Hello Everybody

[steven4082]

Hello fellow members:
I’ve been lurking over this group for a while now. I’m a first time owner out of pure luck (maybe). I was given a 2001 Keystone Bobcat 18ft RV about 4 weeks ago. That was the luck part! Sad fact is that the trailer was bought brand new (2001) and the owners never used it. Owner was sent to Iraq and other places for a while and the family just let it sit in their back yard for 3 years. Once he returned home he open the door a saw a tree limb sticking through the ceiling. He started to repair haphazard and ran out of interest. I found out about the camper and asked what he wanted for it, owner asked how fast I could get it out of his yard.
Last 3 weeks have been busy slowly removing/gutting forward section of interior and inspecting. Finely figured out that this little RV was repairable. The last 3 days I have removed the roof and totally installed a new roof wood structure and rubber with the help of a good (great) friend. My next task is to remove/ repair a section of the exterior side wall. The area in front of the door has some delaminating and needs repaired. I have a few ideas on making this repair, but will always be open to suggestions. Looking forward to being a member and gaining any wisdom the members may share. Almost forgot; I hooked up shore power filled water system and turned on the gas and was very surprised that every thing worked great.

Steven

[Flyguy]

Welcome to the forum, you have yourself quite a project, I'm sure that when you get finished with it you will enjoy many hours of leisure camping and be deserving of a good rest, of course if your like some on this forum you may find it to be a labor of love. I'm sure that all of us here will try to help as best we can. If your in need of manuals try going to my homepage and look around, download what you think would be useful to you, to get there just click on "Flyguy" and a drop down menu will appear, next click on "visit Flyguy's homepage" and you will be in. To create a signature, go to "Forum Technical Support" and then look for "Creating a Signature", please let us know where you are from and your rig, if you haven't already done-so, please read through the "Forum Rules", many members are sometimes puzzled with the use of acronyms and don't bother to ask what they mean so there's a new post called "Forum Definitions" that is meant to keep all members informed. All the best to you.

[Festus2]

Welcome to the Forum, Steven. When you are finished this not-so-small project, you should be very pleased with what you have accomplished! Now that you have introduced yourself in the "New Member check-In" section, you should insert any future posts in whatever category or section that applies to your post rather than continue them in the New Member Check In. It just makes it easier for all of the other members to respond to your posts. Lots of luck with your repairs.

[Firecapt]

Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you are taking on a really heavy project. On the positive side, you are starting out with a great foundation (Keystone). I'l bet that after you get that roof fixed you will have a great trailer!

[steven4082]

Thanks for the welcome!

I agree that I took on a basket case, but what better way to get into RV’s. I am literally starting at the ground up so to speak. When I have completed the camper project, I will have gained a lot of knowledge and experience, which will pay off in the long run. I can already see that once the RV bug bites; it's only bigger and better (TT’s) from there. Just have to figure out how to hide the new gray hairs that have started popping up sense I stated this task (LOL).

Thanks again for the welcome!!

Steven

P.S. Rule number one on doing roof repair; always make sure the piece of plywood your about to sit down on doesn’t have a few sheets of newspaper under it, Or you may find a quicker way down from the roof of your camper than a ladder (LOL).

[hankpage]

Sounds like a good project .... the cost was right .... but be careful exiting the roof. I hope you are taking before and after photos. I for one would like to see what you have done.
Even if they look good, I would not trust the tires to be road-worthy at that age. JM$.02 and welcome to the forum, Hank

[CnDouble]

Welcome! As you've probably noticed from your lurking, the site is filled with friendly and helpful people. It sounds like you've got quite a fun project ahead of you, keep us posted with pictures too!

Jeff