Older Jayco-Popup-Camper - Hands off ?

[Manfred65]

Hi folks,

i live in Bavaria, Germany, and

i found an old Jayco-Popup on ebay in Austria .


http://www.ebay.de/itm/261457493158?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

We like to start in truckcamping the next time and we are looking for a "gateway drug" first.
We are interested in doing a rebuilt. But i think the complete floor is only rot and ready for compost.
Back door frame needs to be fixed.

We have room, tools and time do do all this.

Can someone give any help how the cabinets are fixed inside?

Do i have to remove all cabinets to change the floor ?

Is it worth the ~ 830,- $ ??

Thanks a lot for your advice

Manfred

 

[K6ON]

Hi Manfred,
I'm guessing pop-up campers are quite rare in Bavaria. If it were me, I would pass on the old Jayco and continue to look for something in better condition. I can't answer your question about the cabinets, but having to completely rebuild the floor pack and repairing the door frame would
make me look somewhere else. Keep looking, you never know what might turn up tomorrow.

Good Luck
Bob

 

[ski3pin]

Manfred, I do not know this brand's construction. If you are lucky the cabinets are held in with screws and "L" brackets, which are easier for taking apart. They could be glued and stapled which would turn it into a tear out. I would expect everything would need to come out to replace the floor. This would be a large task to tackle. I admire your willingness to take this on, but I'm with Bob above. I would keep looking.

Good luck.

 

[billharr]

I would only add how long have you been looking? If a long time you then need to ask yourself how much work do you want to do and can you do? Are you are wood worker, metal worker or just handy. This could be a BIG job when you get started.

 

[Manfred65]

Hello Folks,

thank you very much for your answers.
First: Bob is right. Popupcampers are rare not only in Bavaria but also in Germany and Europe.
Only a few of various brands like Phoenix, Shadow Cruiser, Starcraft all over Europe. Official import at this time is
only Northstar/Willet and FWC. There was a 31 year old FWC Grandby for sale the last weeks. Our FWC-Importer bought it to restore it. But if he can find a customer he will sell it at 4750,- Euros ( 6,560.- $$ ).
But i am not interested in Buying the "Mona Lisa" to restore her.

I tell you my reasons why i think about this Jayco.
We think about buying a TruckCamper the next years. (Not scheduled )
or building a camper by ourselves in the mix of wood and PU-insulated GFK-Panels like Outfitter and others do.
With this restauration projekt
- i can learn and understand how a camper ist built from ground up
- i can change ( and "fine-tune" ) things to my needs at an affordable price
- we can finally checkout if Popup-TruckCampers will work well for us.

So i hope for more answers to my questions. There are a few days remaining on this unit on ebay so i am not in a hurry.
If another one catches it first. No matter.

Regards
Manfred

btw: the best off all wifes is also interested to restore this "micro house" after we have nearly finished our old Farmhouse right now.

 

[Manfred65]

....and an additional questions:

How does the popup-mechanism work ?

- is it a flexible shaft drive like in the palominos ?

It looks like the main issue could be that water gets into the structure along the tubes which lift the roof ?

 

[Manfred65]

Seller told me the Popup works with hydraulic and it works ! ( let´s see ) All the devices work well.
We checked the photos dozens of times and decided to risk it.

If the project fails, we should have learned a lot about popup campers without wasting too much money.
This can also become a big benefit for us!

So we pulled the trigger and bought it , 500 € ~ 690,- $.

 

[billharr]

Please post pictures when you get the camper. Looking forward to what you do with it and your travels

Congrats on your purchase.

Bill

 

[Manfred65]

Hello Bill ,

thank you

i will do so and hope we can do the restoration this year, so we will be able to start travelling in 2015. I want to stay realistic:
One has changed the bottom of the camper to fit on smaller trucks, so we want to replace the complete floor, rot or not,
to get the full width and strength back. I will do this in two layers of "screen print"-Plywood (like it is used for trailers
and cattle trailers) with a 1/2" to 3/4" of insulation between them.
We also think on changes to the floorplan but therefor the camper must be in my barn.

I think it will need its time because i start working on a new job on monday. But hope i can make a well done rebuilt,
not as professional as others here, but i will!
Pictures coming soon, hope to pick it up this ore next weekend.

Manfred

 

[ski3pin]

Manfred, congrats on your purchase and hope it works well for you. Good luck with your project.

 

[Manfred65]

Hi all,

picked the camper up 270 miles away in Austria on friday and arrived back home at 11.p.m.
To we went to Andechs monastry where a metting of expedition campers and truck campers takes place every year
and met a lot of guys from our german "Wohnkabinen-Forum". ( The German TruckCamper Forum.)

In the evening we started checking our camper or what we call "Our camper".