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Jeremy888 · 07-15-2024, 05:40 PM

Hello My name is Jeremy Bert , and I was here several years ago and got some great help . We have an 84 Chevrolet Sports Coach 3 ,on a P32 workhorse chassis with the 454 . We had some extensive work done on her at Henderson's Line up in Grants Pass Oregon . New and upgraded , springs ,shocks ,brakes and steering . She drives like a Cadillac now . Otherwise I have been doing all my own work on her and now have a big problem. Last winter we had to leave our snowbird location early to rescue my mother . When we go home I thought I had gotten all the water out but we have a freeze break in a pipe behind the tub/shower .There is no easy access to these pipes ( the old poly butelyne grey pipes) I have started attempting to pull the tub out.
It is a two piece lower tub with an upper shower surround attached together with a metal bracket that has slots to receive the fiber glass . Has anyone ever pulled one of these out? There is also a lip of the ceiling where it overlaps the shower surround that is going to be a problem .. Photos are attached .Any and all advice and comments are welcome and appreciated..

pics : First two show the joint between tub and shower surround ..

second two show the lip of the ceiling that has to be overcome .

So it looks like I am going to have to cut the plexiglass just over the top of the metal divider bracket and also cut the lip at the ceiling .. Obviously I'm not going to find a replacement so I have to reuse what I have . This is why I am here . If anyone knows any tricks about how to get this out without cutting the plexiglass or another way to access it . I don't want to cut a hole in the floor from the bottom up but will do so if this is best . I need to hear from you if you have experience with this setup or similar rigs . Please . If you need more pics just let me know .

jacwjames · 07-21-2024, 04:49 PM

What room is adjacent to the show where the plumbing it. It might be easier/better to attack it from that side. I think if you'd try to pull the shower out it would be damaged.

Jeremy888 · 07-22-2024, 07:38 AM

Thanks for your comeback . There is linen closet/dirty laundry adjacent to the tub , I have thought about removing .. In fact I may have to take it out to get the tub out so Yes that will be my next step . it will be difficult to salvage the closet , but not as difficult as salvaging the tub . The closet is stapled and glued and it's going to be difficult.. I will be back to let you know how it comes out ..It may be a week before I can get to it .. Here is a drawing of layout

jacwjames · 07-22-2024, 12:19 PM

I'd take a close look at the linen closet, there may be an access door already there to access the shower plumbing. I'd be surprised if there wasn't

If there isn't just go ahead and make one, they make panel doors for this type of application. https://www.lowes.com/search?searchT...g+access+panel

Jeremy888 · 07-22-2024, 03:08 PM

Dear jacwames , I had a little time today and made an access to it.
See pics . The closest is the hot and so not knowing which one it is I am going to pull this one out and see if it's the one . The cold of course will be harder since the toilet Tee's off of it . If that is the one I'll probably leave the cold alone for now . Imma going to buy a couple of small hinges and turn the panel taken out into a door . If It turns out to be the cold I'll probably have to cut out a portion of the the 2 ABS vent pipes .. Hope to replace both lines when I have time.

Jeremy888 · 07-23-2024, 12:53 PM

It is going to be harder than I first imagined . The lines are buried under two layers of plywood that the tub rests on . I'm probably going to just abandon them and try to reroute new lines .. some how .. The problem is the new PEK line is not flexible enough and I may have to resort to plastic hoses with hose clamps which I don't want to do .. Any suggestions?

Jeremy888 · 08-10-2024, 03:05 PM

I found that the old lines are buried beneath plywood .So I had to just leave them and cut them off at both ends .The two lines going up are to the sink .

Jeremy888 · 08-10-2024, 03:11 PM

I managed to get the new PEX lines worked behind the tub as shown

Jeremy888 · 08-10-2024, 03:21 PM

I was able to use these Alrite plastic compression connections from the RV store ,they were only 4-5 $ each compared to 9-11 $ for shark bites which need polybutelene adapters .. This was the first time ever that an RV parts store offered the cheapest option ... The nice thing about these Alrite fittings is they work for both PEX and polybutelene . With shark bites I needed more fittings . Note that in order to fit the shark bite valve to the polybutelene I needed an extra shark bite adapter between the two .

... the shark bites shown were installed on the road when we found out we had a leak . We left in freezing temps so we didn't put water in the rig until we got south .. Surprise! I put in the valves to isolate the bathroom so we still had the kitchen water.

Jeremy888 · 08-10-2024, 03:25 PM

The ABS vent pipe I had to cut out for access to the shower connections was rejoined uring1-1/2" rubber unions from Home Depot , 5 $ each .

Jeremy888 · 08-10-2024, 03:36 PM

Since I had to use a Dremel tool to cut the panel inside the closet I made a mess of the wood panel .. But I managed to camouflage it using some of the mahogany trim out of the bottom of the closet floor . Actually you can't see the messy part unless til you look for it . I used acres an brass headed brads to put it all back together .. It will not be hard to get in there again .. The staples being in there 40 years and rusted made it hard not to destroy theahogony panels. It turned out better than I expected.. Thanks to jacwjames for his input