Conversion Corner: Follow that Rainbow

By Malcolm Street

Mick and Karen Griffin with daughter Katherine have a lifestyle that many dream about – on the road full time. This started several years ago when Mick bought an old AEC bus and converted it into their first motorhome.

Having retired from a service station business, the family was originally planning on being on the road for a year. But they just kept going and going.

It eventually became obvious that a motorhome upgrade was necessary so Mick and Karen started to look for a new conversion prospect. Eventually they discovered a Silver Eagle coach that was being retired out of service in WA. They bought it and then drove it right across Australia to the Glass House Mountains, Qld, where the rebuild took place, in a ‘big tin shed’, that produced Rainbow’s End.

Home from home

Rebuild time was about 14 months and during that time the Griffin family lived in a caravan. Like any coach conversion, the initial step was an almost total gutting with the seats, air-conditioning ducting, wiring, about three barrow loads of dirt and a substantial amount of money removed!

Mick found that both the coach body and the turbodiesel motor were in a very reasonable condition, so not much work was required there, but some considerable time was spent modifying the bin area for storage space and stainless steel water tanks. A number of difficult-to-get parts were required and these were eventually sourced from places as far away as California and Florida.

Using their previous years of experience motorhoming, Karen was able to draw up the plans for the new unit. A little different from most motorhome designs is the wall halfway along which effectively divides the bedroom and bathroom area from the kitchen and lounge.

Karen also designed and selected all the materials for the internal decor. The walls of the Eagle are fully insulated and fully lined. While he did much of the initial labour, Mick left all the internal cabinet work, electrical wiring and gas piping to professionals and was very pleased with the result.

The design has a lounge area at the front of the coach, with the kitchen and dining table behind that. In the back half is a separate bedroom area for Katherine, a full bathroom, computer desk and the main bedroom.

Relaxing in the lounge area is certainly very easy. The three captain’s chairs (including driver’s seat) were especially imported from the USA while the lounge was made by a Gold Coast, Qld, firm.

A lift-out table is fitted between two of the captain’s chairs and one of the two TVs is in the locker above the driver’s seat.

Karen spent a fair bit of time on the kitchen design and the result is an L-shaped kitchen bench with a large stainless steel sink, full oven and a two-door Vitrifrigo fridge/freezer.

The benchtop area is laminated and the rather interesting looking wall covering is actually pressed stainless steel. One result of the L-shaped kitchen is a substantial amount of cupboard and drawer space, that includes two slide-out pantries.

Mounted on the dividing wall between the kitchen and rear of the coach is a split-system air-conditioning unit which can supply both the back and the front of the motorhome. Mick installed an inverter type to reduce the noise level inside.

The area right behind the kitchen has been divided in two, with Katherine’s bed on the nearside and a small office space behind that, while on the opposite side is a full bathroom. Katherine’s bed has been designed as a bunk bed so that cupboard and drawer space has been built in underneath.

Not taking up too much space, the office desk has just enough room for a personal computer, which Katherine used for her correspondence school lessons. There’s also a TV situated on the top shelf that can be viewed from the double bed.

The bathroom features a separate shower cubicle, vanity sink and toilet. It’s certainly not a cramped area and has been designed with room to move in mind.

At the rear, the main bedroom features an east-west double bed with cabinets on both sides, while across the rear is a full width cupboard with both substantial hanging and drawer space.

Lighting throughout is 24V, mainly halogen downlights and reading lights, with fluorescents in the appropriate places. Battery capacity is an impressive 225ah and that is kept topped up by a 25-amp charger and four 80W solar panels on the roof. Just in case, there is also a 3kVA generator hiding in one of the storage bins.

Overall this is a very impressive conversion. The sleek Silver Eagle coach has been improved by the stunning paint job. Mick and Karen have used their experience with their previous motorhome to design and build Rainbow’s End and it certainly shows with the final fitout and finish.