What a Mess!

Hi! Here I go with another blog. I thought some of you might be interested in the progress of our Coleman Tent Trailer renovation.

The trailer is a 1978 Coleman Valley Forge. We got it for a good price (or so we thought), and finally got it home on Sunday night. I popped it up on Monday morning for my first look inside.

First things first: the front bed wouldn't pull out. Well, the slider on one side is broken (remember, this is old). That can be fixed. I even located the part I believe I need. I did get the bed all the way out, but it took some force.

Next thing, it's FILTHY inside. Not when the galley (stove, sink, counter) is up in the working position, that part wasn't so dirty. But mostly, just filthy. I'm going to want to take out all the cabinets and seats and really clean and paint. Which I wanted to do even before I saw it, so that's not too new.

The weather sealant (I'm not sure it was even weather stripping, like it should be) was just melting off like chewed gum in the heat. Literally, that's the consistency as I pulled it off. I'm not sure what the previous owner used, but I will be using something different to replace it.

Inside, the previous owner had patched up the ceiling, I'm not exactly sure what he used. But I do know he calked around the seams of it. And in 100+ degree weather, guess what? It was melting.

OK, so not so bad, right? We can fix these things. I'm afraid to go out there, because I'm sure I'll find more. Yikes! We will get there. I wanted a project, right? Well, turns out, it's going to be a joint project, and not just mine. Because Nic is way more handy at repairs than I am. :-)

One more thing, today I went to get the trailer licensed, and it has a special kind of license on it in Idaho that says it can't be transferred until 8/2/2016. So we have a trailer we can't use for a year unless we buy 3-day trip permits costing $30 each. Yay.

I'll be posting before and after pictures along the way. I don't have them here right now, but they'll be coming. Keep checking back! It's only the beginning.