Major Hawk Remodel

[Mark W. Ingalls]

All--

I've been working on and off for months on a major tear-down and rebuild of our 2000 Hawk. I had replaced the original couch|bed earlier with a prototype that helped me to see how a proper couch|bed should work. Also, I wanted a galley that used space better, allowed us to make coffee with the top bunk extended and eliminated the stepped counter top over the fridge. The following photos depict the progress so far...

This view shows how the galley looks now. You'll notice that the sink and cooktop have been relocated. Also you'll see that the icebox has been lowered and moved toward the side wall of the Hawk to create a flat counter top and more room at the entrance, where floor space is important. The storage space has all been converted to full-extension drawers. We removed the original water tank and used that valuable space for more drawers. The drawers latch with pushbutton latches, as seen in the next photo:

When the drawer is closed, it can be latched by pushing the button to simultaneously actuate a catch and recess the drawer pull. Pushing the button again unlatches the catch and deploys the knob, as shown here:

By relocating the sink and cooktop, I am now able to make breakfast in bed for my beloved Edna:

A few other details bear mentioning. We replaced the faucet with the white one you see here. We decided to go for the extra weight and expense of a solid countertop. We removed the bulkhead beneath the icebox to increase valuable floor space inside the camper.

 

[the fisherman]

Very Nice Job Mark

Every time I see one of these posts, I say to myself, why didn't they do that in the first place. Now I want to drop my refer for the added flat counter space, keep me posted.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

New Couch Mechanism

The next photos show how the new couch mechanism works. The original was really just a quick mock-up so I could see how the dynamics worked. Three things became apparent as we lived with the mocked-up couch. We liked the way it worked for the most part as a bed, but we wanted more floor space when it was folded. With the couch folded, we wanted some tilt in the seat; a dead flat seat was just not comfortable for lounging. Every inch of available floorspace we could eke out with the couch deployed as a bed made going to the potty in the middle of the night or working at the galley while everyone else was asleep just a little easier.

Based on take-offs from the original couch mechanism, I saw some ways to optimize the design. I also made it a little more visually appealing, since I was hoping to keep this revision for longer than a year. I am showing the bulkheads and struts without the seat cushion attached to help visualize the movement.

Folded up in the couch position...

One strut deployed to the bed position...

Finally, I decided to add a transom to try and cut down wear and tear on the aluminum door frame and the rubber door seal. I plugged the counter-bored screw holes with square pegs, which is a signature of sorts for my life amongst round holes...

The alert reader may ask, "Where do you store the potable water?" We calculated that we could wedge a 100L Plastimo pillow tank in the space between the front of the Hawk and the bed of our F250 and have about 12 gallons of potable water available. I didn't take a picture of the stowed tank.

There a pros and cons to the pillow tank. On the plus side, you can easily remove the empty tank for cleaning. Also, weight distribution is improved. Obviously, there is more storage and floorspace inside the Hawk. On the minus side, I haven't figured out how to gauge the tank yet. And I am unsure of the long-term reliability of the tank. I can always fall back to mounting a rigid tank inside the Hawk on the floor, but not without giving the pillow tank a good try.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Every time I see one of these posts, I say to myself, why didn't they do that in the first place. Now I want to drop my refer for the added flat counter space, keep me posted.

Note also that a small three-way will still fit the space and there is also sufficient room (about 2-1/2 inches) behind the icebox for utilities.

I failed to mention that I also lined the inside of the icebox cabinet with an extra layer of 1/2 rigid foam insulation. I also lined the propane box with the same foam on the five interior sides. This was a big hidden source of heat loss in the winter.

I also failed to mention that I saved all the pieces of the old galley and weighed them. The new galley, including the solid surface countertop, is about 25 pounds heavier. I think it was worth the weight penalty.

 

[K6ON]

Wow..

Mark..
The galley looks GREAT... You guys keep costing me money..every time I see something as neat as that galley, I start tearing things apart hoping to come up with something half as nice. Great work

 

[ScottBailey]

Oh, wow!

Mark,

Your camper looks great. I can't wait to see final pics of the couch!

Next time I'll be ordering a Cougar shell... Well, OK, only after I retire and have more $$$ for woodworking tools.

let me say it again: your cabinetry looks great!

SB

 

[Star152]

Wonderfull work Mark!!!!!!! is the counter Corian? can not wait for the final pics........

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Thanks for the kind words, fellows. The pictures don't show the gaps and unevenness.

The counter is a product made by LG. I bought a remnant, so it didn't cost 'much'. I had to take the color I got, but it worked out OK.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Now I want to drop my refer for the added flat counter space, keep me posted.


Don't drop your refer! It will burn something


Absolutely ingeneous work on the couch Mark! and a very nice counter top.

 

[EdoHart]

Beautiful

That looks great.

Question, where did you get those drawer catches?

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

[W]here did you get those drawer catches?
Lee Valley

Not cheap; worth it...

 

[SunMan]

Killer! I too wish my stove and sink were swapped, I HATE gettting up and retracting the bed to make my coffee in the morning. Sweet mod, Drawers are killer too.

 

[Marc]

Looks Great

marc

 

[davinski]

Now, there are some sweet mods you have done.
I especially like that bed. Do tell more about it and how it actually works in practice.

I assume the bed is not level with the bottom of the window ledge. More floor space saved, I assume. Also, same size cushions as before? how about storage under the bed now? I am not sure if the three floor supports are braced in any way.....are they?

Tell me all you can as I really think this might be something I try in the near future.

Dave in SEattle

 

[terrisjoy]

Great job!

Mark, Nice clean changes. I also like those drawer catches, thanks for the info. on them. It looks like that water bladder is outside the camper against the bed of the truck, is it affected by freezing temperatures? Thanks for sharing, Terri

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

I will put up some more bed photos in awhile; right now I am working on the electrical system and the extra floor space is beneficial for crap-strewing.

I roughed out the front vertical supports to be about 1/4 inch higher than the long shelf below the window and then trimmed them to exact length. After trimming, I glued and screwed the front supports to the plywood bulkheads. Next, I attached the front struts to the horizontal and vertical supports. Then I swung an arc with the rear struts in the up|bed position and located an intersecting point with the mechanism folded into the couch position. I tried doing this procedure in CAD and then laying out and drilling, but I was always off an eighth or so, which would have made the thing a kludge.

The couch sits like a big Adirondack chair, which is my favorite home-built chair. In bed position the back rest || outboard cushion rests about an inch from the window to avoid wicking up condensation and buts up snugly to the now horizontal seat || inboard cushion. I used the stock cushions and plywood.

I sized the couch so that Coleman coolers will slide right underneath the seat. Our cat-litter toilet slides under right at the door, so we can quickly access it either in the camper or in the back of the truck.

The water bladder will obviously freeze in its outside location. But it has to get very cold for a long time to freeze that much water. The real weak point is the outside pump and tubing. I used PEC tubing to connect the pump with a quick disconnect fitting. This lets me dismantle the system quickly for cleaning or thawing out, and the PEC won't crack if it freezes.

Right now I am using a cheap-oh non-priming pump because that's what I had, but in the future I want to replace it with a self-primer located inside the galley. Then, I would be able to stow the pillow tank outside in warm weather or inside in really cold weather if I wanted. But IMOHO...

My farming experiences with water systems in really cold weather tell me I would be better off without running water and drains. (Don't forget-- you have to manage freezing grey water, too.) So, if I *was* to go out camping in the 20's and below, I would probably make do with water in jugs or jerry cans.

When winter camping with plumbing, I would constantly worry about freeze-ups. So I would have to heat the space even when I am not in it. I'd personally rather not maintain all that 'convenience' when I could be out XC skiing (or what have you) all day.

 

[craig333]

Very nice work. Now stop giving me more ideas. I have enough to do now

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

More couch|bed photos

Here's hoping these photos will make the couch|bed proportions clearer. I try to design around common, ordinary objects like coolers...

...and I try to stay out of the way as much as possible...

...so that when the bed is deployed...

there is still some wiggle room to set up coffee--

Oh, and each bulkhead is screwed to the camper with three angle brackets salvaged from the tear-out. (I have at least a couple dozen left, plus about a pound of those #$%^&* hex-head screws...) If you look closely at the farthest bulkhead, you can make out one that goes into the floor.

For more on the couch idea, see this thread.

 

[pods8]

You have any more details on what you ended up doing to support the tilted (at least I think it is) backrest? Between the two threads I don't think I've gathered that aspect. The rest of the brackets appear to be very cleaver.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

[Do] you have any more details on what you ended up doing to support the tilted (at least I think it is) backrest?

I short-ified the gewfy card table legs and mounted them on the wall to give a two-position backrest. (The even gewfier brackets in "couch, revision zero" ended up in the fire pit.) With the card table legs folded down, the seat back is nearly vertical; good for eating, working on gear at the table, playing cards, ... With the legs folded up, the seat back leans against the wall. Good for lounging. For travel, lay the seat back down on the seat. You can see out the window and the seat back tumbles home to the stowed position on every bump.