AROUND-OZ MOTORHOMES

Kel & Betty Bank's Fantastic Coaster Conversion - continued . . .

The photo below left is a very positive way of locking the fridge door during travel. Now this lock will never fail on rough roads - a window sash lock. The photo below right shows a very clever way of overcoming the problems associated with running an Electrolux gas operated freezer inside a Coaster. Note the small power point above the unit for those times when 240 volt is available. The chest freezer is mounted just inside the door behind the passenger seat. Kel has permanently fitted an outside vent pipe. When running on gas whilst mobile a small rubber hose is connected from the flue to the outside vent.

Clever fridge door lock for on the road use

Kel has sensibly installed two Four Season hatches. One up the front in the kitchen area and one down near the bed. This contributes enormously to the feeling of airiness and gives good light without introducing the heat problems associated with dome type vents. The vent photo at left below shows the excellent job Kel has done on completely relining the ceiling. It truly puts the work of some commercial upholsterers to shame!

The shower toilet cubicle has been really well thought out. First up there is no conventional hot water service in this vehicle at all. Instead Kel designed his own separate hot water tank and installed a heat exchanger. What this does is circulate water whilst you drive and this heats the water using waste heat generated by the bus engine. Obviously it is best to shower as soon as you can after finishing driving for the day, but Kel says it does stay hot for quite a while. Kel hasn't installed a shower as such and instead uses a very simple system. He has a small hand held shower and 12 volt pump. Hot water goes into a bucket together with the pump. When they are free camping for extended periods they simply boil up a couple of kettles of hot water on the stove or campfire. Overall this system though not everyone's cup of tea works well for them. Variations on this system we have come across that work are using a baby bath in the shower recess. This is a great method for those who adore long hot showers. Another great idea is to bring water from the outside into the bathroom from a simple coil placed in the fire.

The wardrobe is an excellent example of extremely well thought out design and in our experience at least, you just can't find this sort of attention to detail in any commercially made motorhome regardless of price. All hanging items are sensibly placed at the bottom and the door in that section has wire baskets attached for hankies, socks and undies etc. All draws in the wardrobe are slide out wire baskets.

The top half of the wardrobe door has a good sized mirror fitted on the inside. This is a good idea as it minimises the chance of injury in the event of a collision. Notice the excellent timber work throughout this entire motorhome. Again this was all lovingly cobbled together by Kel and Betty and it is just about impossible to fault. Kel was absolutely horrified when we found the one tiniest bit of MDF in the entire motorhome! All hinging by the way is ALWAYS piano type for extra long life. A point worth mentioning on a rather sad note is that you can sometimes make things tooooo good. The Western Australian timber used apparently wasn't completely seasoned (dried out). Kel glued all four sides of every piece and of course when he reached tropical climes it shrank and caused a couple of splits. We would have fallen into the same trap.

The bedroom area is just about as good as it gets in a Coaster. Situated right at the rear it is a sort of cosy "cocoon'! Betty has done a fantastic job on both the curtains and the bedspread. You are literally surrounded by glass - what a way to wake up when free camping!

Kel and Betty Banks - CMCA 1048