Saturday, June 11, 2011

#1----This is what she looked like the day we brought her home....

Our 7 year old found it on Craigslist. He knew we had been looking for a camper project for him and his dad to work on together for the summer and we had been talking about getting one for Boyscout camping trips. His dad left his computer open on Craigslist one day and the 7 yr. old decided to do his own search! He brought us the laptop and said "I found a camper".... Time for net nanny! LOL

#2------Viewing it...Oh if we only knew!

It was listed on craigslist for $800 and listed as a travel trailer used for deer camp. Based on the price we didn't expect much...but then again I think we expected a little more than what we got. HA. We drove about an hour to Mansfield ,Tx and met the owner. He described the history of what he knew of the trailer from the time he purchased it. He told us it was a 1956, but we later found out it wasn't. It appeared to have quite a bit of water damage around the 'skylight' and water damage down the back wall where he had installed a air conditioner. So we knew it would require tearing off the back wall and a portion of the roof around the skylight. Based on that we offered $500 which he accepted all to happily for my comfort.
 There was SO much caulk around this air conditioner...it took forever to get it out!






We sacked up 10 contracter bags of the previous owners stuff to throw away!
I found this inside the small closet door to the left as you enter the trailer.. I laminated and kept it.

#3-----Now time for the research and the teardown...

We planned to tear out the wall the air conditioner was on and the roof where the vent was...then we did some research and found out the other places this model Shasta is known for leaking...so the tear out began...
 Someone had put a layer over the existing rotten floor..soooo all that has to come out. ALL of the floor.
 Well the internet comments were right...wheel wells very prone to leaking.
 Well thats going to need to be replaced...
 The electrical box was in the cabinet above the stove. All new wiring and a new box will be installed. We're going to try to save the diamond embossed metal lining behind and beside the stove.
Water leakage running into and around the electrical box.
 Cabinets torn out.
 The more we tear...the more we find.
 The whole bottom back corner on both sides rotted out.
 Wheel well looks ok? Nope.....
 Original asbestos tiles underneath sleeping area..
 Old wall before tear down...
 Removing more and more of the roof until thr entir roof 'was stripped.

#4-----We found the year!

The first indication of the year was when we found these tags hanging in the closet. These are from the stove inspection. April 30, 1964. Then I was reading a RV forum and read where it was a federal law that the year of build had to be stamped on the sink. So sure enough when we got that far in the tearing down process there it was stamped on the side of the sink 3-13-1964! So its official. We have a 1964 Shasta.

#5-----The more we tear out the more we find..

I found this on a website..its almost our exact layout except our toilet had a small closet beside it and our stove is where the sink is in this picture.
 We found the year stamped on the sink.
 Yikes...a bit more tear down than we planned but no big deal we'll get there.
                   The floor was saggy at the entryway...once we tore it back we knew why.
                                                     So rotten you couldn't use the steps.
                                                Stove , refrigerator and drawers removed.
                                      Tearing down the walls by the toilet and removing it.
                                   Tearing down the back wall where the air conditioner use to be.
                                                         The back corners were very rotten too.
                                              A LOT of the framing wood looked like this.
                                                                           Back corner.
                                                            
                  The previous owner drilled a hole in the floor and let the sink water run out on  the ground....
                                                               Wheel well rot.
                                      Pipes that were in the small closet in front of the toilet.
                                        

Friday, June 10, 2011

#6----The first replaced board of many more to come!

                               The first board we replaced...back wall underneath window.
                                                       First of many trips to home depot!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

#7----Time to start the rebuild

 When we tore out the wall both curved corner pieces were rotted and not even attached so we weren't sure exactly how to proceed since we didn't exactly have a decent pattern, but after much measuring and head scratching and especially thanks to the great website Vintage Shasta trailer forum we know how to proceed with the rebuilding/replacing of the back corner boards in the trailer. So here we go.
Not much left inside....

Not much left to support it. We're going to try to get this end and the floor before we tear out the other end.
The other end still has to be torn out.
A LOT of the boards looked like this.
We live right in the middle of  a subdivision...I'm sure our neighbors love our 'little eyesore".

He's trying to get the back board bolted to the floor.
Putting the side piece back up temporarily to make sure everything matches up...things get pretty 'shifty' once you tear out that many boards.
He just cut a board for the corner and it fit almost perfect..
Almost perfect but not quite...he has to cut another one because it didn't quite fit right there on the very bottom right where it meets the tin in the corner.

Those boards sure look a lot nicer than what was once barely holding it together!

Stuck the cargo door back on for a minute to make sure everything looked like it was going to line up...so far so good I think.