August 5, 2012: Some pics of present condition

Just a few snapshots of its condition, before it occurred to me to blog about this.

Front to back pic.  Notice the ceiling and overhead cabinets. 

Slightly different angle.  That section of ceiling is the ONLY
section that looks that way, the rest looks okay.

Now, I'm just getting used to the way this layout works, so bear with me if I have to adjust things to make it more readable.  I presume it's going to go ahead and wrap down below the pic when I get there, but we'll see.

Keep in mind, I didn't have the thought of keeping this motor home when I bought it, and for the price I paid, I'll easily triple my money if I scrap it out, which would pay for my labor to do such a thing.... SO.... I'm not into a money pit yet.

There's a different point of view when buying something for scrap, and that is simply the amount of effort it's going to take to separate the metals out, recover any high-dollar useful parts to sell separately, and the scale weight of each type of metal.  That is what I based my offering price on.

The floor is solid.  I noticed that in passing while I was walking through it before buying it.  That particular walk-through was for nothing more than to see if all the pieces were there:  water pumps, heaters (water and space), fridge, tanks that look intact, commode, intact tub, etc.  All was there, so I made my offer.  Next day, I got a phone call that it was accepted by the family (remember, this was an estate sale item) and I drove back over to make the deal and get the papers for it.

When I went, I took a battery and a can of ether, just to see what might happen.  I have had the luck to throw in a battery, shoot a sniff of ether into the carburetor, and drive a "junk, not running" car or truck away.  Not often, but it DOES happen.  Did that with a pickup, a thirty some-odd year old F100, that I wound up driving for 2 years, then sold it back to the fellow I bought it from for 5x what I paid!

Okay, some more interior shots.  Next post, I'll add some more, now that I've decided to document my rehab of this little critter.

Look at that dash!  It came with a quilted dash cover on it,
apparently thick enough to stop UV degradation of the
dash.  No cracks in it at all.

Gotta tell ya, I'm tickled with what I've found so far with the old lady!  When I stuck the battery in, and cranked, it cranked smoothly and aggressively, no loping or skipping like it would do with a stuck valve or jumped time.  Oil pressure came up with about 20 seconds of cranking.  Ether made it try to start, but it wouldn't stay spinning without starter.  So, tried to take doghouse off, and the bolts holding the back of the doghouse were frozen, rusted into the little clips that hold the nuts.  That ended the attempt to get it running and drive it home, so I came back the next day with help and another pickup, with a tow strap.

Gas stunk like a roadkill skunk, so we drained the tank when we got it home, and I decided not to even try to roll the generator over until we got the tank drained and got clean gas into it.  With the help of an impact wrench and a pry bar under the ear on the doghouse, the clip-nuts disintegrated and pulled through the floor holes, leaving 3/4 inch holes through the van floor.  Not a big deal, new clips and copious quantities of never-seize will solve the problem of holding doghouse down.  I'll get into what I found under the doghouse, after I go work on it and get more pics.  Meanwhile, more interior shots:

Typical Ford sunvisor leprosy, but other than that, the vinyl
is still soft and intact.  Nice solid cave, no water damage around
front window.  A little discoloration near that driver's side
window up there, but I think that window was left cracked open.

Booth is all intact, solid, no wobble on table and all the cushions
are there and still usable.  Comfortable enough to sit at, as well.

Clean rockers and steps.  I'm impressed.  Only rust on it is
surface, except one spot on hood, but early 80's Ford hoods
were notorious for holes in their leading edges, so this isn't
an indicator of neglect.  Again, I'm impressed with this critter :)

That's it for now.  Back with more pics tonight or tomorrow!

August 3, 2012: Getting it Home

I found this somewhat intact motorhome and the more I looked at it, the more intact it appeared.  It is clear this was lovingly cared for by its previous owner/user.  I say it this way because its owner passed on several years ago, and the kids/heirs basically just parked it and let it begin to decompose.

These pics are after we moved it from Aransas Pass to Gregory, pulled by a 3/4 ton Chevrolet pickup.  Oh, the humiliation, of a Ford being pulled by a Chevy!  We took back roads as much as possible to minimize the embarrassment ;)