The seller of this 1972 Winnebago camper project expresses some level of frustration with selling a cheap car on craigslist. He says you can have this mouse-infested R/V for free if you show up with a trailer and don’t ask him hundreds of questions. If you want to ask hundreds of questions, the cost goes up to $500! So pick your poison, and find this Winnebago here on craigslist in Colorado.
In all honesty, I get it. You’re trying to give people a bargain, recognizing the project for what it is. Yet still, in some buyer’s minds, that entitles them to 30, 40 minutes of your time for a project listed a price – in this case, free – where the only risk is what to do with it when it gets to your property. My rule of thumb is if it’s under $1,000, I’ll take my chances on what happens once it gets there. If I’m in a place financially where it makes me nervous, I shouldn’t be buying a project anyway.
This camper doesn’t look that bad in photos, but that’s the trouble with rodent infestations. It’s not necessarily that they’ve torn the place to shreds, but rather done their damage in other ways that require you to wear a biohazard suit with clean air supply in order to enter the R/V. This Winnebago isn’t a Chieftain or a Brave, but I can’t place exactly which cab it has that might otherwise denote a specific line of Winnebago camper.
It’s a shame about the mice because this camper honestly doesn’t look all that bad, at least in the sense that the overall structure seems to be holding up and isn’t otherwise damaged. The seller notes the Winnebago ran when parked but he’s unsure of its current status or even if the tires will hold air. Although you can’t beat the price of free, cleaning up a mouse-infested R/V may even be too much of a burden even for the cost of $0. Would you take it on?
If….. I wanted a motor home the mouse turds would not be a problem for me. The first thing I’d do is put about 10 snap traps with peanut butter on them. For about a week maybe two. Then I’d suit up and go through it vacuuming and washing everything. When it was safe to be in there then you could start repairing it. This motor home is considered a C class and this one have a Chevy cab and winabego nose on it. I think they were fiberglass. But I’d don’t want a motorhomeso let the mice keep it.
Great minds think alike. Exactly what I would do too. I suspect however the problem isn’t so much the rodents but rather the damage they’ve done.
Ask no questions. Pick it up for free, Restore and paint Wild Cherry on the sides.
@leiniedude – OK, that got a chuckle out of me
Glad you got it Jeff, I enjoy your write ups, some times there is a disagreement on rigs, but in the long run we are all car cats. Take care, Mike. Keep them coming!
It’s not the mice that are alive that you have to worry about. The Hantavirus is a bad way to go, and not many people survive even if they diagnose it in time. There is only one answer for this wagon of ill repute, five gallons of gas and a brave soul to light it. Some where safe of course.
Kitchen bleach in a spray bottle will kill both mold and any virus in existence. Just wear a mask and gloves and have at it.
I have a young alley cat and a 6 year old german shepherd. Could be a fun trip back to OH with exterminators working along the way !!!
Actually a 2 foot Black/King snake will get rid of them little critters faster than anything. They will leave the area in a hurry. One under your house is good pest control too. However if it comes in the house at night and your bride gets up to go to the bathroom and she …..well thats another story.
Be wary of people giving away vehicle that they don’t own.
Excellent point…Imagine traveling 2000 miles, paying the SOB for additional questions (title sir ? lol) . Getting chased off…zoiks !
Lets face it, if it sounds to good to be true……….. I would not touch it! Could be meth lab, rats, any number of bio-hazards!
Think about the lab investment … May be set up well for the beginner meth entreprenuer !
Oh man, who knows how much of the wires are chewed out.
Let’s plug it in and find out…marshmallows at the ready!
It’s close enough to Denver that it might wind up in a homeless encampment, assuming someone could get it there.
I feel the sellers frustration. A few years ago a friend dropped some stuff off at my swapmeet spot. He said give it away if you want. I didn’t know the history of the parts and didn’t want to take any of it home so I put the items next a sign that read free. It seemed like everyone that was interested in anything from the free section would ask a series of questions. They wouldn’t accept, I don’t know a friend asked me, as an answer. I fielded more questions about those items than everything else I was selling, I vowed to never have a free pile again.
Steve R
What exactly were those GMs with the long snout?
hd 3500
The snout is a Winnebago addition to make the Chevy cab look proprietary.
In the 70’s Dodge pretty much had a monopoly in the chassis cab motor home market. Chevrolet had this chassis pictured here and it was marketed as a motor home specific chassis, and not being a cutaway. I can’t remember particular years, engine options….etc. However, in my opinion it’s not exactly easy on the eyes.
And on a side note, have ya seen the HD van chassis that were in production up to about 7-8 years ago?
Having junked several motorhomes to get cheap big block engines, I can tell you it’s a LOT of work. You end up saving a ton of stuff you think you may use but half the time never do. If mice or rats are in the walls or ceilings, getting the piss smell out is dam near impossible.
The smell would be my main concern. If the body where aluminum and you had an affordable way to dispose of what wouldn’t burn or was recyclable then it might be worth the effort.
@john m leyshon: What about a portable
moonshine still? At least the smell of
cooked sourmash beats the smell of meth any day. And besides that, the smell of said sourmash would definately
would drive out all the critters calling it
home anyway! Oh Mike, I played my first
live show in 20 years! It was an impromptu affair at somewhere sports
bar here in Winter Haven this past
weekend. There were 2 young men
playing there and doing a great job by
themselves until they forgot the last
verse of Lyin’ Eyes by The Eagles. All
I did was cover the verse for them and
all bets were off after that! Wound up
playing and singing with them the rest
of the evening. Sis has some video she
took of me playing that night and said
that she’d try to upload it here for you
and everyone else to see as well. Just
please don’t throw beer bottles at the
stage, that’s hazardous to my health!
Great Kenneth ! On the Road Again!!!!!!!!???????
The crap inhaled is the danger
Wear a mask and strip everything out and use bleach …
Clean the ac heat vents as they luv to crap 💩 in there too.
Danger danger this is toxic …but restorable
Every neighborhood in America has at least a couple of these sitting in driveways, surrounded by weeds, kid toys, other non-running cars, piles of lumber, etc. If free were the right price they’d all be gone. How much is your time worth to get that engine out? This thing needs fire, and lots of it.
As Winnebagos go, this is a good looking RV. The problem I see is that there are not enough pics of the Winnebago itself. There are also pics of cargo trailers and other stuff.
But it ran when parked! I wonder if it ran when it came from the dealer too.
I have been through the mouse problem. RUN! Unless you are taking this for parts, you will never get the stink out of it.
I agree with Jeff Lavery. If you are not in a financial situation to handle this don’t call the Seller and ask him 400 questions or tell him a long and boring story. Yes you need to prepare yourself for the menagarie inside the vehicle and God knows what else, but remember, you are in it for nothing. If you like to camp out or tour in something like this, it will be a bargain.
I’ve gone this route before. Got a trailer/mobile home (never sure of the terminology) for a dollar from a neighbor whose son lived in it until he was institutionalized, and it sat for a year before they offered it while moving out. Took 7 months of airing it out, AFTER spending several days cleaning, tearing out and replacing walls, cushions, wiring, etc. But, I have a lot of free time on my hand so it wasn’t a terrible hardship. Additionally, I have a unique guest “house” out back now, which came in handy when a family member lost their home due to illness. I can definitely agree though that if you don’t have the time and the money you don’t want to try this. And it goes without saying, if you have any respiratory problems, don’t even consider it.
Looks like there is an onboard generator in there? If so, that alone is worth something
I seriouly feel the guys pain on this, mine had no mice or rats, the living space was striped and clean, it had 43k on the clock. It took over a month to find some one to tow it away with all the tires holding air.
Ok, forget about the mouse and wiring issues for the moment. Most Class “C” motor homes are on the standard 30/3500/350 ( take your pick of brands ) are 60 pounds of SXXT in a 10 pound bag. This one as h60memo has pointed out
Is the 3500hd chassis which is the one to have if you are going to rebuild to your on specs. This is the chassis to do it on. Most were the 14,000 GVWR with the 454 and turbo 400 transmission. Super Tough chassis. Most box vans did not have a chassis this stiff or strong. 3 times more stabile than your avarage Class “C”!
Why are all of you guys forgetting about the fact that the guy giving this away doesn’t own it.
He has no title and I would bet he can’t get one.
Why even bother with it when you can get one in better condition with a title for $1000 – $1500?
Sorry this is junk. A nice clean one would only be ~$2500 so it’s not worth your time and health to swamp this out. The interiors are made of pressboard anyway. Maybe if you tear off the camper and add a flat bed you could have a work truck or car hauler.
Free is too expensive.
Free, much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
If I dragged this home, I’d have to buy my way out of the trouble I’d be in with my wife – I’d be upside down on this deal in no time.
Big article in the local (Eugene Ore) paper today on this very subject. One yard (who police contract to drag stuff off the street) has 15 abandoned Motorhomes and no more room. He said they don’t have Titles usually, seldom run, are often biohazards and the average cost to dispose of them is around $2800. In the local C/L every week you can usually go get one somewhere for little or nothing often from a Landlord who just wants it GONE. . :-) Terry J
Hey, it is free. A little mouse pee? Squat to pee yourself? Deercamp smells like that every year. Still above ground. Clean it up and move on.
This really is a BIO-HAZARD! Keep clear of it!! It isn’t worth the time and cost just to drive out to it. With its location, I’m not surprised that it is still there. Those folks are real outdoors people. But, with the mice problem, they are all letting it sit…for good reason.
Park it in a garage, open all the doors and windows and set an Ozone machine inside for three days. Kills ALL organics leaving a spring air fragrance
It’s damned insidious that such a vehicle would be allowed to sit there to allow rats and other vermin to live there and piss and crap all over the place, making it unhealthy to use.