Author Topic: My TV Upgrade...FINISHED  (Read 11809 times)

Dick Simonis

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My TV Upgrade...FINISHED
« on: March 05, 2015, 09:09:31 PM »
This TV upgrade has been an interesting process.  I actually began while we still had the 2000 PT and I wanted to get a 40" TV installed.  We even visited with Jim Sizemore in Bend an discussed the issue.  Of course shortly after that we swapped out the PT for our Marquis but the issue remained the same except we had a direction to pursue.  One drawback of having it done in Bend was having to live aboard while the project was underway.  While we were in Lebanon, another BAC member, John Fearnow, stopped by and he mentioned that a chap in Tucson had done the same thing with his PT and, in looking at it, was a beautiful conversion.  When we got home I contacted the the gentleman that did his and, much to my surprise found another Beaver owner that just happened to be an artist with cabinetry.

Fred Brooks has his own RV service and is not only an RV engineer but actually had his own business doing Prevost and MCI bus conversions.  With almost 50 years experience I was immediate comfortable doing business with Fred.  We had several meeting discussing the conversion and, of course, doing a Marquis is substantially different than doing a PT.  A big part of the problem is that the Marquis has no square corners so doing a more conventional setback would be at odds with the original Beaver cabinetry lines.  Pat seemed to solve the problem by saying "well, just made the corners round" and we both just sat there and looked at her funny.....lot's more work to make radius's.  The other criteria was that the new cabinets would look as if they were originally designed and built by Beaver and that the new TV cabinet would be completely our of the entry way.

To make all this happen, Fred had to duplicate the other radius's as well as blend them into the TV frame.  This required setting the left and right cabinets back almost 4".  Of course this lead to new complication with the upholstery on the underside and also filling a gap in the ceiling fabric.  Since the original fabric is not available Pat (once again) came to the rescue by proposing using an Ultra Leather would matches front seats and dashboard.....another great idea.

Last but not least, as part of the conversion we also installed MCD day/night shades for the windshield.  Thanks to Ed, we solved the valance problem by borrowing his idea and installed new cherry ones.  Fred even angled the new valance to match the TV cabinet angle in installed Cherry guide tracks on the A pillars.

By the way, Fred has 2000 Marquis is now a member of BAC.  He could be a valuable resource for anyone visiting Tucson since he seems to know these coaches inside and out.

Here are some pics.

« Last Edit: March 07, 2015, 09:16:05 PM by Steve Huber Co-Admin »
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Steve Huber Co-Admin

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Re: My TV Upgrade...FINISHED
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2015, 10:31:47 PM »
Dick,
Beautiful job. Love the radius on the cabinets extending the the TV.
Steve
Steve
2015-          07 Contessa Bayshore C9,  400 hp
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2005-2013: 01 Contessa Naples, 3126B, 330 hp

Carol Moffett

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Re: My TV Upgrade...FINISHED
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2015, 01:03:24 AM »
Absolutely beautiful!
Carol Moffett (better half of Keith)
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Edward Buker

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Re: My TV Upgrade...FINISHED
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2015, 04:59:06 AM »
Really nice workmanship, well thought out install. Have to love when a plan comes together.

Later Ed

Dick Simonis

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Re: My TV Upgrade...FINISHED
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2015, 04:12:02 PM »
Thanks for the kind comments.  I was quite a process since this was the first Marquis Fred has done....lot of others but just not a Marquis so he spent quite a bit of effort with the drawings and actually built mock-ups from pine to ensure all the angles and such match the roof lines.  I also didn't realize that it take about 20+ coats of whatever he used to achieve the high gloss finish.  At least now that he has all the plans, the next one will be much easier and ours was sort of the test bed for the same project on his own Marquis.

I was also surprised at just how effective the shadowbox he incorporated into the TV frame is at providing great sound from the tiny TV internal speakers.  Of course I have no idea what a Shadow Box does but the sound is surprisingly good even if the Bose is off.

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Fred Brooks

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Re: My TV Upgrade...FINISHED
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2015, 02:16:03 PM »
    Greetings Dick, Thanks for sharing the project. Thanks for the kind comments from all who looked and listened while this project unfolded. What a great blessing it was working with Pat and you as the journey and strategy took shape.

Best Regards, Fred
« Last Edit: March 20, 2015, 03:49:18 PM by Glenda Farris Co-Admin »
Fred & Cindy Brooks
2000 Marquis, Jasper
C-12 Wild Cat (U of A)
2014 Honda CRV
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