70s Six-Pac, trying to figure out how to run new plumbing

[urbex]

I'm finally getting back on getting the old SixPac camper back together. Near as I can tell, it's a 1974...something. No clue what model it would have been, other than it's a full size shortbed model. This is the first one of this vintage that I've had, so I just plain don't know how things would have been done back then.

When I got it, all the plumbing had been completely removed with the exception of the sink, and a short section of hose from the sink drain to a garden hose connector on the outside. There is still some random wires under the sink, and in the forward compartment, connected to nothing. There was a hole in the countertop that I assumed was for a faucet (no faucet was installed), but for the life of me, I can't figure out where a fresh water tank would have gone, or a water pump, or any of that stuff, unless it was maybe a 5 gallon tank directly under the sink? But I think even 5 gallons might be a tight fit there. I also haven't found anything that looks like it may have a tank vent installed somewhere either in that area.

What I'm trying to figure out is how the factory would have set this up. I know I'm free to change things around (like I'll be doing when I change out the icebox for a refrigerator), but I'm still curious how it would have been set up originally.

Side view of the camper on my wee truck


View of sink/stove counter/cabinet


LP compartment is directly underneath the stove top


First set of unknown wires, under sink, and drain hose going outside. I cut the drain hose when I removed the sink to install a new countertop.


View from standing in the door, looking forward and right. There is a hole drilled down through the light brown wood directly underneath the lower right corner of the window, going into the lower forward compartment.


Closer look at the hole


View from door, looking in and to the left. The large hole at the front of the bench does go outside, and there is another hole under the left lower corner of the window that also goes down into the forward compartment.


Closer view of holes -


Another set of unknown wires on the left side of the forward compartment. I haven't put a meter on them yet to see if they match up with the under sink wires...as, well, that just now occurred to me to check that, lol.


I'm thinking due to the age of the camper, that there wouldn't have been a grey water tank on board, and the sink drain would have just dumped straight to outside. Perhaps the large hole near the front of the left bench would have been the original location for the water fill port, and a fill hose would have just run to the second hole there going to the forward compartment where a fresh water tank would have been? Would it have been common to not have an outside vent for the fresh water tank back then?

Though if that's the case, I'm still not sure where a hose would have gone from the tank to the faucet. There were no other holes drilled that I could see going into the cabinet where the sink is. If the tank was underneath the sink, I don't know how it would have been filled, unless there just wasn't an outside fill port back then?

[Roamer1960]

Also, the fresh water tank has no drain so most owners add a T to the outlet side and run a hose and valve out the side or out the door to drain the fresh water tank. Don't use your pump to drain the tank.

ALSO, NEVER USE BLEACH IN YOUR RV WATER SYSTEM AS IT WILL DAMAGE THE SEALS IN YOUR PUMP! THE PUMP WILL NOT HOLD PRESSURE AND WILL RUN A LITTLE EVERY MINUTE OR TWO WHEN THE SEALS GET DAMAGED. BLEACH WILL HARDEN THE RUBBER SEALS AND THEY WILL LEAK! PURCHASE SPECIAL RV WATER SYSTEM SANITIZER!

The sink drain hose that you cut uses a "zero-clearance" clamp (PEX type) that just barely fits inside the hole in the wall of the camper. A regular clamp will not fit unless the hole is enlarged. Just leave the hose in place and repair it with a barbed connector.

[Roamer1960]

I just bought one of these Six Pac campers for my short bed. It is a 1976 model and is just like yours.
The water fill is located in the far front left near the camper jack...and the 1-1/4" fill hose runs under the cushion to an elbow and then down to a holding tank that occupies the far front left cabinet on the floor. It was a generous 15 gallon tank. There was only a manual pump faucet used (and they frequently leak around the handle) so the wiring is likely from an aftermarket addition of an electric pump. The water line from the tank to the faucet is run under the lip of the bench (dinette) on the inside of the unit (not sure if this is original though.) It enters under the sink in the front right of the cabinet thru a hole at the bottom.
There is no grey water tank unless it was purchased as an option so the unit is designed to dump right over the side (I'm sure the Forest Service loves that!) I'm planning to fit a plastic container into one of the wheel well cubby holes to catch grey water. Even the 2002 models dump the grey water over the side!
The vent tube for the fresh water tank actually terminates inside the camper on the opposite side of the water fill just above the dinette cushions! The tube is just sitting there begging children to stuff jelly beans or used gum into it!
I considered replacing the icebox with a fridge but it really would be worth just getting a newer version of this camper that has the fridge since $1000 or so is required to do it. Getting block ice every few days is actually cheaper than the hassle of propane which only lasts about a week anyway. Also, running a propane line across the camper is a challenge that requires adding a frame to the bottom of the camper (needed for proper clearance anyway on newer trucks) so that the space can be used to run a 3/8" galvanized pipe across the bottom. Later models of this camper were manufactured this way.
This camper had no converter, battery compartment or fuse block that I know of. Three wires +12v,Gnd,Running Lights emerge from the left rear wall and plug into the pickup. Only the lights use electricity. There are no other electrical items in the camper. There may have been a factory battery shelf in the left rear corner behind the 7" wide skirting...or one could be added there...especially easy when adding the frame to the bottom of the camper that is needed for truck bed rail clearance on these units. Just make the rear board wide enough to reach the ends of the rear skirting and a battery can be added on each side! A narrower-than-normal battery is required such as the Walmart SLA battery so there is no interference with the truck bed opening. A solar system will keep them charged so the lack of a converter is not so bad.

[spacedoutbob]

I had a 1975 Six Pac camper, My fresh water tank was located under my refrigerator location. It was on the left side all the way to the front.

Bob in Calif.

[seaeagle2]

jdavidsmi wrote:

We had it in the back of a 1976 F250 with the 300 6 and a 4 speed manual with 4 wheel drive. My wife had to stand up to push the clutch in. On a good day with nothing in the truck, but us, with a tail wind and going down a hill, we got 8 MPG, fully loaded in 4 wheel drive going up hill we got 8 MPG. with the two gas tanks we carried about 38 gal.

I had a 77 F250 with the 460, Auto trans and 2 WD, I got 8 mpg empty and 8 mpg loaded. People used to tell me that having a TC "wasn't really camping". I replied, "it takes a lot of guts to pull up to a gas pump knowing you've got 2 19 gallon tanks and you're going to get 8 mpg."

[urbex]

It currently has an icebox in it, but I planned on changing that out for an actual fridge. In the meantime, I have an Engel portable I plan to use with it. After having experienced the joys of a fridge while camping, I don't see myself ever going back to having to make a side trip just to buy ice.

[jdavidsmi]

As best I remember our bed was full size, but it seem short. piano hinge across the front and a couple of hooks on the walls to keep it out of the way. Had to manually lift it out of the way.
we used the 2nd truck battery for the lights in the camper.

The other thing was the gray water bucket was outside on the ground and a hose ran into it from the sink.

We did not have fridge used a cooler and ice.

[urbex]

jdavidsmi wrote:
We had one almost exactly like that when we were station in Alaska, but ours was for an 8 ft bed. the over cab bed tilted up so you could get into the dinette,

Hmmm...that's not a bad idea. I've been wondering what to do with the bed section, as it's sized for a 3/4 mattress. I was pondering building an extension, but with it overhanging the dinette area would be a problem. My next thought was to switch the mattress direction from crossways across the cab to long ways, with the foot end up front, and the head end overhanging the right side of the dinette but I haven't yet measured to see if that would even work...mainly because I was trying to figure out how to handle blocking off that side of the dinette when the other side would be blocked temporarily by my portable fridge sitting there (it's a 60qt...not exactly easy to move when loaded up).

[jdavidsmi]

We had one almost exactly like that when we were station in Alaska, but ours was for an 8 ft bed. the over cab bed tilted up so you could get into the dinette, there was a jug of water under the sink and a hand pump faucet. we had a bucket that the water ran into that was dumped away from the camper. It also had a porta-potty that fit into a cabinet had to be pulled out to be used. We traveled all over Alaska some wonderful memories.
We had it in the back of a 1976 F250 with the 300 6 and a 4 speed manual with 4 wheel drive. My wife had to stand up to push the clutch in. On a good day with nothing in the truck, but us, with a tail wind and going down a hill, we got 8 MPG, fully loaded in 4 wheel drive going up hill we got 8 MPG. with the two gas tanks we carried about 38 gal. The only real mods were the air filled rear shocks and duel battery. of course it had a block heater, the stick on transmission heater, electric interior heater, and the radiator heater. This truck had what was called assisted power steering, it had a power steering power cylinder installed in front of the front axle, and driving to work some of the winter mornings with it 50 below the fluid was so thick to took everything you could do to turn her.
When we were transferred back to the lower 48 we put the truck and camper on the base for sale lot and it was sold within an hour.

[urbex]

They still are...they just say Toyota and Honda on the deck lids now 😄

[gbopp]

urbex wrote:
Wouldn't I be on the wrong forum for that? :h

It was just my wishful thinking kicking in.........

I guess I was dreaming of a time when American cars were actually built in America. 🙂

[urbex]

Ahhh...removed and filled. That would make sense then. I didn't expect a grey water holding tank, after reading that it was very common on the older campers to just dump the grey water right in the ground before the environmental movement really took off.

Probably should have looked into this a bit more before installing a regular faucet in the new counter, lol.

So then perhaps there would have been a battery and/or power converter installed in the forward compartment where the wires are, and the two large holes there may have been for an outside electrical connection?

I was thinking of putting a battery or two in that forward compartment, add a power converter, and fit the biggest fresh water tank I can in the remaining space to help keep weight centrally located. But now that plan is on hold as well, as I've began to seriously look at bigger flatbed trucks to more or less permanently mount the camper on (still using proper tie downs, but just having a truck dedicated to the camper) to also have more weight carrying ability to add tanks outside the camper.

[the_bear_II]

If I remember correctly the Six Pacs sinks were plumbed to the outside where you would connect a garden hose and fill up a bucket or blueboy tank. There was no holding tank.

For the sink there was either a manual pump type faucet or in yours probably an electric pump all in one faucet....these were used on boats and adapted to RV use. There would be a fresh water jug or tank below the sink area that could be filled from the outside on some or removed and filled on others. A very simple design and effective plus low cost to manufacture.

A faucet similar to this
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/jabsco--galley-pump-faucet-kit--P011_331_001_501

[urbex]

Wouldn't I be on the wrong forum for that? :h

[gbopp]

When I saw your title I thought you were talking about a Dodge 440 Six-Pack. :S