Happy Monday everyone! So once I got Dolly to my parent’s house I was itching to open her back up again so I could start taking inventory of what I needed to purchase and what repairs we were going to need to do. My dad and my father in law (who I like to refer to as, “the Dads”) are super handy guys and I knew between them and myself we could get Dolly back to new! This page contains some affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Fortunately for me, my parents have an oversized two car garage and we were able to push Dolly into the garage and open her up so we could work with some heat/out of the elements. It was December in Southwest Ohio. (For those who don’t know it can get pretty cold here with snow and wind – BRR)
It was pretty obvious when cranking the top that the lift system would need to be looked at. When I bought her the guy had this piece inside the camper and said, “that goes on the bottom” Turned out to be a really important piece and once it was a bit warmer that was the first big thing we fixed! He also had a printout of how to fix the lift system – this maybe should have been a warning sign to me that it was going to need to be fixed haha.
The next noticeable thing was the canvas was actually in pretty poor condition. From my months of research I knew I was going to order from Bear Creek Canvas since they had rave reviews and you can find a canvas to fit just about any model of camper.
Outside of those two major things the only other major concern was the ceiling. It looked like contact paper was peeling and bubbling. We weren’t 100% sure but it seemed like there might be a roof leak that we would have to address at some point but the inside of the camper itself didn’t seem to have water damage.
The interior itself would get a bit of an overhaul as I wanted to transform it like other campers I had seen featured on the Pop-Up Princess blog. Except I knew I wanted to keep it more rustic/cabin/buffalo plaid like. We’d replace the counter and get rid of the stove since I didn’t want to cook inside the camper and would rather have some more counterspace instead. We’d keep the sink since that seems handy. The cushions for the dinette seemed to be in really good shape and honestly the mattresses weren’t bad either. The dinette table did look a little sad and I figured we’d do something about the top and replace the molding on the side.
Our first project that we could complete right away was to change up the step that is on the other side of the door. We purchased a new access door lock, since the one that was on the camper was broken which is why we couldn’t get the door to shut!
To fix the step we just got a durable rug like the one below and cut it down to size. We had to remove the screws (or it might have been rivets!) and remove the old vinyl and then place our newly cut out rug on top, put down some double sided Gorilla tape to hold it in place, and then put the plate and screws back on! Boom, instant facelift!
I did write down the dimensions of the step which is 23 1/4″ x 22″
Gorilla Double-Sided Tape, 1.41″ x 8yd, Gray, (Pack of 1),100925
Sierra Concepts 2-Pack Striped Door Floor Mat – Indoor Outdoor Rug Entryway Welcome Mats with Rubber Backing for Shoe Scraper, Ideal for Inside Outside High Traffic Area, Steel Gray & Black 30″ x 17″
I kept a journal of everything we did and everything I ordered. I’ll keep you up to date on our costs. After this first day this is how we ended up!
-Purchased Dolly $300
-Title and Registered $60
-Purchased crank handle, vinyl trim and access door lock $88.80
Also should be noted that when we picked up Dolly I made the following observations in the journal:
-Gorilla taped access door shut
-Passenger side/door side tire hub thing needs to be changed to lug nut system
-Current tires are 5.70-8, can also used 4.80-8, space tire rim looks bad
-Bought stainless steel screws to attach license plate
A current run down of everything that we knew needed work:
-Need to fix crank system
-Handle crank that was purchased is too long
-Roadside Stabilizer Jack needs replaced
-Center seam needs resealed
-Plywood in ceiling needs replaced
-Bed extender needs fixed
-Canvas needs replaced
-Electrical outlet needs replaced
-Overhead light needs replaced
As we got further down the road (haha) with Dolly we did encounter more things that needed repaired but we just took it little by little and we eventually had the best Coleman Columbia out there! (In my opinion!)
Next Monday I’ll go over some of fixing the lift system and I’ll have a before and after of the seat cushions!