1964 Roadrunner - Tow-Mater Cab-Over Bunk Resto-Mod

Even though the camping trip didn't pan out, the day trip was a success.

I remember all our early morning departures, and late night drives. Some of our best travel times were past midnight - back when we could stay up past 8. That's when the kids were asleep! Finally! Peace!

This time, we could have joined up. But - been there, done that. That's why it's important to the girl-child to share it with her OWN family, even to bring kid's friends like we always did.

Here they are on the way there.



First stop? The museums. Thermop has a great main museum. DD was calling it the natural history, and that's part of it, like most of the pictures coming up. But the same museum has a neat little "town" in the basement you walk through: buildings, roadway walking path, household items on display from back in the day. And outside - old equipment like railway cars and road graders - as I recall. They also have a firearms display, although the real museum for firearms is at the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum in Cody, WY.



The boys looking over the "gentle" gems and rocks...



But some of the larger "wild" rocks are unpredictable!



And many of the fossils still have a little bite left in them!



Even Dad got a scare!



They had no need to go to the Fountain of Youth RV Park, with the included mineral pool for guests, and instead went to Hot Springs State Park - including a walk around the grounds through the mineral deposits.



Then they went swimming at Star Plunge, located on the grounds. DD was surprised to find this Zoltar fortune telling machine there, of Tom Hanks "Big" fame.



Then after swimming for a few hours, it was off to Shoshoni and Yellowstone Drug for an historic "Yellowstone Malt". But, it closed early. Not to fear, another newer place has taken up sales and they all got their choices of ice-cream.

Thereafter it was "Hell's Half Acre"...



And finally, that last little period of "peace in the car" on the way home.



That was last weekend.

Yesterday, I went out into the "High Wind Warning" and finished up some work on Tow-Mater's camp site parking by getting the boards in the ground around the gravel area.



And removing more Yucca plants, cactus - and then mowing one width of wild around it.





He's ready for winter.

Me? I hope you join up in Truck Campers for any of the 1968 Travel Queen threads. That's where I'll be. Truck Campers gets more variety and many more posts than in this Vintage Campers Forum - so it can be harder to catch new contributions. But I suggest subscribing to the ones I'll be in most: Exterior, Galley and Great Room, Bathroom Re-Model, Fresh Water, Finishes and Finishing. Or go to the first post in ANY of them and subscribe to all 13 (Chapter 14 kind of died on the vine). Some are closed, but I should finish most - if not all - this winter.

Here's how she looked yesterday...

Well - we WERE going to go camping. Not now. The kids are still running over to Thermopolis, WY for a day trip!

I called it off. Reminds me of a childhood diddy.

Every party has a pooper,
that's why we invited you.
Party Pooper!
Party Pooper!

We used to go over there quite a bit, often for a Spring-Break trip. Get outta Dodge. Soak in the hot pools. We stayed at the "Fountain Of Youth RV Park". It has it's own large mineral pool, and quite a history!

Original owners were Airstream folks. They had a tiny one they traveled the world with. Along with that group the founder guy founded. I think it's smaller than a Bambi, but I don't know my Airstreams real well. In fact, that original Airstream of their's now sits a few blocks over in our neighborhood! The original owner's Grandson-in-law is the Father of a kid our son grew up with, playing army in our field. He's got a few old units over there and I don't think he has any plans. But I don't know him well. I wonder....?

No - the weather came up. Last week the kids came by and picked up the trailer so they could pack and load, etc. during their work week.



Pulled it down through the "new" field road we've been cutting out of the wilderness.



I told DSIL not to worry. If he got stuck, I'd pull him out with Lil' Willy.

He waved me off with his shop accident hand.



And up onto the road.



See we park it here, because this is how it has to be done at their place.



And then it snowed.



6" of the heavy wet stuff. Before the leaves dropped. Not unusual around here, but it sure raises havoc on local trees. That can be Spring or Fall.



That's an apple tree.

The snow is melted now. We were leaving Friday night (today), returning Sunday. But I didn't want to pull our large TT over in the forecast wind and/or new snowfall (first one, then the other). Been there, done that. That Elk Hunting Trip (a different one) near Jackson that year with our Suburban, chains on all four, just to get the 80's Mallard backed into about 12" - AFTER the snow packed two-track coming in, where if you slid off the pack, you were in deep powder. No sir!

Or the other hunt near Dubois where it took ALL DAY to get out of the mountains. That was AFTER pulling my one partner up the initial hill (truck and trailer - Ford), then my OTHER partner (truck and trailer - Ford), and only THEN getting my own out (Suburban and trailer - Chevy). And then waiting hours on the hill side while the Tow Truck came up to save the outfitter who dropped one side of a six-stall horse trailer off the side of the road. Any further off and the outfit would have gone down the fast way.

But you know, as we get older it's kind of like... well. Maybe I can just say we're looking forward to our camp unit called "Fairweather June". And the EASY use of Lil' Queeny. This all seemed to come about AFTER we got our garage heated. ;)

So we delivered some of DW's pre-prepared foods for the kids day trip and wished them well.

Besides, today is Friday the 13th. Ya'll be careful now, you hear!?

1stgenfarmboy wrote:
It's hard to believe an old trailer can make me so envious when I have a brand new one.



Hard to get any cooler than that.

We understand. Has that effect on us too. Yesterday again when the kids pulled out with him. Like a youngster leaving home it was - everytime he leaves.

It's hard to believe an old trailer can make me so envious when I have a brand new one.



Hard to get any cooler than that.

Today: Spare Tire Mount and Propane Tank Levels Indicator.

Okay, so I did more.

You know - more work on Lil' Queeny is coming up, but first I have to find her. All summer long we've had these other jobs and projects; they're like rabbits I tell you, rabbits! And if you've never had a truck camper in the garage, I'm here to tell you, floor storage under those wings? Awesome! You can pile neat little project piles all over underneath those!

And those piles often make real good foundations for new projects that can be stacked on TOP of those, and IF you are talented, you can even stack these things SO high, that with proper placement of project materials like a Jenga stack, you can end up with piles that are supported at their tops by well placed ceiling attachment fasteners, and those are easily found in one's coffee cans! Brilliant.

So I think Lil' Queeny is still there, but that whole age related memory thing comes into play too, and sometimes I half wonder if we didn't finish her up LAST year, and I just have her parked outside somewhere! But I can't find her. I think, and DW supports this theory, she's still in that same garage spot, under those project piles.

So everyday, I keep plugging away at those remaining projects, eye to the sky, knowing that very soon the outside stuff is all over.

So I tend to pre-tend; pretend that these indoor things aren't there, and I simply wander around in the yard, and now in the field, and I look over all these old and new piles and I think, "What do I want to do today?

So yesterday I was looking at Tow-Mater's spare tire. I don't want it laying on the ground, or leaning on a sagebrush - NO - Don't lean it on the pines! It took YEARS for us to get those to grow that big!

We haven't gotten onto the back-bumper gear-box yet, which was going to incorporate a spare tire holder - because we have all been too busy with too many projects. But I DID find a nice little out of the way spot to put the tire, until towing that is, when it can be thrown in the back of a pickup bed you know? Like we have always done?

Yeah, that spot was right behind the propane tanks on the tongue. It's okay for storage, but not for towing because the tire will damage the front wall sheet metal.

So I got's this idea, see? I took some measurements and then rolled the tire up to the shop and pulled out some parts. Set them out on half a work table because I have Ta-Ton-Ka's range and furnace on the other half.

Spare Tire.



Spare tire mount parts.



Now you all recognize the tray - a double propane tank tongue mount tray. That went to Alaska with us on the tongue of our enclosed cargo/car hauler trailer. Two extra tanks along with one in the pop-up Truck Camper, but just extra parts now.

And the threaded rod and butterfly nut.

But what's that bracket?

Oh, it came out of a coffee can on my shelf labeled "Large Brackets". If memory serves me, it was some kind of an emergency brake cable bracket on some vehicle in the past I took off to do something else.



The threaded rod fit in the larger far hole, but not in the near hole. However, I could tell it WOULD fit if the hole were tapped out. So I found the right tap...



And tapped it out.



Cool.

I kind of knew after measurements that this thing-a-ma-jig might work. Back to the field we went, tie-down in one hand, the other (the one with just one finger) rolling the spare tire.

Now - here's where we get tricky.

I threaded the rod into the bracket in this fashion. This is viewing from the front of the tanks.



That rod is slid forward to it's furthest. And from the back looks like this...



Which gives room to get the tire up in here without scratching paint.



Then after getting the tire in the right spot, the rod is moved to spear the wheel hole.



Then through the wheel hole.



It's tight, but especially if coming in from below, next you get the butterfly nut threaded on and pull the whole she-bang together.



Which cleared everything real well!



But I ran out of thread for a secure fit. The tire mounting was too wobbly. Wobbly is what causes things to wear and break. Firm, secure, snug is what causes weaker than designed parts to be "okay". Maybe.

I thought, "I could put the rod in the vice and run a die down it to thread some more, or.... I could get rid of all the excess schlop and do this job right!

So again, after another measurement or two, I went to the coffee can labeled "Turnbuckles & Eye-bolts, and found a fine specimen.

Here's how it fell into place, without all the other flim-flam!



BTW, it looks like it's hooked over the copper propane line, but it's snot.

That reminds me of a little diddy my Mom used to sing/say.

(When you're dancing with your huney, and her nose is sort of running, and you think it's kind of funny, but it's snot.)

Yeah, this method cleared all the propane lines, be they copper or rubber.

It pulled things in tight and keeps the tire from the trailer wall like this.



Nice tight little package!



Now throw a bicycle chain lock around the frame, tanks and tire and you're golden!

And while were in this area, can you find the red, yellow, and green clips in this photo? Where's Waldo?



See here's the problem, after starting on a tank, who can remember before the next trip, which tank is full, and which is in use? So before a trip, part of the pre-planning is always stopping by at the propane store. And maybe that's not necessary!

Especially since the kids aren't practiced, and because there's more than one of us using these tanks (me for testing appliances and the like), so I got's this idea back ago, see?

Green means "Full". Yellow means "In use" and the Red one down on the tray? That's for when a tank is Empty. All you do is rotate the clips to their proper place.

Bingo!

Today: Camp-site landing edge boards painted, Galley sink replaced with one in tomato-soup red, Winterizing checks on butyl tape edge seals.

We have a small deck-like landing out of our dining room door onto the south side of the house, with two steps. In the bright sun of summer, the step edges visually merge with the non-step parts and becomes a fall hazard. DW bought some deck paint in a contrasting color from the clearance rack. $9 for a gallon of this stuff, Rustoleum sanded deck and concrete paint, normally at least in the $30s.



With lots left over, I added some water to thin it enough for brush work, and slopped it on the previously mentioned 30-odd year-old red-wood deck boards we salvaged from their date with the landfill.



Just yesterday, we picked up three 5 gallon buckets of quality brand interior paint in three different tones of neutral colors for $15 a bucket! That's less than $4 a gallon, even if one has only 3 gallons, and another has only 4 gallons, which while lifting them, felt as if some was missing from two of them. Those went right to DD's house, which is getting some realtor friendly paint changes. You really need to check out those "oops shelves" at the home center!



After drying, I took the boards down to "The Pines" and set them nearby for install later, after DSIL picks up Tow-Mater this evening.

But before he picked up the trailer I wanted to change out the sink. I got the Tomato-soup-red sink basin out of Ta-Ton-Ka, cleaned things up and checked sizing.

The phone camera lens throws off the visual, but the two sinks are exactly the same size.



Yeah, that will work. So now we have that extra flesh color, or maybe pastel-peach color sink basin for Fairweather June's bathroom!

The job was easy and quick, just had to pull the icebox and the basin retainer fasteners, a bit-o-plumbing.



With winter coming, I had been looking (from the ground) at the edge molding and had noticed what looked like some gaps opening up on some of the areas of butyl. So I got the ladder and checked screws, which I see as a routine maintenance item, at least every Spring and Fall.

I discovered most of the gaps were simply irregularities in the exact overlap of two or more layers of the thin butyl tape during installation. So sealing was still looking excellent!

But I hadn't ever really come back and set all the screws by hand, necessarily, so I did that, all over the trailer. And believe me, that was MUCH faster and easier than doing the same on a large RV!

So some screws came in a little, some were fine, some butyl was still awesome, and some squeezed just a bit more. All in all, it ended up looking wonderful, especially considering some of those areas we got fixed up right?

Like this kind of spot? The epoxy patches are looking pretty good too!









Note in this photo - this is the bottom edge of the bunk-over floor. Originally the manufacturer had installed the molding up-side down from how I did, so there was a sort of dam on the top part of it, rather than the rain-gutter type profile seen here.



My install method improves things by not only providing a sort of water run off channel, so it isn't dripping as much on your head right there, but allows water, after hitting the wall, to fall off faster and easier, instead of pooling like it used to do. In turn, that saves this more critical intrusion area from that evil water monster!

Additionally, there were still about seven open screw holes on the back wall. I guess when I had been working that area, I took them out to manipulate the rear wall sheet metal, and the backer board, which was ONLY held by them, fell inside, and now doesn't line up with the holes. So I filled the holes with a big enough screw to pull two pieces of sheet metal tight to each other, which is the same way most tail and clearance lights attach too. If those don't hold well in future, I might design an interior "something or other" to act as the backer-board for the spots.

With the trailer tilted slightly back from level, the roof runoff should be adequate, and the wind is all briefed and awaiting its task of keeping snowfall blown off too.



Tow-Mater is ready for winter! Well except for that one trip coming up. :)

Today: Tow-Mater's parking spot built - in camp-site style.

More than thirty years ago, when we first moved to Wyoming, I had a co-worker who helped explain to me the differences in Wyoming weather, from what we had come from and were familiar with. Fortunately for me, he was "speakin'-my-lanquitch" - that is to say, he was one of these guys who would go buy some building materials, and put them up around his house - home improvements! Man he built some cool stuff! That glass-wall on the cliff face.

He used to tell me, back in his early days he'd go buy $100 worth of lumber, and it would take all weekend to put it up! Then he'd lament about the current days (more than 30 years ago), where $100 worth of lumber could be put up in a few short hours. I think he just got better at it. ;)

His stories are no different than any of our stories. We all think back - and we all lament. I wonder if that's because we have this thing inside us that helps us "forget the bad" and "remember the good". I mean, it's not like we don't remember ANY bad, or that we can recall ALL that really cool stuff, but in general, maybe it's a defense mechanism that kind of keeps us going.

So anyway, he'd tell me, "don't plan "starting" any outdoor projects after October 15".

Well yesterday was 10/1. Remember all our wet weather this spring? When I had Tow-Mater unzipped? And then it got so hot - hotter than normal it seemed, and then August rolled in and the weather was abnormally cool - just beautiful! By September, we were behind the power curve on some of our "outdoor projects", (we were actually doing fine, but saying we were behind the power curve, adds a little bit of tenseness, that I think lends more excitement to the read, but I could be wrong).

It's been cool for awhile now, and wetter at times, and after living in Alaska and watching the changing vegetation, DW and I have gotten a little bit more in tune with our surroundings, and for quite some time, DW has been saying we're getting an early winter. You can feel it, see it. I just love tuning into nature!

So yesterday it was cooler, and real blustery - one of those kind of Fall days that makes you think you better get your nuts stored, if you know what I mean. There's no time left for grass-hoppering!

For a couple days I'd been prepping a spot in the field, to park Tow-Mater. A permanent home that wasn't just "out where the tall grass grows". I mentioned such ideas over in Fair-weather June thread.

Right around the three pines, at the edge of the field, I came in with the shovel and cleared out the Yuccas, a few ill-placed Sage brushes, and mowed the grasses. Then we unloaded the remaining scrap redwood onto the woodpile from the orange trailer (errr red, now that we have more than one orange trailer, I better re-define).

The red trailer is the double axle Jeep hauler and yard materials hauler. Got it emptied and ran it over to the sand and gravel store and picked up two tons of driveway base. Me and DW started laying it out in a chosen spot for Tow-Mater, and then the family came over and we took the rest of the day off.

I went out in the wind yesterday morning and finished the job, then loaded up the removed vegetation and drove the truck over the spot for packing.



Here's coming into it. The main road here being built is filled with "neighbor sand" and then a fair amount of "flagstone debris". We'll get more base, or something more here too, as time goes on.



Note Tow-Mater ready to move.



We get such a tickle out of this thing. Ain't he just the coolest?

Backed into his new spot.



This is the windward corner, where the brunt of our highest winds will hit on his left rear corner.



And keep the snow blown off the roof, so it doesn't have time to melt and find a way into the trailer as water. That same previously mentioned co-worker also said, "In Wyoming, the snow doesn't melt, the wind beats it into submission", and "you don't have to go anywhere when you live in Wyoming, because you can see for three days".

And we have a thing here called "snirt". That's snow and dirt mixed by the wind and left laying there in a hard-packed drift.



But between the trailer acting as a wind block on the one side, and the trees on the other, it makes for a nice little camp spot. DD was stoked, and DGS was telling GMA, "we can put a little fire pit right here, and we can set chairs right there". He had the vision.



Then I moved the truck out.













This is that load of salvage wood we picked up for free recently.



I selected some more or less damaged 2x6's and got them scraped of loose stuff.



And now in the process of getting some sanded "Restore Deck" paint stuff on them. Then we'll bury one edge and use these as a border at the parking pad, like you see in some camp-sites.

Get them laid out here on the far, and on the right side edges. You'll see those in a future post.



From a window up above, after the rain and hail.



This week, DSIL will pick up the trailer after work on Friday so the fam can re-load or re-familiarize, and then we're all going camping soon!

Okay folks, photos re-loaded.

This is one of those times when I wish this site had a Thumbs Up emoji .

Thursday evening last, the kids came over and parked the camp trailer here at the house after having it on the street for several days. They'd gotten it cleaned out and camp stuff washed and reloaded - all ready to go for next time out!

We had dinner and then viewed their camp photos on the big screen.

We had already received a couple of pics via text, their first night out. No - they weren't in a campground, and didn't have an outhouse to dump the portable toilet, so it was a good thing we sent them with the blue tank, which will require some fine tuning of process - and we'll get to that. ;)

But there were many happy campers there, and as expected, the fam and Tow-Mater were the stars of the trip! Everybody had a great time, nostalgic-ing and everything.

Here's their camp set up.

Coming up the road, their site in the center.











Here's the grandsons, with a cousin there in the middle. There's just nothing like Cheetos in a camper!



DSIL.



And DD. Isn't she sweet?



But don't mess up her camper - boy you'd be in a heap-o-trouble!