Community Forums

Pamm · 08-19-2005, 10:19 AM

Hello, I just joined the group. I was given a 1966 Concord traveler travel trailer almost 2 years ago. I had advertised for an old camper to live in while we had our old house tore down and a modular home put on our lot and a man called and gave me the camper for free.
It is not in that bad of shape for it's age and I hope to fix it up and put it on a small lake lot in the future.
I am lucky to live close to an RV salvage parts store where they sell parts for new and older campers so hopefully I can get things I need there. I do need to replace the front door and plan on gutting the camper and making it look pretty close to how it is now. The wood on the walls is peeling and I figure since I have to remove everything in order to replace the wood on the walls I will just replace everything.
My biggest challenge will be painting it someone painted it the ugliest color brown you can imagine I mean it is really bad when we toted the camper home people were laughing at us as they drove past that is how bad it looked *lol*
I do plan on getting rid of the furnace it no longer works and the stove leaks so that will have to go I am not sure what I will replace them with but will look into that later.
I look forward to reading about others restoring projects and hopefully get some advice and ideas on what I can do to fix up my little cream puff.
Pamm

Pamm · 08-19-2005, 10:19 AM

Hello, I just joined the group. I was given a 1966 Concord traveler travel trailer almost 2 years ago. I had advertised for an old camper to live in while we had our old house tore down and a modular home put on our lot and a man called and gave me the camper for free.
It is not in that bad of shape for it's age and I hope to fix it up and put it on a small lake lot in the future.
I am lucky to live close to an RV salvage parts store where they sell parts for new and older campers so hopefully I can get things I need there. I do need to replace the front door and plan on gutting the camper and making it look pretty close to how it is now. The wood on the walls is peeling and I figure since I have to remove everything in order to replace the wood on the walls I will just replace everything.
My biggest challenge will be painting it someone painted it the ugliest color brown you can imagine I mean it is really bad when we toted the camper home people were laughing at us as they drove past that is how bad it looked *lol*
I do plan on getting rid of the furnace it no longer works and the stove leaks so that will have to go I am not sure what I will replace them with but will look into that later.
I look forward to reading about others restoring projects and hopefully get some advice and ideas on what I can do to fix up my little cream puff.
Pamm

Hoverbug · 08-20-2005, 05:14 AM

Pamm welcome to irv2 and especialy our Vintage Rv forum. Although challenging, the results of restoring a vintage coach can be a joy and rewarding. Keep us posted on your progress; there are a lot of knowledgeable folks here that can offer guidance when needed. Again, welcome and...Happy Trails!!

Pamm · 08-20-2005, 05:55 AM

Thanks for the warm welcome. I wish I could have found a picture of a concord traveler so I would know how one looked. There is an RV museaum in Elkhart which is the town next to where I live and the town where the camper was made and where I was born so I "assumed" I would have no problem in finding a photo of an old concord but no luck! I managed to scrape some paint off 2 places and all that is under it is white probably a primer so I will just have to guess on what color it might have been unless when I strip it down I can find more color.
I hope it will turn out nice lucky for me I helped my dad remodel our house when I was growing up so I am very handy at home repairs. I took some pictures of the camper so I will have some of what the outside looked like before I strip it down.
Pamm

SJPtak · 08-21-2005, 03:28 AM

Pamm,

I've been working with a 1964 Ace Traveller, and the best suggestion I could give you would be to take lots and lots of pictures. As you start peeling off the panelling, expect to find rotted framing that will need to be replaced. That peeling panelling was probably caused by leaks. Take it one step at a time and make sure you take lots of pictures to jog your memory when you put it all back together.

Good luck with your project, I'm sure you will have a ball with it.

Stan

Pamm · 08-21-2005, 04:25 AM

The paneling had a few spots that look like someone scrapped it and that caused the outer layer to become loose then my dogs that I have in the camper managed to peel the pieced off so that is what I ment about the walls peeling.
All the places where the outside layer had places that were bad were all in areas where you lift up the lids on the benches or where something that you lifted up like the top bunk had kept scrapeing against the wood but thanks to my 2 little dogs the wood is now reuined.
I am sure there will be a couple places where I will have to replace the studs my husband put a window air conditioner in the camper to keep my dogs cool in the summer and water leaked in when it rained so I am sure the wood under the paneling is now bad. But it is possible the studs can be bad since it is an old camper so I won't be surprised if the wood is reuined when the walls come down.
The floor seems to be in good shape no soft spots and the camper seems very solid but as you said expect to find something when I remove the walls *lol*
I have nothing but time so will work on it when I feel up to it. My brother in law was going to help me but he moved back to Austrailia after my sister divorced him so now I will have to do the work by myself.
We have a habitat resale shop in our town where they sell off surplus supplies from when they build the habitat for humanity homes they have tons of stuff there so I am sure I can pick up some things there to especially since the camper is small and I won't need a whole lot of any one thing I am more likley to get enough of what ever I need to do certain things like light fixtures or wood I plan on going there this week and check out what they have.
We also have several construction conpanies close by that throw out quite a bit of wood that could work perfect for studs or other things so I may go by and see if they have any thrown out and grab it I figure it would be going to the land fill anyway so why not get some. We also have many trailer factories in our area and if you ask they are more then happy to give you scrap wood to so I am sure I can get many things I need for free. I also live 20 mins from RV Surplus in Elkhart so I can get any RV parts from them since they carry hard to find items and items for vintage campers.
I wish I had someone to help me but at least if I do it all by myself it will be something I can be proud of and know I did it with no help!
Pamm

RVinMeMo · 10-06-2005, 05:16 AM

A big welcome to you Pamm. I have restored a TT in the past. A 1963 Yellowstone. Mine had suffered water damage from a leaking roof so I had studs and paneling to replace. It was a challange to do by myself as I had no prior experience but having the right tools is half the battle. I used a jigsaw to cut all the paneling. I used holiday wrapping paper to make the life sized templates. It worked very well. Just tape the paper to the sections you need to replace and then trim it out with an Exacto knife. Remove the template and trace onto the paneling and then cut with a jigsaw (make sure you have the proper blade). In the end I traded the trailer to an uncle in exchange for a complete rewire on my Class C. The little trailer was in full use at our family reunion this past July. She's a head turner!

Rose