Opportunity knocks

*knock-knock-knock*

Who is it?

*wanna buy a camper?*

Already have three, but what you got??

*a 45-year-old mouse shelter*

 Okay, this sounds like any other old camper so far....

*abandoned and sheltered for decades*

Sheltered, you say? Sold.

"Sheltered" certainly does not mean perfect, and mouse-house certainly means a mess.  But like any other 40+ years old camper, the structure is the first concern, and sheltered means a good chance the structure is pretty good.  The decision was made to purchase it, and the Compact was put up for sale, for a variety of reasons.  The arrival of the Airflyte got the thought process tuned to the idea of the canned-ham shape.  The Compact should ought to be a matching shape, and a canned-ham pre-'64 Compact would be the answer.  (It would also be the start of a search for something that just does not seem to exist near us,  and when they do surface, anywhere in the country, they are sold for unbelievable prices.)   The sale of the '69 Compact was enough to cover the purchase of the '70 Shasta.
 The old mouse-house turned out to be a real find.  It was still appointed with most all of its original equipment, including what I presume to be the tires it left the factory with...B.F. Goodrich 15-inch 78-series on the original rims.  It became obvious that it never got much use.

It had the tin battery box, with the original Delco battery, still in place on the tongue.  The propane tanks and plug for running lights were still intact.


The rear section showed the most damage, with one wing folded over the corner, and some wrinkles in the roofline above the rear window.   There were a couple nicks in the J-rail at the rear corner also.  I suspect that someone ran it into a garage door frame or something similar at one time or another.

There is not any damage showing in the interior near this corner, and I suspect that it did not take much of a hit to wrinkle it up.  Aluminum is not very tough under such conditions, after all.










It definitely would need a LOT of elbow grease and new filters for the breathing mask....

However, everything was there.  Stove with oven, propane/electric refrigerator, propane heater, water tank, bathroom appointments, water heater, pump and onboard fresh water tank....
All but the cushions (THANKFULLY!!)  and the awning.

Once the work got started it became obvious it would take relatively little to have it ready to camp in, so the Airflyte got pushed to the rear burner.  Once the repairs and the cleaning got started in earnest, the progress was amazing.