Our "new" Tiger...

[HMR]

BTW if you heat the water at night then turn the flame down to pilot, you'll still have a full tank of hot water in the AM and barely use any propane to do it.

That's a great tip! Can't wait to try it.

I like the FRP stuff you decided on, will you have to re-cover the other "wet" wall too?

I'm doing all 4 walls and still deciding on the door.

How's the shower pan/plumbing in there, will that need replacing also?

It's in surprisingly good shape. I'll be resealing the whole compartment once I'm done installing the FRP. Should be "good as new" when finished.

Great work, enjoying watching you transform this Tiger!

It's a FUN project! My wife and I are both enjoying working on it. She's the brains and I'm the muscle.

I'm currently away on a week-long "work" trip and itching to get back to the garage to finish the bathroom and a few other small items. In the meantime, I spent today exploring around Moab/Arches in a rental 4x4. Might head up towards Ouray tomorrow. It's killing me not having the Tiger!

 

[HMR]

Window Covers/Insulation

Another one of our favorite things about the Tiger is the abundance of windows. They make for excellent visibility both while driving and camping but they can also make it difficult to manage the interior temperature when the outside temps get too cold or hot. I saw this stuff at Lowe's and thought it might make a good insulator for the windows. It works perfectly- very easy to cut to shape, just the right amount of stiffness to stick in the windows (no tape or velcro needed) but flexible enough to easily roll up and store in a cabinet. We haven't had it out in extreme temps, yet, but I parked the van in the sun for awhile today with the windows up (75 degrees outside) and the interior stayed nice and cool.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Just an FYI,
This reflective material gets shorter and shorter the more it is rolled up.

Home depot sells a tape called Flexfit. It is nice and stretchy, strong, very tacky and just as silver as the reflectix material.

It is good for joining extra pieces together.

I have made window shades for each and every window.

The nearest Lowes is a pretty good hike from me, and the Ace which carried the Reflectix near me no longer does, and the Home Depot just plain doesn't.
Sometimes 99 cent stores sell flimsy window shades. I have used the flexfit tape to attach it to cardboard to place in my side windows.

 

[HMR]

Just an FYI,
This reflective material gets shorter and shorter the more it is rolled up.

Home depot sells a tape called Flexfit. It is nice and stretchy, strong, very tacky and just as silver as the reflectix material.

It is good for joining extra pieces together.

I have made window shades for each and every window.

The nearest Lowes is a pretty good hike from me, and the Ace which carried the Reflectix near me no longer does, and the Home Depot just plain doesn't.
Sometimes 99 cent stores sell flimsy window shades. I have used the flexfit tape to attach it to cardboard to place in my side windows.

Thanks for the good info. I'll checkout that tape. Fortunately, we have Lowe's, HD and ACE within a few minutes of the "garage".

 

[HMR]

"The Gap"

As I said previously in my "bathroom/shower" post, there was a big gap between one of the bathroom walls and the back window. It caused two problems: water from the shower splashed out onto the couch and someone sitting on the couch could lean back and look through the gap into the bathroom.

Here's the gap:

(The "stained glass" is inside the bathroom but visible outside due to the big space between the sidewall and back window)

We took care of both problems when we sealed up the bathroom:

...but we were left with a big ugly gap full of pink fiberglass. I could not find a material to properly seal up the area. I needed something that formed a tight seal with the window to keep the fiberglass fibers from escaping but it had to be flexible enough to allow the window and wall to move, independently, when the frame flexes on uneven terrain. I experimented with neoprene, a few other types of rubber, plywood with silicone sealant and various combinations of those materials. Nothing worked so I did what I always do when I run out of ideas and went and wandered the aisles of my local hardware stores... Voila!, I found this.


Took all of 10 minutes to cut, shape and install:

I know it doesn't look like much but I had to share it because fixing that dumb gap was one of THE most confounding mods so far. :coffeedrink:

 

[Ironduff]

HMR, Congrats! I'm the very happy owner of an '06 Tiger CX (Silverado 2500HD std. cab, 8.1, 6-spd Allison). You're doing a fine, fine job of updating yours!

One thought, if you're still thinking about a cover for the spare. Most conversion van parts houses on-line have a selection of the same-style covers Provan used on yours, in different diameters. I bought such a set (f'glass disc & lockable stainless ring) a few years back for a Roadtrek class B that I used to have. IIRC, it was just over $100 for my 16". I'd bet that a phone call to Mark, the new owner at Provan, would get you a new 'Tiger' decal for nominal cost.

I wish my passenger's seat could swivel. Alas, the floor contours in the pickup cab prevent it, That's one of the few things that I really miss from my old RT's.

For other folks struggling with the 3-way reefer,a tip... get the LP regulator's output checked at a place that sells and services LP appliances. With a manometer or Magnahelic gage, they can check the very low output pressure. AIUI, it should be about 11" of water column at a minimum. Mine was under 8". After adjustment, the reefer is cooling _much_ better on LP.

Keep up the good work!

Jim H.

 

[HMR]

One thought, if you're still thinking about a cover for the spare. Most conversion van parts houses on-line have a selection of the same-style covers Provan used on yours, in different diameters.

Thanks for the tip! I'd love to see your Tiger. :drool:
We really like that stock tire carrier, there's something "retro-cool" about it. We're tossing around the idea of painting the Tiger and will probably de-chrome it in the process. If so, we'll probably go with a black vinyl cover.

 

[suntinez]

Not retro, but still cool - I put a Trasharoo on my spare, loving the outside storage. Keeps the leveling blocks, tow strap and a couple other things out of the limited storage inside my GT.

 

[adventureduo]

You and Linda are bad influences on Yosh! She wants a Tiger now..

And yeah.. HMR>.. you need a Troo onboard!

 

[HMR]

You and Linda are bad influences on Yosh! She wants a Tiger now..

Ha! It's only a matter of time... :sombrero:

And yeah.. HMR>.. you need a Troo onboard!

Yes I do. I'll be knocking on your warehouse door as soon as V2.0 arrives.

 

[HMR]

New Moulding...

The Tiger has ~70' of rubber moulding wrapped around the camper. Ours was old, brittle, discolored and made the whole vehicle look bad. I assumed it was some custom-sized product that I could only get from Provan. I also assumed it was going to be a nightmare to replace. I was wrong on both counts: it was a cinch to remove/replace and the moulding is a commonly used product available at our local RV store.

Closeup:

Old moulding and aluminum channel that held it:

Because the old rubber had become brittle, it was sitting loose in the channels. There was years of dirt and gunk built up underneath. After stripping off the old moulding, I took the Tiger to a pressure washer and blasted everything clean. Surprisingly, there was no rust and the original screws looked good as new after the cleaning.

Old removed and new installed:

Before:

After:

Each end of the moulding is sealed and held in place with silicone RV caulking.

 

[HMR]

Bathroom update...

I was in Vail, CO most of last week on another tough work assignment (Ha!) so I didn't get much done on the Tiger. I came back with a fresh perspective and made some changes to our bathroom remodel idea. The biggest change was how to attach the FRP panels. I was planning to use 3M Marine Adhesive because it's specifically designed to bond fiberglass to wood in areas that are wet and subject to lots of vibration. The only downside was the possibility that the adhesive might be "too" strong and permanent (supposedly the stuff is impossible to remove). If we or a future owner ever wanted to do another bathroom remodel, all 4 walls and the door would have to be destroyed in order to remove the FRP. As such, we decided to make everything semi-removable and use stainless steel screws and finish washers to secure the FRP. We made some more reinforcements to the rear wall (as designed by Provan, the rear wall is the thinnest and weakest) and then it was simple to screw the panels in place. We're using ProFlex to caulk/seal the seams. ProFlex is stronger and more flexible than typical caulk but it's also messier and harder to work with. The extra work is worth it as the combination of the FRP and ProFlex has made the shower/bathroom 100% watertight.

The new walls have created one problem: they look so good that the otherwise perfectly fine shower tub (shown with toilet removed) now looks old.

Ugh!... does it ever end?

 

[Herbie]

After:

Wow! :Wow1:

The effect of the new moulding is really impressive. Nice work. That's the kind of thing I too would have assumed to be too much hassle to mess with and I might have left undone, but it makes your coach look NEW!

 

[Ironduff]

HMR, that's the one good thing that comes from browsing RV parts catalogs... you learn to recognize the 'stock items' that the mfg'r used... otherwise, it's all evil as you either spend much money or find neat things that won't fit in a Tiger (compact washer / dryer, for instance).

Seriously, run by your nearest non-Camping World big-box RV dealer, go into the supply / parts section, and ask for a catalog. It'll have the dealer's imprint on the cover, but almost certainly come from one or another of a few national warehouse outfits. A _lot_ of the stuff in a Tiger is off-the-shelf from these catalogs.

The grubby caulk line at the top of the cab roof will probably clean up easily with Soft Scrub & an old toothbrush before you wash it next time (Tip from a factory tech). Mine looks even worse since I waxed the whole darn thing, but I'm on the way to the Outer Banks now....

Jim H.

 

[Riptide]

Ya know, one of the things about campers is that boat construction is very similar in a lot of ways, with all the fiberglass that gets used in both.

I would imagine that a quart of good Interlux or Awlgrip topside paint could have that shower looking like new.