The Criteria From Here Forward

I have decided to set some criteria for all of the design decisions, and modification going forward. They will have to prioritize in the following order:

1. Safety
2. Durability
3. Serviceability
4. Usability
5. Style - 70's "Funk" with modern materials

Now obviously certain systems will not have to meet all 5 criteria, but all will have to meet the first 4.

From the research that I have done, and from my own common sense, fire prevention, and suppression are serious concerns in a motor home, and all systems will be redone, or re-designed with this in mind. The risk of fire in an RV comes not only from household dangers (stove, furnace, electrical) but from the two engines at each end as well (the generator is in the rear on a GMC). To complicate things even more, the household dangers are increased because of the temperature extremes that an RV is exposed to during storage, and the constant vibrations from driving (which has been compared to a 3.9 earthquake). From my point of view, if you have to call the fire department in the first place, the turds have already hit the turbine so to speak. With this in mind, the effort and expense of replacing all of the 35+ year old wiring, plumbing, and propane lines doesn't seem so bad. In fact replacing all of this stuff seem more like cheap insurance and common sense.

Durability, serviceability, and usability have more to do with me being lazy than anything else. I don't want to do a restoration like this again any time soon. I want to update everything one time and one time only. I want to be able to get in and go, and know that everything will work. Outside of routine maintenance, I want vacation home, not another project. If something does break, I want to be able to get to it and fix it as easily and quickly as possible.

Style ideas and decisions will be approved by my wife. She is a fan of the retro 70's "funk" as much as I am (can you beleive we found each other?) , but has a much better sense of style than I do. Now that we are not trying to keep things completely original, we have a lot more leeway in the style department, and may not keep the same color scheme inside. There has been much talk of an orange & white theme inside while keeping the outside green. Cant get much more funky than that! I may have figured out conceptually how to mount a disco ball, not sure if it will be economically feasible though. We will see.