Friday, July 3, 2009

Walnut brown...




After much sanding, we've succeeded in staining Myrtle's interior wood veneer walls a light walnut brown. She has a lot of character and life long scars. The original walls came out a little lighter than the new ones that had to be replaced due to water damage. We may try another coat on the old walls but it actually looks quite good. We still need to stain the kitchen drawers and lower cabinets, as well as the wood panels on the inside of exterior doors and up by the front seats. We also need to make new closet doors and of course then stain them!

We also did an overall assessment of assets and liabilities. The tires also have lots of good rubber left. This is a great time and money saver. We are still looking for a spare 6 bolt rim for the spare tire. However if we get a front flat we can temporarily swap it out from the dually in the back. On the online travco sites Ricksons Tire is listed as a resource for new replacement rims and I am looking into that now.

After consultation at a glass shop, we have also determined that the remaining leaking windows can be fixed by being pulled apart and applying new caulk (no special trim needed). New front signal lights were also installed. We used Blazer C465A turn signal light, purchased at Parts Source.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Mopar Trucks & Motorhomes Forum

I thought I would pass along this resource, the Mopar Trucks and Stuff Forum

In the parking lot section of the forums they have a forum specific to Mopar Motorhomes

Monday, June 29, 2009

Travco pictures on flickr

Check out Flickr for random Travco Pictures

Another Travco blog!

Check out this blog, Loco Express, featuring a 1965 rad red Travco belonging to a Canadian long boarder touring around North America.

It includes a good section on the restoration found here: Travco Restoration

Sunday, June 28, 2009

GMC Vintage Motorhome


I decided to post a picture of this GMC motorhome I came across while searching out garage sales. It has some similar stylings to the old travcos. "A little known fact is that Travco's sister company, Gemini, built the interiors of the GMC Motorhome between 1973 and 1974 in Mt. Clemens, MI. Production of GMC Motorhome interiors shifted to GM's own factory in Pontiac, MI with the 1975 models" (source: Travco Wikipedia)

The sight of this lovely vehicle has pushed us into overdrive and we are attempting to complete the functional renovations of Myrtle before Burning Man 2009 (end of August 2009!). The most paramount items to fix include; new wheels/tires, install windshield, new windshield wipers, overhaul motor (new rubber hoses, gaskets, etc), and install poly 6 pack. On the interior we need to make the bed frame, buy a new mattress, install front seats and hopefully stain the walls/cupboards, lay the floor tiles, mount the vintage couch we located, and fabricate new closet doors. In a dream world we will have found and installed a kitchen table/chairs.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

The new couch!





We totally lucked out with this rad gift. It is a orange/red vinyl couch that folds down into a bed. It fits perfectly in the Myrtle and will take only minor modifications of the legs to be anchored in, and will provide under seat storage. Apparently it started its' journey as an unassuming $20 special in a thrift store to now being catapulted to a mobile convertible couch!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Mini Me?


I had to post this picture of a travco I saw around town. It is a slightly newer model than myrtle and smaller, probably 22 feet versus myrtle's mighty 27 feet. As the weather warms look for more updates on interior restorations. I am also still debating the purchase of a new windshield. I had it all worked out and accepted the steep price and was ready for it to be sent.... when I was asked which SIDE do you want? The quote was for only ONE half of the windshield! (It's a split window). Sigh...