Rookie vs. 1990 Casita (Project Thread)

[shaggydoink]

Thanks Bill, I appreciate your kind post. I'll be a little sad whenever the project is over as it's been so enjoyable, but am really excited to get myself out on some adventures with this wonky little guy. I've got three lined up already in September, October and November... ready or not, here I come!

Jonathan

[shaggydoink]

I ended up getting crunched on project time today after work due to the broken down motorist I encountered on the way home (yeah, it's probably not the wisest thing to do, but I stop for anyone who looks like they need help) but I managed to get the main kitchen unit mostly installed:



The remainder of this and the upper cabinet are on deck for tomorrow.

Jonathan

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by shaggydoink

I ended up getting crunched on project time today after work due to the broken down motorist I encountered on the way home (yeah, it's probably not the wisest thing to do, but I stop for anyone who looks like they need help) but I managed to get the main kitchen unit mostly installed:



The remainder of this and the upper cabinet are on deck for tomorrow.

Jonathan

your family must be getting excited about going camping since it won't be much longer till it is back on wheels and rolling down the road.

[Burro Bill]

Glad to see there are still some kind people in the world.
I do believe in Karma. Just a few weeks ago I was on my
way to our lake with the Burro and it was swaying pretty
bad. It usually tows very nice. I stopped at a farm supply
was going to look for the problem when a guy came over
to see the camper (he has an A-Liner) and told me my
back tire on my tow was low. Just as he was leaving another
man drove up in a nice truck and told me my camper was cool
and that my tire was low. Now mind you I am parked at a store
that sells and fixes tires and also have AAA. He says he has
a compressor and will fill my tire when he finds a nail I tell
him thanks I will call AAA and he says he has some spare
time and a patch kit and fixes my tire. I offer to buy him
lunch or give him some money but he refuses and gets on
his way. This guy made my day and I told him the best thing
I can wish for him is to never have a need for Karma to
repay him for his kindness. Sorry to ramble but I thought
it was worth telling. I also think most of the people on here
are the kind that would help.

[shaggydoink]

@ KC - yes, the excitement is definitely building as the camper shifts from concept to reality... for me especially!

@ Bill - I must admit that I have spells where I'm convinced the world has lost all of its humanity and gone completely off the rails, your story is wonderful and gives me a refreshing shot of hope. Thanks for sharing.

Jonathan

[Burro Bill]

Jonathan it was your act of kindness that inspired me to tell my story.
Side note the trailer is really showing great progress.

[shaggydoink]

Originally Posted by Burro Bill

Side note the trailer is really showing great progress.

Thanks Bill! I'm preparing myself mentally for all of the things that might break or go haywire when I actually put this wonky camper to use, but for the time being ignorance is bliss!

I had a decent amount of time after work today, although a little got consumed diagnosing the AC on my wife's new (old) Cabrio which conked out. I did manage to get to the two items on my punch list though which included getting the rest of the main kitchen unit and upper cabinet installed:



With a little bit of time left I satisfied my curiosity and got my full sized air mattress inflated to see if it would fit.............................. nope:



The twin fit fine so would be OK for solo trips:



Although my wife (and maybe daughter) have a trip slated for October so I think I'll stick with the plan of making do with the older AC unit for the remainder of this year so I can purchase one of these custom-made mattresses:

Scamp Camper Mattress 45 x 77

I need to spend a little time making an assessment on where I am and plot out my next priorities... despite the high temperatures I might end up throwing this out the window and taking a test voyage... stay tuned!

Jonathan

[Glenn Baglo]

I had an air mattress, briefly, in my tent-trailer. In cold weather, your body heat has to warm all the air in the mattress. A foam mattress only needs your body to warm the part that you are in contact with.

[EllPea in CA]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I had an air mattress, briefly, in my tent-trailer. In cold weather, your body heat has to warm all the air in the mattress. A foam mattress only needs your body to warm the part that you are in contact with.

This is VERY true. An air mattress nearly sucked the life out of me when we tent camped with no padding between us and the mattress. However, they do work ok if you use a sleeping bag or comforter between you and your mattress.

[TheWanderers]

Hi Jonathan, this is Laura (not Bill), love love love your cabinet progress look fantastic! You are doing such great work! I check in here daily and enjoy your posts. Hope you get to sleep in it soon, even if it's Camp Driveway

[k corbin]

The Scamper mattress does not seem at all overpriced for a mattress, especially for one that is somewhat unique and limited in production quantities.

[DonnaMarie]

HI Jonathan..aka Shaggydoink! I just have to tell you (i've just finished reading your journey in restoring your Casita) what a REMARKABLE PROJECT this was!! I'm more than blown away by your persistence, attitude, skill's, talent, creativity...all of it!! WOW!!! This has been like reading a book I just couldn't put down. Page after page of it. I was completely captivated!! Fantastic!! How inspiring you are and will continue to be for goodness knows how long...to soooo many who're struggling to get through even the simplest project...it seems ~so daunting to newbies. So scary! I KNOW!! YOUR "project" though,beats anything i've ever seen!! Bravo to you!!...how very proud your whole family must be of you! What an incredible group of supportive folks here too...it's the best there is, hands down, i'm convinced! You're all just so - amazing, refreshing, so wonderful to know!!

[Keith2000]

Originally Posted by k corbin

The Scamper mattress does not seem at all overpriced for a mattress, especially for one that is somewhat unique and limited in production quantities.

I agree. I was going to suggest one of the foam mattresses from Walmart, but at that price it is almost a wash since you have to cut the foam one and then size the cover.

[shaggydoink]

Thank you to EVERYONE for the input, support and kind comments, they are truly appreciated.

The heat index was almost 100 yesterday even toward the end of the day, so I spent most of my time doing some planning and pondering, then wrapped up with yet another trip to Lowe's to get stuff to help keep me entertained today:



My longer range plan is to buy a new AC/DC converter, add a marine battery or two, etc. so I can have dual power sources and be a little less dependent on AC hookups, although most of the trips I can think of taking over the next 6+ months would be to spots where I can plug in so I'm just outfitting the camper with AC for now so I can channel the $$ into other things that I feel are higher priority.

The heat and humidity is going to continue over the weekend so I'm going to push out the pilot trip until maybe next weekend, another progress update coming later in the day.

Jonathan

[k corbin]

that heat sounds miserable!!!

Today's high in Seattle 71 degrees. Just right for getting work done!

[shaggydoink]

Originally Posted by k corbin

Today's high in Seattle 71 degrees. Just right for getting work done!

I truly do love North Carolina, although I must admit that I'm faltering due to this summer.

Due to the continued heat I spent the majority of the day inside the camper with the AC cranking away... which since its so old only got the temperature down to around 86 degrees, but that's better than the 112 degree "real feel" that AccuWeather cited for today!

It's been years since I've done electrical work so I had a lot of fun getting everything wired up, I split the power inlet to run down both sides of the camper with a GFCI outlet first in line:



The passenger side ended at the far end of the kitchen:



The driver side ended up wrapping around to the front where I ran a line out to where I'm planning on mounting the AC, I also got the wiring from the trailer light harness tidied up as well:



For the remainder of the day I worked on the additional kitchen unit, which had me feeling like I had fallen into the pages of a Dr. Seuss book... nothing was level, nothing was square... whatever I squared was way off due to whatever I squared off of being *not* square which left my angles all weird... holy smokes!! After a break I managed to find a way to become one with the nebulous nature of the situation and got most of the basic structure framed out:



That's where the day ended, and I've got no clue what I'll be doing next................ maybe some morning coffee will bring me some enlightenment.

Jonathan

[flowman]

Jonathan,

I haven't posted much, and I took the wimpy route and order a new Casita, but I'm incredibly impressed by your build out, and it's the one thread on this forum that I always have to check out. And living in north Georgia, I can totally relate to your struggles with the heat--I framed out a new room on my shop last year, when the heat index was over 100 every day, and it is a unique experience. After a few days I filled a cooler with water and gatorade and set my watch to beep every 20 minutes, to remind me to drink a bottle 3x/hr. It's brutal, so be careful, but think of the stories you'll be able to tell around the campfire outside your personalized Casita. You should be incredibly proud, because you're doing a great job, and we all appreciate you sharing it.

Steve

[Mary F]

What Steve said. I agree completely. Great project. Great thread. THANK YOU FOR SHARING! You are helping more people than you can possibly know...

[k corbin]

Nothing square to refer to or from on a fiberglass shell. Welcome to my world

At least the Campsters and Compacts have more flat planes than a Casita. Not that I actually do have any truly flat walls.

[EllPea in CA]

I'm just trying to imagine how I'd handle this situation if there are simply NO square surfaces to go by. Would the answer be to just make certain you are level and plumb, and let the curved areas be danged?

I can imagine I'd need the front and sides of a cabinet to be plumb, and the top to be level... And that whatever had to happen to make things connect to the curved shell was less important?

(Asking because I'm still needing to build out that missing closet in Lil Bigfoot)