Lance and Becky's Sagwagon

[WhitneyK]

Becky,

Good find on the trailer frame, and it was already stripped bare? Wow!
You've got a great foundation for your build.

Ain't paintin' trailer frames fun with all the nooks and cranny's to try to cover and not drip (good luck with that)?

Good luck on your "bargain build", it can be done if you don't get in a hurry and have to have parts NOW! It's not called getting "used" parts, it's just "re-porposing" existing components. Everything's designed to be used in a TD or TTT build, it just don't know it yet and sometimes puts up a fight. It is our responsibility to show these stubborn parts the error of their ways and convert them into our campers.

[jbyrd]

sawdust sawdust sawdust we wanna see some sawdust The frame is looking great.

[aggie79]

Becky,

Sorry to hear that the weather was playing tricks with you. The frame looks great. It's almost sawdust time - no turning back now!

Take care,
Tom

[grant whipp]

Lance & Becky ... your progress is looking' good, too ... ...! Will be watching for more progress reports ...

CHEERS!

Grant

[Oldragbaggers]

Becky,

Everything's designed to be used in a TD or TTT build, it just don't know it yet and sometimes puts up a fight. It is our responsibility to show these stubborn parts the error of their ways and convert them into our campers.

I love that!!!


You couldn't pay me to turn back. This is the most excited I've been about a project in a long time. What a blast!!! I can't thank all you guys enough for having these forums and sharing your passion (and especially your knowledge) for teardrops. It's really infectious!!

[Oldragbaggers]

Just when I thought I had my plan all hammered down and now it's all changed and my head is spinning.

We're off tomorrow for Rosh Hoshana. My plan for the day, finish painting my teardrop frame and possibly go to Annapolis for the plywood for my floor and walls. My Fantastic Fan arrived yesterday and my stash of equipment for the tear is shaping up nicely. Now I don't know what to do next because I have a 1972 Boler sitting in my backyard, and it is in serious need of major attention.



This was one of those things that happens purely by chance. A couple of months ago when I was still looking for a trailer for my teardrop build we stopped by a tow yard to ask about a trailer for sale on their lot. Conversation ensued and the guy in the shop told us about a junkyard nearby that "just had one of them egg lookin trailers sitting in the grass in amongst a bunch of junk cars and stuff". He told us if we were to wander over and ask about it we could probably get it for not too much. So we went over a couple of times and poked around it but were never able to find anybody around to ask about it so we just forgot about it and shortly after I found my trailer frame. End of Boler story, or so I thought.

Today, for some reason that I can only speculate on (remember my canned ham story???), Lance decided to swing by there one more time on the way home from work and lo and behold, the owner was there this time. They did the dance, haggled a bit on the price and then I got THE phone call....Lance says "I told the guy if he could find the title I'd give him $400." Well, find the title he did and within about an hour the Boler was sitting on our back parking pad, along with 3 cars, 2 boats and 2 other trailers. Somethings gotta give and somethings gotta go.

I am excited about the Boler, no doubt. They're cute, they're roomy (compared to a teardrop anyway). It's a hot smelly mess inside, but it appears to be solid and everything appears to be there that needs to be there, everything else can be replaced. And having paid $400 seems like a real coup because we are looking on the internet and seeing prices in the $4000-$6000 range as common. And fiberglass is something we definitely know how to work with.

But, it doesn't appear now that there is any need to build a teardrop, because I can't imagine what reason we would have to own two trailers, so now I don't get to build the teardrop that I have spent the past 7 months planning, researching, dreaming about, obsessing over. What an emotional quandry.

It's going to take a little time to get my brain around this. Then, what to do with the "stuff". Some of it I will probably be able to use in the Boler, like the fan, the lights, the decorative items and probably the stove.

Anybody need a nice frame?

Becky

[LDK]

Hey Becky

Congrats on the find. It's a camper and thats all that matters. I'm sure you'll have it fixed up the way you want it. Make sure you post plenty of pics of it as you work on it.

[Alan and Lianna]

Becky,
If it were me, I would still build the teardrop. You have vested all this time and attention to the build, so ask yourself if you want to go through life and say I was planning and wanted to build one but... If it were me, something else would have to go. As for having 2 trailers, well there's always family and friends that could go camping with ya'll. The pride and experience of building it yourself is well worth it! just sayin

Alan

[Oldragbaggers]

Points well taken, Alan.

[Papi]

We're off tomorrow for Rosh Hoshana.

L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi!

[Papi]

By the way, that frame looks pretty beefy! You should be able to build something pretty nice with that.

[S. Heisley]

The price certainly was right and, if you can stand up in it, that's a plus, too. Good luck with your new purchase.

I haven't decided which is more work, a fixer-upper or building new. With new, you have a better idea of what you've got and how to fix it if something breaks; but, with used, you may have less dollars and sweat equity invested in it before you can start camping in it.

[GuyllFyre]

While this sounds like a good price, I've never seen a 1972 camper that didn't need a 100% rehab. The wood and carpet are typically rotting and the smell is usually unbearable.

The amount of work you may have to put into that 1972 beast is probably going to be just as much as building a new teardrop, if not MORE because you have to first pull it all apart and then clean it to get to the point you can put it back together.

Building a new teardrop gives you the satisfaction of seeing YOUR design come to fruition, which, at least in my opinion, is much better than simply rehabbing some manufacturer's mass produced thing.

[Oldragbaggers]

The price certainly was right and, if you can stand up in it, that's a plus, too. Good luck with your new purchase.

I haven't decided which is more work, a fixer-upper or building new. With new, you have a better idea of what you've got and how to fix it if something breaks; but, with used, you may have less dollars and sweat equity invested in it before you can start camping in it.

Sue, many boat rebuilds under my belt and I absolutely believe that it is easier to build new. With rebuilds you have to do it twice. Once when you tear it apart and once when you build it back. (And what you're tearing apart is usually gross as hell and today was no exception.)

Also you sometimes have built in limitations that may keep you from having exactly what you want. Like today we spent I don't know how long staring at the molded fiberglass interior trying to figure out how we could tear it up and rebuild it to incorporate a porta potti. As of tonight no reasonable answer has presented itself. I'm sure one will eventually, but I'll probably have a bald spot from scratching my head by the time it does.

Rebuilds can be more expensive too, especially if its a vintage restoration because usually the specific parts you need if you want to do it right and preserve the resale value are going to cost you way more than what you could get off the shelf for something you were doing from scratch.

The upside is, you get to own a piece of history and with any luck you make a couple of bucks somewhere down the road. And in the meantime have a little fun camping in it too.

(**By the way, just for the record, I think it's ugly as a mud fence on the outside, but I see cute possibilities for the inside and Lance is happy as a lark. If he's happy, I'm happy.)



Becky

[Oldragbaggers]

Guy, you are right on with most of your points. Indeed this will need complete rehab. BUT, its a little different with Eggs, because the whole of the structure, with the exception of the plywood floor, is molded fiberglass, both interior and exterior. And after completely gutting it today (Only took 1 day to do most of it) I am happy to report that with the exception of a worn spot by one of the wheels, the fiberglass is in excellent condition. We had planned to remove the body from the frame anyway so replacing the floor will not be a big deal, no harder than building one for a teardrop.

You are certainly right about the smell. The thing was absolutely black inside with mold an mildew, and at some point had cats living in it....let's not even go THERE. So we pulled our utility trailer up alongside it, donned face masks and gloves and just starting ripping, pitching and tossing. We couldn't get the interior of that thing to the dump fast enough. Then we mixed a very strong bleach and detergent solution (needed the masks again strong) and sprayed it all over the inside and outside. After the mildew started to fade away we took the pressure washer to the outside and the inside. We jacked up the drivers side so that the water would run out the door (and the myriad of holes rotted in the floor). It was open all day with fans blowing inside. Now it has a dehumidifier running inside, which will continue to run 24/7 until we are either convinced everything is totally dry, or until we get the thing completely taken apart and off the frame, whichever comes first. I wouldn't want to take the chance of another bumper crop of mold and mildew. My asthma is already bothering me tonight from spending the day in there today.