TV Cabinet Undergoes Weight Loss Surgery

[Wanderlust]

Well I'm almost complete with modifying the TV cabinet on our new to me 2002 Dynasty.  The prior owner was pretty proud of mounting a 40 inch flat screen behemoth to the front of the already monolithic CRT cabinet.  I wasn't proud of it at all.  Removing it wasn't terrible with the exception of the 20 or staples I had to saw through at the front of the cabinet and the one screw that was so buried that I was certain it had been removed.  Trimming it would have been easier if it was a square/rectangular cabinet.  The slanted angle at the front made it a bit more of a challenge.  I ended up trimming about 6 inches off the depth and 4.5 inches off the height.  I have a good skill saw with a guide/fence and a radial arm saw as well.  A table saw would have been nice, but it was enough to do the job.  I used an aluminum C channel from Home Depot that I painted black to trim the front edge.  The angle at the miters isn't perfect.  It was pretty tough to get dead on with the aforementioned cabinet shape.  Our seats are out getting reupholstered in black so it should  really update the coach. I had to move the vent fan up a couple of inches to provide room for the TV mount which I attached to a framework made from the waste.  I was able to trim one of the waste pieces to cover the hole damaged vinyl in the ceiling.  There is about a 3/4 inch border that is slightly depressed from the old cabinet but I can live with it.  With luck it may rebound a little.  The TV is a TCL ROKU TV, $128 bucks from WalMart.  It was the only 32 inch that would fit inside the cabinet.  I now just need to film the two inch gap at the bottom.  I'm hoping an ultrathin soundbar will do the trick. I painted the interior of the cabinet flat black so you don't see contrasting colors in any gaps around the TV.  Overall I'm pretty happy with the final finish and am ecstatic about the way it opens up the front of the rig.  Sorry if the photos aren't that great.  It was dark out.  

[Rikadoo]

Very nice👍

[dl_racing427]

Looks great.
I need to do this to my old Dynasty.

[Jim Wallace]

I installed a 40inch TV in the front of my Dutchstar and was always hitting my head coming up the stairs. Plus it just didn't look good. So when I bought the 2002 Windsor, the front TV was flush just like yours and it will always stay that way.

[Wanderlust]

Here is a better photo.  It  really streamlined the cockpit. 

[Martinvz]

Scott, How did you disassemble the cabinets to remove the center box?

I tried to remove mine but there must have bee another 50 screws that I could not find. That box just would not move. 

[Wanderlust]

4 hours ago, Martinvz said:

Scott, How did you disassemble the cabinets to remove the center box?

I tried to remove mine but there must have bee another 50 screws that I could not find. That box just would not move. 

There are a lot of screws and one of mine was buried so deep it looked like it had been removed.  If your coach is like mine there are staples coming from the plywood the ventilation fan is mounted on down into the rear vertical surface at the back of your cabinet.  I took one of those cordless vibrating saws and carefully cut along the joint through the staples.  I was perplexed initially as well when I removed all the screws and it didn't budge.  When I reassembled, I ran screws down in place of the staples.  Probably not as good as the staples but the assembly weighs 80 pounds less now.

[Martinvz]

Scott, thanks for the explanation. My coach is a LaPalma gas coach and just about everything is just a little different. I spent quite a bit of time on it last year and in the end did a lot of changes to make it work the way I wanted but the headbanger is still there. I doubt that I will get stuck into it this year as there are other projects that need my attention including the tlc the coach needs.