Walk-through

I should  have made this video before we started taking stuff apart...but I didn't.  You can still get an idea of what Rosie looks like right now.  There is a bunk bed couch but I already took out the bottom seat.  The floor is just plywood that the PO polyurethaned.  I did  find bits and pieces of some lovely orangy-yellow shag carpeting stuffed up under the woodwork... the green they put in was not an improvement.  We also found many feathers and an entire bird stuffed halfway up the duct-work for the heater...which explained most of the smell.  The smell also seems to  improve with each bit of upholstery we remove.  Bleaching the water tank helped too.  Once she comes back from the mechanic we are driving her to Little Compton RI to spend the winter in a nice big barn.  We are hoping to get her painted within the next couple of weeks if the weather cooperates.  I am going to get to work on all the upholstery over the winter at the house to avoid any mousy damage.  It's a big job but I think if we tackle it piece by piece we won't go totally insane.

"Exhausting" Manifold Business...

Just got off the phone with my new fav. mechanic...he has a sense of humor, is not afraid of the tough stuff and thinks Rosie is the coolest. Well, maybe not anymore.  It seems it took forever to get the manifold off and he still has to drill out some super stuck bolts.  His words, " this was the toughest job I've ever done."  Great.  He is on the hunt for a gasket and assured me that barring any new unforeseen issues we should get her back by the weekend.  I haven't even asked the price yet...to be honest I'm a little scared.

My little cutie and Soft Bear...he goes everywhere!

I am posting this purely for the cuteness factor...It was love at first sight when Cassidy saw the Travco.  She may be the most excited of us all, you can tell by the ginormous grin.   She and Soft Bear cannot wait for the first road trip!

The Wheel Hunt Continues...

We finally found some 19.5 inch rims to replace the old split rims on the rear duals...or so we thought.  After scouring the Internet searching high and low we found some on a junk 3 towns over.   The hubs, our son and myself headed out early to meet a guy about some wheels in Hixville.  We meet up with Manny, pile into the "yard" car and head out through the junkyard.  Yay!  They're there....and we pass right by them.  Manny says those are sold but he's got more around the bend.  By now I'm practically an expert on these wheels and can tell before we even get out that they are not the right ones.  Six bolts, not five.  Ugghhh!  Manny apologizes and say he'll keep a lookout for some.  All is not lost though we do head home with some pretty sharp stainless wheel covers at a price that can't be beat.  Plus Manny was a real funny guy, we'll definitely keep him in mind if we need something else.

Glitch of the Day and a Name!

So we went to move the Travco to my parents much larger driveway in anticipation of the new shoes she'll be getting this weekend and...nothing.  Hubs said it sounds like no spark, checked the coil first and guess what?  Nope, they shouldn't be leaking oil.  A 5 minute trip to the auto parts store and $28 had her fixed in a jiffy.  The funny thing is on the drive over while watching her roll down the street I came up with her name...Rosie!  It's perfect.  Her interior is getting redone in a mid century modern theme...think the future but from the '50's.   Rosie is the name of  the robot housekeeper from The Jetsons...Perfect!

How we found her.

This is shortly after we picked up our "new" 1972 Dodge Travco.  What? you've never heard of one?  Look it up, they have a really cool history.  The hubs knew about them, the hubs had secretly been watching them on Ebay, the hubs bought it ....by accident!  He put in a bid that he was sure was not going to be the highest but low and behold 6 days later we were driving her home.

                                                                         

Yes, that's gen-u-ine Naugahyde.

It's all there and everything (mostly) works!

Love the bunks for the kiddos.

Don't love the wilderness inspired upholstery...

Psyched about all the storage, fridge and oven that looks like it was never even used.

 So after she arrived (no name yet) we looked her over and started cleaning, and then we cleaned again and then guess what?  Yup, more cleaning.  The mattress was first to go, the upholstery is next.  Not bad overall, she starts right up and drives so that's a bonus.  

The bathroom is pretty roomy with a real shower.

The paint needs to go...note the drunken red housepaint stripe.

Th

This is so cool!

The more I look at her the more I like her.

So this is what you get for 3 grand on Ebay.  A classic!  Vintage 
at it's best.  You can't see it?  You will...we can already.  
She needs work... a lot of work.  We're not afraid, it's an adventure.

My favorite part is her nice round butt!