I began stalking the site in August 2019 when my wife and I purchased a 1995 Concourse with 59,000ish miles and in fair shape. It really needs some TLC but we liked the idea of the size (maneuverability) and looks of the Chinook.
We finally got to try it out two weekends ago at Lake Murray near Ardmore, Oklahoma and there's no better way to find issues than sitting lakeside when the rain and wind force you to stay inside. Oh boy. We knew the outside was sun-bleached with faded stripes and oxidization in the white gelcoat but I'm not a stickler on the cosmetics (not that I wouldn't appreciate a creampuff!). We'd also started a to-do list of things that needed to be fixed but we learned so much more by taking it out.
If you've read this far, your self-isolation is already driving you to madness so a few more lines won't hurt you too badly. Not in any particular order of priority (yet), we need to:
* Replace the rear door. The bottom hinge-side of the door is broken and it takes an Herculean effort to get the door smashed into its opening.
* Remove and replace broken exhaust manifold bolts in the rear of the heads on both sides of the engine. I cobbled together a bracket to cinch down the right side manifold but the left side will require removal and resurfacing of the manifold followed by drilling out at least two broken bolts.
* Get taillights, reverse lights and lights at the front top (amber) and rear top (red) to work. The bulbs are OK; I suspect it's due to the Chinook wiring design blowing some unfound fuse (no alternate Chinook-only fuse box in the '95).
* Fix the under hood AC. It's definitely low on refrigerant so a leak must be found and corrected.
* Replace the leaking waste gate valves.
* Rebed / reseal the two big parallelogram windows. With all of the rain and wind we found that the windows leak. Hmm... No Bueno.
* Rebed / reseal everything on top. It's not a "need to" necessarily right now but I'd sure feel better getting it done.
* Clean evidence of lack of seaworthiness of our little dog.
There's more I'm sure but if you're not tired of reading by now, rest assured that I'm tired of typing. It's time to crawl around under the drivers' side frame rail in search of clues for lighting fixes. As I start on the fix journey, I'll likely post questions. I appreciate everything I've read so far. Your willingness to share your knowledge is a blessing for guys like me!
