Motorhome recycling more, but wait there’s even more…

Wow, 51 degrees this morning, riding the bike I felt alive…. you guys up north call it normal…

So when I left off… sorry but you need to put a prelog like they do on series shows… we were talking @ recycling the raw materials in older motorhomes… the GMC for sure but still with that ocean of water sogged, rotted and rusted motorhomes out there looking for a hole big enough to get buried in, with their commercial truck chassis under that soggy turtle shell there must be a way to harvest and recycle that metal in other ways that crushing to and shipping it to China to make cheap car parts!  And this is something I have pondered since I was pushed into messing with those things.  Heck, my banker said when he came by.. Oh, you work on motorhomes to which I said “no way, would not touch one”… I don;t see vintage RV’s as in the same bucket as those cheaply built motorhomes of the 80’s and 90’s.  Today you spend bucks and have a better chance of it staying together but back then… brother you were in a shoebox hurling down the road in a &%#(*()&&&  … I won’t comment on the turtle shells of the past.

So to that end, recently a good friend made it possible for me to finally give a shot at hearvesting one of those beasts… meet Miss Piggy   A 1989 Pace Arrow (Galactica cruiser…) 37.5′ long P-30 Chevy chassis, 454 gas motor, Goodyear rear stabilizer axle, externded chassis motorhome that water has had it’s way .  Leaks had not only lifted the fiberglass shett of the body but had rusted what structure there was, you can see the body drop at the rear.   I know you have seen piles of machines like this rotting away on the back lot of Bubba’s Motorhome Emporium on a back road outside of Nutbush….  the goal of this project is to see what there is useable on this carcus.  Oh BTW, the chassis runs like a top and only has 65,000 miles on it… 19.5″ rimes and all that!  There has to be something under there worth saving… so “with picks and shovels we started back down then came that rumble way down underground and the smoke and gas belched outa that mine and everyone knew it was the end of the line for big John”.  I felt we were reenacting that ole song digging into Miss Piggy like whalers would strip the Right Whale    and as it came apart we were witness to what put together this beast… 1×2 thinwall square bar stock uprights every 8 feet!   and after @ 3 hours of kicking at the walls from the inside the body was rendered!

Another 1 hour session with a sawsall and Bob’s your dead uncle the destruction was complete.  That was wayyyy to easy but now the work would begin trying to clean off the refuse from the imploded turtle shell.   Renting a 30 yard dumpster Hank braved the pile  Ands drove Miss Piggy out front around the black to the waiting trash receptical… kinda like bringing a demolished building to the dump and  shownshovel it all to the the trash pile   We next have to get all of that off before we can see what’s left. Filling up one 30 yard dumpster this is left    

          A lightly rotted but salvagable flat bed platform…. We’re taking off the extended to stupid rear section   Take a last look at that drooping bushy tail because it’s coming off   Everything old needs brakes so all parts will be replaced   And from here only the shadow knows our fate…. 

Have no fear, the GMC is our love and in our hearts but there are other neat things to offer the vintage RV community  … remember after @ 10 years you coupld call a motorhome that survives the ordeal “vintage”.  Miss Piggy will rise again…

See you guys tomorrow….

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