The Travco family

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a waxing we will go...

So Jason spent the day waxing ol'Myrtle into a gleaming shine while I vacuumed up the debris inside from the previous wall scraping and sanding. Check out the new photos. (You can see in the one of Myrtle's exterior that all of her chrome is off the front as we are fixing that up too. Poor girl is out with out her make up on!)

Decorative touches

In these photos you will see the following:

#1 the AMAZING vintage jacquard curtains for the living/dining room side windows

#2 a sample of my vintage melmac dish set in turquoise and starburst pattern. also included are the curtains that will adorn the front wind shield area (for privacy when parked), and Armstrong vinyl floor tiles

#3 the bedroom color palette which includes the solid turquoise bedspread, another blanket, and curtains (the ones with the triangles)

#4 the approximate coloring that the wood veneer wall panels will be stained

Exterior photos

You can see some color difference in these photos. The rear view has had cutting compound, polishing compound an buffing, and there is still waxing to go! It has really livened up the color!

More photos

Today we finished up the metal trim between the ceiling panels. I continued on the holy grail of scraping the old varnish off of the existing walls that we are keeping. It is hard work but is quicker and better than sanding.

The first photo is the double bed area in the back, with a storage area underneath. The 2nd is the driver seat/dash area. In this picture, you can see the black interlocking matting we are going to use instead of carpeting under the front seats. The 3rd is a longview from the back to the front of the motor home interior. The last picture shows the new wood veneer panelling, under the double cone light. The wood panel on the wall the kitchen divider is original and is being scraped so the new and old panels can be stained one color. You can also glimpse the super cute kitchen with original fridge, & stove/oven etc

Some photos

You can see a photo of the ceiling with new insulation and wiring and a photo with the new ceiling tiles. You will also see her kitchen

since I have a follower...

I notice I have a few people following and or commenting on my blog. I thought I'd better get bloggin! I don't have any pictures to post of the latest and greatest restorations but I promise to get some soon. The picture with this post is a fabric sample called "Tiki Native" from MelinaMade which we are using an inspiration for colors for the motorhome.

I found this fab fabric site from the wondrous mid-century resource, Atomic Ranch This magazine is a great resource for articles and companies specializing in vintage & vintage style items, such as lighting, fabric, furnishings etc. Although focussed on houses, they sometimes profile trailers and motorhome items, & did an article on the fabulous Design Within Reach airstream. It can offer some inspiration for decorating.

Let's start from the outside in. Well there is good news and bad news on the exterior. The good news is that it is all rust proof gel coat fiber glass. The bad news is it takes a lot of elbow grease to shine her up. It is a multi-stage process of cutting compound, buffing, cleaning waxing,& yet more buffing. On a 27 foot motorhome that is a lot of work and the high roof makes it a little more interesting! In fact we stopped this weekend as the hail started lest we get hit by lightening! She is starting to really shine! We've stripped most of the chrome items off for a thorough cleaning. A word to the wise, the chrome trim strips along the side are fastened with metal clips that go through the fiberglass and are a major source of hidden leaks! We sealed the holes from the inside but we still had leaks so we caulked the edge of the trim on the outside as well.

There has been several developments in the restoration. We have completely pulled out the front walls (by what will be the dinette and then across at the couch area). We pulled out all the area underneath the dash board and all of the ceiling tiles. We saved the walls in the kitchenette and closet. We replaced all the insulation in the walls and ceiling with foil insulation, which looks like silver bubble wrap, 2 layers deep. This insulation is easy to work with and I think will be less appetizing to mice.

Our motorhome has lovely wood veneer walls. We replaced the water damaged one with new birch veneer sheets. I have started the physically demanding job of scraping all of the varnish off of the walls we are keeping so we can stain the new and old walls the same color. We also found a great solution for ceiling tiles in white wood panels that came in a finished embossed pattern. We then replaced the broken plastic joiners with lovely aluminum.

We will be attempting to use interlocking foam floor mats (like what you would see in weight room) to 're-carpet' the front driver/passenger area. The front area still needs insulation and walls. Most importantly we need 2 captain swivel chairs with built in shoulder belts. I am investigating a lead on a motorhome 'pick your part' yard to hopefully find these, and perhaps other items.

Every window, except the windshield and back window, have been pulled out, had the wood frame rebuilt around them and then resealed and screwed back in. We will get the windshield and back window done professionally.

I will post later with all the names of the items I have used to creatively fix up Myrtle.