New-To-Us Sunline

sailor14 · 05-13-2012, 06:50 PM

Hi,

Well...we went ahead and bought the 1985 (were originally told it was a 1984) Sunline T-2262 camper. We paid $1700 and are really happy so far. We feel it has good bones for an old timer - and has lots of potential to become a cozy home away from home for our family.

We plan to replace the worn sofa with a wrap around sofa out of our wind damaged Dutchman pop-up camper. We will also reuse the portable table and new curtains from the popup.

The fridge has been replaced with an electric one - so we hope to use the original propane line to hook up our outdoor stove and rail (also from our pop-up) just outside the front door. The propane line is perfectly located for this.

I would like to paint the walls in the bedroom and livingroom / kitchen area
- has anyone done this with good results? The ceiling is great - and the wood is fine - just needs a good polish - or maybe even a coat of poly to brighten it up. We will also replace the countertops.

As for the exterior, I would like to purchase an awning and new propane tanks. Other than that, it doesn't need much. We are considering painting the stripes as they are really faded. Has anyone else had success doing that? They are stuck tight with very little cracking - except for the door from which which I may remove all together and paint the door the color of one of the stripes.

I love projects and really think the camper has a good vibe - just needs a little TLC. As well, my husband is a carpenter so that helps!

I have attached some pics. Please feel free to offer any advice you have!

Kristina

kanyonkitty · 05-13-2012, 07:12 PM

Congrats on your Sunline purchase and welcome to SOC.

As for painting your stripes on, I re-did the ones on my 1987 T-1661. SInce the door is kinda textured, I used a BBQ grill brush on the area where the stripes were coming off. Once I felt that I had all the old flaking paint removed, I taped off one stripe at a time, you MUST make sure that you REALLY press the painters tape into all the little dimples, then I sprayed the stripes one at a time, allowing each one a few days to dry/cure before I taped off another section.

I used spray cans of Dupli-Color and it matched perfectly. Re-striping the entire rig will take a little time BUT the end result will be worth the effort.

Don't use anything too harsh to clean your rig, as the paint is thin and you can be down to the bare aluminum is care is not exercised.

You could also check online for striping to see if you could get rolls of tape to just re-stripe it with pin striping.

Kitty

sailor14 · 05-14-2012, 06:29 PM

Thanks Kitty!

Jon has correctly identified the camper as a T-2462. I am really excited to get started with a few improvements. Have you ever painted the interior walls of a Sunline? I assume a good cleaning, sanding, primer and paint is in order.

Kristina

**Sunline Fan** · 05-14-2012, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailor14

I am really excited to get started with a few improvements. Have you ever painted the interior walls of a Sunline? I assume a good cleaning, sanding, primer and paint is in order.

Kristina, while I think your front/rear walls might be bare wood, the side walls and ceiling are actually covered in a wallpaper. You could probably peel a lot of it off if you tried, but some may have to be sanded off. It would just be bare 1/8" paneling behind the paper.

It probably wouldn't hurt to wipe down those bare walls with vinegar or something to remove whatever excess adhesive is on there. I think your method will work well on the front/rear walls.

awellis3 · 05-15-2012, 07:45 AM

Wow! Lookit all them winders - and they's all open, too! Yessireebob, they don't make 'em like that no mo.'

Great purchase,
Teach

camperlloyd · 05-30-2012, 07:19 PM

have fun enjoy welcome to the group..

RockDodger · 05-30-2012, 10:58 PM

Ya, you're gonna like it. SunLine is solid and reliable. I had reservations about buying my '87 Satellite, but those fears were dispelled quickly.

sailor14 · 05-31-2012, 05:48 AM

Thank you for the warm welcome...

We actually found some water damage in the ceiling caused by leaky vents and a few pinholes in the aluminum just below the rain gutters in the back bunk area. Luckily the ceiling design actually kept the water from damaging the walls and floor. We have removed 2/3 of the the ceiling panels and the wall panelling in the bunk area and replaced the damaged rafters. My husband is a carpenter so its not a hard fix. We are happy to know the crap is out of there and its interesting to see how the camper is put together.

In the meantime I took the opportunity to remove all of tthe doors and drawers and give them a coat of polyurethane. The vent covers / lights have all been sprayed with white Krylon and window screens are now a shiney aluminum color.

Once we get the walls and ceiling put back together, it will all be fresh and clean and ready for summer.

As for the exterior, we are waiting for our eternabond order to arrive to seal everything up before cleaning and waxing. We have decided against repainting the stripes as the color seems to come back when cleaned and the wax should help as well.

We are replacing the 2 lower beds with 1 king size bed across the back using the king mattress from our pop up. That way we can use one of the better single mattresses in the upper bunk. With 4 kids this will work better for our family.

I will post pics of our progress as we start to put things back together.

Kris

wanda toso · 09-14-2012, 05:38 PM

wow . you really got a good deal on that camper .. it really looks nice . we have a 1985 with the twin beds and we love them but we do not have children camping with us anymore and gives so much more room in the bedroom . we took out the nite stand and put in a small comfy chair for my hubby to relax and watch his old movies when he isnt fishing.. enjoy your camper and there is so much modifications you can do to make it homey for you ..