Welcome Martorious and other newbies!!

[brainpause]

Ok, Ok, stop hitting me, it now works for me too    :p

Mr. B, it is STILL working fine for me. :p

Look, Mr. B!!!! Someone is wanting YOUR expertise on a popup!!!!

[birol]

I hear the sarcasm on that Larry I am so glad that he might buy this one. It seems to be in better  shape then mine to be honest. I am going over the pictures one by one carefully .... Unfortunately the ceiling picture is not working right now but I will keep trying.

Mr. B, it is STILL working fine for me. :p

Look, Mr. B!!!! Someone is wanting YOUR expertise on a popup!!!!

[whitestar505]

Welcome Marty

[Martorious]

Welcome Marty

Thanks, it's good to be here.
 
birol, I had trouble with that picture too so I re-uploaded it.  should work now.

[birol]

When you see the PU, check the upper inside corners of the roof, there are four wooden blocks on my 68, on which the canvas is screwed on. See if the canvas is badly damaged there, if so, you will need a new canvas very quickly. Mine showed some damage but still held fine when we replaced the inside of the roof.

Do not worry about the velcro not holding the door frame nicely right now, mine did the same, once you realign the canvas (which is a piece of cake) it will hold just fine.

Do the door side have the plastic protectors like the non door side has ? With ours we only haev the canvas and have to zip it up in rainy weather, sucks ...

Does the canvas have the elesticy thingie which will secure it to the thingie magicies on the bottom of the bunkends ? they are pricey ......

Check the inside corner of the canvas which goes over the bunkends carefully, they are most probably torn or about to tear .....Patch them immediately whether they are torn or not, if this is the original canvas (looks like it, mine is, confirmed) it is about to let go.


Do not worry about the water accumulating over the bunk bed, they did not set it up properly, mine did the same, once I set it up properly, water just goes down ....

Your table looks better then mine do not let those get wet, I did and mine is a write off now

Looks like there were two pipes going to the faucet ? Piece of cake to replace it ....that range looks neat and clean and good ! Much better than mine ....

Woowwork is scuffed, you are right, but it is all panelling stuff. I am going to redo the whole inside when I have money ... Not difficult work at all. I would not let that stop me from buying this unit.

There can not be any damage to the structure of the roof, because there is no strusture to talk of ! Just three panels and styrofoam insulation.  Two days work to replace, just wait till I post my pictures hopefully today. Do not elt the roof stop you, but budget around 350 USD for a brand new rood with lights and jacks and a fan all Ok, maybe 250 usd, I am not so sure .....

If the skin is still attached to the insulation, all you gotta do is glue new panels, 60 bucks or so total, and you can run that ugly electrical cord inside the roof. If the sides of the roof is damaged, not a very big deal to repalce them while it is off, piece of cake I am telling you.

All in all, nothing beats being greeted with a "Hey isn't that a 68 starcraft ? " when you pull into the camping world store and someone with grey hair saying how it was their first camper and if they could peek inside and remember their good old days.


You have  porch light I see, probably got a converter too, nice for you

Mine was in much worse shape and I paid 435+100 usd for it plus travel expenses etc. Yours is newer nad in better shape, looks like canvas is in good shape, but do not let the pictures mislead you, my canvas looked a lot better on teh pictures too. Count on new canvas pretty soon, you might hold it and it might rip ....

[birol]

Got any more pictures ?

[Martorious]

Got any more pictures ?

Not yet, I'm going to see it this friday and give it a good once over.  If we buy it, I'll get some more detailed pics up after the weekend.
 
After hearing from you about the original condition of Finally I don't think I can beat it for the asking price ($195.00).  
 
I can't answer most of your questions yet, but believe me I'm writing down everywhere you say i should look so I can make a checklist of things to check!
 
Thanks for all the advice, and if you think of anything else before friday be sure to pass it on so I can look at it too.
 
Also, would you think it out of line for me to ask them to inspect/repackthe wheel bearings before I buy it considering they are basically giving me the popup?

[Kelly]

Also, would you think it out of line for me to ask them to inspect/repackthe wheel bearings before I buy it considering they are basically giving me the popup?

Never hurts to ask.  I'd certainly try!  It costs a little over $100. to have it done here ... guess that would make the PU darn near FREE!  

Good Luck.

[birol]

I do not think they would do it for 190 bucks ! but ask anyways At this price, get it without questions, unless the plywood under your feet is completely rotted of course !

Kneel under the trailer and check the plywood carefully also when you walk check for soft spots ....

Good luck with it ! You lucky duck

[Martorious]

Yahoo!
Couldn't wait til Friday as I'd originally planned, so got up early Thursday morning and drove the two hours to the dealer, got there when they opened. The salesman I'd been talking to on the phone wasn't there yet, so I walked down to look at it. Only a couple of things that didn't show in the photos.
 
1. The rear bunk's canvas was totally ripped out in the lower corners (where it wraps around the bunk corners), the material in that area was very delicate, I ripped it about an extra quarter inch with no effort at all. Will either have to patch the corners or replace the canvas (which I plan to do anyway, at least the tent over the rear bunk as it is in the worst shape) The matress in this end was completely soaked on that edge, the camper was popped up at the dealership and they'd had a major rainstorm move through the day before. But no water/wetness anywhere else in the camper, so I wasn't too worried about the wet mattress.
 
2. Under the Galley someone had ripped out the lower section of cabinetry and replaced it with plywood with a hole cut in it, presumably to fit a refrigerator/icechest in. Also the galley lifts up (swings up?) into position. The hardware looks like the mechanism for a glider rocker, except it swings up to raise the galley up to a more normal height. I've never seen one like that.
 
3. The wood sides in the roof are very soft/rotted in a couple of spots. Particularly in the front left corner. Will probably have to replace that when I re-do the roof, but it won't cause that much more work than I would have had to do anyway. Birol your pictures will be a great help when that time comes!
 
4. The LP tank was disconnected and capped at the dealer (made me initial the paperwork) as the tank was not DOT compliant. I'll be in the market for one soon, How much do DOT compliant 20# tanks cost these days?
 
A few bonuses that were pleasant surprises:
 
1. It has an Add-a-Room, or at least I think that's what it is. It connects in a channel above the door, and is a screen room. It's about 8'x9'. Not in bad shape, the no-see-um netting is snagged in a couple of places and is pulling from the seems for about 8 inches at another, and several of the stake-loops are missing, particularly on the front corners, and it has one fairly large (9" x 3") hole that was kind of patched on the roof, but all in all it was in fairly good shape.
 
2. Also in one of the storage compartments under the dinette seats I found a second screen room, although it is a cheap one. Looks like a 9.99 special from Walmart or somewhere. Cheap blue tarp material, about 15-20 pole sections with no instructions. Me and my two older boys tried to put it up, but with no success. If nothing else it taught me to look for a freestanding screen room that's easy to put up!
 
Birol, you were right when you said it had plastic covers over the window on the galley side although I didn't know what you were talking about at the time! And no, that is the only window with the clear plastic, but with the add-a-room at least we won't have to close the windows on the door side if it rains a little.
 
I'm going home and pop it up and put on the Add-a-Room this afternoon after work and borrow the sister-in-law's digital camera and should be able to post some new pics tomorrow.
 
Birol and Lee, hope you guys are up to a thousand and one questions (and anyone else that makes the mistake of professing any knowlege of pop-up renovation! )
 
edit:  ps.  The final price was $95.00 for the Pop-up.  Now before you have a heart attack, I paid more for the paperwork ($100.00)!  It worked out like this, they normally charge 100 for a documentation fee, but said they wouldn't charge me for that, but still had to show it on the paperwork, so the cut the price of the Starcraft by the $100.00.  Then with $5.70 in tax I got out with a great pop-up for $200.70 and a tank of gas to go get it!  I feel like a sneak thief!

[birol]

I am so glad you grabbed it ! at 195 it is a steal ! The corner canvas dies quickly, mine are triple patched make sure you fold it and open it very slowly and carefully. new canvas is in order ! I will take more pictures of mine while camping and post so we can compare.


Congratulations once again !!!

[brainpause]

Excellent, and congratulations!

Larry

[tlhdoc]

Congratulations on the new PU.  Have fun with fixing it up.

[Martorious]

Congratulations on the new PU. Have fun with fixing it up.

I have big plans, whether they pan out is another story...

[6Quigs]

Marty,
what a deal on the trailer, and you sure got one hell of a deal.

We started off camping in a tent, and then borrowed our in-laws 20 year old Jayco popup tent trailer, and we thought we were in heaven compared to sleeping on the ground.
After going on about 5 trips in the borrowed popup, we finally bought one of our own, a new 2001 Coleman Niagara with slide out, hot water, furnace, toilet, shower, pretty much all the bells and whistles.
Like you, we have 4 children, an 11 yo girl, and 3 boys, 8,5 and 3 yo, and we enjoy spending time together at the weekends camping and exploring.

Good luck on the work with the trailer. Hopefully you enjoy working on projects like that, and we are all here to help with your questions.
Get the bearings checked out.
Buy a new 20# propane tank, only about $30 or so, then check the lines for leaks by spraying them with soapy water, and replace any suspect lines.
It's such a pity replacment canvas for older popups is so expensive, I think someone said about $800. but once replaced, it should feel like new.
The inside matresses can easily be replaced, even using air matresses on the bunk ends will suffice.
Congratulations and welcome to PUT