New RV addition, the Wanderstar/Hilton

westend

Audiopile
Just picked up this old travel trailer, yesterday. It is a Starcraft 22' Wanderstar, nicknamed "The Hilton" by a previous owner.

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I have been looking around for an old beater tow-behind in this size and came across this one that was listed on CL and was local. I wasn't aiming for a newer one or one that is in great shape since I plan to completely gut the interior. I figured if I got one that was in fairly good shape, I wouldn't have the heart to dismantle it so this one fit the bill. I'm planning on using this in the winter and I will need to upgrade the insulation value to accomplish that, hence the dismantling.

The most important features I was looking for are size (between 16' and 26'), adequate running gear (tandem axles, brakes, and decent bearings), and brand name quality (basically, a good frame and wall construction). The PO states the bearings were recently replaced, the tires are somewhat newish, and all underneath is pretty straight. It does tow good and seems unaffected by crosswind, at least my preliminary tow home of 30 miles indicated that. At a little less than 4000 lbs., it isn't that much of a load on my Ford F-250.

Here's a few more pics for those interested in what was deriguer in 1971 for RV'ing:

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The interior is in fairly good condition and I'll reuse some of it when I reinstall the interior. This RV has a somewhat gigantic bathroom in the back, way too much storage space dedicated so I will be thinking about what I need in that regard. I may just s*&^can the whole water system because where I plan to use this is not friendly to keeping water systems in the liquid state and I don't know if I want to go to all the trouble to insulate and treat that. A marine Porta-potty would probably suffice.
Any and all ideas welcome and tolerated. You're not going to hurt my feelings one bit by commenting. :yes:
 
a new fish house Lance?

Mille Lacs here we come, I'm sure it will have a great sound system installed.

Just what I was gonna say. I've seen plenty converted to fishhouses...do it right and you can use it year round. Cool!
Of course it's a fish house, too! All you need is a hole or two cut in the floor and a few pieces of stove pipe.:D
The main use for this is going to be for working out of town. I'm heading out to the place of NO unemployment, Williston, ND (or there abouts).

I've got a couple of days on the tear-out and plans have changed. I'm going to keep the plumbing, albeit with a few changes. The luxury of a hot shower and a midnite visit to the throne is irresistable.:D I found that I can insulate around the plumbing so it's going to stay. The layout will change a little bit if tomorrows plumbing inspection shows that I can place the commode in the vanity/sink location. That will gain me about 32 sq. ft. of floor space, eliminate a lot of long plumbing runs, and be a lot more functional. The wiring, both 12V and 110V is going to be redone, also. With the advent of sealed, AGM batteries, there's no need to have the converter in the rear storage cubby. I'm going to have that in a small mechanical space towards the front. The AC wiring is going to be changed, too. The breaker box will be mounted somewhere other than immediately below the kitchen sink and I'll have more of a star layout than the series approach that was stock. I've found a half-dozen places where the roof has leaked and the wood frame has rotted, that will be fixed, along with elimination of a few windows and upgrades for those remaining.
My conception on this has led to a renaming, "The Cowboy Hilton", going for a Western theme instead of the avacado green early 70's look. Also thinking of getting a poster of Paris Hilton for the space vacated by the airconditioner. What do you think, cool to come up from behind and see Paris on the rear end?

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Having some quality time with the Cowboy Hilton, today. I replaced the entire drivers side wall top plate. The back of the trailer is done, eliminated the cubby space that was accessed by a trap door in the rear and replaced a few pieces of rotten framing.

The real effort in this kind of restoration is removing all of the old caulk, tar, screws, and nails that previous owners used to eliminate leaks. All of that is a PITA and didn't need to be done in the first place. The center portion of the roof had never leaked, water damage was caused by the failure of the joint between the top skin and the side wall. This joint probably loosened because of framing that was rotting around the jalousie windows. I am eliminating a couple of those and replacing the rest.
Attached pics of the work.
 

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Looking good, not sure why people think if some caulk won't fix the leak a whole bunch more will do the job, maybe it's a conspiracy perpetrated by the caulk manufacturers! Oh, I forgot put a shit load of tar goo on it just for good measure, than can't hurt!
 
Looking good, not sure why people think if some caulk won't fix the leak a whole bunch more will do the job, maybe it's a conspiracy perpetrated by the caulk manufacturers! Oh, I forgot put a shit load of tar goo on it just for good measure, than can't hurt!
Yeah, you got it Doc. I wish I had a nickel for every spot that has caulk and tar on this.
I can see how the average owner couldn't disassemble/assemble things easily, however. All of the original fasteners that were used have what's called a "clutch head G" head, kind of a butterfly. It's not something in an ordinary toolbox and I did some searching to find the right kind of bit. I'm thinking that most guys would just grab an additional philips head screw and try to refasten whatever was loose. The other thing about these vintage trailers is that proper sealants weren't readily available back then. All of the metal parts that were sealed had Mortite between the pieces. The Mortite hardens after a few years and then becomes useless. I am using Loctite construction adhesive between the wood bits and GE Slicone to seal the metal pieces. The foam insulation that is coming later will be installed with Loctite foam adhesive and I have some sound control sealant for other areas.
Today, I will be addressing two other areas of rotten framing and then the trailer will be sealed from the elements. Good thing, too, as Winter is about to become an issue and most of the rest of the work can be done from inside the trailer. I have the heater installed on a temporary basis so it gets warm inside the shell.:yes:
 
Lance, looks like you just about got through the gee WTH is this phase. Looks like some spray in place foam is the right places would really tighten and stiffin up the frame panel intersections and cut down on air leaks. Have you looked into the small box foam kits they sell at some of the more pro type stores. The foam is alot better than the small can diy types, as I remember cost isn't too bad. Think the kits come with everything from box of foam to the spray gun.

Guess you know to watch the temp heater set up, always seems to be a few fires every year from doing something like this.

Bruce,
 
Bruce, I'll have to check out pricing and applicability of those foam kits. I was aware of their existence but have bought some other insulation. Thanks for the tip, none-the-less!
My current insulation plan is 1" extruded foam glued into the framing, 1/2 " of fiberglass batt inboard of that, 1/4" fanfold foam over the framing for a thermal break, and 4 mil poly to cover. The paneling I've chosen is 1/4" Luan board. I chose to use the fiberglass in the interior 1/2" of wall space to accommodate wiring. I would imagine that the foam spray would allow for the wiring, also, so I'll take a look at what's available. I can return the insulation I have.
No problems with the heater, I have it secured to a piece of micro lam beam and it is vented to the outside with class B vent, cap and all. I figured there's no reason to get sick from carbon monoxide while I'm doing the work.:D
 
Only problem I see is the damn rain ruining the good ice that's been forming the past week or so. Some of the lakes around my area already had 6-7"...with plenty of portables and small houses out. But...the warm weather & moisture has really eroded the ice...gonna need a week below zero to build it up again.

Great progress so far, Lance!
 
Bad ice in Minnesota this time of year? Must be a real drag. Could it be bad enough to call it a state wide emergency?

My Dad was from SE Miin, still have alot of relatives there, some in Brainard. Still remember a Christmas trip there in 1963 and ice fishing on Mille Lacs. Colder than hell and a real eye opener for someone from Wyoming, a small city on the ice, probably had more people on it than alot of towns in Wyoming! Learned about eelpouts that day and 4 holers, and hugh ice jams along the shoreline. I wonder if it still gets cold enough to allow the same level of activity?
 
Actually Doc, it's still pretty early to get a house out on the ice. But by the HOLIDAY, the little cities will start popping up on area lakes. My brother lives on Medicine Lake and he sees Domino's delivery cruising around out there all the time.
 
Good to know somethings haven't changed. Would hate to see the joy of freezing your hiney off while staring at a ice hole be denied to the good people of Minnesota( or the Promised Land(or was it the Holy Land?) as my Lutheran minister says at times.)

Gull Lake, had to look that one up, looks bigger in the pictures than on the map. Wonder if the guys in pic# 13 were looking for fish or their beer? Looks alot like I remember from '63, don't think they had San-A-Cans back then, guess yellow and brown snow is lost to progress. The new clean era of ECHO ice fishing.

Bruce,
 
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Ya, ice fishing is being delayed, this year. I think it hit 45 f here, today. Ice is melting, not forming, at those temps. We'll get some ice on the lakes, eventually.
I didn't take advantage of today's mild temps fo working on the Hilton, I had auto repair duties on the wife's commuter. It took me longer to clean out the garage to get her car in then to do the work.
I have managed to finish the last of the roof-to-sidewall framing. This was a way bigger task than I anticipated. It basiically entailed removing the aluminum trim rails, all of the screws and accumulation of caulk, tar, and other sealants from PO's. The factory stapled the roof skin and wall skin to the top framing plates. These were about 80% rotten so were replaced with pressure treated fir, after removing all the nails, screws, and staples in the way for install. I then used an elastomeric sealant and reattached the wall and roof skins, using a 9/16" narrow crown staple every inch or so. This seals the two skins to the top plates. I the cleaned up the aluminum trim rails (about 3 hrs. of power wire wheeling per rail), put down two beads of the same elastomeric sealant where they mounted, and screwed down the trim rails to the new framing. I've used almost 2 hundred sheet metal screws, so far.
No pictures, today but I'll get some more up, showing the framing efforts, ASAP. I made a trip to the electronics recycler and came away with some cute stuff for rewiring the Hilton, a DC meter, a distro panel, some lights, and switches. I also will be using these Ikea lights that happened to be 12v., I salvaged them off a curb-side find and have them installed above my tech bench but they will have a better use in the Hilton.
 

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I assume you are still heading to ND. I just talked to a good friend of mine whose brother is driving an oil truck up there. 3 weeks of trucking school and 6 months later he is making 12,000 dollars a month. No misprint, 12,000 dollars a month. Of course, he is working in like -20 degrees hauling 300 pound fuel lines through blizzards, but he is getting well paid for it.

I had thought about it when things were looking bleak, but I didn't want to travel. Of course, igf I had had any idea of the amount of money he was going to make, I might have made a different decision.

Back on track. I would insulate any and every part of that rig, and then insulate it again. Oh, and add A/C for the summer, and a keggerator.
 
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I assume you are still heading to ND. I just talked to a good friend of mine whose brother is driving an oil truck up there. 3 weeks of trucking school and 6 months later he is making 12,000 dollars a month.

I worked in the ND oil patch in the early 80's, it sounds like things have changed a bit. My brother and I both snagged jobs at the first place we inquired - building large tanks. One morning a driver didn't show up and the yard boss was asking the tank crews if anyone could drive. Sure I said, and within 5 minutes I was driving an over-size 18 wheeler, having never piloted anything larger than a 1 ton pickup before.

No misprint, 12,000 dollars a month.

IIRC, I think I was making around $1500 - $2000 a week, depending on over time.

Of course, he is working in like -20 degrees hauling 300 pound fuel lines through blizzards, but he is getting well paid for it.

The truth is stretched a bit here. He may be seeing a couple of short bursts of weather that cold, but by and large the weather in far western ND is a lot milder than the rest of the state. Nights would be well into freezing and often approaching 0 in January, but daytimes are typically in the low 40's.

It would actually be 60 more often than -20.

Driving in blizzards is actually frowned upon. Most of the roads into the rigs are barely improved, often after a 10 or 20 mile trip on one lane gravel (or scoria) roads through national grasslands.

The countryside is rugged and beautiful.

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Soooo...I'm curious about the "electronics recycler" you mentioned. Wouldn't be Ax-Man, would it?

53 at my house yesterday, BTW. Who'd think you'd see guys ice fishing in their shirtsleeves the week before Christmas! Most lakes have around 7-8"....plenty of portables out...and the shirtsleeve guys sittin' on buckets.
 
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