1963 15' Oasis

Welcome Jackie. I have done two Oasii, a 64 and a 65. That interior color wash is particularly hard to duplicate. I used a tan matching paint and then wiped before dry. It depends on how bad the rot is whether you can save panels or not. One of mine was pretty bad and a previous owner had painted it white. ugh.

Skip the sink in the bathroom and be VERY CAREFUL buying fixtures until you figure out if your waste tanks are any good. Some trailers didn't have tanks at all; they were built into a Monomatic toilet. (there's a reason we call these fecal fountains) Plumbing fixtures are one of the LAST things you need to worry about.

Many people cut the brake wires because they want a 4 way plug to operate the tow lights. I also recommend a new tow wiring harness to a J box, then connect a 7 way cord from there to plug into the vehicle. Your GROUNDS are most important, so be sure you install a new ground bolt and wires.

To test the gas system:
1. Turn off all appliances, don't forget the gas light! Eyeball the gas lines from the front of the trailer as it radiates out to each appliance. Get under the trailer to do this. The tank should be connected to the gas system with a regulator and hose.
2. Assuming you have gas, slowly open the gas tank valve. Listen. If you hear a Hsssss, turn the tank back off. Repairs are needed. If no Hssssss, open the tank valve fully. Listen, under the trailer and inside. If no Hssss or GAS SMELL, close the trailer for an hour. If no smell, your gas system is probably intact.

Note: open propane lines are loved by spiders, so if the lines were cut or open, your system needs to be air blown. If repairs are needed, you should take your trailer to a certified RV shop for repairs. Gas is safe if you maintain the system.

Oasii are known for having metal bellies which causes severe belly rot. You may have to do more repairs than anticipated depending on what you find.

Take your time. We are here to help. I say don't rush, follow the order of build and hang in there. We all get to spinning our wheels.

Here is my 64 Oasis: 1964oasis.shutterfly.com/ Click on Pictures and Videos to view the albums.

I had an ash camper and ended up just replacing the rotten panels with birch and using what was good to fix the cabinets, but my camper was a disaster. My camper finish was also very brittle, perhaps something about ash and shellac? I used a cabinet scraper to flatten and remove the loose material then resealed with shellac and it's holding up well. Mobiltec has had good luck matching birch with white oak paneling.

I'll have to see about local trailer clubs; it's Bend, OR, so I'm sure that there are some being the home of Flyte Camp and so many trailers.

Just got back from vacation and looking forward to planning out pulling up the skins to see what's going on underneath.

Looking through a lot of the posts it seems people who start working on trailers the first time get over excited about proceeding like a house remodel: gut and then fix... or post about how they are planning to gut, then get responses saying "Don't do it! It's the structure!" and never sign in again.

I am new to this and have a background renovating homes and am SO GLAD I found this forum.

Finally got Flickr set up and here's a link to the album:

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/55487823@N08/albums/72157719599646552" title="1963 15' Oasis Trailer"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/51335342705_b8bfce6afe_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="1963 15' Oasis Trailer"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I finally got VK's book and it's wonderful. I've read it twice and finally got up the courage to attempt removing the skins. I've gone slowly, labeled everything and have a couple questions:

The cover for the water heater came off fairly easily and I am left with this:

It seems stuck now and it's overlapping the skin. Any suggestions on how to get this out?

Also, more out of curiosity than anything else, the running lights when removed seemed to have decayed cork between them and the skin. Is this normal?

So far the windows and other items have come off smoothly. Working my way around and hope it continues! 

Hi Friends,

The marker/running lights used to have cork as a gasket. The cork is always dried out or decaying or just long gone. Remove the remnants of the cork and then you can replace with gray putty tape instead and it works quite well. On a warm day, it will seal as you tighten the mounting screws slowly as the gray putty tape starts to ooze. Don't over tighten. Scrape off excess with a plastic putty knife.

Cheers,

Rod