The RV remodeling/renovations are complete! Four months of time, countless trips to the hardware and auto parts store and more work than we anticipated (when is it ever less?) and the only thing left to do is convert Benny the Brave to run on waste veggie oil (WVO) and move a few things in. 
All Before and After shots here
It’s still a little stark, but I’m seeing it as a wide open canvas, to be filled with memories along the way. I’m thinking of embroidering the shower curtain and front window curtains, hanging photos and finding unique items to decorate the walls all while on the road.
Interior:
- Removed vinyl wallpaper from ceiling
- Refinished ceiling
- Replaced broken paneling on walls
- Cleaned more smoke residue off the walls than I thought possible
- Removed old carpet
- Removed microwave
- Built doors for cupboard where microwave was
- Painted bright white to open space
- Painted and hung new curtain rods (made from dowels)
- Replaced vinyl shower walls with panels
- Replaced peeling countertops and tabletop
- Installed secondhand flooring
- Replaced vinyl backing on seats
- Sewed new seat cushion covers
- Hung new curtains
- Shampooed carpets and seats in front cab
- Deep, deep, deep cleaning
Body/Engine/Technical:
- New blackwater tank
- Resealed the roof
- Resealed and repaired drafts
- New tires
- Numerous engine leaks fixed
- New shocks
- New power steering pump
- Glow plugs
- Tuneup
- New deep cycle batteries
- Two 80 watt solar panels (will supply all electrical needs)
- Lots of small misc things
Things soon to be added:
- Rocket stove
- Water filter
- Hand-cranked blender
- Waste veggie oil conversion
- Our things! (clothing, pillows, blankets, games, etc)
We’re hoping to be in my mid- to late-February, with a few more weeks to adjust to the smaller spaces before we hit the road.
My favorite thing (other than the whole get-outta-dodge aspect)?
Our new home blessing hung over the door:
With our tiny RV and everyone we’re hoping to meet on the road,
I don’t think this will be a problem. 
And because it just didn’t feel right not to, I updated my blog layout and header to reflect our new transition. If you’re in a Reader, be sure to come check it out!
My name is Tara. I am a mama and a lover, a full-time nomad, a passionate devourer of Life and an Organic Life Coach.
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SO absolutely COOL!! love it! Can’t wait to SEE it!!
The RV is looking amazing and I am so impressed with all of the remodeling/updating that you’ve done with it.
Your blog redesign is looking pretty good too.
What a great way to start off 2010!
Looks fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unbelievable! I love, love, love all the white so much. May you have many amazing adventures and write about all of them so we can come along.
I am so excited for you, it looks awesome, I can’t wait to see how you decorate. How are you doing the veggie oil conversion? I’ve seen kits but my husband says it would be easy without a kit. Just curious, I don’t know anything about it
@Lisa We’re looking into companies. I’ve personally known people to do their own conversion and it ended *very* badly. Neither of us feel comfortable undertaking it without a mechanics guarantee!
love the new blog design. ive been tinkering with mine lately with no luck, this is inspiring and this just looks fabulous.
have you read http://livelightlytour.com? its another RV travelling homeschooling blog i follow. i dont know them personally or anything, just loving the dream! they converted to veggie oil too. might be fun to get in touch.
VERY nice! Once you get moving you need to post your whereabouts. You just might get invited out of the RV for a homecooked meal or a homeschool meet up!
I hope you will post all the details of the veggie oil conversion.
Awesome! Love the new blog look, too. Good luck!
Love the new look! Can’t wait for your adventure to begin.
Sweet! I’m struggling with envy but very happy for you guys!
You have NO idea how happy I am for y’all. It looks great and I think the starkness (as you call it) is, in fact, a blank canvas for the colors life on the road will create! Enjoy. Bon voyage! Be encouraged!
Absolutely fabulous! Congrats!
I am so excited and we are vicariously living through you!
The website looks fantastic!
somehow stumbled here through the unschooling community and I’ll be following your travels! We have a Southwind with the exact same floor plan. I wanted to take the kids on journeys with. It has no seat belts in the back and I’m stuck, not sure what to do about that aspect.
Do you have bench seats like ours? If so you can likely order seat belts through some parts dealers and have them bolted under the seats. I know good Winnebago parts dealer that may have the seat belts; let me know if you want the info.
That would be awesome! I have a welder in the family too, just didn’t know where to start after all the RV supply places laughed at me. Here is our MH http://www.flickr.com/photos/binarydad/sets/72157623170735230/
Winnebago catalog should have similar seat belts, but ours bolt to the floor under the table seats (couldn’t tell from your photo if your seats open underneath or not).
http://www.winnebagoind.com/service/wincd/1982/82wcf22rb.pdf
I did a quick search for seat belts but didn’t find it. You may have to call for help.
Once you have the parts number (or if you need them to find it), you have to get the parts from this company:
http://www.winnebagoparts.com/order-contact.php
Sweet!!!! Counting down the months till you get all the way here!
Thank you! I am just encouraged to know you have them installed in a similar dinette from the 80s. yay! I didn’t find seat belts in that parts list but I’ll see if I can take a similar route through the Southwind company. I hadn’t thought of doing that and had only called local repair and parts shops.
Excellent!!! Love that home blessing too, and the curtain.:)
aww, miss the old layout, but love the new byline.
Love your blog! And that blessing . . . beautiful!
The RV looks so much brighter and cleaner! The bumper stickers are a nice touch!
Love all the photos – the mag. fridge w/ map just rocks my socks! And the bumper stickers are just great
Thanks for sharing all the photos!
And lovin’ the new blog design
I forgot to add – Eli is super excited about your trip and wants me to officially invite ya’ll to stop in and say hi – he says it would be so cool to get to meet a runescape friend in real life
I’d love it as well!
All I can say is how happy I am for you all! The transformation of Benny is awesome – as is your courage and spirit. You are living out my 2012 dream. You deserve this! Congratulations. Light and blessings.
I love the phrase over the door!
awesome transition! i’ve known lots of people who have done this…but not in such and organized and classy way.
Wow. You guys have done an amazing job.
what a great set of wheels…and a lovely new home!
OMG I’m so jealous! We’re thinking of putting our traveling plans on hold so we can sell our popup trailer and buy an old Class C and renovate it like you guys did! What a difference a coat of paint makes! What kind of paint did you use btw? I always thought it would take months for the paint smell to get out. Again, so jealous of you guys! You have a beautiful rig-you guys did a great job! Beautiful!
Love the new blog header! (Loved the old one, too!)
Wow, Benny sure was a fixer! You did all that in four months? Awesome! I love that you took the microwave out! I wish I could give up our microwave…it doesn’t even work half the time, but I’m so lazy!
The RV looks stunning, your man sure is handy!
@Traveling, we used a no-VOC paint. No odor or issues with ventilation at all. It did take us a lot of paint though!
@Lisa C, we still occasionally use the microwave at home (mostly for reheating leftovers) but we’ve wanted to transition to not having one for awhile. We don’t have enough fridge space for leftovers anyway, and the solar panels will likely not power it, either.
Looks great! Tons of work, I’m sure. Getting excited for you. I do love a good road trip.
Ah, the great RV renovation! About a week into ours I almost cried. It took 3 months, new floors and 7 coats of paint. And I don’t recommend learning to reupholster a sofa when you’re on a schedule LOL
If you ever make it to New Mexico we’d love to give you a spot to park.
Our sweet caravan is parked for the next year, but I’m dying to be on the road again.
For now I’ll live vicariously
xo
Oh Tara! This looks amazing! You guys have gotten so much work done on this in such a short amount of time, I have no doubt you’ll make your own deadlines. You guys are total troopers.
yay yay yay! soon to be on your way!
Let me know if you come through Salt Lake and need an Urban Homestead “fix”.
Very nice! I love how you’ve documented it all. Can’t beat the saying!
I just went and looked at all your before & after shots and am so incredibly impressed and envious and inspired. Love it!
Wow, it looks great and has given me hope that ours can look good someday too! We have an 86 Winnebago with the exact same floor plan. Right now dh is busy giving the engine and overhaul so once that is done, it’s my turn, lol. I showed dh the before and after pics and he is really motivated. We don’t have the same plans as you (with three boys, I don’t think we could all live in it for very long, lol). But we definitely have some plans for weekend trips. Great job.
huh ? How did I miss this post?! IT looks AWESOME, I think you guys did such a wonderful job. You must have been working reallly really hard these past months. Personally, I love the clean fresh lines of the white paint, but I think your idea of filling in the spaces with items you find on your travels is a great one too – the whole RV then becomes a travel log of your adventures. Oh, I am sure you are going to have such wonderful times in this, how exciting. If you ever fancy an overseas adventure (not entirely sure how Benny would cross the ocean but still….) we’d love to have you here in snowy England.
[...] stop me from recovering them with something pretty and.. me. I’m severely inspired by Justin & Tara’s work on Benny (and the fact that they named their [...]