i was finally able to get in touch with the vehicle inspection supervisor here in vegas. the way he explained it to me was in order to have it titled/registered as a motorhome it has to be fully liveable (cooking, toilet, shower, bed). he did mention that a porta-potti doesn't qualify as a bathroom facility. i asked him about the salvage title and like you just mentioned i did get a different answer than the first guy gave me. he said it wouldn't have a salvage title unless the vehicle i purchase has a salvage title. when asked about cutting the frame, he said the modification simply has to be inspected by a state licensed "garage" (a bodyshop i believe) and signed off by that garage. once it's signed off by them, i take it to the DMV where they inspect the rest of it to determine if it fits the bill as a motorhome. he said he would put together the necessary paperwork/forms that i would need and email them to me. once i get them i'll be able to see exactly what the definitions look like. i did ask about "cooking" area. i wanted to know if a microwave would qualify as a cooking area and he didn't really answer my question. so it looks like there aren't too many rings of fire to jump through to get the job done, i would just need to figure out the toilet/shower thing. on that note, he did mention that a sink does not qualify as a shower area.....damn, he beat me to it
if it's possible to make a fully selfcontained unit that fits into the bed of a pick-up, this HAS to be doable!