New to Group; New to us, older 'bird.

[Gardner Yeaw]

Bruce,
Believe me when I say that the design and quality of the Bird
interior is a wonderful thing. It is very practical and functional.
I have a 1978 which is basicaly the same as yours sans turbo. Those
airline storage cabnets one of the best things going.The big opening
and the vertical door make them indispensable. The interior
materials and design makes it easy to clean and keep clean. When i
first got mine my wife and I did a major interior clean up. As we
progressed through the coach we kept discovering more little
thoughtful things and always were impressed at the built in quality.

When you say you want to 'gut' it rather that 'restore' it, I
fear you may miss out on a lot of what a Bluebird is. Then again, I
don't know the condition of yours, so I may be way off base here.

Gardner
78FC33


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "mccoyb24" <mccoyb24@...>
wrote:
>
> Hello Group!
>
> My name is Bruce McCoy. My partner in the new to us bird is Tom
> Meehan. We are kind of accidental newbies to the Wanderlodge
> experience. Tom saw his first Wanderlodge about three years ago in
a
> campground north of Chicago. He has been intrigued by them ever
since
> but never really thought about buying one. I already have a
> motorhome. It's a '95 Safari Trek. Before I bought that one
in '03, I
> never thought I would be buying it. I was working on it for an
estate
> sale.
>
> About a week ago, we saw a listing on Craigslist for a '79
> Wanderlodge. It looked a little rough but with a little TLC and a
few
> bucks and a bit of sweat equity, we felt that it could be brought
> back up to very good shape. We put a deposit down on it this past
> weekend and will pick it up sometime next week. It will be awhile
> before it's much to look at. That's not my highest priority.
>
> I will be doing most of the systems repair and troubleshooting on
> this rig so I felt that since I will probably have the most
> questions, I should open my own discussion board account. I will
have
> Tom open up one as well if he opts to do so.
>
> It will take me some time to figure out how Yahoo! Groups works. I
> want to sift through some of the older posts and see how things
work
> around here. That also gives me a chance to see who the regulars
are.
> In time, I hope to be able to contribute as well. There will be a
> learning curve that I will be going through with this rig. I'm
> looking forward to the challenge.
>
> I still have to learn which model number we have but I can tell
you
> that it is a '79 33 footer and has been re-engined with a CAT 3208
> turbo. There's just over 90,000 miles on the chassis and the motor
> swap was done simply because a previous owner (we bought it from
the
> second owner) wanted a turbo. The tires are just over a year old.
So
> when looking at an older coach, having to worry about the
condition
> of the engine, drive train and tires is not as bad an issue with
this
> one. It does need a new refrigerator and two of three Suburban
forced
> air furnaces need to be overhauled. The interior is fairly
original
> and in need of cleaning. We don't plan on gutting it. In fact,
> there's something to be said about keeping these things as
original
> as possible. I kind of like the aircraft style stowbins!
>
> Anyway, I'll be seeing you guys around the board. I'll have much
more
> to post when I actually get my hands on this thing. In the mean
> time, I have lots of reading to do.
>
> Bruce McCoy
> '79 33' FC
>