Prepping for the Weekend

Getting ready to bring Eddie IV home for another weekend of reno. Ripping down 2x4's for the entertainment center frame and quarter round. One 8' 2x4 gave me enough material to make 8 sticks of quarter round. Another 2x4 made up 4 - 1x2's. My goal is to bring Eddie up to my standards as cheap as possible.

Crappy Carpet to Lustrous Laminate

Say goodbye to the filthy, stinky, stained, god awful, faded mauve carpet. With a couple good tugs, Dave and I were able to get the carpet and padding up in about 15 minutes. A few minutes more, the staples were removed or pounded in and the floor swept.

 

Look at that stain on the bottom of the carpet.

I spent a few extra dollars for the heavy duty pad and laid it in, 

stapled it down and taped the seams. 

A nice smooth base for the laminate to go onto.

Time for the laminate, at 65 cents a square foot, I couldn't go wrong. I started up front just under the couch. Only had 1 problem board on the whole floor and it happened to be in the middle in front of the sink. It was fixed with a single finish nail covered with wood putty.

Looking back to the bedroom.

Looking forward from the bedroom.

A Jeff Dunham DVD to keep me company on the TV.

It was a little tight in Eddie IV for Dave and me to be working on the floor, so Dave worked on the appliances. Degreasing, washing, sanding and then washing again to give a good surface for paint to adhere. The former almond fan vent, cooktop and cooktop cover are now black thanks to Rustoleum's Appliance Epoxy.

Covers well with a smooth finish.

Some wet sanding.

First coat of paint.

Mouse crap GONE!!!

After the tear out, bleaching, sealing, painting and laying down new lauan, the cab-over is ready for the entertainment center.

Sealing the running lights.

 

Lauan down, insulation going in.

 

Dave working on trim.

Cab-over ready for entertainment center.

I'm Back

Its been a while, but I'm back. Had to take some time off after the Disney vacation to take care of a sick puppy. We almost lost my Great Pyr, Yogi, to a serious infection. He is doing better now.

One More Weekend Off...

I'm taking one more weekend off of working on Eddie. Two reasons, snow and DISNEY WORLD. Only taking a long weekend trip to Mouseland, so Eddie is staying home. We are traveling in the metal tube with wings.


Next time we go, Eddie gets to go too. We'll be checking out the Fort Wilderness Campground to get a preview.















Next weekend, the plan is complete the repair on the cabover, pull up the carpet and maybe get the flooring in.

Til next time...

Todd

Chicago RV Show

Off to the RV Show in Chicago today. To anyone near Chicago, I hope you can make it. http://www.chicagorvshow.com/

Pictorial Guide to RVing

Great book! - Loaded with pictures of vintage postcards. Have to keep an eye out at antique shops and go through the postcards. I never realized there were so many. Thanks Dave!

Eddie's water tight.

Stopped by and checked Eddie out, completely dry from the small leak at the running light. Four more days until the RV Show, can't wait.

Cleaning - Day 2

My buddy Dave came over for Day 2 of the initial cleaning process. Dave took care of removing everything from the walls, prepping for the new panelling.

The bathroom, minus the medicine cabinet, soap and toothbrush trays.

While Dave was doing that, I was tackling the cabover. Boy do I hate mouse crap. I never felt as dirty as I did cleaning that up. Everytime I touch something up there, mouse turds came raining down. I removed all of the insulation and vacuumed up the crap.

Its going to take a strong bleach solution before I put that back together again. I figure only $20 to $30 for that repair. We also corrected a small leak from a broken running light on top on the passenger side.

Next week, the RV Show in Chicago.

Cleaning begins

Began the cleaning process today. Lots of mouse sh*t everywhere. Dave did a hell of a job getting it all up. Some damage in the cabover from mouse piss. Will have to replace the wood, thankful that it has a steel frame. On the exterior, straightened the aluminum that was damaged from a crowbar. Apparently, someone tried to break in on the previous owners.

Good Old RVs

Visit Good Old RVs

New Flooring

Today, I purchased the laminate flooring to replace the carpet in Eddie. 78 square feet at 88¢ per square foot. Normally $1.99 per square foot. Can't wait until the weather warms up to put it in.

The Many Faces of Eddie

Cousin Eddie that is. We have been RVin' for 4 years now and on our 5th RV. We started with a 1987 Jaymini, 23 ft long that needed a lot of TLC, so we fondly named it "The Cousin Eddie". For those of you that don't know who Cousin Eddie is, he is the lovable moron from the National Lampoon Vacation movies.Had to gut the cab-over sleeper and clean out the black mold. We sold it for $500 more than we paid.

Next, we decided to try seasonal camping and bought "Aunt Edna", a 38 ft trailer. We loved her and never had a problem with her. She stayed parked at Yogi Bear , 9 minutes from our front door, for 2 years. Wanting to be on the move and not having a vehicle large enough to pull her, we sold her and made a $1000 profit.

Our luck turned south with Cousin Eddie II. We searched the web for the perfect 33 ft Class A. We found it, drove almost 4 hours to get it, went over it with a fine tooth comb and test drove it. We are taking this one home, we loved it. 20 miles from the place of purchase, the engine blows. We are out $4500.

Thanks to our friend Dave, we come across a 1997, 18 ft, NPE "Eddie" trailer. We dubbed it "Eddie Jr." This little guy was loaded, like a trailer twice its size. We kept it at Yogi for the summer and took it on a trip to Cooperstown, NY. What a fun little camper. Wanting a drivable RV again, we sold it to a nice family from Poland on a travel visa. We took a small loss on it.

So now, we get to our current RV, a 1990, 26 ft Gulf Stream Ultra. We paid $3300 for it, Cousin Eddie, IV. He needs some care to get him where we want him. This blog will follow the restoration, customization and care to bring him to RV he was meant to be. I hope I can show you something new and learn something from you. Enjoy! Todd