1973 Caveman Restored.

When I bought this Caveman trailer 2013 it was in very bad condition.   Kitchen table was missing, 3 cabinet doors were gone, no refrigerator, and the whole inside was in the process of being gutted.  Every thing that has been ripped out was in a pile on the floor.  The trailer had been backed onto things that bent the corners in several places the front corners were all bent too like they had hit something.  The propane tank mount was bent up in a wad like someone had used a pry bar to try and rip it from the trailer frame.  Roof had been leaking pretty bad and the walls were rotted out in several places. 

I decided to fix the roof first before replacing water damage wood inside.  The inside was like a big puzzle I spent a lot of time trying to find the original location of each piece of wood laying in the pile.  Little by little I got the kitchen cabinets back together.  Then I reassembled the bed area, the storage cabinet area that use to have a refrigerator and the cabinet that houses the propane furnace. 

I had to replace the wall behind the kitchen and the wall in the real by the big window. 

The kitchen counter top was made of particle board had been wet and was all curled up like a 4 foot wide potato chip.  I used 3/4" plywood to make a new kitchen counter top and a table.  I found pictures of a Caveman and a Bell online that were very helpful.  This trailer was sold under 2 different names, bell and caveman, it had 8 different floor plans.  I bought a 4x8 sheet of counter top Masonite laminate and used contact cement and a small router to glue it to the kitchen counter top, kitchen table, and a few other places.

I bought a 120 volt air condition and a 28" tall refrigerator and mounted them in the cabinet area.

The original port a potty was missing not a big deal we don't want it anyway.  I rebuilt the bathroom and had it ready for the new floor, electrical wiring, light, storage, and a real camper toilet.

I rebuilt the seating area for the kitchen table, wired the whole trailer with new #14 wire and electrical outlets under the seats, behind the shelves for the AC unit and the refrigerator, lights, and 4 outlets in the kitchen.  The 2 circuit electrical box is 240 VAC with 2 120 VAC circuits in the trailer.

The bunk bed area needed a lot of work I almost decided to trash it out but we decided we wanted it for storage we need a place to keep 14 quilts, blankets, sheets, pillows, for winter camping.

I painted the whole inside of the trailer, installed the kitchen counter top, installed the sink 2 feet to the left of where it use to be, plumbing and lights.  Next I installed the laminate wood floor and toilet.  

Foam for the pillows was $280 at one place and about $300 an another place so I decided to make pillows with 1/2" carpet pad.  8 sheet of carpet pad glued together with Elmer's wood glue worked excellent.  Wife found a deal at Mill End Fabric 70% off sale for the upholstery material and made the pillow covers on her sewing machine.  The foam pillows cost us $34 dollars to make and the upholstery material was $76.  We saved about $400 on foam and upholstery material.

Next I installed the kitchen table that I had built.  Wife made new curtains.  I repaired the bent and damaged places on the trailer outside and replaced the caulking.  Next I spray painted the whole trailer with Rustoleum white paint and a Red stripe.  I connected the propane tank and tested the stove and furnace.  Toilet and kitchen sink flush to a 5 gallon bucket under the trailer.  Trailer sewer pipe is hooked up like a mobile home no storage tank.

The little camper pulls easy behind my 2002 Honda CRV 4 cylinder.  Everything works great.  Don't need heat in 20 degree weather with all these blankets but we brought the electric space heater just in case.

We had a lot of fun with this project but the full size bed is just too small for use.  If I had known the bed was going to be so terrible to sleep in I would have left out the propane furnace and the lower part of the cabinets to make room for a queen size bed.

I advertised the camper trailer on Ebay and Craigslist and had it sold in 7 days.  A young girl about 27 bought it to go camping.  She had been looking at vintage campers for about 6 months but had not found anything as nice as our camper.  We let the girl have every thing in the trailer except our quilts, blankets, sheets, and pillows.  We had it stocked with pots, pans, silver ware, microwave, toaster oven, crock pot, coffee maker, hot pads, towels, electric heater, and a spare tire with a jack.