Ahh, fresh CEDAR and a new color scheme for my old Starcraft!

[ScouterMom]

the big project this spring is to put a new floor inthe camper, which, to do 'right' - means taking OUT the cabinets to lay the sheet goods under everything and have a clean, fresh interior.

So I started ripping out cabinets a few weekends ago, with the idea of also re-doing my cabinets on my 35 yr old starcraft, as they have definately seen better days.  Originally I thought to paint them, but I really don't much like the look of painted panelling. So here's what I did.  

I painted the inside and outside of my dinette cabinets with white primer, to seal the damp 'old' wood smell & stains, and to make the inside of the cabinets clean and bright - easy to see and find things in.  this was really easy to do with the cabinets taken out of the camper.  A woodworking friend had given me a ton of 'Stuff', tools and wood, a year or so ago - an in the pile was a box of Cedar closet liner - 1/4 thick tongue-and-groove panelling of smooth, unfinished cedar.  Originally I was going to rebuild the cabinets with these, but instead, decided to keep the old frames, cut out much of the old panelling, leaving only enough for support, and glued the new cedar on top.  the 'holes' cut in the body of each cabinet provide structural support while letting the cedar wood breathe inside and outside the cabinets, which will help keep the stuff stored in them bug and mildew free.

I kept the plywood lids, too - figuring they would have the cushions on them and wouldn't be seen much, anyway.  But I did give them 3 coats of primer and 'Provincial blue' enamel to seal them inside and out.

They are not that 'pretty' inside, (as you can see the cutouts) but they are all sealed with fresh white primer, except for the cedar wood - which needs to be left unfinished & unsealed. Outside - I think they are looking great! and they SMELL fantastic!  Just think, when opening up the camper after it's been stored, instead of "Old Musty Camper" I'll get the nice smell of "Fresh Cedar"!

What do you think? aren't they pretty?



When I get the new floor in (which is an off-white with a small pattern) the whole thing will look clean and fresh.  

I still haven't decided what to do with the furnace and sink/stove cabinets - whether to rebuild them, cover them with the cedar or paint them.  I have a 3-way refridgerator I'd like to install in there somehow, and I'll probably keep the gold countertops for now, so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with the rest.  I have some yellow and blue striped fabric I might make new cushion covers and curtains out of.

Laura

[Old Starcraft]

Looks GREAT !!!.... I have a long list of "Things to do" on my much newer.... 76' StarCraft..... I would never have thought of adding cedar to help eliminate that old camper smell. What an outstanding idea !!! (I think I may have to steal that one from you if its OK)

Keep up the great work !!!..... sounds like this is a labor of love :p . Thanks for keeping us posted on your updates.

[austinado16]

Nice job and way to keep the vintage Starcraft alive!

[prncssgeek]

Looks great! I bet it smells wonderful too.

[Jeremy]

That should clear up any future moth problems

[ScouterMom]

Old Starcraft - you are welcome to 'steal' any idea of mine you wish!  Though I prefer the word 'share' ; as I feel the point of this board and others like it is to share and refine ideas.  Heaven knows I've appropriated dozens of ideas from camper modders all over the internet -  I think copying someones idea is the highest form of compliment!

The problem with my ideas is that they tend to take off and become huge projects which never quite get 'finished' - not that I don't finish projects, but that I can always find some way to tweak things a bit more, take it a little further, refine a bit.  I think my camper will never be 'finished' as I find almost as much enjoyment in re-designing it as I do in camping in it!  

I almost think that even if I HAD a 'new' camper, I would not find it nearly as much fun as re-doing this one.  Though admittedly, I could do without some of the less fun stuff - like dealing with rotted wood.

-----------------

Yesterday was sunny, but very windy - so we started in on the replacing the floor in earnest.  I had my boyfriend, Paul, my son Jon and I working on this, and it should have been doable - but even the best plans tend to take on a life of their own.  

First we had to get the last of the cabinets out - the one with the sink and stove.  Some of the hookups were NOT cooperating! we had to take out many small parts so that the new underlayment could go under them.  cutting & fitting the underlayment took most of the afternoon, and then we discovered that 1) we didn't have the right nails to secure it to the floor,
2) the linoleum sheet goods I'd been saving for over a year was only 9' X 6' and the floor is 10'6" X 6' 7",
 3) it was only about 48 degrees out and the recommended temp for the glue & caulking seams was 60 - 65,
4) the forcast was calling for rain/snow.

So we got the under layment cut & fit, went shopping for new linoleum & nails (good news is I talked the manager of Menards into a deal on a remanant of linoleum) and then came back and nailed down the floor.  Then we folded up the camper and covered it and....

No snow, no rain, today was nice and sunny again and no wind.  But I had to work today anyway, so I could work on the camper even if it had still been up.

So my next chance is on my day off - Tuesday.   The weather will still be cold, but clear and sunny - so my hope is that we can fit the pattern for the floor and cut the linoleum, and then it will be ready and waiting for the first warm day to spread the glue and lay the floor.

Meanwhile, we'll work on the rest of the cabinets. They are all in the garage and can be worked on with the camper folded up.

It's amazing how big the camper seems with all the cabinets out of it.  Paul likes it that way, and wanted to leave it all open - maybe just a counter for the furnace, sink and stove - but I'm afraid that everything will shift and fly while on the road - plus the cabinets provide a great deal of the support of the whole structure of the camper.  

Latest pics of the progress here:

Click on the photo:


Camper gutted and old floor cleaned before new underlay goes in.

But I am considering moving the dinette to the other end of the camper, and building some additional seating where the dinette used to go up front and building in a spot for the porta potti - as I've seen some folk's here do.  My son has already started re-building the flimsy furnace cabinet.

So I'll be thinking more about layout as we put it back together.
(and I still have some rotted roof corners to deal with later this summer, after our first two trips are out of the way.)

Laura