1969 Play Mor - Help!

[redboots]

Hi,
I am looking at buying a 1969 Play Mor from my neighbor, it is currently parked in my back yard. He wants 2000.0 for it, which I know is too much. It has some pretty extensive water damage in all 4 corners. The one wall is so bad I can pretty much poke my finger in it. Finally it smells pretty musty/ moldy. Is this worth fixing up? I just want to make it cute and go camping, but I am not sure if this is a reasonable expectation. Any thoughts? Is taking out the rotten wall/s and covering it possible?
Thanks in advance!
Erin

[jdalrymple]

Welcome to the forums.


One can remove the outside metal siding, it is just nailed or stapled on. It can be reused, if removed carefully.

The wall framing is probably runied too, but it is just regular lumber.

Similar interior paneling will be available, but probably not an exact match.

If you can buy it cheap, and can do the repairs on your own, its a maybe, in my opinion.

Best of luck,

[wahoonc]

Pretty extensive damage in my opinion. Yes it can be fixed, but not cheaply if you have to pay for to have it done. I wouldn't be willing to pay very much for one in that bad a shape. IMHO his price is way out of line.

Aaron

[redboots]

What do you think would be a better price, if I ask him to sell for less? I would be doing the work myself mostly. My boyfriend is a carpenter but he wouldn't be spending a lot of time on it.
Thanks!

[utee94]

Welcome to the Forums. This message board is largely focused on Airstreams, but as you've found out there are some vintage kin enthusiasts here as well.

Just so you know, there are a couple of other vintage trailer brands that have very large followings similar to Airstreams, those brands are Shasta and Scotty, and those are much more similar in construction to this Play Mor than an Airstream is. Googling either Shasta or Scotty Restoration will likely turn up lots of hits for message boards and blogs, and you can also try this Shasta message board that has a section devoted to SOB (Some Other Brand).

Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum - Home

To your original question, you likely have thousands of dollars of materials to put into this trailer to restore it, and if you need to hire someone to do the work (perhaps as much as $75-$80/hour), that's thousands more. Just a consideration, I don't know what your top-end budget is but you can think of the initial price as nothing more than the cost of admission.

If your bf is a carpenter, you should probably lean on him pretty heavily to do some work, because there is a LOT of woodwork to be done on this style of canned ham trailer.

Not trying to discourage you, I love vintage trailers and consider them a worthy investment, so just take a look at the website above and any others you can find, and do some research on the price/condition of other similar trailers, so that you can make an informed decision. Jumping into something like this without doing your homework can result in some severe (and unnecessary) disappointment later.

One thing to keep in mind is that there will ALWAYS be another trailer out there, especially if you're not married to the idea of one particular brand, size, or style.

Good luck!
-Marcus

[redboots]

Hey Folks!
Thanks for the really great advice! I appreciate it!
Have a great day!!
Erin

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by redboots

What do you think would be a better price, if I ask him to sell for less?

You may want to check out the Tin Can Tourists Classifieds to get an idea of what canned hams similar to this go for - both restored and "as found". I know I've seen Play-Mors on there from time to time.

Cute little trailer...has potential, but at that price it should be in better shape IMO. Good luck in whatever you decide to do ~

Shari

[Ganaraska]

Unless you like buying trouble do not buy that trailer. There are lots better ones you can buy for $2OOO or less.

Watch this series on Youtube if you want to know what is involved in restoring an old trailer, and his was not as bad as yours. Note when the series started, May 2OO8, and he is not finished yet.

YouTube - ‪Restoring The Deville Part 1‬‏

If you insist on buying it anyway do not offer over $1OO. $2OO at most.

[ventport]

That trailer with that much water damage is worth about $300 tops. You have no idea how much work you would be buying. I know, I just finished a 1959 Mallard restoration.

[Arrowstream]

I agree with the $300 range. It's do-able, but will be a ton of work. In that condition, the only thing holding it together is the aluminum skin. Remove all the interior, use the existing walls as templates and rebuild it frame up. You'll spend another $2000+ on materials to get it road worthy. Make sure that you get a title if you decide to buy it. Almost all of those older campers have water damage issues. They were built to last about 7-12 years, not 40. If you do it yourself, you'll know that it's done right. There are a lot of older trailers that look restored, but some are only patched, painted and dumped on the market. I wouldn't discourage anybody from trying, I'm restoring two right now, just be aware what you're in for. Here's a little of what to expect behind that paneling:

[joygal]

I bought a 1969 Play-Mor 140, April, 2013 and just found this site and thread. The Play-Mor is in good shape, it was re-done in the most basic way. It does not leak, thank heavens. It needs new exterior wiring, inside electric fuse box and wiring. It needs sink, refrigerator and stove. I'm making new cushions and curtains. The floor is in good shape. I want to paint the interior.
I think this will be a fun project, but I'll probably need lots of advice.

[joygal]

Before Pictures of my 1969 Play-mor 140. I have a pdf of the original brochure, if anyone is interested in a copy, I'll email to them.

[playmor69]

Hi,
We paid $300 for our 1969 Playmor and it had a lot of water damage. After starting to tear in to the walls we found a lot of damage, so we tore it all down and have rebuilt from the trailer up. So far it has been a 2 year project and about $3000 into it and we still are not done. But it has been a joy to do and can't wait to take it out next Spring. This camper is very rare and the factory had a big fire back in the day so records were destroyed. I will post photos when I get a chance. But please look at the tin can tourist to join or even check out their events, we went for the day to several rallies and got a lot of good advice.

[carver 1]

Walk away... You'll never get your money out of this trailer with all the resto work that is necessary. You might have to spend a little more but in the end you'll be better off.

>>ron<<

[playmor69]

Originally Posted by joygal

Before Pictures of my 1969 Play-mor 140. I have a pdf of the original brochure, if anyone is interested in a copy, I'll email to them.

I would love a copy of the orginal brochure of the playmor if you still have it, I am having a hard time finding anything on the orginal camper.
email at dlonsch@gmail.com

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by redboots

What do you think would be a better price, if I ask him to sell for less? I would be doing the work myself mostly. My boyfriend is a carpenter but he wouldn't be spending a lot of time on it.
Thanks!

Dear Red - In a restoration EVERYTHING comes down to the person contemplating it. Are you willing to work on it 4 hours a night, 4 nights a week for a year? Do you understand the safety issues - breathing in black mold especially? Until you get all of the mold out you NEED to wear a rather heavy duty mask or risk long term lung problems. Do you have the skills, and the patience to learn new skills while you are working on it? In a trailer renovation, you are building a toy for yourself - it's rare to get your investment back.... so how much are you willing to throw at this project.

Most important of all, how many unfinished projects do you currently have sitting around abandoned in favor of something else new and shiney?

I am fortunate that I can afford to pay a pro to do most of the stuff that I just don't like or am too old and creaky to attempt. I'll sew the curtains and probably redo the upholstery - but frame repair and heavy carpentry NO.

Don't fall in love with any one trailer - they made lots of the same model, and once you do start looking, damn, you'll see 50 of them in a 25 mile radius. This one? How much would he get from a scrap yard? That is literally all it's worth.

Paula