Beat up pop-up ideas

[nktidwel]

I have a 2004 Viking 1706 pop-up. It was free, so it clearly needs work. It needs more than I really want to put into it. The canvas has lots of tears, stains, and melted windows, the lift system is damaged in multiple places, the interior was damaged due to a large bee hive (they've been relocated).
Here's what I know is good:
The trailer frame, the floor, the roof, the slide outs.

I wouldn't mind converting it to a hard side, eliminating the need for a new lift system, and a bunch of the canvas, but I would like a way to keep the sleeping areas. I'm trying to come up with a good way to use what I have. If I can't, it'll be parted out.

[Modstock]

You could take all the good stuff like Furnace, sink, tanks, inverter, door and use it for your next build.
Sell the frame.
I can't see a way to hardside it without looking goofy.

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[Pmullen503]

I had an old pop up and faced the same questions. In the end I, sold all the parts and chassis. I decided the work/time/money to hard side the pop up was about the same as building from scratch.

My pop up was from the 1960's and built like a tank, too big and too heavy for what I wanted. You may be able to use the chassis of yours.

You could do the fold out sleepers the same way: tent covered platform.

[nktidwel]

Thanks for the suggestions. It'll probably be parted out and sold.

[jandmz]

Before you part it out, you may want to look at les45 gallery for their QBOW (Queen Bed On Wheels). It is a pretty nice looking standy that they built from an old popup that was in just about the condition that you are describing. There are several projects in their gallery and I think the QBOW starts around page 12.

gallery/album.php?album_id=2417&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&start=144

[Squigie]

I looked up the model and got excited by the form of the body.
It looks derived from what the base was for my favorite trailer and layout, ever.
8-foot-6-inch package that felt like a 25 foot trailer. 1982 Coleman. Amazing pop-up tent trailer (if it hadn't been past its prime and due for $4,800 worth of canvases). (And if I had understood at the time just how great that floor plan was, I would still have it. An 8-foot-6 pop-up that could comfortably sleep 8(!) adults, with a furnace and space for a 5-day bag, each; without having to do the usual sin of storing gear on the stove or in the sink. And, somehow, it still had more storage space [accessible space!] than most modern 16-22' examples!)

But then I saw the floor plans for the 1706.
Sad. So much wasted space.
"Open" space sells pop up trailers based on the "open" feel, but with actual use people quickly realize that they would prefer visually cramped quarters that are usable, over "open" space that is useless.

I don't have any good ideas for salvaging what you have left, except for overly complicated hard panels that fold up/out, but probably won't fit inside when stowed; or just replacing canvases (which is never financially viable, unless you truly love the trailer).

If it were mine, I would dismantle and scrap it.
Repurpose or sell the furnace.
Sell the stove.
Sell the inverter.
Scrap the wiring.
Scrap and recycle the rest, after dismantling a piece at a time.

I have scrapped a few RVs and trailers. In most cases, the aluminum extrusions were worth almost as much as I paid for the trailer/RV. Furnaces, AC units, stoves, fridges, ASME propane tanks, copper plumbing, tires and wheels, lift mechanism parts, etc., were just icing.
The closest I ever came to "making money" on a frame was a 26' Class C Winnebago. I piled all of my junk generators and other useless boat anchors (from other scrapped garbage) on the chassis when it was hauled off, and got paid roughly $300 for three tons of garbage. Almost wasn't worth the effort.

[Mark Gunter]

I bought one for $300 when I started my lil standy build, and dismantled it salvaging the converter, wheelwells, spare tire rack, refrigerator, stove, water pump, heater, axle, wheels, some of the trailer metal, the step, etc. all incorporated into the standy. It was a great value. I bought a more substantial used trailer for $150 to build my camper on, swapped axles, now have the pop up trailer chassis left over to either sell or use.

It all depends on your goals, whether to chop and sell or chop and use.