By the Light of the Silvery Moon....

A quick update by moonlight to show our readers the flooring that has been skillfully installed tonight by The Hubs. He's a keeper, for sure! It just goes to show, as we race toward our 23rd anniversary this weekend, that there's nothing quite like having a guy around who knows how to do stuff.

Here's the evidence! For the technically-minded, he used the leftover 1/8" birch paneling as underlayment, secured it to the trailer floor with staples, prepped the birch with Tec Multipurpose Primer, waited until it dried a bit and then applied the vinyl flooring.

We are thrilled with the result--adds a whole new layer of coziness to the canned ham.

That campground is getting closer every day!

The Golden Glow Returns!

A marathon day of canned ham camper refurb has produced impressive results, at least in my humble opinion. As you might have guessed by the title, the golden glow of amber shellac has returned, as every inch of birch inside our 1961 Mobile Scout camper has now received three coats of shiny awesomeness. Looks cozy, don't you think?

Another major project nearly completed is the reconfigured a/c, fridge and storage closet. Isn't the Hubs clever?

You may have also noticed in these random pics that Sweet Melissa's bedroom area has been reassembled and awaits a mattress. And I don't want to miss the big step in terms of personalizing our camper to our tastes. The Hubs primed and painted the door!! I think the color is amazing, and it really helped us finalize our color scheme.

 One more fun pic before I go...first meal together in our quickly coming together camper!

We laid out the flooring tonight and will be installing that soon. Then it's nuts and bolts stuff again, and a paint job, before Sweet Melissa is ready to roll. Thankful for a long day of working together and can't wait to see her when she's finished.

Doors and More

Bent Front Door '61 Mobile Scout

Whew! It's been a long, hard pull over the winter, trying to fit the camper refurb into real life.

Here's what's happened since our last post:

Hub's decision to pull the door off Sweet Melissa and repair it. We have a theory about how the door got bent so badly...we think a giant black bear tried to pull the door off our '61 Mobile Scout while in search of food. Lucky for us, the lock is a sturdy one and it only resulted in a badly bent door. Or, more likely, some hapless former owner/camper hooked a post pulling into a campsite. We like our theory better!

 

And then there was the great appliance controversy of 2016. We had decided to keep and restore the original Dometic propane stove and refrigerator, but after much discussion, opted instead to put in newer, safer appliances.

I know, I know, new ones won't have nearly the cool factor that vintage camper appliances would, but after seeing pics of trailer explosions caused by faulty propane fixtures, and having no idea when these were last used, we (I) chose safety over coolness. Sorry, stock rebuilder friends.

That choice created a bunch of new work for the Hubs, mainly having to tear apart the original closet and move things around so that we could install a small air conditioning unit near the old fridge vent. And run both 12V and 110v wiring to the new refrigerator cabinet where the 55-year-old propane heater once sat (opting for a small catalytic heater instead.)

He's also managed to install the last piece of birch paneling and run a header brace across the ceiling between kitchen/sleeping area. If it ever remains warm AND dry in Kansas for two days in a row again, my job is to get every inch of birch shellacked and gorgeous.

One more fun thing to share with our readers...thanks to our awesome friend, Michelle, princess of all things upholstery, we figured out how to make dinette seat cushions without having to sew a stitch! Here's a look at what my brilliant husband has made.

So, to finish, it's been a long, crazy time since we last updated our readers about trailer restoration efforts. Cold weather, big family birthday celebrations, negotiating and decision making, the Hubs working LOTS of hours and, oh, yes, a trio of precious grandbabies born have had us a bit distracted.

But we're back on track and raring to finish. Still to do...final decisions on paint scheme, actually painting Sweet Melissa, installing new lights all around, checking the underneath parts one more time for roadworthiness, installing the flooring and appliances and making a duvet to cover the foam we've located at the Yard Store for our mattress. At some point, we've got to get those curtains, finished, too, but we'll cut our daughter/seamstress some slack, since she's just given birth to twins *smile*.

And lest you think hubby's doing it all this other stuff himself, this was my contribution on a recent weekend, resealing a leaking J-Rail with putty tape and replacing the last of the old, rusting exterior screws with new, shiny ones.

Onward and upward!

 

Mobile Scout Update: Lights, Ceilings, Curtains and More!

Haven't posted for a couple of weeks but, never fear, we've been making progress on the 1961Mobile Scout rebuild. First of all, the Hubs has replaced the old shoreline connection so that, when we finally get to go camping, we can plug into the campsite power. That also means that we have lights in the camper. Woot woot!

First Curtain in the 1961 Mobile Scout

We've also hung our first curtain, sewn by our awesome daughter, Jessi, to test their length on our windows. What do you think? I think I can't wait to see all ten cheerful window dressings installed!

J-Rail Resealed and Reinstalled

The next big step forward is that my clever husband has figured out how to remove, reseal and replace the J-rails that run around the edges of the camper. Same thing with the window frames. He's also replacing, one at a time, every single rusty, old screw from the aluminum rails, windows and siding with cadmium plated RV hardware.

And all that sealing and strengthening means no more leaking (fingers crossed), which means we get to install the ceiling. Here are the first pieces of unshellacked birch. Can't wait for the interior to be completely reinstalled. You know why...amber shellac!

Beautiful birch interior

I'm thinking things will start moving along quickly now - once we've shellacked the interior, the doors and drawers go back in, the pantry/fridge closet gets reassembled and the appliances get refurbished and installed. Then on to rebuilding the dinette, covering the counter and dinette top with new formica and finishing the dinette cushions. We're also installing a 12v system so that we'll have lights and nice things like phone chargers when we're off the grid. Oh, yeah, and we need to paint the exterior. But every day it's getting closer to first launch!

The Hubs making the 1961 Mobile Scout watertight

Electrical Adventures and Shiny Stuff

AFTER-Shininess!

Today's rebuild adventures are two-fold: the Hubs made great strides updating Sweet Melissa's electrical system and I made shininess appear on her outer skin.

BEFORE-Oxidized Aluminum

You'll remember we managed earlier to remove the 54-year-old paint and expose the aluminum skin. Today's task was to remove the dark patches of oxidation, in preparation for polishing part of the aluminum and priming the rest.

In manual labor terms, that equates to hours (and hours) of polishing the skin with steel wool and denatured alcohol. Although mighty labor intensive, this turned out to be an effective strategy!

While I was scrubbing away with steel wool, the Hubs was inside our '61 Mobile Scout, testing the existing wiring. Good news! The wiring to both the 12-volt lights and the 110-volt outlets is in good shape, BUT there is the small problem of no breaker box, fuse box or outside connection for a shore line.

Not to worry--the Hubs has it under control. He's already managed to install the breaker box, decide where to locate the 12-volt deep cycle battery and basically figured out what Sweet Melissa needs to have a complete electrical system. Yay!

One more piece of awesomeness--we've started installing insulation in preparation for putting back the birch ceilings and walls. And you know what happens after that--amber shellac mania! Stay tuned.

Amber Shellac and Other Delights

I have a confession to make...I've developed a passion for Amber Shellac. That is to say, I am crazy about the liquid gold that's transforming the interior of our '61 Mobile Scout, Sweet Melissa. Spent the evening taking the doors off throughout the camper and removing their hardware, then giving them a light sand and a coat of Zinsser Bullseye Amber Shellac.

Camper redo purists would probably have stripped the old shellac and started over, but I'm fond of the vintage vibe of simply adding a shiny, gold coating to all the wood surfaces. I'll let you decide, here's photo evidence of the evening's activities:

 

 And to prove just how much I love Amber Shellac, I felt compelled to finish the header above the dinette, 'just to see what it would look like'. And then I painted the front of the kitchen cabinet frame. And then I did a test strip on the ceiling. Seriously, this stuff is addictive. I'm even thinking about shellacking my living room floor!

 

Update on the Hubs

Lest you think my hubby was sitting on the patio, smoking a cigar and watching me work, I've also included him in tonight's photo essay. He's been busy at work fabricating and installing new frame pieces. Always amazed to see what he's able to do! 

What's next? Looks like I'll be spending the weekend (except for the big 6-0 birthday party!) cleaning 50 years of gunk off of vintage coppertone hinges and travel-proof latches. Can't reinstall the doors and drawers yet, but I can, at least, have them hardwared to the hilt in preparation.

The best part? As soon as I get the hubs gone somewhere, I'll be going crazy with the Amber Shellac on the rest of the camper's wood surfaces! Can't wait.

First Vintage Camper Related Travel!

We aren't yet ready to head down the road in our 1961 Mobile Scout, but that didn't stop us from heading out in search of inspiration. Today's journey took us to the very southeast corner of Kansas and the town of Galena.

US400 Foggy Sunrise

After a harrowing journey through dense fog in the Flint Hills, we arrived in that charming burg.

Right on Historic Route 66, Galena hosted a Vintage Camper Show as part of their celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Mother Road. Eight exceptional camping trailers pulled in to be oohed and ahhed over (and judged for trophies!)

We met plenty of kind and helpful folks who love to share the stories of their vintage camper rebuilds, and we also took lots of pics of important things like trailer hitches, equalizers and paint jobs.

Lucky for you, faithful readers, we also took lots of photos of lovely vintage campers. We were especially thrilled to meet a few of the many "Sisters on the Fly", a group for women only who meets all over the US to camp, fish, relax and maybe even get in some shopping at nearby towns.

Oh, and as you're drooling over these vintage 'canned hams', I'll share a few more tidbits about Galena. Did you know that this little hamlet was the very first mining town in Southeast Kansas? 

 

It's also home to one of the coolest ice cream parlors I've visited thus far.  Eye Scream Labs is a hoot! These folks serve up their amazingly flavored ice cream that's flash frozen with liquid nitrogen (seriously, look at this picture) while wearing white lab coats. There's also a gallery of blackboards with colorful 'scientific messages' about the menu, and they do demos complete with samples. 

One more spot that charmed us in Galena was Cars on the Route, where the inspiration for Tow Mator in the Pixar movie Cars resides. Definitely stop to hear fast-talking Melba tell the story!

All in all, a delightful day in Galena. Strolling up and down Route 66, talking to vintage camper

owners and falling in love with their antique trailers, was just what we needed to keep us going through our own rebuild. Can't wait to meet them again at a campground!

Because you've so patiently waded through this post, as a bonus I'll throw in a photo of my favorite Southeast Kansas attraction. After all, what's a trip past West Mineral, Kansas without a stop at BIG BRUTUS? 

And just in case you're wondering where to get a good steak after you've made the trip to Galena, I'll end with a quick plug for a Fredonia, Kansas treasure. The Stockyards Restaurant, on the grounds of the Fredonia Livestock Auction, serves up scrumptious steaks, hamburgers and other cafe favorites with a smile.

Thanks for reading about our travels...we'll post more on Sweet Melissa's makeover this week!