Sink and Faucet Refresh

Even though we are currently unable to camp in the Alto, that does not mean we cannot spend quality time hanging out in the driveway...and what better way to spend this time than doing a mod?

The past little while, some posts have been appearing on the FB group detailing how owners have updated the kitchen sink and faucet. The majority of these mods have been done by owners of the 1743 model. It was not until Rich & Kathy posted a photo of this mod done in their 1713, were we able to really get an idea of what it would look like in our model. The mod looked awesome, and certainly got us thinking.

The popular option is a round bar sink available from Dawn. This sink is pretty deep, and a quick measurement of the available space under our counter revealed that it would require the top shelf to be moved lower, or removed altogether. The shelves in our vintage are moulded plastic, and it just did not seem to be worth the effort to try to retrofit for this particular sink.  IKEA also has a bar sink available, and as it is not as deep, a retrofit would involve no change to the shelf area. Now the mod was back on!

We also found a nice Moen high arc faucet, which will mount off to the side. The arc places the end of the spout a few inches higher, which would make for easier access for larger items. 

The standard sink was fine, but the integrated faucet ate into the useable area, and the spout is pretty low. The sink also had a cover, which quite frankly, we have found sort of useless. We always open the cover when we first set up, and it stays that way the entire time we are camping. 

The factory standard.

Clearly we will not miss the cover, and feel we will enjoy a larger sink and better faucet.

Removing the existing fixture was straight forward, and this got me musing that the rest of the mod would be a breeze. That was short lived. Things got a little more involved when fitting the new sink. The hold down clamps required thicker spacer blocks to be made, and the counter opening needed to be cut back to move the sink forward a tad, and accommodate the front hold down clamps. This allowed the strainer to line up with the trap coupler, which was a nice bonus. This euphoria was short lived however, as the new strainer was much lower, and did not clear the top of the trap coupler. A new trap with a lower coupler for the tailpiece solved the problem. 

To align the tailpiece with the existing P trap 
required a bit more of the front counter to be cut away, than this photo shows.

As Murphy’s Law would dictate, one of the hold down clamps was right in the spot where the faucet was to go, so this required the faucet to be moved slightly back from our ideal location.

Closeups of the additional hold down blocks.
You can also see that more counter was cut away to move the sink
a little more forward.

To find more room for the drain and tailpiece assembly,
a male tailpiece adapter was used. This saved about an inch
of space, as it eliminated the need for a coupling pipe
between two female fittings. The tailpiece adapter is visible between the chrome nut, and the P trap.
I was also able to cut down the adaptor and the brass tailpiece to save a tad more space.
A shallow P trap was used, as some do have more depth.

MPT brass fittings were used to connect the PEX fitting
to the hoses for the faucet. Sizes for these fittings will be determined by the existing PEX
fitting, and what is required to connect the faucet selected.

All the parts I used were sourced from Home Depot, but a quick look at what other similar stores have to offer might help with coming up with the best fit for your Alto. As many Altos have been built after ours came off the line many moons ago, there are certainly some changes to be seen in this area. You will need to really analyze what you will need to do to install in your Alto, but regardless, it is a very doable mod.

Behind the sink, on very early Alto models, is a little cupboard, accessed by a bottom hinged door. It is a tiny cubby to hold odds and sods. Once Safari Condo started to install an exterior shower fitting, it was placed in this same area, and the once hinged cover became fixed in place. As there is now a faucet off to the side, opening the little door would be impeded. Wanting to keep the cubby, I split the door into two pieces, making the door only wide enough to just clear the faucet. The smaller portion will remain velcroed in place.

Can barely see the split.

While I was in mod mode, I took the opportunity to replace the existing hinges on the kitchen cabinet door, with a higher quality Blum hinge. The new hinge is solid, and has a much better adjustment mechanism.

Beyond the usual little hassles that always seem to crop up, this is a relatively straight forward mod. The extra usable sink area, and the higher faucet spout, will be nice additions to the efficiencies of an already minimalist kitchen space.