New Toilet

[ttbikes]

With a big assist form StPierre, my toilet replacement came out great. If anyone wants the old Swirl-a-Matic for parts let me know. It was as spewing water around the top. It might have been fixable, but I moved on when I saw how StPierre had fitted a new one.

[dbj216]

That looks like a big project! I wonder what brand toilet you installed? Does you trailer have the original black tank?

I presume it is a rear bath, and the toilet is under the rear window. My 66 Trade Wind had the heavy ceramic toilet encapsulated in the fiberglass console with a padded toilet cover that doubled as a dressing seat. You can kinda see it in the photo below. I thought it was a nifty layout. I understand Wally Byum insisted on the big window back there so drivers could see through the trailer from front window to back window. Maybe big side mirrors weren't readily available in the sixties. I find a big window in the rear bath rather unnecessary.

Anyway, it looks like you made a significant improvement to your Trade Wind.

David

[ttbikes]

Yes, it had a padded seat that covered the toilet seat. That is something I hope to save in some way but a new one may wind up being too high. The toilet sits up higher than designed (1 1/8") so the little ridge on the toilet can sit on the top of the fiberglass bench which gives it a finished look. I studied toilet replacement efforts for about 2 years and StPierre's set up looked the best to me to keep the look of the full bath found in Safaris and Tradewinds of that era. Every other replacement I saw required much more cutting up of the fiberglass bench. The toilet is a Thetford 31667 Aqua-Magic V Toilet, High profile / Hand Flush. The hand flush is also key because the foot flushes require more cutting.

I am replacing the black water tank (which I think was 12 or 16 gallons) with a 25 gallon tank. I looked into a custom made tank that would have given me 32 gallons. It proved to be too expensive for an extra 7 gallons, so I went with a prefab. I am putting a small 20 gallon gray tank above the floor on the street side for the kitchen sink. The bathroom shower and sink will drain into the black water tank. We do not use the bathroom sink very often and it limits the type of showers we take when dry camping. While not ideal, it saved a lot of cutting. The gray and black tank will drain on the street side.

I like having the big window in the back. It lets in lots of light when not using the toilet, and I do in fact look through the trailer when towing. It also provides an emergency exit out the back of trailer.

[dbj216]

Thanks for the project briefing. Good planning makes successful projects. It is one of the nicest toilet upgrades in the old fiberglass console I've seen. As you said, most require a lot of cutting. Now you will have to build a cushioned cover for the thing.

My bathroom floor was rotted out under the toilet. The original black tank was totally inadequate in my view. It was only about 3" deep. So I did a remodel of the bath adding both gray and black tanks below the subfloor. I moved the tanks forward so the gray is right behind the axles. I also drain the bath sink into the black tank to better utilize waste water space. The shower and kitchen sink drain into the gray tank. Both tanks are 26 gallons. The bath ain't original looking, but it is functional. Like yours, mine was a big project also.

I have the blinds down on my rear window almost all the time. I don't want to be the full moon over the campground.

David

[ttbikes]

Looks great! Good job.

[sgschwend]

We have a side bath that we just received the replacement china bowl. Our black water tank has a 45 degree input; we picked the shorter height model to maintain that style of plumbing. The new toilet is a Thetford Aqua Magic Style II, they call it a home size which means it has a good size seat, test fits look perfect. Light years ahead of the original, I did enjoy the Swirl-a-Matic label.

Great Job, thanks for sharing.