Meet "Ms. Belle", our new/old 1964 Shasta 16SCS

Thanks cowcharge!  37 is way younger than 50, but if I can figure out how to pull the covers on this heater, I'm game for checking it out.  Today I spent a little while letting the grandsons get in some cleaning, while I looked at other things.  They had a blast with the initial cleaning, but things turned into a water-battle when they caught me taking pictures instead of working with them!  LOL





I removed the dual LP tanks and they were both full--hadn't lost anything over the last 8 years! Also checked out the condition of the wood frame along the bottom edge of the metal, and in the wheel wells...it's rotted completely away. Starting to look like this canned ham is gonna need peeling to make structurally-sound...we'll see!

Nite, Corky

I had my tanks re certified and new valves installed to meet current standards at the local propane supplier for ten dollars a tank. Dropped them off and came back in a couple of days to pick them up and the only additional charge was for the propane to fill them.

Hey again folks,

With my last few posts, I promised to start showing more detail on some of the issues we'll be dealing with to get Ms. Belle back on the open road, so here goes.  It ain't pretty, but also not surprising for a 49-year-old beauty that's been stored outside for the last 8 years.

These first two shots show that Ms. Belle's roof is pieced together from multiple pieces of metal, which means at least four seams up top.  I guess that means four different opportunities for leaking, not even counting the openings for the for the roof vent, furnace flue, and plumbing vent pipe.   But from closer inspection that may not be evident here, it appears that the roof is partially collapsed to the rear of the roof vent.  You can see plentiful amounts of roof tar added around the plumping vent pipe and furnace flue, as well as along the seam from the furnace flue to the port/street side of the roof.  Is there a source for a single piece of metal to replace these?





After parking Ms. Belle in my driveway and placing her on jackstands, I noticed that there were several pieces of a fairly large (2-in diameter) branch scattered around, which might have been the source of the collapse.

There is significant ceiling damage from the roof vent towards the entry door, and over the bathroom...





...which looks really bad from inside the bath over the shower where the plumbing vent pipe exits...



There is also damage on the street side ceiling forward of the closet; and while it looks less dramatic than the others, must still be dealt with as well.



Ever mindful of the need to stay positive as I inventory what must be done, I'll note the good news:  Ms. Belle does seem to have almost all of her original parts, including the shower curtain rail, all but two of her original light globes, and 99-44/100ths of her original charm!  The only things missing are the original fridge, the magazine rack, two light globes, one jalosie window crank, and the snake which left its skin at some point in the past (Yippie...I won't be looking to replace that!)

My two grand sons have already asked when we'll take Ms. Belle for a camping trip, so I'm all ears and open for your suggestions on how best to proceed with this project.  Winter is coming fast upon us here in the deep south, (28 degrees last night), so it looks like we'll have some time before springtime to git 'er done....er, um...git 'er started!

Advice and observations welcome!

Thanks,

Corky

Vikx:

Is the heater in your Deluxe like mine?  If so, can you tell me how to pull the cover to see the innards?

Thanks!

Corky

I got out to work on Ms. Belle for a while today, and decided to fiddle with the heater.  I got the lower grate and face cover off pretty easily, (Thanks Vikx!), and it looks darned near new.  Looks like all I'll need to do is scrub some heavy dust build-up down by the valve, check the fittings, and give it a try:



The burner is cast iron, (see above and below), and it looks like the flames transfer heat up the heat exchanger baffles to the vent above...

...and the pilot light is lit through the hole in the lower center of the baffle...



The upper part of the heat exchanger also looks new, but I may remove them to make sure the inside looks good too.



If anyone knows how to rotate these photos, (Vikx/Admin?), be my guest!  They wouldn't post correctly from Photobucket.

Corky, Hey I'm new too! Loved your "find" story! I picked up an SCS also... trying to figure out if it is a 63 or 64. It does have a date stamp on the sink of 8-2-63. Where is yours from? I see you still have a plaque next to the door. Mine is from Pennsylvania.

Mine has the same "gold star" light surrounds. I wasn't sure if mine were original until I saw your pics. Thanks!

I have the same "air freshener" (like the one on your mirror) in my trailer also! HA-HA! Those must really be vintage and collectable!

Keep the pictures coming they are great!

Corky, I knew I had seen a pattern for the Shasta Magazine rack! I found it for you! Here is a link! The actual template instructions are embedded and come up when you click on "Shasta Magazine Rack Template"

Start at -

www.freewebs.com/kc8jwa/shastamagazinerack.htm

Hope this helps you! And as I said in my other post where I shared my email I will send you a tracing of the actual "S" if you need it!

Your fellow SCS friend!