If you were going to buy a '77 Micro Mini...?

unapuravida · 09-13-2007, 08:53 PM

I'm fairly new to RVing (I briefly owned a pickup slide-in.) But I'm putting my fiancee through college and had given up on owning an RV until...

I came across a 1977 Micro Mini by Keystone on a Toyota 20R, w/ 93k miles (maybe 17ft?). Seems to be wood and aluminum frame, no rust, all original as far as I can tell. The interior certainly needs some TLC, but I think i can get this for less than $1k.

Question: what are the major problems that these run into? Leaks in roof? Tanks? Axels? how should I inspect it? What are the warning signs?

If I bought an RV, we could afford to get out of the city once in a while during the winter. But I don't want to buy a nightmare. Please help a couple of poor (but up-and-coming) city kids live the dream...

unapuravida · 09-13-2007, 08:53 PM

I'm fairly new to RVing (I briefly owned a pickup slide-in.) But I'm putting my fiancee through college and had given up on owning an RV until...

I came across a 1977 Micro Mini by Keystone on a Toyota 20R, w/ 93k miles (maybe 17ft?). Seems to be wood and aluminum frame, no rust, all original as far as I can tell. The interior certainly needs some TLC, but I think i can get this for less than $1k.

Question: what are the major problems that these run into? Leaks in roof? Tanks? Axels? how should I inspect it? What are the warning signs?

If I bought an RV, we could afford to get out of the city once in a while during the winter. But I don't want to buy a nightmare. Please help a couple of poor (but up-and-coming) city kids live the dream...

**RV Wizard** · 09-14-2007, 12:24 AM

unapuravida, welcome to iRV2.com. You have come to the best RV enthusiest website on the internet. My dad tacught me that you will ususally get what you pay for. With that in mind and you saying that you may be able to buy a motorhome for under $1000, we can't expect too much. You could have any number of problems, it all depends on how well the owners took care of the unit and maintained everything. I would get a buddy that knows all about cars and can fix or rebuild the drive train look at the chassis side of things. If it has a generator have him check that too. Look at the DOT date box on the tires as usually the tread is ok but the age is not; replace if over 6 years old. Hopefully you can check it out while it is raining. Look for leaks, softspots in ceiling and wall; floor too. Soft spots are wood rot from water and are expensive to repair. You should have a qualified person perform an LP gas leak test on the LP gas system. CHeck all appliances. Make sure the coach is level and turn on the refrigerator. It could take 24 hours for it to get good temperatures throughout the whole box. Since you want to use it in winter make sure the furnace still works and the fan does not sound like it is going to come out. It make work for awhile but with its age could get hot and then the bearing could start to squeal; so run it for a long time. Check all of the electrical systems; you have two: 1- DC volts for inside lighting, furnace, battery with charging. The outside lighting will be off the chassis battery and the alenator should charge both batteries. 2- 120 volt AC for the air conditioner, receptacles, TV (TV could be 12 v DC) and converter uses 120 volts AC to put out 13.8 volts DC to recharge the batteries.
You might try to get some college buddies that know about these different systems and mechanics to help you check it out. Buy them some beer and pizza and they will be glad to. Good luck and let us know what you find.