Renovating shower to take advantage of fully avail space
Hi, I have a 84' Itasca by Winnebago (ICR27RU) and it's one of those things that I have invested so much money into over the years, basically I am still driving it and it's still doing it's thing so to speak so why change, especially with gas (temporarily) so cheap. At the moment I am thinking about taking on a long journey South and when I say South, well very South ....
One thing that I have always been unhappy with in this unit is the shower. From what I have learned over the years, Winnie put a shower shell into this model that is not too tall at all. In fact the shower stall was built for one of there smaller motor homes but from what I recall from talking to a Winnie engineer years ago, he said they put that same shower shell in several models, regardless of the size of the space that could be used, using one small enough to fit all models for that year. Now at the moment I don't have photos to show what I am talking about but the shower is the style of a mini squat-tub with stopper and straight walls up to a point but they all start to come in on you at the top, giving not too much head room. (An actual much larger stall could be used because the space behind the plastic walls is there, they just cut cost by using the same shower everywhere that year.)
What I'd like to do is rip the top half of this shower stall out and place some material on the 3 square walls to take advantage of the full space that shower could occupy, getting rid of the smaller pre-fab shell which is designed to severely narrow at the top.
Now this has me wondering if this is practical and should I use some type of heat malleable material that I could stuff and wrap into the 3 sided shower stall once I removed the top part of the existing shell. It would really be nice for me to be able to stand up in the shower and not bang my lip or nose on the shower head.
Considerations on why not to do this include comments I have seen on some PanAmerican Travelers forums discussing roads that literally tear you shelves off the wall. I don't want something that is going to fly all to pieces on the first bumpy road I hit but I really hate taking a shower in there while having to squat (I know, 1st world problem but please let me complain just this once LOL.)
Additionally:
I'd also be interested from those who have experience with this type of rig or doing this sort of thing, to learn ways to make the cabinets and doors stay closed in this model. The conventional latch is hard to adjust and with each trip things shift to the point they have to constantly have to be readjusted.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
One thing that I have always been unhappy with in this unit is the shower. From what I have learned over the years, Winnie put a shower shell into this model that is not too tall at all. In fact the shower stall was built for one of there smaller motor homes but from what I recall from talking to a Winnie engineer years ago, he said they put that same shower shell in several models, regardless of the size of the space that could be used, using one small enough to fit all models for that year. Now at the moment I don't have photos to show what I am talking about but the shower is the style of a mini squat-tub with stopper and straight walls up to a point but they all start to come in on you at the top, giving not too much head room. (An actual much larger stall could be used because the space behind the plastic walls is there, they just cut cost by using the same shower everywhere that year.)
What I'd like to do is rip the top half of this shower stall out and place some material on the 3 square walls to take advantage of the full space that shower could occupy, getting rid of the smaller pre-fab shell which is designed to severely narrow at the top.
Now this has me wondering if this is practical and should I use some type of heat malleable material that I could stuff and wrap into the 3 sided shower stall once I removed the top part of the existing shell. It would really be nice for me to be able to stand up in the shower and not bang my lip or nose on the shower head.
Considerations on why not to do this include comments I have seen on some PanAmerican Travelers forums discussing roads that literally tear you shelves off the wall. I don't want something that is going to fly all to pieces on the first bumpy road I hit but I really hate taking a shower in there while having to squat (I know, 1st world problem but please let me complain just this once LOL.)
Additionally:
I'd also be interested from those who have experience with this type of rig or doing this sort of thing, to learn ways to make the cabinets and doors stay closed in this model. The conventional latch is hard to adjust and with each trip things shift to the point they have to constantly have to be readjusted.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
