Should I modify or sell?

[tcorfey]

I have an 8' NCO Alaskan. It was made in 1958 and still works well. Top goes up and down no leaks, stove works, icebox holds Ice, I do need to figure where my water tank leaks from but the faucet still works. It does need a new Pirelli seal. Just finished a 10 day fishing trip and it was great.

Anyway as my son has grown taller we can no longer share the bed as we are both over 6' tall, so now I sleep in the camper and he sleeps in a tent. I was thinking about modifying the interior which still looks good by removing the Sink, keeping the stove and reducing the size of the cabinet on the passenger side so that I can have two beds one on each side of the camper.

But, recently I have seen two older Alaskan's a 1958 and a 1959 going for $8500.00 and $5500.00 and was thinking maybe I should just sell the one I have and buy something else instead of tearing this one up. I mean if there is a market for the older model I don't want to ruin a perfectly good camper.

Any thoughts on this matter?

Regards,

Tim C.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Like Airstream trailers, the Alaskans have achieved "cult" status. I vote for selling your current "classic" camper and getting another one - a cabover Alaskan, maybe? - rather than butcher what you have.

This free advice is absolutely guaranteed to be worth every penny or your money will be cheerfully refunded!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Tim, I’m in agreement with OP. There are a number of Alaskans out there that will give you the extra room you need, without needing extensive remodeling. Since you have an older NCO, you know where the warts are and what they look like when looking for a replacement. If it were me, I’d sell and find a good CO model.

 

[PackRat]

x3 with the guys...if it is nice, you can post yours on craigslist and it will probably get you enough cash to be close to what the C/O will cost you. We had an 8' NCO years ago and my wife and I also finally got too cramped in the 48" wide sleeping berth it has. We went to a Lance, which got a hit-and-run damage parked in front of my house, and now I have an 8' C/O.

The extra berth over the cab gives us a place for the personal stuff that won't go in the truck cab and would be in the way while in the camper.

Keep your eyes peeled and you may find one with no signs of leaks on the interior wood (not many like that unfortunately!) which means you would only need to replace the Pireli seals and seal all the screwed on metal trim pieces. Stay away from the ones in I think the 70s that used particle board which fails miserably when wet. You own one so you know what to look for I think...

A wise man once told me that when it comes to buying an older vehicle (in this case a WOODEN framed and lined camper) that you should buy the BEST one you can find! The extra thousand dollars or so you have to shell out more than compensates for the headaches and hours of restoration/repairs/rebuilding you would otherwise have ahead of you that might interfere with you using the camper....unless you are prepared to so that.

Good Luck with the search!
Be looking at CL in every location in the Bay Area, same for Los Angeles and the same for Seattle....finding one from a dry environment like Arizona or New Mexico or So. Cal might be best, but a well taken care of an stored inside camper from the Pac. NW might be found if you search long enough.

Just be ready to pounce on it ASAP as they will go fast if in great condition...check those three CL areas on a daily basis so you don't miss one!

 

[tcorfey]

Thanks guys, I am leaning towards selling her instead of tearing her up. She is almost all original I even have the original voltage inverter still installed although I switched my interior lighting to all 12 volt so I bypassed the inverter. Definitely not the fanciest camper but I get positive comments about it wherever I go and people really seem to like it so I was having second thoughts about performing a total remodel of the original.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

In addition to CL, you know that the Alaskan factory site has a classified section, right?

http://alaskancampers.com/classified-ads-page/