'74 Compact II restoration started

[bbuehler]

What a nice way to wake up and find my POD out there, talking restoration on the website!!!!!
I'm another fellow Compact II owner. I think we should get all our names and email addresses and have a sub-club and sub-mini-meets...or at the very least, we could all caravan to a meet, once a year and WOW the traffic with our cuter-than-cute Compacts.

We could even be magnanimous and include the Jr. owners, as well.

I was the only Compact II at the recent NOG meet [at]Waterloo Park, OR. I know there will be another Compact II, Cory Hilby's, up at the Ft. Langley meet next week. We may even end up caravanning up together, if I don't stop off overnight at Whidby Island to visit friends, who are also attending the meet.
I wonder if Chuck H. and his wife will come up for that one. He's love to see those Canadians classic cars and Eggs, since they are all ABOUT (AKA: 'Abowt') their classic cars matching the bottom half paint job on their EGGs. It's so gratifying to see the height that our Canadian buddies take with their serious trailering and accessorizing!

Chuck's Compact restoration is nothing short of AMAZING. He is an incredibly skilled and incredibly nice man. I want a laminated copy of his original Compact II factory brochure, published in the '70's. It's fantastic and would be such a wonderful addition to the Compact, when traveling and showing off.

Let me know if any of you are going to Ft. Langley. I'd love to get together and get some ideas. I haven't done one blessed thing to restore mine, yet (since buying it two years ago), although I bought beautiful curtain material and all kinds of trailer trashy nick-nacks! I want to paint the bottom half a glorious bright hot pink/fuschia color...glossy glossy and showy SHOWY.

Enough for now, I'd better head out and work.
Hope to see everyone's pics and I'll have to send you mine.
Barbara

[Phill Roehrs]

Wow, nice find. Great to hear you're planning a full renovation, can't wait to watch.

I re-did my Compact Jr. in 07/08, a work still in progress. This site has been a great resource.

[Joseph Domingos]

I'm another fellow Compact II owner. I think we should get all our names and email addresses and have a sub-club and sub-mini-meets...or at the very least, we could all caravan to a meet, once a year and WOW the traffic with our cuter-than-cute Compacts.

We could even be magnanimous and include the Jr. owners, as well.

Chuck's Compact restoration is nothing short of AMAZING. He is an incredibly skilled and incredibly nice man. I want a laminated copy of his original Compact II factory brochure, published in the '70's. It's fantastic and would be such a wonderful addition to the Compact, when traveling and showing off.

Barbara

Hey Barbara!
I agree, it's great that more and more of us are showing up on here and slowly networking, excellent! I highly agree too, lets not only include the Jr owners in that group, but all the Hunter siblings (TrailsWest Campster, Havasu, Family Wagon, Peer Mini, etc...) After all, they all seem to have come from the same (Or almost the same!) molds, right? hehe

And I'm just more and more curious to see some pics of Chuck's rig, it sounds quite impressive! And he has an original factory brochure??? Sounds like something I bet we'd all love to see, and that might be great to have scanned into the document center here on the website too. I would DEFINITELY love to have a laminated copy for my rig also, if Chuck is taking orders for them! I'd happily cough up some cash for that too Chuck! hehe My rig actually came with brochures for the appliances, and then there's this typewritten 'Options' list, but that's it.

Honestly it's great to find more and more owners, and so great for us to be able to network and share ideas for mods/repairs/remodels! Our rigs are just different enough from the more rounded FBRVs that sometimes mod ideas don't quite carry over, so it's great to know there are a few more people of skill to be able to bounce ideas off of...hehe

Anyway, sorry to shoulder in on Fran's thread, but I just had to put in my two cents! hehe

Happy Trails!

Joe

[francene]

Hi All,
Here are some photos of the restoration so far. So far it's been rip-out this, strip out that.... tsp cleaning, removing rusted screws.... - just kidding!! I'm fine!

Best,
Fran

P.s. Barbara, what's a POD?

[Raya]

Well that's pretty well empty! I can see the remnants of the diamond quilt on the walls - kind of like a reverse snakeskin.


You go!

Raya

[JenPB]

WOW! Look at you go! You don't mess around! Very inspiring. It takes me weeks to get anything done, between the kids' schedules and other projects. The CJ just doesn't seem to be a priority right now. Then again, after last week's gathering at San Antonio Lake I'm again inspired.

Next up for us: mere wiring.

Keep us posted on YOUR project. I'm particularly interested in hearing about how you do any 'glass work, the paint project and how you end up dealing with the interior (liner).

Jen

[Tim M]

I love it! What a way to start the perfect camper.... My next project/camper will have to be a rear door model of some sorts, I love the idea of having a large bed up front and the door in the rear of the camper.

I like many look forward to the many posts that are to come of your "little" project....

Keep up the good work!

[bbuehler]

Francene,
I wan't looking on the restoration thread until this morning and saw your question to me about, "what's a POD?"
A POD comes initially from the whale PODs...they travel together, are very loyal and more importantly, they FIT together. When I see retro EGGS and like minded people, I will often think of them as being in MY very own POD. It's a term of endearment.
I will keep everyone's email address...or better yet, send me them and we can have the first Annual Compact (Hunter club) meet sopmewhere between Oregon and California or Washington. We'll take votes for the most popular place...everyone can give one or two suggestions and we'll vote. Then, next year, we can plan it all and JUST DO IT.

My home email address is: gardencoach[at]live.com

Everyone who knows someone with a Compact, TrailsWest, etc...pass it on, and we will plan a great time.

Joe,
I'll let Chuck know that others would also like copies of his original color brochure. I'll see him in 3 weeks at the Taidnapam meet in Washington state. If anyone else wants to come up, please do...it's June 5th and 6th...leaving on Sunday the 7th.

Barbara

[JenPB]

we can have the first Annual Compact (Hunter club) meet sopmewhere between Oregon and California or Washington. We'll take votes for the most popular place...everyone can give one or two suggestions and we'll vote. Then, next year, we can plan it all and JUST DO IT.

I started a new thread on this very topic here (building off THIS topic's initial discussion) in hopes of finding more of us out there. I'm really keen on this idea!

[Heath G.]

Hi all, I juast joind and this is my first atempt at posting so we will see if it works. first off that looks like a wonderful project. my rig is a 72 compact jr. the only thing my wife and I think we would like is the built in bath. there just is no room in the jr. for one. we got it last fall for only $500 and are going to use it this moth for the first time. will post some pics then if I can figure out how. Thanks for the opertunity to share with you all anfd hope to do this more as we learn more about this hobie

Heath and Candy G.

[Billb]

Hey, that camper looks pretty close to my Amerigo! I want to see how you replace a floor in one of these, as mine has gotten soft and needs to be replaced.

Please post lots of photos and info for those of us unsure if we want to take the plunge

[francene]

Welcome, Heath and Candy! Glad you found a Compact and what a good deal you got! Try to post your photos. We'd love to see your trailer.

Best,
Fran

[francene]

Took out the floor yesterday, and cut out the new plywood today. Here's a few photos of the trailer without the floor, one photo of the cleaned out walls, a photo of the grit that was under the floor, and a photo of the old floor resting on our shed.

It's good to finally get the floor out! I washed out the remaining fiberglass 'lip' which had lots of dirt, rusty screws, sand and pebbles, an old nickel and a shilling!

Fran

[JenPB]

WELCOME, Heath and Candy!
I just got my '72 Compact Jr. last summer! Sure, it's compact. Sure we don't have bathrooms onboard, but it's wonderfully simple and just about everything we need to fix it up can be found at a hardware store (rather than expensive RV parts store). Plus, it's light and, hey, we moved up for a tent so we're not complaining!

Enjoy!

Jen

[Heath G.]

For the warm welcome. And Jen you are right on the money about the no tenting. I took my wife camping for the first time last summer and we got soaked in the tent after a t-storm rolled in. When I found this compact jr 2 months later I jumped on it. I am so mglad I found this web site beacause I had no idea what it was I found for $500. I had someone offer me twice that shortly after I found the site so I was wise enough to turn that down. Anyway I think I can post the pics so lets try

[francene]

Looks like similar layout and features to my Compact II, Heath. Mine didn't come with the table. How does that work- it pivots down to become the bed supports, right?

Good buy you got there, for sure!

P.S. I think you shrunk the photos down too much. They are small and hard to see, and don't enlarge. Did you use www.shrinkpictures.com?

Fran

[Heath G.]

thanks francene, and first anwer is yes the table folds down to be bed suport. that seems to work well exept a little in the way when trying to put the top up. we have not used it yet. I just got it in the late fall so we will see how it works when we get it out. My wife and I are taking a trip from our home in Canton OH to newlondon WI on the 4th of july. thats is about a 650 one way trip. sure do hope it pulls well. And for the second answer on the pics, that was my first try and my son used photoshop to shrink them. I will try the other and see if that works. I see you post on here often so hope to ttu soon.

[Tom Trostel]

Francene,
My Compact Jr had no table when I bought it, but had 2 cups in the floor for table legs. I made a table from 3/4" birch plywood that was 36" X 22.5". It mounts on two legs that I bought at a RV supply store. It's worked well for us since 2004.

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm41/to...psonphotos2.jpg

Tom Trostel

[Heath G.]

Tom I like the hardwood floor and the material on the walls. was the insulation like that when you got it or did you add that? I also thought about adding a door to the outside so I can get to the under seat storage from outside instead of having to lift up seats to get things. Do you think this would harm the value of the compact?

[Tom Trostel]

The floor is covered in birch laminate from Sams. The walls are original diamond quilted cream-colored vinyl. I've seen outside access doors added to a Compact II and it looked good. I doubt it would hurt the value.