Located my parents' camper new member

mecamp · 04-16-2019, 07:29 PM

Hello, thank you for allowing me into your group. My name is Darren, I'm 50 years old retired with a couple of grandsons in tow.

Back around 1981 my mom searched and searched and settled on about a 14 foot sunline camper. My parents owned that camper from new until around 1989. I discovered the camper in the back of an auto repair facility only 3 miles from our old family home. I was delighted that I had found the exact camper my parents had purchased.

I negotiated a sale price of $400 and had a friend tow it back to my house half an hour away with no issues at all. I plan on doing my best to restore this trailer back to what it look like when I was a child. Thanks again for having me,
Cheers,
Darren

mainah · 04-17-2019, 06:18 AM

How lucky can you get! Time to spend a buck on the lottery ticket!

Tinstaafl · 04-17-2019, 07:02 AM

If there are no leaks and the interior's in good shape, you stole that thing.

That's about the same level of grunge on the outside that the T-1950 I bought last fall (for a good bit more) had. Prepare to make Mr. Miyagi proud.

Thomascine · 04-17-2019, 08:29 AM

Wow! Very nice to have your family camper back in the fold. Congrats and welcome!

mecamp · 04-17-2019, 09:08 AM

Ayuh.... I should head over to Buxton and buy a couple to celebrate.

mecamp · 04-17-2019, 09:11 AM

I'm hopeful. Sadly it has leaked but I'm not letting that get me down. The interior is all original. The ceiling will need to be replaced in spots and the wall in the shower will need to be completely replaced but I agree, I stole it. The guy that sold it to me was a super nice guy I found out but at the time I didn't let him know the emotional value. He turned out to be a great seller and I might even take my vehicles to him to be repaired. You meet some wonderful people out there

mecamp · 04-17-2019, 09:12 AM

Thank you, and thank you for welcoming me. I am super excited because I am a very sentimental person. The memories as I walked in nearly brought me to tears. I'm glad I found this site, you folks seem very nice.

mainah · 04-17-2019, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mecamp

Ayuh.... I should head over to Buxton and buy a couple to celebrate.

Come on up this way we'll go to the Saco River Brewery never miss an excuse to have an IPA.

mecamp · 04-17-2019, 05:30 PM

I have driven past that place but never been in. I will take you up on the offer. Thank you very much

**JohnB** · 04-17-2019, 07:44 PM

Welcome and Wow, that is Super you found your parents camper!!!

Congratulations! That feeling has to be awesome.

Your restoration project would make a really great post for folks here on the forum. Please consider creating a post to document and ask questions along the way. And, adding pictures of the process really helps too.

H'mm, being retired and doing camper restoration fun. (not work) Ah, a heads up. It can become very addictive! Ask me how I know...

Thanks

John

mecamp · 04-17-2019, 07:47 PM

Thank you. I will be happy to share my progress. I have pictures from where I found it and I'm willing to take detailed pictures and my objective is to keep this as close to original as I possibly can including lights and linoleum. I'd be happy to share my progress which will be helpful to someone in the future I hope but mostly helpful to me because this has to be done slowly and correctly because I'm not going to gut this trailer as it would break my heart. As soon as I find out the year and model and measurements I will start to organize the pictures to upload. Thanks again

**JohnB** · 04-17-2019, 07:52 PM

We can also help on what materials can be used during the rebuild to help better seal the camper from water intrusion then was originally used. When you get to that stage of putting it together, let us know and we can suggest options.

mecamp · 04-17-2019, 07:54 PM

Thank you. One of the first things I'm going to do is place a top over it and figure out what's wrong on the roof. I know it needs three skylights replaced so that will be among the first questions what kind of skylights what size Etc. Then I will want to know how they treated the seams and how they talked around the skylights. It was mentioned to me to roll out a rubber roof coating over the whole thing but if I can stick to the original I will feel better about myself and I'm sure it will be fine

**JohnB** · 04-17-2019, 08:03 PM

Heads up on the roof, it is not a walk on directly roof. You need to place small sheets of plywood over the rafters to spread out the load. And ideally put a tarp or other protect item under the plywood to not scratch up the roof.

See this post for more help on the plywood and roof seams and plywood.
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...oof-19167.html

I agree, do not just coat the whole thing, you will regret it later if you are doing a restoration. Find the leak areas, and address them. You want a long term fix, not a short term coating. It is too painful to do these restoration projects and not the root cause of the water infiltration.

On the roof vents, take some pictures or the hinges and post, we can help locate the covers. It is a common part that fails over time from sun damage. The older ones had a slightly different hinge assuming they were not changed along the way. Odds are high they are the standard 14" x 14" roof vents.

mecamp · 04-17-2019, 08:19 PM

Yes, I will be extra careful on the roof in the plywood is a great idea to be able to lean out on to it without putting an elbow through or something. I may start tomorrow putting a ladder against it taking pictures of the vents from Top as well as inside and measuring them. I'll make a series of detailed photos of the roof and probably that will be the first section that I attack. I will probably methodically post pictures showing when I located it the negotiated price and be very open and honest about how ignorant I am about the process yet with everyone's help learning my way through it. It should be exciting

**Sunline Fan** · 04-17-2019, 11:06 PM

Welcome Darren! What a great story!! For similar sentimental reasons is how I ended up with my current '97 Sunline, which is a twin to my childhood trailer. I've always said if I find that original trailer, I'm buying it back, period. Even if it's rotted to nothing, I'm still buying it lol!

As I sent you in the PM, I believe the trailer to be a late 1980 17 1/2' SB, but I will await more info to confirm for sure since it could be early the following year too. You're pretty unlikely to see another one like it!

You did very well on price too, especially for it to be complete and not gutted!

Your roof should be made out of aluminum, but as John explained, definitely put something on it before you put weight on there. I'm going to bet your roof vents are the standard 14x14, and they are probably the Ventline style hinge. That's the size of the vents on my '79, even though the vent assemblies themselves were replaced at some point in the past. If the frame on the vent is rusted out or anything, you can replace the entire assembly too.

Can't wait to follow your progress!

mecamp · 04-18-2019, 06:24 AM

Thank you for your help. I'm really excited about the support you folks I giving me. When I realized it was my parents trailer, I knew I wanted it even if all I got why is the frame and a hubcap. I am very grateful.

TChi81 · 04-18-2019, 11:39 AM

Can anyone tell me where I can order the plastic cover that goes over the frig vent? I also have an 1981 RB21 that I acquired from people who started renovating and didn't finish. Has anyone on this site "Glamourized" their Sunline?

**Sunline Fan** · 04-18-2019, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TChi81

Can anyone tell me where I can order the plastic cover that goes over the frig vent? I also have an 1981 RB21 that I acquired from people who started renovating and didn't finish. Has anyone on this site "Glamourized" their Sunline?

Roof or sidewall vent for the refrigerator?

Either way, that vintage should have metal vents for both, not plastic.

mainah · 04-19-2019, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TChi81

Can anyone tell me where I can order the plastic cover that goes over the frig vent? I also have an 1981 RB21 that I acquired from people who started renovating and didn't finish. Has anyone on this site "Glamourized" their Sunline?

Yeah I resemble that remark can't help with the vent cover though mine is metal. It was nice that it was a Sunline because they were well made but I'm not a "brand conscious" person so basically I made it "mine" with a partial repaint and decal removal and paint over. Then attacked the interior and just basically moderned it up.