'71 Starcraft Wanderstar- "The Hilton"

jay427 wrote:
This is great, I have not been here in some time and came to post a thread about a camper redo!!

I'm thinking of taking on somthing similar. 16-20', complete gut, no shower, room for a pora potti and thats about it. Towable with a 1/2 ton truck.

I'm also wood worker fix most anything type of person so it appeals to me.

One question I do have, IIRC the older TT's had a lower roof height, true? I have a second garage with a 10' side walls but only a 8' door. Would be sweet if I could get it inside. Currently our TT sits outside.

Keep the pics and progress comming. Maybe you could keep a running list of dues and dont as you find them!! Edit you first post maybe?

Thanks for taking the time to share.

Jay

Well Jay,this isn't the task of wise men, maybe, it's a lot of work. I took it on because of the unusual situation of having to live in it in extreme climate and nothing I could find fit the bill. The older TT's are barely insulated and the newer ones, although manufactured to a better standard, still are inefficient for cold weather. This is mainly due to the use of inefficient propane furnaces and the construction. I know a few mfg.s tout figures of R-28 or R-19 in floors and walls but there just isn't enough physical dimension to get to those values with the materials involved. /rant
If I was just restoring the Starcraft (or any other vintage TT), one of the first "do's" would be: do inspect the trailer for the amount of water damage. I knew this TT was riddled with rot and had extensive damage but since I had a complete gut-out in mind, I wasn't shocked by the extent. That, and I have stacks of lumber in my yard from my profession and all the tools a guy could want. I also am blessed with time at this time of year. It is easier to do a project of this scale if there is some continuous schedule involved. Do budget some time, I guess, don't think it can be done in a month of weekends, you'll probably get disappointed.
One of the good resources for a frame-up restore is this series of videos from Mark's RV garage In the series of videos, he totally restores a Yellowstone TT. He is lucky to be a pro and receive a lot of freebies from his sponsors.
Don't think that it will be possible to do the restoration and not have some expense. They are not giving away materials, even to contractors, lol. I think I have North of $50 just in sealants and adhesives. I don't have a total for the whole expense but it will be a fair bit.
AFAIK, none of these vintage trailers are going to clear an 8' door height, maybe a Scamp or one of the smaller canned ham trailers but what you sacrifice in clearance height is good for usable headroom, when in use. The Starcraft's ceiling height is 6'3".
Don't be dissuaded from the project by my caveats and the amount of work, though. Sometimes the journey is as important as the destination.