1976 18376 Rebuild

[malekhai]

From its former life as a chicken coop, started on restoring this 1976 Hi-Lo, I believe it is an 18376 from the interior layout. Lift system seems to be intact, but plan on checking everything out as we tear out more of the interior.

Significant roof leaks from its past life, so everything has gotta go, but plus side can keep it opened up in our polebarn while we work on it

Lot of surface rust on the frame, some holes in the parts of the steel tubing, so thinking the whole exterior shell will need to come off to handle all of that, and maybe replace with new steel tubes in the spots where its really bad.


Goal is to tow behind an EV, but wanted something with hard sides instead of a typical pop-up, but Hi-Lo seemed a great compromise to get pop-up aerodynamics. Original weight per user manual is 2500lbs, hoping to get that under 500lbs.

 

[oldcarguy]

Good luck with the project....

Just a guess, but getting the overall weight under 500 lbs may not be possible - likely the frame, axles, wheels & tires, lift mechanism and upper body framing alone are half or more of the overall listed weight.

 

[r67northern]

Agreed - good luck with this. I would love to see some photos of the project, it sounds very interesting.