Our soon to be *new* home. Trolley

[WyzrdX]

Hello everyone.


My name is Gene. I have been lurking as a guest for some time but recently joined after settling on an RV. I guess I will tell our story.


I am a 40 something man married for 17 years. My wife and I have 2 Children. I am a Glacialist (Geologist who studies ice.) by trade. My wife is an accountant who is currently working on her History Degree. She will be going on to her Graduate Degree next January. Which brings us to the RV.

Before we had kids, my wife and I traveled the country due to my work. We had a truck with a camper in the bed because sometime work took me far from the beaten path. When our son was born we settled down some. A few years ago we started getting the itch to travel again with our 2 kids. When she wanted to go back to school for her history degree, we discovered she would have to attend 2 schools in 2 different parts of the country. We started looking at ways to make it easier on all of us.

We both hate packing, moving and unpacking, but we love to travel. So we decided on getting an RV. It took us to many states and many dealers, and yet we still couldn't find one that just jumped up at us. That is until we found Trolley.

One day my wife and I found an ad on Craigslist for a 1974 Winnebago. All the ad said was "1974 Winnebago. Runs but needs work. AC leaks. No refrigerator. $3500 obo."

I wasn't to sure but my wife wanted to look at it anyways. From the moment we saw it we fell in love. We knew this was going to be our new home. We looked past the flaws and saw what we could do. Even though she had many flaws, we saw the potential. We discussed it and decided to make an offer. We picked it up for a total of $2250 and brought her home.

My daughter, who is 4, fell in love with her. She even has named her Trolley from the PBS show Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

First I will list the flaws when we picked her up;

   
• Tar on roof. PO said the person they bought her from had a small leak and just tarred the roof.
• Leak around Air Conditioner. Condensation pooling up on roof causing leak at the seal.
• No refrigerator.
• Original furnace missing and gas furnace installed above one of the bunks.
• Soft spot in floor below the air conditioner.
• Water shut-off valves frozen. PO said the tank held water but the SO Valves wont turn.
• Generator was working but needs service.
• Valve cover gasket needs replacing.
• Carburetor needs manual choke. PO said once the engine has warmed up he had to choke it to restart the engine.
• Dash lights not working.
• Some gauges not working. PO said oil pressure, alternator, vacuum, main fuel, and temp gauges not working.

Drove it home 50 miles with only a few issues;

   
• When stopping, had to keep foot on gas peddle to prevent dying.
• Stalled out a few time and had to choke it to restart. PO had stated as much.
• Left turn signal wouldn't stay engaged, had to hold it.
• Power steering fluid was low.

What I have done since I picked her up;

   
• Hooked up to 30 Amp to test Air Conditioner and lights. (A/C would trip RV breaker every time the compressor kicked in.)
• Used a lot of carburetor cleaner. (Seems to have ended the choke issue.)
• Washed the water and road grime off.
• Replaced the Air Conditioner. (With the breaker tripping I decided to replace it since the unit was the 1974 original.)

And last but not least, what we are going to do;

   
• Replace the flooring. Original carpet has been removed and vinyl flooring has been added. I am going to remove the vinyl, replace the soft spots and use laminate flooring that we did our house in.
• Remove and Rebuild the overhead storage and kitchen counters.
• Remove the dining table and replace with custom built seating that has storage underneath, and fold out to a bed. Also will have a custom built removable table for dining.
• Replace the refrigerator and stove with new.
• Replace windows with better ones if I can find correct sizes.
• Remodel bunk area.
• Replace shower.
• Replace lighting fixtures throughout with LED lighting.
• Have TPO roof installed.
• Repaint.
• Any other modifications that may come up.

And here are a few pics of her as she sits now.

[JessEm]

Hello WyzrdX! Congrats on your new purchase.

I for one would love to see those pictures you posted but they're not showing up.

[WyzrdX]

I messed up some of the code. See if they are visible now.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

** The one thing you must remember to do for all your albums is to check "All" on the permissions portion of that screen.  You can select each membergroup individually if you don't want visitors or guests to view your album.

Topic: How to Make a Gallery Photo Album

[WyzrdX]

I had read the Gallery post before but never hurts to reread it again. I had most selected, I just didn't check all. IDK what I did but I play with rocks so I try not to fret.

[Oz]

I took care of it this morning.

[Schmitti]

The base I like

Thomas

[NottooldNottoyoung]

I will keep my eyes on your progress. I like I read and see...Keep it up.

[WyzrdX]

I plan on starting a project page once the actual work begins. It is going to be fun.