Pictures of the Gutted Forester

Here's what we're looking at as far as a blank canvas.  Not quite sure what we're going to do with the floor heater.  First off, we've disconnected the propane and I'm not overly comfortable using gas inside a small space anyway.  The floor is original tile but in the front, it's pretty cracked so we'll probably replace that with laminate or maybe vinyl, just not sticky back tile .. I hate that stuff.  As far as the rest, who knows.  First step will be replacing the rotted framing wood, checking for leaks and then using rigid insulation to insulate.  After that, the sky's the limit!  Now if only it would stop raining!

Gutting the Forester

Well the lil Forester canned ham is gutted ... we had a break in the weather today so decided to do some work and completely cleaned her out.  All the paneling is removed, all the "innards" are removed and I removed all the fiberglass insulation before quitting for the day.  She's down to windows, floor, framing studs and skin.  It's odd how roomy she looks without all the stuff inside. 

We did find some rotted framework which will have to be replaced but for the most part, the wood is intact.  There are some random nail/screw holes that will be sealed and unfortunately there are some places where we can see daylight on the edges through the floor.  Hubby says he has a plan to fix that so I'll just have to leave that up to him.

When I ripped out the insulation, 90% of it was dry and clean so that was a good sign, a lot less water rot than I was dreading.  I just can't wait to get the rotted wood cleaned out and replaced so we can start designing the interior and get on with the fun stuff.  Can you tell I'm impatient?

Word to the wise though ... if you're not patient, capable or interested in fixing, save your $$ to find a pristine already restored camper.  Some days I wish I had adhered to that advice myself!  It would have caused a lot less stress.  But this is fun, right?

Wasps Nests, Wood Rot and Leaks, Oh My!

Boy hubby sure wanted something to keep him awake yesterday (it was prom Saturday night and he worked post-prom until 5:00 a.m. and then slept till 10).  He kicked butt on the Forester and pretty much completely gutted her.  Lots of clean up which I'll probably attempt to do later today but most of the inside is ripped out.

All in all it was in pretty good (dry) shape except for the kitchenette area.  Once the stove was out we found what we were hoping not to find and that was wet, rotted wood!  :(  The whole area below the front window will need to be re-framed but we first need to find the source of the leak and patch it.  I don't see anything right off the bat except maybe it came in from the 2 vents ... heck I don't know. 

We also found a ton of wasps nests behind the paneling in the walls ... how could someone camp with all that buzzing?  These were old and dead by the time we got to them but there were mud wasp nests and paper wasp nests ... yikes!  Ignorance was probably bliss at one time! 

Once we get this all cleaned out, then we're going to try to figure out a game plan for the restoration.  I'm debating whether or not to put a little dinette in the front instead of the kitchenette area.  Where the 2 closets were along the street side wall, that might end up being the kitchenette section since I don't really need a clothes closet and a port-a-potty closet and would much rather trade that room for a small one-seat on each side dinette.  We'll see.  We're definitely going to put a twin bed along the back wall horizontally for more room. 

This is the fun part ... trying to figure all this out.  I can't wait!

Discoveries inside "The Burrow"

After consulting the wonderful folks at the Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum (http://vintageshasta.proboards.com/), we've decided to attempt a skin-on restoration of the Forester rather than taking the skin off as we initially thought we'd have to.  I'm happy because I honestly didn't want to try taking the skin off this thing if we didn't have to and to find out it's doable is fantastic.  We worked all day yesterday trying to get the camper into the garage and there's no way it's gonna fit so a skin-off restoration would be a disaster here in Nebraska with the crazy wind and weather fluctuations.

Today hubby found a multi-tool thing at Menard's (miniature electric saw with other accessories) and went to work cutting the paneling so it can be removed.  He took off part of the ceiling in the vent area and the curbside wall and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the wood supports/studs weren't rotted.  Also the fiberglass insulation, while the backing had stains, was intact and dry.  I was afraid we'd find wet, blackened, moldy insulation so finding nice clean yellow insulation behind the paper backing was a plus.  We're going to remove that and replace it with the rigid insulation anyway but in my opinion, any sign that points to NO water rotting is a good sign.  I'm most worried about the porta-potty closet wall (street side) and I'm sure in there we're going to find all kinds of disgusting things but if 90% of this thing is intact, I'll be a happy camper.

Also, we pulled up the disgusting carpet and found tile!  This was kind of exciting to me because I remember my parents house having that same basic tile (not sure what it's called) and my sister and I spraying it with silicon spray and "ice skating" in our socks all around the house.  Yes, I know that's crazy and we're lucky to not have broken bones but it was kind of a fun find for me.  The stuff toward the back of the camper is slippery and looks to be in excellent condition.  The stuff toward the front near the door and in front of the kitchenette has some crazing/surface cracks but I won't be able to tell how bad it is until I remove all the disintegrated carpet backing that has left a nice yellow dust all over the floor.  Ideally, if it's in decent enough shape, I plan to leave the floor tile but if not, I guess I'll stick some kind of laminate flooring over it.  We'll see.

It's supposed to snow (AGAIN) tomorrow and the temperature dropped drastically while we were out there this evening so that kind of stinks.  Now that we've made some progress, I'm anxious for warm weather and a less hectic schedule so we can get this thing in motion! 

Oh, one of the things we found yesterday was a gray water tank mounted under the camper.  I didn't know it even had that.  My Shasta just has an opening where you hook up a hose and drain it into a plastic tub so this was another one of those "cool finds" in my camper world anyway.

Now if only I could find a US equivalent of a baby Belling cooker http://www.belling.co.uk/baby-belling I'd be even happier! 

1961 Forester Ideas and Photos

Finally got around to taking multiple pictures of my new project ... a 1961 Forester camper called "The Burrow."  We've decided to completely redo the interior since there's evidence of some neglect for lack of a more appropriate term.  The seller wasn't 100% truthful but when you fall in love, you tend to overlook the flaws for the beauty you see inside which is what happened here.  In all honesty, we probably should have walked away from this little gal and I think we knew that when we inspected her but being that we know how hard it is to find a little compact canned ham around here and the fact that the aluminum skin seems solid from all our poking and prodding we decided to take on the challenge of an internal restoration.

We learned from our mistakes with the 1968 Shasta Compact last year and knew to look for evidence of skin damage, collapsing walls, etc. and we didn't find that.  She towed home just fine and so that's a good sign.

Our plans are to reconfigure the inside by making a twin-size bed against the back wall.  The camper itself inside is 75 inches across so we can fit a mattress on the bed with no problem.  We'll extend out 40 inches for the actual bed section and then butted up against that on both sides will be two 18" x 18" benches.  Seeing as how the measurement from the back of the camper to the wardrobe closet (street side) is 58 inches, we're doing good with that plan.  On the curb side directly across from the wardrobe there used to be a waist high cabinet that was removed for some reason so we will replace that as well.

The porta-potty closet will likely remain the same size but I might use part of it for storage with shelves in the back.  The kitchen area cabinets will be redone and along the back and side walls, I plan on putting shelves with a decorative lip to keep stuff from sliding off when she's parked.

The outside will get a good polishing with Mother's Mag Polish and she will be shiny and bright when I get through with her.

The current flooring is unknown underneath some ratty carpet but I'm thinking of laminate flooring unless I decide to go with a vinyl.  Whatever I use will have to be somewhat heat resistant since there is a floor heater built into the actual floor of the camper.  I'm not sure why the decided to do that, it seems to me that inadvertently stepping on a hot grate at night would cause massive screaming and jumping around but I can't find any information on this old camper which leads me to believe either it's a rare jewel or the idea just didn't take off for Forest City Ind. Inc. of Forest City, Iowa.  If anyone has any information, I'd love to hear about it!

The Burrow

I've really been wanting a small compact-size canned ham camper and finally found one!  I picked this one up today ... she's gonna need some work inside and out (lots of polishing, major cleaning and some wood working) but in the end I think she's gonna be worth it.

Of course, I have to name my camper, being a proper Sister on the Fly, so decided to name her "The Burrow."  For those of you who aren't aware, The Burrow is the Weasley's house in the Harry Potter series.  I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and the name just seemed to fit. 

I plan on doing her up in an English country cottage theme and can't wait to get started.  Hurry up spring!!

The Beginning of a Dream

Since 2002 when I saw an article in Country Living magazine, I've wanted to own a vintage trailer and join Sisters on the Fly. After passing up a trailer at Goodwill years ago and kicking myself ever since, I decided to renew the quest. I stalked them on ebay and on craiglist, I trampled through a muddy field looking at old trailers that were abandoned to the elements and came complete with built in friends in the form of wasps that had made a home in the ceiling vents. Finally, the search paid off and I became the owner of a 1967 Shasta LoFlyte camper with wings!

This little darling is in amazing shape with intact whitewashed paneling and cabinets and other than some expected dust and mild dirt, is amazingly clean. No stink of mildew and no critters roaming around. My husband and I hooked her up to the truck and towed her home coming almost full circle since her very first owner lived about an hour from here.

She has yet to be christened with a name and needs new tires but she's been bug bombed and is ready for a pine-sol bath as soon as the weather cools off a little bit.

The cushions need new covers and as luck would have it, Walmart has most of their fabric on clearance so I was able to purchase some wonderful colorful semi-retro looking fabric for the seat cushions and have already found someone to make them for me. Let the restoration journey begin!