This is my 1978 Fiber Stream, taken shortly after I bought it, July 12, 2004. I found it parked at the curb on an industrial street in Chula Vista, California with a "For Sale" sign on it. It took me 3 weeks of calling the owner's cell phone (He lived in Tijuana, Mexico and worked in Chula Vista, California) to make contact, make an offer, and buy the trailer.

Here is the streetside, front, taken the same day. It is parked next to my Compact Junior, that I have since sold.

Here is a shot showing the 2 x 4 wood bumper, and "extra" tail lights, as best as I could. To the right is a fence at the edge of a drop-off. If you look closely, you can see the "ghosts" of the center stripe and Logos, especially on the back of the trailer.

The first mod was to replace the tail lights (all 4 of them!), of which only one functioned, and none matched. I only installed 2 new tail lights, and used FiberglassRV.com stickers to cover the patched damage the additional tail lights caused to the shell.

I had to replace the pig-tail connection to the tow vehicle. While I was at it, I ran the additional wire for activating the back-up lights in the new fixtures. The origonal tail lights did not have back-up lights.

I also made a 4" bumper/stinky-slinky storage (I love that name.) out of a hollow vinyl fence post I found at LOWE'S. It made a good location for the trailer's name.

I found the CAUTION sign, a bumper-sticker decal, at a truck parts store. The new red stripe near the base is reflective 2" wide safety tape, found at an industrial hardware store.

The replacement reflectors, mounted high, came from WALMART. There were "ghosts" in those spots indicating previous reflectors.

I then painted over the Fiber Stream logos with red enamal paint; they were origonally green but had completely faded in the sun. WEST MARINE was the source of the stripes around the middle. After installing the bumper slinky storage, I removed the short cylinder up front.

After selling the Compact Junior, I had enough money to afford a Carefree Fiesta Awning. I removed the RV 12 volt swamp cooler (not air conditioner) and replaced it with a Fantastic-Fan. This brought the height down to 8' 6".

The first mod inside was to install a folding range cover.

Here is the Dinette area showing the origonal (rotted) curtains. Above the window is the "child's" upper bunk.

Some better views of the factory installed "child's" upper bunk. We use it for storage. The "guard rail" and flourescent light fixture were added by a previous owner. I mounted the clock and frog doll. With a green interior, we have a "frog" theme.

Fred I have a question? How do you like your awning, would you buy the same again. In Oregon I camp in the rain a lot and often we camp were I can put the awning when out a few feet from the fire, then I can spend more time outside even if raining. a good awning is needed . I want to be sure before I choice the awning I want to put it on my Scamp 5th wheel.
Taylor the Sailor

In a New York minute! The local distributor for Carefree does nothing but awnings, and they were very good... but they did not ask a critical question about the height measurement when I ordered the awning. This delayed their installation 1 week while the correct (special order shorter legs) were ordered. (I had planned ahead, and was not in a hurry to have it installed.) Due to this oversight, they upgraded me from the Simplicity to the Fiesta at no extra charge. If I remember correctly, it was about $550 plus tax installed.

However I must caution you: My leg supports may not be appropriate for the curved sides of a Scamp trailer. The Fiber Stream has straight sides. I would recommend that you have your distributor come & measure your trailer so he could special order the proper curved legs for it, several shapes of which are available from Carefree.

The entry door for the Fiber Stream is 60" (5'0") tall. Robert took a "foam" pool noodle, cut it to the 24" door width, made a sleeve out of material to match the curtains, ran a 3/4" dowel thru the center, and mounted it at the door frame as a forehead bumper.

Thank you Fred I would love to find a RV dealer I really trust. I talked to Camper world, they are a bit spendy I belive . I am in no hurry I will keep researching while it pours rain up here.
Thanks Taylor

Without the President's Club discount, Camping World can be expensive. They also stock A&E brand awning products, which is higher priced than Carefree, in my experience. They also price out installation a-la-carte, as most all-in-one RV stores do. I would recommend that you try Carefree of Colorado.com and ask for a distributor/installer near you. Good luck!

I will do that tommorrow. Thanks Fred.

Since I already owned a 13" TV/VCR, I shopped eBay for a ceiling mount to install on the underside of the upper bunk. I wired up the TV coax cable under the lower bunk to the electric cord hatch, and put a connector box in there. In a campground, I can connect to cable TV if available. When boondocking, I use a separate battery with a 300 watt inverter to watch tapes. I watch DVD's on the laptop computer.

As an example of one mod leading to another, remember that I removed the short cylinder (for storing the sewer hose) from the front of the trailer? This left 4 holes through the shell that needed plugging. After awhile, I discovered a need for a shelf for small items on the front wall. In the spirit of 2 birds with 1 stone, I designed this shelf that re-used those holes for mounting.

1. The Dinette Table slides under the shelf, out of the way, during most of the day.
2. During meals, it pulls out into the center of the space. I love port-a-legs!
3. At bedtime, the table disassembles and stores on the floor, under the bed. The shelf becomes a nice little nite stand/bedside table.

This table came with the Fiber Stream when I bought it. The old laminated formica map top is cool, even though it is circa 1968.

Some "newer" Fiber Streams have an arched pass-through in the wall between the stove and the street-side bunk, with a flip-up counter extension. My 1978 does not. It also has sliding doors in the upper kitchen cabinets. Newer units have upward-opening hinged doors.

The 3-burner stove with oven is also the heater! It is a Duette brand unit. The 5th knob (to the left side) controls the blower motor for the thin (short? narrow?) heater vent below the oven door. The oven temperature control is also the heater thermostat. 250* = Low, 350* = medium, & "broil" = high settings for space heating. You can use the heater functions and the cooking functions at the same time. It is vented to the exterior, with a lower intake (combustion) vent and a shielded upper (exaust) vent located just below the kitchen window and above the electric cord hatch.

I decided to add to this re-release previously edited out photos (extra footage)!

When I bought the Fiber Stream the most glaring fault was a completely rotted wood panel at the top of the refridgerator/pantry cabinet. When I crawled up on the roof, I found that the 3 screws through the shell that secure the cabinet to the top had completely rusted out leaving gaping holes for water to enter! I first replaced the screws, and re-sealed them with "C-10" a caulk in an Orange tube made specifically for fiberglass I found at Camping World.

Then I removed the rotted panel.

Once the panel was gone, I saw that there was a LOT of room on the top shelf. The panel covered up the factory installed electric box (origonally blanked off) that would provide 110 volt power to an optional roof mounted air conditioner. I installed an outlet there, and mounted a 700 watt Microwave in the top shelf area.

After taking these photos, I attached the new panel to the top of the cabinet door.

Before and After:

The Duettes were a very good idea, I had one. They were discontinued a long time ago, as quite a few trailers, and motorhomes, caught fire, from the Duettes.
The exhaust pipe through the wall, got dislodged, accidentally, due to road travel, or by mistake, or was too near the wall for such a hot exhaust pipe !
Also the vent didn't need to be anywhere near a window, that might be open. It needed a lot of non-flammable insulation.

Please be very careful with it.

Thank you for your concern. I kind of figured that they had been problematic since they were not installed in Fiber Streams after about 1982. Benita does not have one and neither does RJordanX2. I believe that they have separate (furnaces) mounted next to the water heater, under the streetside bunk. Ken Hildner removed the oven portion of his and installed his microwave in that space.

I will keep an on mine.