Well here is part 2 as promised...So I left off in part 1 at we finally got home. We did!!! What an exciting achievement this was!!!! Oh now is was time to really go through this thing. Top to bottom, front to back. Shouldn't we have done this a week ago? well maybe, but we didn't. So anyway, We immediately rip the front bunk down to the tin. It was water damaged and had to be done. Oh how much fun I had doing this. Re-framing, picking out new paneling lights installing new insulation and new plywood for the bed. The works.
Now picture this if you will... The bunk is almost 2 1/2 feet tall. It was not made to sit in, not even someone who is 5'5 like me. Now lets look at my husband how is 6'2 and about 235lbs. That poor man was twisted like a pretzel ant times and sometime folded like a little taco. I laughed until I cried. I t was July in the mid-west and we were in an un-insulated tin can... Oh dear god in heaven it was hot. My poor husband crammed up in this bunk like a shirt thrown on the tip shelf of a closet. Poor guy was... well crumpled, hot and in a very loving way, grumpy. Now our only education was YouTube. Hell, if all of those first timers and no knowledge people could totally gut a camper and make it a glamper, we so could I. We took a little break from the renovation and decided to check and clean the black and gray water tank, stove heater, generator and the rest of the gadgets we were so lucky to have. Well, where do I start? Lets go with the fresh water tank and water pump. We filled the tank and there were no leaks!!! win! Whoo-hoo!. Sad to say but we high fived each other. Something worked. Whew. Now lets move on tho the grey tank. flushed it out and cleaned it. nice and fresh! We are on a roll. 2 tanks and no leaks. We are on fire!!!. Moving on to the black water tank...STOP!!! WHAT IN THE HELL??? Ok, here is the you cant make this up part, someone, I have no idea...who or why capped off the black water tank. Do not use the toilet!!!! Oh dear, why on earth would a human being do that? So many questions flowed through my mind. Why? Who? is it empty??? What is in there? why? After the initial shock wore off, we pressed on. Lets light the stove. Oh dear god no..... evacuate the camper and turn off the propane. They removed the refrigerator because it didn't work anymore, we did know that much, believe it or not, we did not know they didn't cap it off. We just decided to walk away at that point for months. Licking our wounds. I begged my husband to cut our loses and sell it for scrap. I could finally have my driveway back. Nope, it has become a quest he wasn't giving up on. We decided to take it to the shop after months of not touching it. Let them give it a good tune up and rebuild the carb, just routine maintenance stuff. Well, that would be too easy. It smoked horribly on the way to the shop. This is new and different.... We dropped it off and left it. One week later, after they looked the camper over with a fine tooth comb... the estimate we got was 4,200.00 minimum. I almost passed out. Now, again after the initial shock... there really wasn't that much wrong with it. Carb rebuilt, oil change, tune up, lights out, stuff like that. 75% of the estimate at $100.00 an hour ran the bill up to a ridiculous amount. But the engine and transmission were perfect. The smoke was an exhaust seal. So, it is still in the shop, we are getting the major stuff done and doing the rest our self. I have purchased many campers in the past, 5th wheel, pop ups and never ever had a problem. This my friends... was a lesson I learned the hard way. So , what did we learn?
1) Never, ever assume you will not be taken. EVER. Take your time and check everything, test them look at them. listen to them. Check out the fridge, stove, gauges, air anything and everything. Its your money, do it!
2) Get a better education then YouTube. It has great videos and I am addicted but for this kind of thing... you need hands on.
3) Join a local Facebook group and RV club.
And remember, Live, Laugh, Re-Purpose.
Melissa
XOXOXOX
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