A Tale of Two CT13's

[K Patrick]

As I think I explained previously, I am upsizing the wheels to 14" from the factory 13's. At the same time, I am going to the more typical 5x4.5" bolt circle. I ordered three wheels and tires (one as a spare, not to make this a tricycle!!) from www.RecStuff.com and they arrived amazingly quickly.

The tires are Kenda LoadStar radials



The hubs are Timken 513018

[CindyL]

Originally Posted by Transposure

Hi Cindy,
I actually returned that bare aluminum vent. The inner spindle that was used to operate the opening function was too wide. I found another one that is very similar and will work. But, this is going on the outside of the camper body, in place of a flat, slotted, vent. A Furrion range hood goes on the inside. Pics below...

Oh, that's right. Well, the location of the hood on a CT, as opposed to a VT, will still not bonk you. We took ours out; it was dangerous.

[K Patrick]

I do have to widen the exit opening through the shell a little bit to make that hood and vent work.

[K Patrick]

I made a visit to the bodyshop today to take some measurements and check a few things. They have been very busy lately and work on the CT has been slow. Here are a couple of shots of it at the bodyshop...

[K Patrick]

While I was there, I checked the fitment of the new range hood and the new external aluminum vent. Here is the new range hood propped into position. The factory exit hole had to be widened and heightened..







I particularly like that it slopes up in the front. It maximizes the work space under it and also improves the eye-line to the back of the stove when you are standing in front of it.

[K Patrick]

I also test fit the external black-painted aluminum hinging vent. This baby is beautifully built! It is actually meant to be opened from its back side, by squeezing a trigger and it then can be hinged from its top of its bottom edge. Very ingenious. I like that when it is closed, it is essentially watertight. And the name of the game on this project is keeping EVERYTHING as watertight as possible.

So, here is a shot of the vent open...



And closed...




It sits perfectly flush. I just didn't remove the two original plastic inserts for for the mounting screws when I took the picture.

[K Patrick]

Time for some updates! I visited both the bodyshop and the fabricator today. FYI, the bodyshop has the shell and they are prepping it for paint. The fabricator has the exo-cage and it is awaiting Powdercoating once the shell is near final paint. The shops are owned by the same guy. Most of the shell issues have been fixed and the new furnace exit opening has been completed!! Woohoo! Here is a photo of the new exit hole..



The hole is for the new Atwood furnace. Here is a shot of the exhaust exit trim piece in place from the back side..



As much as I like the original round opening, and I think my original furnace works, I felt it would be better to install a brand new furnace instead of a 30 year old one. The exhaust looks like this from the outside..

[K Patrick]

Moving on...I decided to go with the aluminum tail light housings. They are being prepped and painted to match the shell. The shell tail light openings had to be cut out a little bit to allow for the new round LED tail lights. The housings will receive all stainless steel hardware.



Another view looking into the interior (I just thought it is interesting seeing the interior space from this perspective)..

[K Patrick]

Lastly, we looked at the door hinges. One was in good condition. One had some play. Both had a rusted pin. I hadn't planned to do anything with them other than clean and polish them and reinstall with some new hardware. The hinges are Polar No. 402..



When I got back, I typed this part number into google and I found Cottco Specialty Hardware..

https://cottco.com/polar-hardware-40...GEDZPPfuEVSNkw

and $95 later, I have two brand new hinges with stainless steel pins on their way. Can you say "money pit"? LOL

[K Patrick]

Next stop was the fabricator. I bought some aluminum angle and cut it into 45 degree mitered sections in order for him to weld them into two frames, one smaller, one larger.



The smaller one is 14"x14" inside dimensions and it will be mounted to the shell roof at the fan opening. The larger one will be mounted to the bottom of the air conditioner.



The air conditioner sits on the exo-cage and its larger frame will "lock" onto the frame that is on the shell roof. But the weight of the AC will be supported by the exo-cage.



Here is a shot from the bottom of the one frame inserted into the exo-cage..



And from the top..

[David Marowski]

" MONEY PIT " ??????? That's going to be the nicest $250,000.00 fiberglass camper on the planet.

[K Patrick]

David,
Taking offers now, kinda like Kickstarter! Lol

[alan H]

Do you need my down payment now like “ lil snoozy required “

[K Patrick]

In all seriousness, I will be offering it for sale when it’s done, but I will need to total up all the costs. It will definitely be one of a kind and no expenses spared.

[K Patrick]

I could actually use some help with one item. I will be replacing the utility hatch on the driver side of the camper with a "shower box". It has to be black, and large enough to accommodate the shower head, hose, hot and cold facet handles as well as an additional hose attachment for campground water and a filler port for the water tank. The electric is being placed elsewhere. The "off the shelf" shower boxes are pretty cheesy. And by that, I mean they are made of very flimsy, thin, plastic. Not the kind of thing that will withstand the test of time. The best one I found for my purposes is this...



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...3LNWFD5C&psc=1

It is black, large enough, has the shower stuff, BUT, it looks to be flimsy plastic.

I have started looking at marine flush mount deck storage boxes and the like, but finding the right one, with the right box attached, has not been easy. I found this, which is close, but not quite right...



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...JTIGKWQE&psc=1

The lid has reinforcing but the box may not be a watertight attachment.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it. The cutout size needs to be approximately 7"x10". But if it needs to be a little bigger, I don't have a problem cutting a bigger opening to accommodate it.

[CindyL]

Originally Posted by Transposure

In all seriousness, I will be offering it for sale when it’s done, but I will need to total up all the costs. It will definitely be one of a kind and no expenses spared.

Are you really serious here? You plan to sell this after all the mods that are personalized for you?

CindyL

[K Patrick]

Hi Cindy,
My intent is to use it. But, at the same time, if someone is interested, and most certainly at the right price, I’d entertain a sale.

[K Patrick]

I wanted to replace the marker lights on the camper, so I did a quick google search and found the factory originals...and cheap!!

https://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies...embly/?mid=349

No matter what I do, I cannot get the link to work^^...sorry. Copy and paste from below, minus the quotes.

"https://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Truck-Trailer-Parts/Miscellaneous-Parts/Marker-Light-Assembly/?mid=349"

I ordered 2 Amber and 5 Red. Three of the reds will be replacing the triple light setup over the rear window, and, in a perfect world, I will wire them to be a 3rd brake light. Has anyone done that?

[K Patrick]

So, a few updates today, while I wait for the bodyshop. I drilled the hole in the shell for the new electric receptacle. Loving this receptacle. Top notch quality. In case you missed it, I am segregating the electric feed from the water. I don't want the spaghetti wire under the sink any longer, so I will have a dedicated 30A electrical cord that connects to this watertight connection. It quarter turn locks on and off...



I also sourced some stainless steel U bolts for the relocated propane regulator. I just held them up to the tube stanchion that I welded on previously for the dual propane tank support.





Lastly, the new hinges I ordered arrived today. And I have to say WOW! These things are beautiful! They are stainless steel, with stainless pins and nice and tight. No play whatsoever in the hinge. Should make the door function like brand new.

[Dan-NS27]

For the hinges, through bolting to the inside or just screwing into just the outer shell?

Those are the same used on the burro. I think originally didn't bolt to the inside but previous owner of mine through bolted during a bad repair.