offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Aug 29, 2011 23:57:00 GMT -5
So I'm about 2 weeks behind in starting this thread, but at the suggestion of another member here decided this might be a good idea. Ill try and lay these out in order, then update as i go. Bought our Shasta on 8-15-2011 Heres a picture from the PO of her with her original (i believe) awning and original paint colors Here are some pictures from the PO just prior to our buying it. Here was her first tow, we stopped for dinner on the way home We got home after dark that night. Running tires were good. I would come to find out the spare needed to be replaced. Rear lights worked ok when we got it but front clearance were all dead. Pulled great. Knew when we bought it there was some water damage. This is our first camper and certainly the first restore. I had been researching and looking for months for the right one. Felt it was time to take the plunge. Was it the right choice? I still think so. There was alot more involved than i had planned for but its moving along and is going to be much better for it. So here is the interior as of 8-16-2011 Obvious water damage below the rear window. A/C unit will stay but building a new and improved mount for it so the back wall is taken out of the equation for support. I love the original green 70s carpet sample, has an old burlap backing??? its going back into the closet once were done. Came with original stove in pretty good shape. PO redid gas lines and regulators etc etc. Icebox was gone, replaced by a small fridge. Ok by me. By that evening had started to rip out paneling. more or less exploring the more weather beat sections By the end of the evening on 8-17-11 had more of the interior gutted Had my dad come over and assist me in calculating the loads that the electric circuit would have to handle. While the camper will remain mostly retro looking, it will have the capability to run everything safely. The PO started this process by installing new breaker box replacing the glass fuse box. I thought all this was good to go but the wiring was really too low of a gauge to handle the loads safely. Not to mention the feed line from the wall was still original 12-14 GA wire. When we came we may have a small toaster oven, the A/C in the summer, a space heater in the winter, microwave, fridge, and other electronics. When we are done we will have 30amp service hook up. Upgraded the breakers, installed GFCI outlet outside. This is also allowing me to install outlets and lights where we want them. Not where the manufacturer decided they should be (still dont get the outlet in the middle of the ceiling, guess it was for the guy in the bunk???) So i drew up the "official blue prints" Out with the old wire Revamped Circuit breaker box New cover for the 30amp door (it will coil up under the seat) The tailights themselves were in good shape, little rust on one of the back plates, but the sockets were in pretty bad shape. Bought another set of trailer lights just to pull out the socket rigs. Rivited them to the original tail light back plate. Installed all brand new clearance lights with all brand new wiring with grounds running to each light instead of relying on the skin to ground the lights Roof vent which i think may be original was in pretty good shape, except when a PO sealed the roof, they sealed the hinge as well. Causing the lid to snap off the hinge. Vent worked but i replaced it anyway. Will be adding a Maxxair vent cover (just havent yet, sitting inside the camper) Old vent coming out Rotted wood pulled New wood and vent in New vent from the top Took the original Moon Eyes and ran them on a wire wheel, a PO had spray painted them silver. This picture was after having done one of them. The second one didnt end up looking much better, lots of rust that was deeper than the surface. Think these will end up getting painted again to match the camper. The day i started to put foam back in. Most the foam has been cut at this point and was waiting for my trailer lights to be in and working. Now that that is done the foaming can continue. There is still lots left to do, the list doesn't seem to be getting any smaller though it really should be at this point. Lots of detail work that takes alot of time.
|
|
|
Post by harrison429 on Aug 30, 2011 6:53:45 GMT -5
I'm amazed at how much work you've accomplished in such a short amount of time. It's looking great and can't wait to see it completed.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Aug 30, 2011 7:27:00 GMT -5
thanks harrison, i want to see this thing done too. Seems like the weeks before we bought it there was rain almost everyday. I would like some rain now but the best thing about no rain is im able to work on the camper most evenings. I have been running this project while completing a master bathroom remodel that wasnt quite finished when i started the camper. Its about 75% done i would say, paint and trim left at this point. Camper has a deadline, bathroom can wait.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Aug 30, 2011 21:42:16 GMT -5
Today DID NOT go as planned. Had intended to skip out to the camper. Find what i already knew was wrong waiting on me. Fixing it. Butterflies flutter and Birds chirping. It was not to be. Installed some more foam. That went swell then turned my attention to the rear corner where i knew an entire support was gone from rot along the seam Once the corner trim was off i could see there was more than expected. Pulled the storage door off and cleaned off buytl tape that was actually in great shape, the butyl along the rear seam had gaps and was dried out, it was clearly the source of the leak. Knocked out this wood with my hand then with hammer took out the rest. there was some solid wood there but only maybe 20-30% Found this nail. saved it, pretty sure it can be reused... its vintage wouldnt have found out that this part (i had been planning to keep was rotted if i hadnt started poking around All this fell out So gradually pulled everything out. There wasnt much supporting the roof, guess what little there was i pulled out. Went to line up the skins at the corner it was NOT going to happened. Realized the camper was sagging. Quickly grabbed a floor jack and raised it back up to match the height of the other side. Measured 30" on the good side, measured 28.25 on the sagging side Last action for the night was to block my open storage hole. The screen to one of the windows it out. When i pull the windows ill be replacing the screens. Just wanted to kinda prevent cats/racoons/squirrels from coming in. It got too late to run the saw.... closed up shop.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Aug 31, 2011 22:12:14 GMT -5
work continued tonight. frustrated with the final results but.... i guess oh well. started by replacing the wood i pulled out with the wall off a wonderful seat develops to do the framework inside framework inside done, used some reclaimed wood from other places in the camper. side back on what frustrated me is the back panel has a warped look in the bottom right corner. i can pop it in. and if i were to put a screw in it would fix it. not certain why it happened. the side is fine, but back is not. don't know if anyone would ever really notice. next to happen finish details on tonights work. then seal all the lights. install the maxxair cover. this weekend likely pull the windows. new screens, re-seal. need to pull skin off back corner of the drivers side. suspect there is rot there as well. secure wood at front edge of the camper. planning to install a drip edge under the camper. once all this is done interior work can begin......
|
|
Gone Kayaking
1K Post Member
long live the Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum....we're gone but you are not forgotten!
Posts: 1,600
|
Post by Gone Kayaking on Aug 31, 2011 23:09:11 GMT -5
What do you mean a drip edge under the camper? There's usually a bend in the siding that gets nailed/attached along the bottom paneling but not a drip edge. You want the water to run off the drip rails on the sides not have anywhere to pool or where water can be trapped inside vs working it's way out.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 1, 2011 7:33:30 GMT -5
well. i crawled under it in the rain first week we had her. You are correct that the siding bends under the lip of the camper. However, that lip is only about .5" of metal. After that its wood. I can see some places where the wood is damaged along the bottom only. My assumption was that this lip actually lead the water to the wood. Drew up a quick sketch of what i was talking about adding, maybe that will make more sense than my words Attachments:
|
|
Gone Kayaking
1K Post Member
long live the Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum....we're gone but you are not forgotten!
Posts: 1,600
|
Post by Gone Kayaking on Sept 1, 2011 9:36:16 GMT -5
Makes sense,good idea. I also used butyl flashing (like the kind that folks put around window openings) on the edges of wood around openings. And for other framing applied waterproofing (thompsons) in the hopes of staving off future damage.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 4, 2011 11:51:05 GMT -5
got all my lights sealed yesterday and my vent. just starting to get this storm from the gulf here. guess well see what is waterproof may work on some of the paneling i can in the garage today. might take the day off and relax. also used some aluminum strips to hold down areas in the closet and under bench seats where flooring was rolling up. Our original floor and sub floor is in good shape. Take pics later.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 9, 2011 22:10:18 GMT -5
havent done much with the camper since saturday. installed new 5K jack on the front during the week but that was it. dealing with back pain from an injury in feburary, between that and the rain, not alot got done. did get a chance to work on it today. looks like there are no leaks from all my sealed areas. this is good news. since the vent seems t be good i installed my maxxair cover pulled the vent for the stove, re-sealed it, added screening behind it pulled off the old awning made of flashing that a PO installed, sealed with silicone. made a new one that will be installed pulled the frame from the missing window and it looks like a PO had pulled it prior to put silicone behind it. cant imagine why this awesome seal job didnt stop the leaking....... planning to do some more work this weekend.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 10, 2011 20:54:24 GMT -5
spent hours outside today working on the shasta (also edging the driveway, yard is falling behind. thank goodnes for no HOA) feel like there was alot accomplished today. had a buddy here who pitched in and helped while we listened to UGA loose on XM. found the rot to be worse than expected on the rear lower portion of the drivers side but still much better than others i have seen on here. ended up pulling some wood and re framing here was one of the rotted ones here is the new framing, also the lower horizontal framing needed replacing too, jusy like the other side. this side of the camper got caught on something while towing by a PO. Ran out of buytl tape, more in transit, have to finish sealing it up when that arrives wheels had original paint but were nasty, didnt match camper anymore. wire wheel with drill did wonders. with the rims off i dont suspect trailer theft will be an issue more work tomorrow.... its been a long day......very excited because soon interior paneling will be going in..... major milestone coming up this week i hope
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 11, 2011 20:25:48 GMT -5
spent most the day working on the compact again. LOTS and LOTS of clean up work. Still have some outside work to do but all in due time. waiting for buytl tape to arrive, ran out of first roll. first tasj of the day was to put the wheels back on with their new paint scheme matching the trailer. moon eyes were not good enough to use as chrome. didnt want to buy new tin can thin ones. on a whim decided that the side wall of the closet DID need to come out so i could get the chrome corner trim off and reuse it. very happy with this decision. very excited that i was able to at least test fit a panel. good fit. looks great. wish there were more in there......
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 12, 2011 10:18:48 GMT -5
i forgot to add that i had 2 neighbors at random stop by yesterday and look at the trailer. One of these neighbors i had met prior, they are very friendly, walking everymorning as i leave for work. He said he and his wife kept saying they needed to stop and take a look at it. He was shocked i think at its appearance inside since its gutted. The other neighbor is a friend who we know better who finally walked over and took a look at it. I think some poeple are a little confused as to why you would get something this small and in its current condition i guess the interior doesnt have much appeal. Nice to see other people at the very least are interested and appreciate it just as we do.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 14, 2011 22:59:39 GMT -5
no pictures to update with but spent a good hour just cleaning up the frame to the rear window. PO had used silicone on it, on top of that some kind of black greasy sealant, and then what i suspect to be some sort of old tempro, as well as old Buytl tape... sanded and filed most of it off. has a "brushed" aluminum look now, reinstalled the frame.
also finished sealing up the driverside rear corner. used the rest of a tube of tempro to seal everything up even better. guess once you have to deal with ripping out alot of water damaged wood you tend to go overboard sealing things back up.
at this point i have decided that a repaint will be in order eventually. ill keep the same color scheme but i have messed up some red paint taking off sealants and putting on new sealants (white). So in due time (maybe next spring) we will give her a repaint. Until then its a work in progress.
still working to get the wood out from behind the roof trim on the walls. using a 3" cutting wheel mounted on a drill, works pretty good, maybe another hour of working on that to get it ready for panels to be installed.
had to get things sealed up, forecast calling for scattered showers tomorrow, well see if that happens
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 18, 2011 22:09:14 GMT -5
work continued this weekend. didnt take pictures of some of the smaller things. spent most of saturday finishing ripping out old wood, finishing the insulation etc etc in the closet area. started to frame in the new shelves etc for the fridge and microwave. since its a compact space is limited. we purchased a small microwave with the intent of mounting it in the cabinet over the stove. It was far to large to fit and i didnt want to increase that cabinets size, so we decided to put it in the closet. since im redoing it i can easily mount the circuit breaker lower. this was a test fit this morning having finished everything up in the closet area this was the big project of today, fit the side paneling on this wall, pulled the windows, new screens, reinstalled and resealed. looks great to see some wood back in this camper. next on the list will be to get the other side done, then the back/roof done. then build the bed/bench back in, the electrical
|
|
Bob
250 Post Member
Pictures are still on my blog: thisoldcamper.com
Posts: 375
|
Post by Bob on Sept 19, 2011 5:08:30 GMT -5
A vintage camper gives people an excuse to walk over and talk. Some also can't appreciate a gutted shell, but they'll be wanting one when they see your finished classic.
|
|
|
Post by sodashoponwheels on Sept 19, 2011 8:12:58 GMT -5
Wow! you are really cranking along! I love seeing all the progress you are making. I laughed when you described your neighbor's reactions. When ours was gutted, we had a police officer come over to verify the VIN number so we could get the darn thing registered, and he actually burst out laughing at us! I think he thought we were crazy. But....he continued to check in on our progress and was amazed when we were done. These vintage trailers are definitely people magnets!
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 19, 2011 16:49:21 GMT -5
I agree with both of you and glad to share my progress. Feel like it keeps me motivated. We have a camp out mid October, so that's the deadline to at least have it use-able. (bed, wiring, tow-able etc)
The cop that came out to verify our vin asked what it was. At that point it wasn't even gutted all that much.
i grew up camping with my parents at state parks all over FLA and GA but don't recall seeing many vintage campers. part of what drew us to this little guy.
debating working on it today, burned out from working on it day after day.... feel guilty for taking a break
|
|
|
Post by Redwings on Sept 20, 2011 11:00:06 GMT -5
Keep on keepin' on! You are doing great work and it's fun to watch the progress.
Are you going to redo the cabinets in the same wood as your new side walls?
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 20, 2011 12:35:23 GMT -5
i will be recovering the cabinets yes. i have pulled the paneling from the cabinet face but not off the drawer fronts yet. Figured i can camp with old style or unfinished cabinets but needed to have bed, walls and major storage areas completed first to be a useable camper.
thanks for the compliments too. hard to do this for the first time. second guess some of the decisions im making. trying to make this camper as useful to us as i can while still trying to keep it somewhat original and retain some of its value. this website is such a great resource, people on here at all stages, just bought, in process of redoing, having redone 1 or 2 of them. I can tell you i have learned so much in just a few short weeks working on this. No amount of research and planning can teach you what i have learned by just doing it.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 23, 2011 9:01:28 GMT -5
Rain Rain go away..... havent really done much to the camper all week. In one way its nice to have a break and rest because the rain forces me too. If i was further along i could work on the interior inside the garage but until all interior panels are done i didnt really want to start that incase there are changes that must be made.
I think the only thing i have gotten done this week is cutting my tow chains to length, cleaned up the inside (for the 15th time) from all the dust, styrofoam, and wood fragments, completed my step (used an aluminum dunnage rack, a product we make at work and used carriage bolts to bolt down a .75" thick piece of plywood).
Saturday morning is blown (camper wise) because we agreed to do a Boston Terrier meet up with a bunch of other bostons at a dog park. Ill be able to work on it in the afternoon/evening and hope the rain will hold off and ill be able to get at least the other side wall done, pull that window, rescreen, seal and re-install. If i have more time it would be great to start getting the roof panels in (those should go quicker).
Only upside to all this rain is i get to rain check the camper daily. so far i have not seen any leaks anywhere so yay repairs. I keep the camper at a decent angle when rain is expected by jacking the tongue about as high as the jack will go.
So heres hoping for a sunny weekend and no sore back/knee so i can get some work done. T- about 23 workable days till our first camping trip. It will be campable but i dont forsee it being done ;0
|
|
Gone Kayaking
1K Post Member
long live the Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum....we're gone but you are not forgotten!
Posts: 1,600
|
Post by Gone Kayaking on Sept 23, 2011 12:30:06 GMT -5
The perfect is the enemy of camping.....campable is good!
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 23, 2011 13:52:50 GMT -5
in our case campable might mean removed cabinets not yet reinstalled, raw birch wood etc etc. ill have the power done (to where i can) and the furnishings needing to be done first, everything else can be done later....
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 23, 2011 21:03:03 GMT -5
got a little done tonight after a big fight with the alum strip. cleared out the rest of the wood from behind the rail. ended up finding a cut off wheel meant for metal (like a giant dremel cut off wheel) got the tiny rear panel in place, cut off the rear lip of the extrusion above the panel since you have to box it it. if you didnt modify it, it would be impossible. have screws showing now, evenly spaced. looks good, holds real tight to the wood rail hope to get the roof panels finished tomorrow and maybe the side wall
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 24, 2011 23:49:58 GMT -5
so today was very busy, up early for a dog park meet up with our pups, came home and finished watching the UGA game, then out to work on the camper about 2-230ish, stayed out till about 930 when we packed it in. got alot done today though. got my roof panels totally done, and all but 1 panel of the passenger side wall. tomorrow will get the last side panel done, and then rear wall/front wall over stove/sink. main paneling will be done. next task will be building the bed back in. then bunk, then electrical.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 25, 2011 21:17:45 GMT -5
lots of progress this weekend. only bad thing was my dremel died... bought it 10 yrs ago, pretty good run, its had some abuse. So i got to break in the new Dremel today..... got the paneling 90% done on the outer walls, over the window in the front and back left to do. got one of the benches rebuilt, got the other cut but ran out of screws... a PO covered the bottom of the table with rough cut wood on top of bad original wood, pulled it all off, going to leave it raw, seems to be pretty sturdy without original table leg was bent and the top hole ripped out. table with its new leg, reused original table leg locking deal got the 1/2 cabinet hung but still need to re-panel the side more work to continue this week!
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Sept 27, 2011 21:45:21 GMT -5
very excited tonight. got the wiring run, circuit breaker box finished. 30amp line run. 2 lines are capped because they run to the bunk (not yet in) and the over the stove light/outlet. plugged it in for the first time tonight since the first day we had it.
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Oct 2, 2011 21:24:03 GMT -5
havent done alot of work on the trailer in the past few days, but got a bunch of good hours on it today. here is a pic of the electrical box (from last post) cut down the bunk rails. our original bunk was missing 3rd section (and we replaced with solid bunk anyway) got the last of the rear wall paneling in new bunk/storage got the ac mounted and the plexi cut for each side of it, not mounted in place yet. rear shot of ac rack/spare tire holder other bench completed, outlet wired and mounted etc clock is ticking till our first camping trip in just a couple of weeks, couple more things HAVE to be done first.
|
|
Gone Kayaking
1K Post Member
long live the Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum....we're gone but you are not forgotten!
Posts: 1,600
|
Post by Gone Kayaking on Oct 3, 2011 20:22:43 GMT -5
you are making great progress! We went camping unstained, with a bed on the floor for seven weeks. you'll be much farther along than that! I like the metal trim you are using, it's different but it does tie in with the metal window trim. I am opting for getting rid of the metal trim and doing wood instead. I saw a couple of "permanent" bunks this weekend. One I really liked had a way to lift up the bunk at a angle so that you wouldn't always lose that headroom. here's a link to a not so great couple of pics of it
|
|
offspringin
1K Post Member
Never question the engineer's judgement!
Posts: 1,424
|
Post by offspringin on Oct 3, 2011 21:40:48 GMT -5
yes we explored the idea of making it flip up, decided we would likely not often need too do so, i made it so it could easily be converted though. we have 2 dogs, their cages will be stored up there during the day, and all the bedding will be piled up there too so for us it just didn't need to flip up. like the wood idea. i already owned this alum angle. its .25 x 1.5 x 1.5 and plenty sturdy so that's what we went with, i agree that it matches pretty well now that its installed.
more work done tonight, got the electrical in the rear bunk run and installed, 2 outlets, light switch, and under bunk light. alum trim and alum table track
|
|