Rookie vs. 1990 Casita

[shaggydoink]

Hello everyone! As a brief introduction, my name is Jonathan, I'm a middle aged nerd in North Carolina and a self-proclaimed project junkie.

A couple months ago I set out to find a small fiberglass camper that I could tow behind my 25 year old ISUZU Trooper, an endeavor that proved to be fairly difficult due to my very limited budget and need to find something within a reasonable distance from home. Just as I reached the point where I was convinced I would need to abandon my search until I had saved twice as much money, one of those funny little ads on Craigslist popped up with the title "10' camper pull behind" with no pictures and a two sentence description that was barely comprehensible. Long story short, for under my budget I became the proud owner of this 1990 16' Casita:



At such a low purchase price I was expecting a project, although the extent of said project revealed itself pretty quickly as soon as I started to work on it... hazardous electrical connections, failed plumbing components, severe water damage... yep, I had a complete restoration on my hands which was a reality that both terrified and excited me at the same time.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to continue my story so if someone wouldn't mind letting me know I would really appreciate it, if it is I'll share some additional pictures of my progress to date.

Jonathan

[mary and bob]

That looks like the same awning we have on our '96 Casita. When we bought it two years ago from friends they told us it was a terrible thing to deal with and very difficult to close. What we found was that by reading and following the directions to operate it, it wasn't all that bad. So as usual; when all else fails, read directions. Good luck with your camper, enjoy.

[shaggydoink]

Yes, I was extremely excited when I saw the camper had an awning... then I popped open the case.



Did I mention this camper was going to be a complete restoration? LOL!!

Jonathan

[Donna D.]

If you decide not to replace the awning fabric, I suppose you can use the awning case to store fishing poles...

[WaltP]

In answer to your question, YES, this is the place where your progress reports will receive enthusiastic support and where you can often find help in specific projects. Another excellent source for information is casitaforum.com.

Walt

[Mary F]

Originally Posted by shaggydoink

I'm not sure if this is the right place to continue my story so if someone wouldn't mind letting me know I would really appreciate it, if it is I'll share some additional pictures of my progress to date.

Jonathan

Hi, Jonathan. More people will see the details of your restoration if you continue your story in our "modifications and updates" section. Once you create a thread over there, we can link to it, so anyone else who comes here, to this introduction, can find the rest of your posts.

[shaggydoink]

Thanks all! I will create a new thread in the updates section to continue my story later today, this afternoon I'm back at the demo... more rotten floor and even a live roach... this is going to be a fun one!

Jonathan

[k corbin]

If the shell is in pretty decent shape and the trailer frame is reasonably sound the rest is not so bad other than the expense of replacement parts and the frustration of not having it finished half as fast as you would like.

[shaggydoink]

@ KC - yes, I'm sure it will take a while for me to get the camper back to a factory state, but the shell seems solid so theoretically I'm in good shape!

I started a thread to document the restoration, here's the link in case anyone is interested in following:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ead-75022.html

Jonathan