Well here is the '84 Starcraft I bought to become my new airplane hauler! I'll try to post pictures and updates occaisonally and would welcome any questions or suggestions. Since these pictures (if I'm uploading them correctly, we'll see) I have washed the whole thing down on the outside with a bleach based cleaner to remove all the green mildew and make it where you don't get dirty just walking past! I also have taken out all the canvas and cushions etc. and had a nice bonfire. It smells better and now I'm ready to start tearing out the rest of the interior. Also have one corner where the lift mechanism has snapped a cable. Am working on investigating and getting parts to fix that but that can wait a bit while I get started on gutting the interior. Also have a few marker lights that have no lenses and need to test the lighting (which will require a new plug to match my tow vehicle). Anyway I'm just getting started.

Good Luck. I have a fellow club member that has converted one nearly identical to yours. As you said, he cleaned out the interior, carpeted it and he can store a lot of planes and related equipment in there.

Install a 12V car battery and wire it so you can run your chargers, etc. off of it. Add some parts bins and you will be in RC heaven.

One of these days, I will find one of those to convert. Most of the ones down here are complete "junk".[&o]

Definitely install a separate 12v deep cycle battery for it. Interior lighting and 12v power tools can be run off it. Fix yourself a small workbench in there, too.

Dr.1

When you get to it, I would be interested in knowing what the interior vertical clearance is. Got some tall big birds that might be tight if I tried the same thing.

Have fun!

Bedford

I can get exact specs later for you but as I remember it, I checked that out and it is 28" vertical clearance under the bunks, which should translate to better than 32" from floor to ceiling (folded down) once I remove them. I may keep one, not sure on that yet.

Nice project Jack. It is unbelievable how similar that is to the trailer that we looked at down hear. I appreciate the thread.

I have seen several. They built wing racks in the top. When you crank it up the wings are always out of the way. Dennis PS also check the bearings and while your there re-pack the grease. Those little tires turn a lot of R's on the road.

Bedford,
Per actual measurements, at least 28", and at least another 6" in the top so at least 34" inside from floor to top clearance.

Jack

Dennis,
Planning on checking out and probably just replacing the bearings, though, in the case of this trailer the wheels are actually 13" and fairly high profile so the high revs aren't quite as big an issue as on some of the smaller trailers. Tires look to be in great shape at first glance. Will look them over in greater detail when I get into the bearings and have them off anyway!

Jack

Here are some pics from today... Spent another 1.5-2hrs starting the tear out. Here is a view of the left (front of the trailer is to the right) side interior before I started. In the front-most storage area is the electrical supply including (apparently) a battery, inverter and access to a plug that allows for powering off of AC. Also a vent setup so that the battery (perhaps anytime the trailer is plugged in??) can charge and vent fumes safely! I think I'll be keeping that stuff intact but may relocate it or build a new enclosure for it....

Here is the same area several minutes later without the cabinet (1st pic).... Then working on down the side the sink was next... pretty easy, just unscrew some wingnuts to pull the sink and disconnect some flexible tubing. A few hundred screws and a bit of hammering later and that's done. Next is the worst so far... the heater/water heater. Yikes!!! Cut this connection, disconnect that etc... etc... etc.. and then take the outside vent off and pull it out that way... Then take all the screws around the outside off.... and find that two of the screws are rusted [:@] so time for the grinder!!! That got it to move, but wait, you can't with that gray cardboard (heavy duty) shield around it so tear part of that off too [>:]!!! That did it... watch out for the water draining out the bottom all over your shoes Now there's a big hole but at least the big monster is gone... next the fridge.

Hmmmm... How come all my attached pics now take up half a page!!! I thought I was doing them the same way I did the first post... images are the same size on my computer.... I don't get it. Help!

The fridge comes out pretty easy just some electrical and hoses. DON'T do it like I did and pull apart all the cabinets to get at it... [&:]there's another of those outside vents that will get you easy access to the back. Once the connects are off and you unscrew a dozen more screws around the front it slides right out and it's pretty light too! That water tank you can see beyond is easy as well. Just unscrew the outside fill and drains and pull off the hoses and it slides right out! That one I got right in one!!

So here is the end result for today! Got a few water and gas tubes to get underneath and remove and some electrical connects I want to trace back and either cap or remove entirely (trying to keep the electrical working when it's all over). Probably will re-route the big heavy electrical wiring still hanging on the wall before it's all over just to keep it safe and out of the way but it's OK for now. Final shot to show all the tools I've used so far. Nothing to complicated needed so far and the battery operated drill/screwdriver has gotten the biggest workout. I probably took out 150 screws today!!! Dont' want to rip this stuff out using a sledgehammer and create any new damage I'll have to fix later.

Ok, so time for some decisions... should I keep either of the slideout bunks (front is very long... maybe 5 feet; back is shorter... maybe 4 feet long)? Considered keeping back as a lay-flat wing rack but now thinking a rack up in the pop-up top is a better idea and these things are just going to be in the way so maybe get rid of them??? Also, what to do about the brakes. I think this thing has electric brakes but I'm hoping I don't really need them by the time I get rid of a lot of weight inside the box (must have pulled 2-300lbs or more out today, plus lost all the canvas, plus if I get rid of pullouts...) Probably 500-700lbs lighter when I'm done?? Plus I don't know what shape they are in and don't have the Explorer wired to handle them yet... Any thoughts?? I'll post pics and comments on the right side when I start there and on the slideouts when/if they go.

This thread brought back some recent memories and I thought you might like a little inspiration. I performed a similar conversion on an 70's vintage pop-up and it works great for my needs. I was unable to find repair parts for the crank mechanism so I had to hinge my top. It works, but it's not as good as one that raising normally. I agree with the battery recommendation. As you can see, I strapped mine on front so I'd have more room inside. I have almost no money in trailer, but I quit counting the hours invested. I would suggest you stop counting too!

As you can see, I left my rear slide-out and it's very handy. It makes a pretty good workspace and provides another level of storage for me. However, if my top raised and lowered, I'd probably remove it for the wing storage idea you've already been given. I removed the front slide-out because I couldn't get into the trailer while it was hooked up to the truck!

I can't imagine you'd need brakes on this trailer. These are usually very light. I think I could pull mine with a small, 4-cylinder car.

Good luck with the conversion.

I see you've been VERY busy! I like the wing rack in the top idea better than keeping the slideouts. It's easy to think of also having the slideouts being used as a work table, but, you'll have a cabinet top available for that.

You won't need the electric brakes either since the loaded trailer will be relatively light.

Tim

Thanks for the height info. I don't think that would give and of my birds a problem, and I can't think of any I might build that big. Just have to remember that it needs more than a little clearance for the bounce factor.

Now, where do I find one of these dudes?

Bedford

If you ever plan on towing with a car I would recommend fixing the brakes. If you will always tow with a truck you should be fine. Even after your finished with the trailer you will really notice it back there with a car, especially when stopping.

Take a look at this site. It has a lot of information on axle maintenace and brakes. http://www.dexteraxle.com/products___literature

Well I did a bit more work today but no more 'till sometime after the weekend I'm afraid as I'll be out of town [8D] ... but not flying []
Anyhow there was good news and bad news today. First the good news. I decided to tackle taking the bunks out. Here's where I started (Pic 1) It looked I was going to have to take out 4 bolts on each side that would allow each of the successive telescoping sections to come out... I decided to start with the one closest to the body of the trailer. I pulled out the slide far enough to line up the hole in the slide (You can see the whole on the back of the rail in Pic 2) with the head of the bolt (which turned out to be an allen bolt... unlike everything else I'd seen so far!) and unscrewed one one on each side. Holey-Moley!! That was all it took. 5 minutes later and I was here (pic 3). Five more minutes and I had both out! That was sweet

Then the other half of the story (insert sinister organ music here). Here is a couple pics of the other side of the trailer (right side). Haven't really decided how much of the cabinetry to leave in place but thought I'd pull the drawers and open the cabinets and get an idea how to reroute the electrical in case I decided to lose the cabinets and drawers... when I did I noticed a soft spot in the floor in the rear of the trailer. [] I pulled up a bit of flooring (was planning on carpeting over it anyway so figured a few chunks missing wouldn't matter) and found this (final pic in this post)... Yep, there's lots of soft, wet, rotten wood under there. Not all of it is that soft and wet but the back corners are practically turning to dust and there's that pretty black color that pretty much tells me it's all absorbed a little dampness over the years. Now the big question is what to do about it. I don't think I can tear it ALL out 'cause it appears to me (not sure yet) that the sidewalls sit on this base plywood. If I tear them out as well what's left?? Can I/Should I just buy some 3/8" waterproof ply and cut it to size and burying all this underneath?? With just a little liquid nail and some careful measuring and cutting I could piece it in... maybe just 4-5 individual pieces and then caulk around the edges to sort of seal it to the sides?? Would give me a good base for screw eyes or whatever to tie planes to... Anyone faced this?? I'm not looking for perfect here but would like to have a reasonably solid/level floor. Guess I could strip the rest out (all the cabinets etc..) 'till it's just a box and then start pulling all the sidewalls and the floor up as well. Anyone know how the floor is held in place?? The sidewalls? How far stripped down should I go until I'm going to be forming new sheet metal ??

Several years ago I turned a similar pop-up into a utility trailer and just last year repaired damage, similar to what you have, in friend’s travel trailer. You would be correct that the walls sit on top of the floor. The floor is attached, likely by screws, to the metal frame of trailer. Just look underneath you will get good idea what’s going on. If the floor is damaged there is a high probably the walls in that area, have similar damage too. If you do need to get into wall repair I would just replace the damaged area of the floor. Trust me you will want to repair the walls if there is rot. When I took apart my pop-up, there was similar damage and once the interior cabinets and such were removed the walls came off way too easy.

Don’t let the wall repair scare you, the construction of these trailers is amazingly simple. Since you obviously need to fix a leak, probably right at the corner piece, I would just remove the exterior siding on the two sides, for easy access for working. The siding comes off real easy once you remove the aluminum trim pieces, which are screwed in with hex head screws about every 4 to 6 inches. Be prepared to buy some new screws for the reassembly, because several will likely be rusted beyond recognition. The siding will be stapled to the wall frame and those can be pulled with end nippers. When you do any frame work repair don’t use all purpose screws (AKA: drywall screws)… Nail everything! Those screws are too brittle and will snap in the twisting and bouncing of the trailer as it’s going down the road.

Once you have frame repair done the siding goes back on just as easy as it came off, but you will likely need another pair of hands to help you get each piece lined up so it locks into the previous. When you put the corner pieces back on be sure to clean all old sealer off and use a polybutle (sp?) calk in its place, and this is not the place to use it sparingly.

This trailer is not equipped with brakes.

Billy/All,
I appreciate the thoughts but at this point I'm really considering just going ahead and tearing out all the internal cabinetry and such and just buying 1/4 or 3/8" ply and putting it down right over what's there (after just a good cleanup, maybe some bleach based spray to kill any mold/mildew and then dry it out best I can) and then using either 1/4" ply or 5mm Luan (sp?) and covering up all the side walls similarly. Basically just building a box within the box so that I'll have a nice clean new finish on the entire interior. My reasoning is this. I examined the floor and confirmed at an RV dealer that the floor in this trailer is ply over an insulation layer over ply and it's all glued together! If I go to pull that out it's going to be quite the mess! I'd probably end up having to pull it all out and rebuilding the whole thing. Liable to be expensive and a big job. Neither of which I really want to tackle... Will if I have to but hoping I don't have to! If I fix the leaks I think just covering it over will last a very long time. and tearing out all of it does have the plus that whatever I put back in for storage (cabinets, deck boxes or whatever can be where I want it, not wherever it already exists. Very flexible. I hate losing the counter top but don't THINK I can keep it and accomplish this without adding a bunch of complication to the project... Oh well, I can always add some back in, can't I!?
So 3 sheets of 1/4 or 3/8" ply, sanded one side and 5-6 sheets of Luan plus plenty of liquid nail should be enough to form a nice neat box... Maybe even put small quarter round down along the floor edges and up the corners and make sure all the edges are well glued and/or caulked. Then Kilz the whole thing and paint the sidewalls a nice semi-gloss white and carpet the floor with some cheap, very short napped carpet. Also saw some nice plasic L shaped corner pieces (kinda like molding) at Lowes that are about 3/4" wide. I think they use in drywalling to protect outside edges. If I apply a generous amount of sealant and lay that down over the top edge of the luan/sidewalls it should help keep out any occaisonal moisture and keep splinters at bay... The only thing I am still not sure about is keeping the one bench seat (front right) which has access from the top of the bench inside and outside the trailer via a key locked hatch... I could just rebuild something there I suppose... Will need to build a small "box" to house the battery and inverter in the front left as well. Need to also move the electrical outlets that are in those back cabinets to the outside wall... that really shouldn't be difficult... Lots of work to do, but it's all fun!