Retofit question

[tucson_sailors]

Been reading the threads. and have a question to post.

I have a 98 J-1207 camper. Its a pretty basic model, and I'm wondering what years and models would have the similar layout/footprint to salvage parts off of. I intend to put in a bigger underframe fresh water tank, water heater and electric pump as the first "major" upgrades. PO took good card of it so far as I can tell, but I'm thinking that with 2015 technology I can have a nicer PUP without having to look at the newer models with longing.

For instance - if ou find a later model 1207, can you get the longer "King" size rollout and canvas and fit it to an earlier model that didn't have it? As far as I can tell so far, the dimensions for the 1207 box itself don't change, so if you can have a longer King pullout on a 1207 of a later year, it should *dimensionally* be possible, if not necessarily a slam dunk fit.

This is something I'm curious about because there is a RV salvage yard in Phoenix, and if I ran across a 99 or newer 1207 it might be worth consdiering as a project.

Thoughts? Has anyone done this sort of thing? The most major mod of this type I've seen people talk about was adding a slide-out to their PUP, and since later models/other models in the Jayco line had that option, that might be another future project.

If not, I guess I'll be a trailblazer, and take lots of pictures!

Glenn in Tucson, AZ
98 J-1207

[mnebinger]

If you put a king bed on the front you'll probably have to put a smaller bed on the back.

[tucson_sailors]

Makes sense. Only so much space under the cap. Put the PUP up this weekend for the first time, and looked at the track lengths as well. Turns out its actually a 1997 - just called Jayco and confirmed based on the VIN.

It has some sort of sliding over the sink cabinet which would also be a challenge, so may leave that sort of mod alone for now. Over the weekend found a bunch of little fiddly things to work out first before the first camping trip in late Feb. Anyone got a good recommendation for small fiddly bits? Door turnbuckle for the roof (only one to hold the door when stowed, one is wire ties) the left side door frame is supposed to have a little nubblet of plastic attached to the top frame that slips into the bottom when its locked into position, t'aint there) etc? Nearest Jayco dealer is 42 miles away in Sierra Vista, so if there is one that offers online parts service, may go through them first.

WIP - my *1997* J-1207 PUP

Glenn in Tucson

[tucson_sailors]

Well just a quick note for anyone who may be looking in the future.

The turnbuckles are pretty generic RV - we have a local independent store in Tucson, Sandys RV who had them in stock.

The plastic connector for the door is in theory available from Jayco, via a dealer. I contacted the nearest Jayco dealer (Sierra Vista, AZ) and while they sounded nice and helpful over the phone in January, they never called back. Have decided I will find some extruded AL parts and make a better connector than what was factory.

Found out that the main roof seal leaks, so will be tearing that apart and resealing now that we've out of the rainy season here in Southern AZ. Changed out all of the bulbs to low draw LED, replaced the bargman 7 pin connector with a new one and wrapped the wiring, the coach battery, and flexible propane lines. Next steps will be updating the power center to one with a modern multistage coach battery charger, possibly a spring over axle swap as well as larger tires to get more clearance, and install actual water tanks and a demand pump. In between all of these will be a general sprucing up and cleaning, etc. Original awning in good shape, but don't like the pole mount method, may do something better. Also, the forced air heater works fine, but has a bit of a bearing squeal when it first starts up that I'm not happy with, as well as drawing quite a bit from the battery (makes all of the LED's dim, which bothers me since they're drawing so little power) which could also be undersized wiring so may look at updating the main harness from the coach battery to the convertor and then to the high draw accessories.

Ta for now,

Glenn in Tucson