Need Advise, Should I buy it? 1969 Hilo

[Steph-HILO]

So here it is, a 1969 hilo camper for a whopping 500 bucks. I went to look at it tonight and walked away and told her I need to sleep on it. Honestly, I fell in love and the price is just a steal. Here are my hesitations, it won't go down. She is stating she knows nothing about this camper b/c her husband only used it a few times going hunting. However, the husband is not available to speak to. Anyhow, he has 2x4s on each side supporting the camper. They're not in tightly in place (I checked) so I think they're only there for "safety" reasons. The other thing is, the ceiling has a small missing spot by the sunlight window in the ceiling. There is also stains on the ceiling and you can see that there is water damage. It just rained yesterday and I can tell that this is recent. My Dad was able to get up top and look at the roof and he said it looked surprisingly great and thinks the roof would not need to be replaced but the ceiling would need to be. Also, its really weird, I can't place the material used for the ceiling, it kinda looks a little plastic? I don't really know how to explain it. The floor felt really solid and they have carpet tightly in place, so I really don't know whats hiding underneath.

So my reservations is everything I mentioned. I don't know how much work its going to take getting it repaired to have it working up/down again. Just how bad this ceiling/leak would be... but jeez, I really do want this. I don't have the money to sink into it right away and I'm sure my parents aren't thrilled about having this sit on their property but I like the thought of having it and working on it myself. Learning as I go and having fun?

What do you guys think? Do you think with everything I mentioned and I did buy it and just couldn't get to the repairs, do you think I could resell it and get my money back out of it?

Any and all comments are welcome

 

[sam-HILO]

Buying a 69 HiLo

This sure would cost you some $ to fix it up.Butyl tape for the roof and roof Primer. Maybe a new deep cycle battery would help the lifting problem. How old are the tires? May need to be replaced. Does the stove and furnice work? May need brake and or suspension. Plus what ever you need to change/modify. Parts for your tow vehicle,brake controller,hitch. Plus you will find other things you need to fix/replace. If you can't get to the roof repair for sometime mold will grow if it hasn't. You will have to keep it covered to prevent further water dammage. In other words this an expensive hobby!!

 

[davidc-HILO]

Yeah like sam said, depends on if you really want a project or not. If you can store it with a tarp on it to prevent further damage. Doesn't really matter what the roof looks like from the outside if water / damage on the inside is recent... it's getting in somehow somewhere...

As for it it not going down, the down part should be the easy part but really if he used it a couple of times, then it does / should go up and down, but not without a battery or jump. No offense to women, but she doesn't know how he did it and doesn't want to know even if he told her...

$500? if I had the time the place to do it and if it was closer I might...

 

[PopRichie77]

Have you looked at any of the posts on the forum where people repaired water damaged trailers? The major problem can't be seen till the paneling is removed. If any of the interior walls or ceiling feels soft, then there could be a lot of damage. $500.00 (MIGHT) buy you another $1000.00 worth of problems. You have to decide as we can't see the trailer and it does look nice in the pic on the outside. An old trailer is similar to an old car, price depends on condition and a lot on how much the buyer is willing to pay.

 

[sting32]

Steph,

I am kind of a person that will buy "junk" that I hope to make usable at least. if you are this type of person, let me state a couple things that goes against what the guys above me have said, just a little at least.

Any trailer, you buy used, probably needs tires and battery at a minimum, especially if you get one "cheap" where the seller is not fixing it up and trying to get top dollar...

SO battery and tires are a "wash" so to speak.

But water damage (and resulting black moldy) crap is a challeng. it probably leaked around skylite you described. you might get lucky and just started, but my bet is been leaking a while.

The ceiling wont be too hard, the problem is how much structural damage you might have with rotted wood frames or what not. (I am not authority on older, or any years hilo, but I used to build RV's and busses for Eldorado Motor Coach).

(I can see this one is going to be long, excuse my typo's, I have to hurry)
I bought a 72 Eldorado motorhome in 2003, it had leaked above the cab (overhead) could only see a small spot, I thought easy fix, it was "easy" but lots of labor involved though. I grew up farming, and told me working on something, is better than hanging out in bars, etc, or shopping, so any time fixing things up is double win win.

I had to remove 70% of the wood and frame above the cab, that is under that bed, and I cut and spliced in wood and frame back in, on any soft wood. I painted the hell out of everything with a "brand name that escapes me" paint that was a primer to kill any mold (think it was "KILLS"). I didnt have to go up the sides, the leak was a seam around front window on that over cab, so bottom of front window was as high as I had to go. We used that camper for the next 8 year, the camper cost me $1000, then I bought a few cordless tools I had always wanted anyway, and probably $200 worth of materials (very carefully sourced, like "dumpster wood" from friends, matress from garage sales, things like that, in wood, and paid a friend that redid my seat cusions for dining area, (if I had to pay retail that alone would been 200 or more? Plus, and my mother, who loves sewing and making shirts, curtains and lots of things, did the Curtains herself, all with material she'd VERY frugal person, had horded lol.

Only reason I sold that dang thing was the hard to get tires (16.5 rims), plus it was made in 72, so top speed felt like 50, and I was needing to travel 300 or more miles at least 4-5 times a year, if you know what I mean. And then I found the Hilo 5th wheel toybox I have now.

BTW, insurance on that RV was like $36 per year, and antique tags, makes it so I didnt have some $20,000 dollar camper (and payments... like my friends have) that I may or may not get to use each season.

So if you are able to do the work, Id offer less, take it home and work on it. But, if you need a camper for even a month from now, you arent as handy, or have nobody to help, you might need to pass, unless you have the time. it took me 2 weekends, full weekends and some week nights, to get that RV so I could use it right away...

Your mileage on this post will vary,

 

[Marilyn walsh]

You can do better. Its better to buy a newer one. Marilyn

This sure would cost you some $ to fix it up.Butyl tape for the roof and roof Primer. Maybe a new deep cycle battery would help the lifting problem. How old are the tires? May need to be replaced. Does the stove and furnice work? May need brake and or suspension. Plus what ever you need to change/modify. Parts for your tow vehicle,brake controller,hitch. Plus you will find other things you need to fix/replace. If you can't get to the roof repair for sometime mold will grow if it hasn't. You will have to keep it covered to prevent further water dammage. In other words this an expensive hobby!!

You can do better. I wouldn't but it. Marilyn

 

[davidc-HILO]

X 2 what sting said, if you aren't handy and able / willing to do stuff yourself, don't buy it. Double if you need something right away because things will be worse the more you dig into it.

No offense, but a LOT of people THINK they want a project and then never do anything with it because they bit off more than they could chew... probably exactly what this guy did...