Taking over the family Safari

[HHaase]

Wow, that was fast. Delivered at 1pm today! The guy really wanted to get out to celebrate the 4th I guess. The Wife and I were home of course with our daughter, and my mother in law was also over for the day. It was pretty darned exciting.

So, it's FINALLY here, and I can actually get to work.



I tried to hold them back, but everybody kicked into super-cleaning mode. Problem #1 was the atrocious smell coming out of the gaucho cushions. Too much bird and mouse excrements have soaked into them, they're terribly stained, and as much as I hated to do it, they had to go. The smell was just unbearable, and that was AFTER airing it out for quite a while in South Dakota, and using various smell fighting products.



This was an interesting find. I expected a barely labeled box for the univolt to be in there. Didn't realize it was a LaMarche Constavolt. My original plan was to install a Progressive Dynamics 4060, and just re-wire the whole thing. Even if this thing is working properly, it's only rated at 20A. I'd like more headroom, even if I don't expect to use it.



I couldn't get the supports for the rock guard to move at all, but I was able to get it removed for the time being. I'm going to replace the corrugated looking material with some dark smoked plexiglass, re-using the original frame. The old stuff is I think ABS, not really sure, but the outside is UV damaged, bug splattered, and just an ugly mess. For now, I'll just leave it off. Trailer isn't moving for a while anyway.



Last photo for tonight, and the only one I snagged as we were closing it up for the day (couldn't go in, floor was just cleaned and still wet). I'm amazed at how well the woodwork brightened up with some orange glow. Most of it I think is just to just remain as-is, but I am going to have to do some work around the goucho's where the original stuff has delaminated or otherwise suffered over the years.

I really have to say, my mother in law busted her behind today, I'm really appreciative of it all, she rocks.



Overall, after the big cleaning, the trailer is in much better shape than I thought. The floors are feeling good and solid all around, even by the door. I remembered today that Grandpa used to park it under an awning behind his garage, note that just because I remember it doesn't mean it really was, but I THINK he did. This would account for the good floors.

Still needs a lot of work, but not as much repair, and moving more toward the fun and optional type stuff. I'm darned excited, and tomorrow back to work on it I hope.

-Hans

[HHaase]

Ok, new top priority. Sealing out the critters and the water.

Both plumbing vents are basically just holes with an inch or so of pipe sticking out of them, with an nice gap around the escutchen letting in water. Nothing to keep birds out of the stove vent. God only knows what I'll find inside the atwood water heater (May have been a retrofit? Not sure if that was original or a retrofit, but both the water heater and furnace panels are pop-rivitted in.

The bad news is that the D-con method was used in the past for rodent control. I really need to strip out all the insulation around the toilet, and find out what's back there. Not something I want to do in a hot July, maybe if we get a cool day.

-Hans

[surfpod]

Congrats fellow Safari owner! She's a keeper.

[HHaase]

Most definitely a keeper!

Tried to get the cap off the fresh water tank yesterday, it's right and properly siezed on there. Hitting it with a propane torch didn't help much either, and I didn't want to overdo it with that as the heat was really transferring to the skin.

Probably be easier to just replace the thing.

-Hans

[HHaase]

Spent the day working on tow vehicle wiring, running the harness for the 7-pin connector and mounting the socket on the rear framerail. Opted for the Prodigy P3 based on the numerous recommendations. seems to be a pretty nice unit, not that I've actually used it yet.

The Mrs. has been going full tilt scrubbing down the zolatone on the interior, I can't believe how nice it's coming out so far. The nicotine is all gone, now it's just a matter of getting the shine back into it.

-Hans

[HHaase]

Pulled all that fiberglass insulation out of the rear access compartment, and I knew I was going to get bad news eventually, and there it was.

The rear section of subfloor, both back corners and across the rear edge, is all rotted. Particularly the corners. The water heater for some reason was disconnected, and the kitchen sink drains straight onto the ground via a hose coming out of the belly pan. Toilet looks to be done too, ceramic bowl is fine but the base section looks very rough. Can't get one of the bolts out to remove it though. Looks like a good number of plumbing leaks too, which is probably the cause of the rotted floors in the first place.

I had to head to work, and my Wife is pulling up all the floor tile while I'm here, so that we can really evaluate the whole floor. Will need to figure out to what extent the floor needs repair and if I'll be joining the full-monty club or not. I'd rather not have to do that big of a rebuild, but at the same time I'm excited about what it will be like when finished.

sigh.

[HHaase]

Got into the back compartment today with a shop vac and some lighting. I pulled a lot of the old hot water heater, and as much stuff as I could get out of the way easily. I originally hoped to get in there with some rot-doctor to buy me a few years, but the photos speak for themselves I think.





After this popped up, MrsHaase went to town and took up all the floor tiles she could get to, that way we would know the extent of the problem. I didn't expect to find any problems, as I had been kicking around the doorway and other likely areas. Some discoloration and the very beginnings of some rot, but things look solid. These are the only spots I've found so far. A touch near the door, right at the propane inlet for the catalytic heater. And some where the fridge used to be.




In light of this, I'm leaning toward replacing the back 4 feet or so only, and sealing the rest with rot doctor. I have a feeling the black tank is also leaking, so doing that rear section will let me get in to evaluate that properly as well. If I can buy myself 10 years with that plan, and do a full monty down the road, I'd be very happy. This way I'd have time to really get to know the trailer, and what I'd want to change in it.

But it's not all bad news, there's a lot of good stuff too!
First of is the wiring. I was expecting to find aluminum, but as you can see, it's copper. Every wire I've looked at so far is copper and appears to be in good condition. This means I can leave the inner skins in place, and not have to worry about a full rewire, if I go with just the rear floor.



Then there's the nicotine stained zolatone. Or, as I should say, the formerly nicotine stained zolatone. I'm shocked how well this cleaned up. Unless I end up needing to pull the skins totally, this stuff is just fine. Cleaned up fantastic, just needs a hit of polish to give it some shine.

[Splitrock]

That wood rot is part of trailer odor. Be glad it's not a 30'.

[HHaase]

Remember that part where I said "Imagine if I tow the thing out here, and have to turn around and move to South Dakota right away?"

I'll give you all one guess what we're doing next Friday. I have some photos, but not much time to edit and upload them. As it stands right now, I have the bathroom stripped out and was just about to start removing the rotted rear flooring. Now I'm on a crash course to get it able to tow back and park it back in the same spot it was in June.

Oh, the irony.

-Hans

[StPierre]

Hans,

My Safari was much like yours with the same floor problems. We started at the axel then went up, almost 2 years . Should start the polishing soon. Dont give up and have fun with it , I have.