wayne77590

I have that picture!

My 1972 Chevy Sportvan 20 camper. Description in who what where when

I was going to post this in Picture of the Day but decided not to flood that thread, so here. In 1974 I owned a 1972 Chevy Sportvan 20, equipped by TravCo with a pop up roof. The pop-up was supported by 4 corner pilars of tubing and was definitely a mechanical muscle to open. There were canvas sides all around and two side zippered screen opening for cross air. The back table dropped down to make a bed, similar to today's bench seat tables. Above that were two sets of aluminum tubing with canvas between the rails where the kids slept. Had a gas furnace that was absolutely great.. I one cubic foot refrigerator, a single opening kitchen sink with a hose connection on the outside for drainage of grey water. The toilet was a square box with a padded lid on it that doubled as a seat, and inside was a toilet set and a 5 gallon bucket. You most definitely used chemical smell 'em goods in the bucket. Emptying the bucket was at any toilet facility, gas station or park toilet. Powered by a Chevy 350 engine. Kept it from 1974 to 1979, sold it to my brother for $1500 as I was going overseas on military duty for 3 years. Came back in 1982 and bought it back from him for $1000. He took good care of it. Came to Texas in 1984 and sold it to an engineer working at NASA. He lived in it full time on the Texas City Dike. Last I saw of it a few years later there was a lot of rust and derelict looking condition sitting on the Dike. I think the city finally towed it away. Ah! The good old days. Forgot to mention. Everything ran off of 12 volts. Two batteries, Service and House with Diode isolator to keep service battery from being used. Alternator charged both when van running.

Sweet!

My driveway slopes and I have to run up on 3 sets of 2 x 12's with 3/4 plywood added to each. Still leaves me with 1 degree or a little more. I can't put the front jacks down because that is where the slope is. I put my 23' slide and the two other slides out all the time when we are loading and unloading. We have a commercial refrigerator and we have not had a problem putting the slides out.

Same same as releasing the lines at the jacks would release the pressure and should be able to get the jacks up, then secure them with "somthing!" Lot easier than removing all the jacks! Removing the jack they would still have to remove the lines...me thinks. TT, what's the present situation? Have you found a cure/replacement yet? Oops! saw where you will be replacing the pump mechanism with tank.

If you know their name you can log into the member's section and put it in the search pane.

My preferred route would be I-84 to Sturbridge and then pick pick up US-20 for 13 miles to I-290 to I-495 and to I-95. The 13 or so miles on Route 20 would be no big deal, or I-84 to Sturbridge and pick up I-90 to 495. Save a few tolls. Not a lot of "good" campground in CT or MA on either route. (I-80 to I-81 to I-84 and onward.

I spent the first 18 years of my life in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, but it was an accident of birth!! Personally I'd avoid the Mass Pike and pick up I-84 through CT to Sturbridge then maybe US-20 to 9 and to Framingham. I have not been on 20 or 9 in many years. Stop and go for sure.

I was wondering also why the jacks were taken. Releasing the hydraulic lines on the jacks, they could be pushed up manually and then tied in place until a pump is installed.

Set yourself a reminder on your phone or computer to check the gauge, say every two weeks or depending on how frequently you use it. If it gets down to half - start looking for a place to fill it. Here's a funny for us. We purchesed our present MH in Oct 2017 and it has a 28 gal propane tank. It was full. Just this last time we took it out a couple months ago it was 3/4 full. Guess we don't eat in that much. Only thing we have in on the MH is a 3 burner gas stove.

The extend-a-stay is definitely a plus. A 20 pound bottle should get you through until you can fill up. You can call the RV parks taht you will be staying at to see if they have a filling station. Some only fill bottle, others fill permanent tanks on the RV. If they have a filling station ask if it is accessible going into the park, or coming out of the park. If it is going in, fill up before you get to your space. If it is on the way out, either circle around or wait until you are departing. My last MH the tank was on the passenger side. This present MH it is on the driver side. I'll also do a satellite view to see if I can find where the filling station is, or use their site map which typically depicts a propane filling station. Happy trails.

Congratulations Herman and may good things be with you in the endeavor.

Try talking to the lady that says roughing it is no Walmart near by!! Not for boondocking - she doesn't boondock!

So so strange that 300 people can get on a plane and fly internationally, but RV'ers and car drivers can't cross the border. Just doesn't seem realistic. Might be the different areas we are traveling in this year, but the prices do seem higher.

Supply and demand and demand is up. So many finding out it is cheaper to full time in a MH then pay mortgage, taxes and insurance premiums. We are going WAY north this summer and I already have made reservations. Many places I was lucky to get in and this was for July..yep..prices are way up.

2 x 12 x 8 is about $36 at hardware stores. You'll only need 1 and some 3/4 inch plywood. You can buy that in half sheet sizes and cut to fit the 2 x 12. I used stainless steel screws. Used regular screws last time and the heads will rust off..not good. Herman, I don't think he is "blocking" up the rear just raising it by running up on pads. If one side is lower than the other than only that side needing the rise needs to have levelers under it. What am I missing. JanieBear. What are you trying to accomplish? Rasing the rear wheels just to level? For how long? In the picture I posted I back in and raise the front. Not for the faint of heart running up 8 inches on boards. My wife is the ground guide and I do pay attention to her. I can also feel the bump as I go over each level and on the last bump my left foot (always on the brake) hits the brake. She then inches me back. Are you wanting to store the coach with the rear raised and if so, why raise it. Four inches is not a lot of rise.

If you are describing raising the FMC 4", like running the wheels up on blocks, here is what I did for our previous MH. The ramps were 2 x 10" and I have since changed them to 2 x 12" for our newer one. I'm using 3 2x10's with 3/4" plywood to prevent splitting. These 3 ramps give me about 8" of rise. With only 4 inches you should only need 1 with 3/4 plywood on each side. Use treated lumber. Ha ha! Bill we posted about 1 second apart. Amazing how smart like minds work together.

I'm wise also - DW doesn't read this forum - y'all don't tell her either!!

DB, haven't you taught the DW the purpose of the shovel? 🙂

Joe, where did you go? Looks peaceful. We leave around the 1st of July headed to Shipshewana, IN. We will be there for the month of August.

So sorry to hear the woes. A safe journey after the fix is in store.

It must have been a choo choo train engineer!

Wow! This thread has been dead for awhile. Let me liven it up. Some time ago the City of Texas City built a new maintenance facility. It has a lot of gate accesses but this one I just don't understand unless it is going to be for 2 wheel or pedestrians.

Wow! That is an ambitious trip of 2900+ miles. I hope it is not a two week vacation. Have you tried using Google Maps? You can drag any point on the route they give you to secondary or other areas of interest to you. As Carl stated, it would be nice if you put you information in your signature line to help better plan.