1968 Forester travel trailer project

[Glaciers]

Well Karyn and I have been wanting some sort of small rv for use within the State here for a while. This is a low budget idea if it happens. Keep in mind we are just wanting something one, maybe two steps up from tent camping. Sleeping in the camper shell is one step up.
Well my buddy here in the valley has a 1962 Oasis 15A. 15 foot stem to stern, 12 foot camper. Needs a lot, but solid. No stove, no heater, or bathroom, does have a icebox. But, dry, and secure. Needs attention but not a rebuild. Two steps up. There's hope.
Another neighbor has a 1968 Forester 17T. Been parked sitting out since 2004. Needs some help, but, pretty solid. Stove oven, propane frigid, water heater, furnace, electric breaks, needs new water tank and to be replumbed, widows resealed and door repaired. Has a small bathroom as well. Some water damage around the front window. The outside has one small dent up front, other then that the skin is in good shape.
Going to flip or replace the axel. Axel is on top of the spring set and putting it under the spring will give me 4 more inches ground clearance. The best part is Sine and Kayt called this morning and said come get it, free!!! 2.5 steps up.
This will be a project for sure but not extensive. Well, not too extensive. The benefit for me is the weight is 2050 pounds dry, 290 pounds on the hitch. I have a low mileage 2002 Toyota Tundra 4x4 which is the lightest Tundra they made. Trucks in great shape. I bought it 5 years ago with only 36,000 miles on it. Anyway a light trailer will be perfect for this truck.
The Forester is a winter project, so I'm going to grab the Oasis as well. I can have it cleaned up and useable in about a weeks worth of work and a few bucks. The Oasis is what's call a canned ham style trailer.
A couple of pictures of the Forester.

Will need to rebuild the rear hatch as well

 

[Rick]

My first RV was a 18 foot 1972 Aristocrat. I went through the whole thing and put in an extensive 12v system, even lighting inside the cabinets. It came from the factory with only a couple of 120v lights and one 12v porch light. Was a great little trailer, I stored it at LASC where it was mostly used on weekends. A wind storm came through and flipped it over on it's roof and that was the end of that trailer.

 

[358156 hp]

We have a lot of people come through our shop wanting to restore old RVs. Once they get into them, they generally start finding issues that they were unaware of, and the project is often resold at a loss. We've even had the same projects come to the shop over and over with different owners. Since you're capable of doing your own repairs, and this isn't your first rodeo I believe you can make this work out to your own satisfaction, but it's the seemingly "little" things that cause most of the grief in these projects. Electrical issues are a big thing, I'd suggest you rewire everything for safetys sake, and plan on upgrading any appliances you end up with. Roof and body leaks are often a huge issue as well.

 

[Glaciers]

358156hp I believe your right on the money. The point will be is to know when to stop digging.

The plan will be (more than likely) to rewire the DC system and look closely at the AC side. The DC side has obviously been butchered. Plumbing will be redone with a new tank and pressure switched demand DC pump replacing the air compressor system.
Roof leaks around the fridge venting but the rest of the roof is tight, although all seams will be resealed regardless. While doing the roof I will be installing a solar panel as we will be off the grid camping most of the time.

It looks like a 3500 pound drop axel, so I might go with a straight axel and new u-bolts. A straight axel would give the height needed so I won't be scrapping off the under carriage.

Replacing the interior paneling around the front window will happen, but the in the wall frame is an unknown until the window comes out and the panel comes off. Fortunately the panel has a break at the overhead bunk 4 inches up and at the dinette. Below that I can't see any water leakage evidence. What's most encouraging is the out side skin is smooth and flat without any evidence of frame failure.

All cushions for dinette and goucho (?) couch. The couch pulls out to 42", might be able to stretch it to 44". Big enough for Karyn and I as we are used to living on boats for months at a time.

I'm hoping to salvage the appliances if I can. Stove looks good, water heater to be determined, fridge is my concern, door looks sprung. Heater to be determined as well. There is a ton of vintage websites some with parts, used and remanufactured.

The door and rear hatch will be rebuilt as well.

 

[glassparman]

Do the Forester! Lots of work but worth it in the end. I did an old truck camper from the 60's once. Was built better that new once I got done. Looked better too on my '72 F250 4x4

 

[smokeywolf]

One of the best built RVs I've ever seen was called a Cortez. They were built by Clark Fork Lift in the mid '60s. 9' tall, 8' wide, 19' long. Chrysler slant 6 for power with front wheel drive. Two worst things were the wide turning radius and reverse wasn't geared low enough. It was a very well built, very well thought out unit. By the late '60s they had lengthened them by about 3 feet.

 

[Glaciers]

Yeah the Clark Cortez. I remember them. My brother’s good friends family had one. Joe got to go on occasional trips with them. 1960’s motor homes were unusual.
slant six and front wheel drive. Didn’t know that.
My father had a 1973 Revcon, I think it was a 29’ unit. It was powered by a 455 Olds Toranado. Nice unit as well.

 

[358156 hp]

Revcon once had the reputation of being the fastest production RV on the road. If your Dads Revcon had a 455 Olds, it would have been one of the really early Revcons that were being made from parts made for the short-lived GMC motor home, which was well built, but not well thought out. Later Revcons were made with 454 Chevys with a turbo 400 that drove a transfer gear which ran a forward direction drive shaft for the front-wheel drive. the ones I've seen had a Dana 70 independent suspension drive axle a'la Ford and weird CV axles. The steering linkage was pretty much the GMC design with double idler arms that you had to send out to be rebuilt. All in all, very Rube Goldberg.

One caution before I climb off my soapbox here, if you ever decide to get into motorhomes at all, always avoid anything on a Dodge RV chassis. They look like they're Dodge van chassis, but the Dodge RV chassis was discontinued in 1979, and steering parts are no longer available. We have two of these toads at the shop and the people who bought them are simply screwed for parts. They're a class four chassis, not a class three chassis and all steering parts were discontinued by the mid '80s.

 

[Ian]

Been through a couple and have friends who've restored and resto-modded dozens from teardrops and Airstreams to Spartans and Casitas. Understanding #1 is it is ALWAYS worse than it looks. If water damage is involved, it will be FAR worse than it looks. Understanding #2 is if it ain't growing mold, holding the roof up, or keeping your toilet or shower from falling through the floor, put some lipstick on it and use the hell out of it rather than spending ungodly amounts of time, thought, and cash making it 100% right. As was said, don't chinch on safety stuff like AC power, brakes, propane plumbing/appliances, and clean potable water supply, but don't overthink it either.

Remember the five things you can never sink enough money into:

Boats
RVs
Race cars
Horses
Women

 

[Mitty38]

Lived in an Oasis 15 footer. When I was single and had first moved back to Ohio.
For a good while. Behind my brothers garage.
Then I got married and we stayed in it for 3 months, while looking for a place to buy. A little cramped with the wife and I both in there, but it served it's purpose.

 

[Winelover]

Cindy seen a cute Airstream B-class motorhome, the other day. Came home and looked it up on Airstream's site. Built on the Mercedes van chassis...................starting at $194,000 Seems, they are real proud of them. Somehow, I doubt they'll be selling many of them.

 

[Rick]

Seen a TV show on that Mercedes van chassis RV. The interior is a joke, bathroom is unusable for anyone over about 5'5" tall and the rest of the coach isn't much better.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I had several friends and family members that did the RV thing and for the most part, they are money pits.
You can sink a LOT of money into an RV and I've seen that happen many times.

The best restoration, and one of the only successful ones I saw, was a brand new Airstream trailer that was in a flood while sitting on the sales lot. The insurance company wrote it off as a total loss and it was sold for for a tiny, tiny fraction of its original cost. It had mud inside covering everything from the floor up to the high water mark which was about 1' off the floor. The restoration took about 2 summers and all the work was done by the owner. Everything that could be cleaned and repaired was restored. Everything else was replaced. It turned out to be an outstanding trailer after the restoration and it was extensively used for many years.
The Only reasons that was a success were the due to it being almost free to start with, everything was brand new, and the owner performed all the work.

 

[Glaciers]

Well restorations can be and usually are, but the key to affordability is do the work yourself and valuing your time at a 1968 minimum wage of $1.10. That's what I do especially as this is a 1968 travel trailer. Kinda fits. Besides a guy can't run low on projects. The project list for me is down to about 3 years so adding one more makes me fell "more better". There's always a priority as well, some items on the list are strictly summer projects where frozen ground is not acceptable.

Over the years Karyn and I have lived in vessels on the water and at other times in RV's for extended periods of time. For over 20 years I spent 5 to 6 months on vessels in Prince William Sound running a Charter business. Lived on the vessels. At different times of the last 40 plus years we have also spent at least a month in the Southwest in RV's. The last 6 years we have spent from 1 month to 5 months in our old motorhome.

So we are used to being in small places. It helps as well being under 6'. Having bathrooms where you have to open the door to change your mind is normal for use.

I 1987 I rebuilt a 1967 chassis cab one ton Ford camper, some engine drive train work, but the camper had roof leaks that needed attention. Pealed the skin of and replaced about a third of the roof framing and new insulation with a light 3/8" AC plywood skin before the metal went back on. There was other resealing of windows and a new door. Could only save the outside skin to the door.
I've also rebuilt a 1984 28 X 10 Bayliner, (AWOL) a 1979 48' Uniflite (KnightHawk) and a partial rebuild on a 30 X 10 Martha Vineyards (Cheryal Ann) fishing boat. In 1994 designed and had built by (KraKaDawn) American Eagle in LaConnor Wa. a 35 ft aluminum citified vessel. 1996 designed and had built 34 ft six pack fishing vessel (Dawn Treader) by Fibercraft of Blaine Wa. Both designs went into production numbering into the teens for each design.

I find this stuff fascinating. But I can rebuild this little trailer, it will be a winter project and a good time. Just as I prefer gloss blue steel and walnut (or some other fine wood) in my guns, I prefer real wood and cloth in my RV's if it's possible. Vinyl and fake wood, just say no.

 

[Glaciers]

Cindy seen a cute Airstream B-class motorhome, the other day. Came home and looked it up on Airstream's site. Built on the Mercedes van chassis...................starting at $194,000 View attachment 21341 Seems, they are real proud of them. Somehow, I doubt they'll be selling many of them.

Air Stream always seemed to me to be a status symbol for people with money to burn. Nice but not really the best value. It's like StarBucks coffee, you pay a premium for over roasted coffee because some Yuppie called it "Gourmet". I like coffee you can drink all day without having to use a oil absorbent pad to soak up the floating oil.

Your mileage may very.

 

[Rick]

I've never been impressed with Airstream, just a radically overpriced status symbol. Yep some good features like aluminum framing and aerodynamic but you pay a huge price for those nicely rounded corners in nearly eliminating almost all interior upper storage cabinet capacity.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Airstream trailers are stupid expensive but the truth is, they've always been expensive.
To the question: "Are they worth it"? The answer is a bit elusive.

By necessity, travel trailers must be lightweight. That generally requires lots of lightweight materials (aluminum, fiberglass, thin plywood, thin steel sheet, etc. ). Trailers are subjected to a tremendous amount of bending forces, twisting forces, vibration, wind loads, and other structural abuse.

On top of all of that, there's a price point that needs to be met.

Airstream trailers are the only trailers that are built like aircraft. They combine lightweight construction with a great deal of structural strength and pretty low wind resistance. That comes with a big price tag.

Is that high cost worth it? Maybe.....maybe not.

I think Airstream trailers are designed a bit more for the towing part of the trailer's life and a little less for the housing part of their life. I also think they have a longer design life than just about any trailer. However, that high construction cost must be spread out over more years to see any benefit.

Perhaps as composite materials like carbon fiber, Kevlar, fiberglass reinforced plastics become cheaper we will see some shift in that industry that is affordable.

Airstream gets a LOT of grief for their high cost and some of that criticism is warranted. On the other hand, they seem to have no trouble selling what they make.

 

[358156 hp]

Been through a couple and have friends who've restored and resto-modded dozens from teardrops and Airstreams to Spartans and Casitas. Understanding #1 is it is ALWAYS worse than it looks. If water damage is involved, it will be FAR worse than it looks. Understanding #2 is if it ain't growing mold, holding the roof up, or keeping your toilet or shower from falling through the floor, put some lipstick on it and use the hell out of it rather than spending ungodly amounts of time, thought, and cash making it 100% right. As was said, don't chinch on safety stuff like AC power, brakes, propane plumbing/appliances, and clean potable water supply, but don't overthink it either.

Remember the five things you can never sink enough money into:

Boats
RVs
Race cars
Horses
Women

Correct. If you even suspect you smell mildew in any RV, run away. Don't buy into the "it's a bit musty" nonsense. Water is getting in somewhere from the hundreds of feet of seams and joints in the average RV walls, floors and siding.

 

[Glaciers]

Well got the Forester out of the shop so the exterior could be cleaned. Started Saturday morning and finished Sunday afternoon. The roof got brushed and scotch bright treatment till there was just about no paint left. Lot of elbow grease to get that black crap off so it can be sealed and painted. Pretty happy with how it came out. Body skin looks good for 53 years old.





Finally found the name plate under some moss and lichen


Now back to the shop to go up on jack stands, hoping to get it up an additional 8 to 12 inches to ease work under.

 

[Bret4207]

When my oldest son was 18 or so and impossible to live with, we bought a 28 foot tandem travel trailer for him to live in- real cheap. It was actually a nice rig inside, very nice in fact since we were used to my wifes parents tiny late 50's travel trailer. Things went good until the little kitchen moon roof thing started leaking. My son decided he would "fix it" and clambered up onto the roof where he proceeded to break the moon roof thing and several of the rafters and he managed to put a hole in the roof. Long story/short, I ended up pulling the ceiling out, constructed new roof rafter/trusses/whatever you want to call them that were made like a 1930's airplane (glued up out of 3/4" ash I had on hand). I reinstalled all the trusses, re-did the electrical (120v) and put the insulation back in. I even bought new material for the ceiling. We had a storm and the whole roof detached itself and landed several feet away. Huh. The carcass sits in my sand pit awaiting me getting time to pull the skin off to use as a ceiling in my garage and then for an unfortunate fire to occur...