper. 

The reason the step compartment skirt is shorter is due to the lack of a similar piece near the bumper due to lack of space, the new step unit takes up all of the space available with its clearances needed to allow it to hinge in and out. 

  

That wraps up Part 3 of the Trampoline floor Mystery and brings the bouncy floor to its end.   Merry’s floor is now solid as a rock and durable enough to take regular long period use off the truck without failing or being spongy.  

Next up, we’re going start into some initial work for the plumbing for the new shower and bathroom, so that we can get all the holes cut in the floor .  

See you soon!

Rebuilding “Ms. Merry”, the Amerigo–And The Mystery of the Trampoline Floor–Part 2

Once again, the Gang and I have had to change gears .   We discovered that when we went up on the ladder that we couldn’t reach the entirity of the roof area that needed to be sanded and re-fiberglassed. 

So, that leaves us with the only other option at the moment since Ms. Merry can’t be dismounted from Red’s back until she’s fully put back together.  

Standing on a step ladder inside and doing it from the middle of the skylight opening.  

Yay …….

In order to that, we will need to come back and finish one of Ms. Merry’s earlier work areas, the Trampoline Floor.  

Last year, we rebuilt the front portion of the floor as we explored to discover why Merry’s floor was so bouncy.  The rear portion of the floor was left undone do to the need to remove the bathroom, which we admit, we tried to put off as much as possible, because we knew what kind of nightmare it was going to become once we got that shower out and started tearing into the rear floor 

Unfortunately, with the need to basically stand in the middle of the toilet and the old shower pan, removing the shower could no longer be put off any longer. 

The upside is once its done, Ms. Merry’s floor will be fully enclosed at last and we’ll only be a short step away from hanging the rear section of ceiling in place so that the rear wall board can go in place . 

The first challenge was getting out the old Aqua Magic Galaxy Toilet.  

Out of all of Thetford’s designs, this one seems to be the one designed to be the greatest pain in the rear to remove. 

Removal requires removing a plug in the top and using eighteen inches of extensions, a universal joint adapter and a deep well 1/2” socket in order to back off the rear flange bolt. 

Removing the front bolt requires keeping the foot pedal depressed so you can use a ratcheting box end wrench to back the front flange bolt out. 

This went okay until the johnny bolt in the rear broke loose in the closet flange and started spinning, making it impossible to finish backing the nut off. 

Mercifully, the front bolt came out without any problems. 

In the end, Big Joe had to come to the rescue and with a lot of swearing, Ms. Merry’s old water closet flange gave way and the toilet went airborne, flying up high enough to clear the shower walls before crashing back onto the floor. 

At last the stubborn old toilet was out!

Only to discover it was anchored to the floor with those damn blasted Security Screws from hell……

Come on Big Joe, Five Pound, we’ve got more screws to pull out…..

Once we had popped and pulled all of the tooth grinding screws out, we were blessed with a small mercy, the flange was threaded into the tank, a couple minutes with lil’ Joe and Five Pound, and we had the flange loose and we used the remaining johnny bolt to spin it out.

At last! 

Now, to get that drain out….. Dang it…. it’s inner cross piece broke off….. Where’s my big flat head screw driver…..

The shower drain, which I at one time thought of saving and reusing ended up having to be shattered with a flat head screw driver as the inner tree broke off when we tried to back it out.  Once it’s flange was out, I left the remaining thread in the pipe, as all of the remaining plumbing plus the old tank were on their way to the dumpster. 

At last, we were able to pull the old shower out and expose the last of the floor, untouched and unseen since Merry rolled off the assembly line in 1975.  

It was really…. really dirty……

That’s all road dirt that had blown up into Miss Merry’s undercarriage in all the years she’d traveled, coming up around the gap in the floor around the shower drain pipe that went straight through the floor and hung underneath, fully exposed to the elements and road spray.  

The debris is from the removal of the old shower, and the wood, ironically enough, has only surface discoloring, no dry rot was found.  

With the shower out, it was time to remove the last of the original wall paneling so that the old floor could at last be removed.

While preparing to remove the last of the old wall paneling, we found another time capsule from when Merry was originally built.  

Still afixed to the vent stack for the holding tank, was a piece of scotch tape with notes listing its use and its source.    Much like the “Ken Smith” written on the side of Merry’s fridge, we’ve found a number of notes left behind by the folks who built Merry forty-two years ago .

If we can find a way, we may preserve a few of these tid bits in Merry’s table top when we get to that stage, so they can continue to travel on with Merry.  

With Merry’s new shower, the new vent stack will be painted and visible within it, and sadly, we won’t be able to reuse the original Bristol, Indiana made vent pipes as they’re too short to make the run from where the vent pipe elbow will be to reach the vent cap on the roof.  

Once we cut off the vent pipe, it took some work with Big Joe the crowbar to break Merry’s old holding tank loose from the floor.   We had to remove it in this fashion due to the use of those dang blasted crescent moon screws that were used in every facet of Merry’s construction, backing them out was not possible.  

As you can see in the photo, the original toilet flange was off center of the tank due to the bathroom being off center to accomodate for the vent pipe.   With the new tank and bathroom, the flange is now direct dead center on the deepest point of the tank.   We’ll go over this in a later chapter covering the cutting of the floor holes for the new plumbing and ducting for Merry’s heated tank compartment that will go under the floor.  

With the tank finally out, we were able to begin the demolition of the rear floor.

Sadly, one of the main members we had left in place broke at a large knot in the board as we were prying up the old 5/8” three section plywood that made up the original floor. 

You can see the flimsy door skin material that was used on the underside of Miss Merry, we simply punched through it with a few blows of our feet and Big Joe.  

Looks like we’ve got some clean up to do, so stay tuned, we’ll continue the floor rebuild in Part 3 .