Looking for information on using a pop-up chassis.

[Skruddgemire]

Fortune smiled on me recently and I managed to score a Starcraft Pop-Up Camper for $200. It's pretty useless as a pop-up since the canvas has deteriorated, the crank cables are rusted to the point I don't trust them, and it's been closed for so long and not allowed to breathe that inside is a biohazard of Black Mold and the wood floor, walls, and fixtures are rotting away.

However it's on a nice box-steel 6'x 12' frame that is intact (may need some sanding and Rustoleum to deal with any surface rust) and I'm thinking that it would make a rather nice base for a 10' design I've been toying around with (using the front 2 feet for storage of the spare tire, bike rack, propane tanks and possibly batteries and solar panels later on down the road).

Does anyone have any resources on how to best tear this sucker down to the trailer while salvaging the fixtures? The heater has never been used and I'm thinking about putting that up on Ebay since it may be too powerful for the teardrop, the stove is stainless and I can build a new frame for it for outside use (it was intended to be used indoors or out) and I've plans for the sink and the icebox. I'm more concerned with saving the mains connector, the switches and the outlets and the vent while I saw this sucker into scrap wood for the dump.

[prohandyman]

I use pop up units quite a bit. Frames are usually channel, which is better than angle, many times the lights, stabilizer jacks, some of the wood, and the power converter are re-useable. I do not take a chance on any of the rest of the electrical myself...too great a chance corrosion has gotten to them. Yours have a title? Another reason to use the frame. Most have a slide bracket for the stove and table you can utilize on a teardrop. Some even have a small fridge for use elsewhere. If the axle is a torsion it should have a tag on stating the weight capacity, probably 2000#. I just reused one that had a surge brake axle. Only seen that on boat trailers. Cut off the hitch and welded on a new one, and discarded the braking components. Mattresses are usually junk...too thin. I sell the scrap aluminum and make enough off of it to pay for the landfill fee to discard the trash.

[rowerwet]

my kids tore the last PUP apart for me, it was so rotten they didn't need much help, the latches and good bits got saved, the metal got cashed in, the wood was burned. (no fires allowed in the city I live, BUT if you are cooking with the fire then you're ok, I just kept a pack of hot dogs nearby)