We just bought a slightly used 1988 Saturn T1550

[Von Spiel]

We bought a camper. Last year we camped with our friends and decided the tent days are over. I had been watching the webs for years and saw such a deal. Thank you for all the information. I have learned a lot! I have enjoyed hours of research and education on this forum. We are three weeks into the project and I am seriously thinking about taking out the propane. Here is a video.

https://rumble.com/v6tfy5t-bought-a-camper-from-1988-slightly-used.html

Today, I learned about new holes and more rain. We live in NH so we have been lucky to have a lot of rain. What a way to test the roof. We have been patching as we go. Going to start on the front tomorrow. I believe I have a mouse living in the front. I am going to give them another night to move out. We have dry parts and wet parts. Thankfully the wet spots are getting smaller. We have tons of weeping screws. We purchased the pocket screw jigs after a failure to locate ours. Thanks for the great site!

 

[JohnGB]

Hi,

I watched your video; you for sure have a project.

I have done several total restorations before and may be able to help. I'm not sure about your requirements for the project. How long do you want to keep the camper? Do you want to repair all the damage? Do you want to seal it back up better than when it was new, so all your repair work will last?

We are here to help as best we can, and glad to. We are unsure of your needs and wants, but we are happy to offer suggestions to help you with whatever you want to do. And give you some idea of what to expect to meet your wants and needs.

I hope this helps.

John

 

[Von Spiel]

Thank you so much. I have been very lucky to read about and see your restorations and a few others. The sagging roof thread was packed with great information. I have read a lot of great restoration threads way into the night. Your insight and advice has helped immeasurably. We have had it for 3 1/2 weeks now and I feel I went to camper college. I have downloaded all the manuals I could find and have been studying the systems (water, electrical, 12v, etc.) The running lights appear to all work when plugged into our 4Runner. Brakes work and will be checked. We need to buy three new tires, the rims look good and worked well (even though the tires were cracked). We made it 60 miles.

When we bought it, the cushions were missing and some of the floor. A little hard to imagine how it looked. I assume the cushions had a hard backing or support for all the benches had been removed. The seller wanted more for them but we never saw them. Our goals: stop all the leaks, repair and patch holes in aluminum walls, rebuild the floor after we take out the rot, rebuild the benches and beds, make new cushions, and keep all the original systems we can. I believe the fridge and water heater are a little beat up to fix in the initial rehab due to weathering. The fridge vent caps(both parts) have been destroyed. The bathroom looks solid and hope to test the water systems while it is opened up.

We decided to not use the propane yet as we use a portable stove. We just took out the 5 carriage bolts holding the front board that the rotted joists are stapled to. Time to remove the rot and cut back to good wood. We will move the scaffolding to cover the front and slowly remove the siding and the rotted frame. I will use the leftovers as a template for the new framing. The rock shield frame had a nice garden with rich soil that was feeding the window frame leak. Thankfully we have one corner that is dry and original so we have a model. The other side had a hole from the cable/radio antenna. My wife works in Industrial coatings so she is taking care of the leaks. She paints oil tanks. Thanks for all the photos as our walls are just missing the wood. I am not the best at documenting. Time for to reread your posts again! Thanks for all the information.

 

[JohnGB]

Hi,

It sounds like you're well on your way with the fixing.

If you need help, please don't hesitate to ask. In this case, pictures can be helpful; consider adding them alongside the questions, as they can help us see what you are up against.

Best of luck and keep plugging at it.

John

 

[Von Spiel]

Thank you so much. I still re-read all your threads to remind myself, just a bunch of little steps, thousands of little steps. We have the front end off and just started to look at the floor. All the floor and more were dust. More damage to the aluminum than we could see. Next step is to clean all the oxidation(steel and aluminum). If there was a plastic coating on the aluminum it is gone. My thoughts are to bend an aluminum sheet in half across the so the fold is facing the front and place one side below the floor and one above and use our new riveting tools.

We are treating the steel with a recipe from my wife(3 parts A, 1 part only needs a 1/2 cup, very runny. Epoxy preprimer. Then we will need to let it dry for 24 hours. It is graduation weekend and the house is full so I am holding off smelling up the house as the camper is right by the front door. It is also raining on and off. Not an ideal situation for treating steel. After it dries, we will rebuild the floor with the wood we have milled up from measuring samples of the few pieces of solid wood. I did get the wrong size of carriage bolts, I could drill the holes larger but I want to keep all the steel we have left. The trailer is great shape, just needs some tlc and rust treatment. Can't wait to get going, rain, rain go away. Thanks again.

 

[Von Spiel]

Here is an update. We have had a lot of rain but made some progress. https://rumble.com/v6ujdr3-camper-2.html

 

[Von Spiel]

Today's a big day. Applying "the patch" (20 x 83") to the front of the floor section. We made an aluminum brake out of the planks to fold over the patch. Learned that we scored it too deep on one end. Oh well. Has anyone purchased a stapler for reassembly? My wife wants to pick one up at Harbor freight that will work with our pancake compressor. We just don't know what size. We have umpteen big heavy staplers used for furniture but don't know the size, pressure, gun, depth, type of staple we should use. I have pulled at least three types. Off to staple university. Funny that I can't buy it at Staples. Thanks again for this amazing site and helpful people.

 

[Von Spiel]

A question. I have two rolls of Ice and Water shield in my garage. An extra 120' of it. Has anyone used this for patching? We have a few worn out spots in hard to reach places on the aluminum subfloor. Small holes from screws? We can't fix everything in our short time schedule so that sounds easy. We have just a little over a month. Peel and stick? Thank you for your consideration.

 

[Von Spiel]

The threshold was thrashed so we are really going to stop there. ha ha ha. Milling lumber in the morning. Old table saw is acting up. Fun patching with rivets and aluminum with super sticky goo. I messed up two rivets and was kicked off the riveters spot. The strangest thing is all the play-doh type sealant everywhere. Pounds of it, comes off with a plastic wedge. The new stuff we used a few weeks ago had to be cut off.