Beauty restored, coming up!

Found this post about a project in the making with a beautiful new old Mobile Scout. :)

http://repairingyesterdaystrailers.yuku.com/topic/2665#.TvE8GWD7ZxU

You know, it takes someone very, very special to see THIS... 

... and to look past all that decay, rot, and damage and see the beauty she can be! Can't wait to see the finished results.

Mobile Scouts in Sisters on the Fly

Christi shares the story of how she came to have her Mobile Scout, "Dream Catcher."

We drove to a vintage car swap meet and nearby stopped in a town to get some oil for our vintage VW....and she was parked in a used RV lot for sale.. It was meant to be! The man had traded her in for a newer bigger model (his loss) and our gain! I'm a Sister on the Fly member and this is my sister trailer - http://www.sistersonthefly.com.

Serial number? What? Where?

As far as we know, Mobile Scouts all have a serial number stamped on the metal tongue or trailer base somewhere. It starts with the two digit year, has a letter, and then a two digit number representing the length, then a four digit number which is unique to that series.

Ours is UNDER the camper. This one shown is stamped on top of the tongue.

Remember that back in the day, millions of these were not rolling off the line. They made hundreds, for sure, but nothing like the production of an RV company today.

The serial can also be found on a paper glued to the inside of the upper cabinet doors IF you have the original cabinets and IF someone has not removed that.

Or, thrown it away during the revamp, as we did. I KNEW I should have taken that door off and squirreled it away when I thought about it, before the hammers started flying. But I said I'd get it later. Don't put things off, kids!

Too good to be free...

Since my request, people have been sharing their tales of getting/rehabing/enjoying their Mobile Scouts.

Kevin from Texas says:

My '65 was given to me free! The plates finally expired, so I had to get with the previous owner to get a replacement title. I just had to write him a check for $300.00 because I have enjoyed my camper so much, and It was the right thing to do.

Way to go, Kevin!

What's in a number?

The vintage Mobile Scouts all seem to have the serial number welded into the underside of the frame. The number may look something like this: 

64M154359

This unit would be a 1964. The first two numbers denote the year. We know this because our unit had a sheet glued to the inside of the upper cabinet that had a diagram of the camper and some basic information. It appeared to have come from the factory. The year marked there matched the first two numbers in our serial number on the underside. 

I'm afraid I don't know what, if anything, the rest of it means. And so far, I haven't found anyone else that does, either. If you happened to work at the factory building Mobile Scouts back in the 1950's and 1960's, you'd make my day if you got in touch with me! I have a blue-billion questions to ask you. 

So grab a flashlight, and get on your back under your unit and see what you can find! And if you have a photo of your serial number, send it in so I can show people what to look for and where! 

Mobile Scouts from the 1970's.

It's not just all about our little early 1960's canned hams. Don't forget Mobile Scouts from the 1970's! 

And another!

This summer has caused a few beauties in disguise to arise! Another posting on Craigslist:

http://maine.craigslist.org/rvs/1895605264.html

Any great stories of deals made out there?

The other day it happened again: someone pulled up to our drive as one of us was out in the yard, and asked if we would be interested in selling our Mobile Scout. This despite her being stashed in our back yard behind a 6 ft fence! She used to be sitting right out beside our garage, so perhaps someone had seen her move and thought she was being put out to pasture.

Do you have a story about selling a camper to someone who just dropped by to inquire, or perhaps you scored a great deal by dropping by to inquire?

Let me know and I'll share it.

Nice redo on Craigslist in Morgantown, WV

Found this via a Google alert. I do not know the owner, have no information beyond the Craigslist posting. It's an interesting redo; she was in pretty bad shape and he's done a good job. http://charlotte.craigslist.org/rvs/1874507383.html

Even after the posting is gone, you can see the project here: http://s819.photobucket.com/albums/zz119/tfrep4/timberline%2060/

Mobile Scout in Medford -- definitely a project.

Check it out!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mobile-Scout-vintage-classic-50s60s-cannedham-project-/230493246598

If you can believe it, this looks about the same, perhaps even a little better, then ours did when we started! So yes, it can be done, but it takes a lot of work and you either do it yourself, pay friends in beer to do it for you... or pay out the NOSE.

But it sure is fun, and the results can be awesome!