Gut Job

Not gonna lie. It was a nasty, nasty, job.

This thing had been sitting for 25 years, so it had an accumulation of grossness that had to be removed.

Sledge hammer, crow bar, pry bar, angle grinder, cable cutters, and most importantly...sawsall, became my dear friends.

Mouse turds everywhere. Snake skins. Yes, that's about a 4 foot snake skin that came down with the ceiling. Wasn't the only one. Ants in the corner. Spiders. Mold. Dust.

Most of the insulation had been messed up by a ton of mouse activity.

Shower pan was cracked.

Wiring was scary. Surprised the mice didn't chew through any of it though. I have heard horror stories of that being the case in these older ones that sat. Not such an issue for me since I was going to tear it all out anyway, but horrible to have a fire start because of rodent damage in one you don't gut.

Fridge had leaked. Base was rotted, barely anything holding it up.

Not a very safe looking furnace...

No water proofing behind shower. I was amazed that THIS area was actually dry.

Worst damage was in the street side rear. The boards are totally rotted into powder laying on the floor.

Most of the rot was in the corners and along the top edge. None due to windows or door so far as I could tell.

It is now pretty well gutted and cost me $95 to haul it to the dump. Plus lunch for my youngest for helping me.

Vintage '72 19g Holiday Rambler Vacationer

I never thought I'd get a camper. I wanted a cabin cruiser for the lake. I LOOOOVE the lake. However, then I thought about winters, and being stuck in one spot, my friends across the country, places I haven't seen. 

Tavish and Tristan

I have two large dogs, Tristan and Tavish, so a pop up or continuing to tent camp was a no-go. They would be through it in no time. I've even seen dogs go through fiberglass campers, so a metal camper was immediately on my radar.

My parents bought a nice new Wolf Pup a couple of years ago. Never had it out of the driveway! They have a lot of excuses, but the number one is that they just really don't want to camp. They like their home and being in it, comfortably. 

My needs are very different. Tryst and Tavie need their space. I want to boondock, so being self-contained is a necessity. I need more open space. My parents have bunks they don't need and will probably never use. So in looking at campers, I knew I would be drastically remodeling any I bought. It seemed such a waste to be tearing up and replacing perfect items in a newer trailer or even a vintage one. 

So, I looked for a vintage trailer that I could in good conscious gut. I found one and it was $2300 gutted. Nope. I found several for $800-$1200 but they were too far away to justify, and possibly not safe to haul that far. Finally, I found the little beauty I bought from a very nice guy, Mike. He had someone else try to buy it out from under me, but he was a good guy and waited for me. Thanks, Mike! He tried to talk me out of it. Majorly. SO much work ahead. But, if you know me, you know this is not my first rodeo.

It had some major water damage, all the wood was delaminating, the cushions and fabrics were orginal and nasty, etc. It was a gut job.  

Upon first inspection it may not look so bad. But...

Mike was a font of information about Holiday Ramblers and what a great company and product they are. He hooked me up with the Vintage Holiday Ramblers Facebook group who have been wonderfully supportive and informative.

He also gave me three METAL Holiday Rambler emblems, which are a fiiiind! Mine originally had a plastic ones, so the upgrade was greatly appreciated. 

Finally I managed to get my son Derrick to help me haul it home. I knew these old campers were heavy and I didn't know what kind of shape it would be to haul it around, even with the new tires Mike put on, so I felt better having Derrick do it. He's a master mechanic with a lot more experience, even at his age, with hauling things around than I do. The lights didn't work, and the temp trailer lights I bought weren't long enough, so we had to sneak it home without them. Luckily, it was only a couple miles away.

We had a small Shasta camper growing up, so the vintage campers really spoke to me. I'm very pleased that I chose to go this route.