1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

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1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Wed Mar 07, 2018 3:04 pm

So, I've been busy. Back in June, my girlfriend went to Scotland with her Mom for a nice vacation. While she was gone, I found an old dilapidated 13' Serro Scotty Gaucho. My friend and I drove 2 1/2" hours to look at it, and then it took us a bit over 4 hours to get hit home because we were afraid it was going to fall apart if we drove too fast.

I mean come on, how can she say "no" if she's not around to witness it? As the old saying goes, 'tis better to ask for forgiveness, rather than permission. 8)

And let me tell you, she was pretty surprised when she got home from vacation! :shock: :lol:

Long story short, she thought I was insane, so I started demolition at the end of July. She couldn't handle the smell. But with much perseverance, she slowly warmed up to the project and has really enjoyed it. Just last night we finally got it to the point that it is sealed up and "campable".

We took it completely down to the frame, saving what wood was left as templates. The frame got cleaned up and painted, and the axle was replaced with a Dexter Torflex with electric brakes. New wheels and tires, complete with new baby moon hubcaps. Every square inch of wood is new, but we re-used all the original aluminum trim, skins, windows, and door hardware. All the window seals got replaced, and we reused the taillights. The marker lights were too far gone, so we replaced them with sealed LED lights that are fairly reminiscent of the originals. The goal was to have a ratty looking old camper.... from the outside.

The interior is a different story. We didn't want the dark fake wood paneling, or the claustrophobic feel that the original layout had. We widened the bed a few inches, chopped the wardrobe down to counter height, and reconfigured the cabinets a bit. The refrigerator was ditched, and an air conditioner will take its spot below the stove. We added the overhead cabinets front and rear, because it seemed like a lot of wasted space without them. That also gave us the opportunity for some cool linear color-changing LED strips. The same LED strips are used under the gaucho, the dinette seats, and under the camper. They're controlled by a bluetooth app on a smartphone, which gives 200 different color modes, and can change to any single color.

On the roof, we have two flexible 120W solar panels, connected to two 75aH SLA batteries via a Victron SmartSolar 100/20 charge controller. When the sun isn't shining and we're plugged into campground power, a Progressive Dynamics PD4135 handles all the power needs, from the 120VAC outlets, to the various 12VDC and USB power outlets. With all that power, it seems silly not to use it, so there is a Supersonic 19" LED TV/DVD combo that runs on 12V, as well as a Kenwood DVD/audio receiver which can stream audio from any mobile device.

Since we ditched the original LP furnace, but decided to keep the original range and hood, I learned how to plumb copper line. On the tongue we have a dual-stage auto-changeover regulator fed by two 11lb propane tanks. The propane feeds the original Coleman range, a quick-disconnect that can be used for a portable fireplace (or grill), and a Wave3 catalytic heater.

We still need to build the cabinet and overhead compartment doors, make some cushions, and a few other little things, but I'd say we're in pretty good shape for about 7 months worth of work! Our maiden voyage is next weekend, with the Chesapeake Bay TearJerkers, and we cannot wait to take this thing for a spin!

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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Wed Mar 07, 2018 3:07 pm

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We just got it out of the garage last night, so I'll post some daylight pictures soon! :pictures:

Full build album is here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 1bf34c1515
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby razorback » Wed Mar 07, 2018 5:29 pm

Very cool! Nice work. Enjoy.
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby steve cowan » Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:54 pm

Great job rebuilding the Scotty.Everybody needs more than one camper. :)
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Tue Mar 13, 2018 2:45 pm

Thanks guys!

steve cowan wrote:.Everybody needs more than one camper. :)


Absolutely!
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Tue Mar 13, 2018 2:46 pm

Some before and after collages, with before on top.

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29027535_10100644938400792_1432154302230560768_o.jpg (614.9 KiB) Viewed 10903 times
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby aggie79 » Mon Apr 09, 2018 3:28 pm

:thumbsup: :applause: :thumbsup:
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby QueticoBill » Mon Apr 09, 2018 6:27 pm

Really wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:55 am

Thanks guys! We took the maiden voyage a couple weeks ago, and it was great to have some extra space. There was some freezing rain on Saturday evening, so it was nice that the dogs could just hang out inside and be comfortable. At night the temps dropped to mid 20's, but we were pretty comfortable inside with the Wave3 catalytic heater. The Wave3 was probably a little undersized because of all the windows we have, but it kept us at a very comfortable 60-65.

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I've been working on the cabinet doors this past week. They're all made, I just have to install them. First three are looking pretty good though :D

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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby coyote » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:21 am

Right rear window?
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:26 am

coyote wrote:Right rear window?


Very observant of you :thinking:

We added that window, and also changed the fixed window in the door to the older 1960's jalousie. And just last week I finally found and bought one of the tall jalousie windows that was only used in 1971. A friend picked it up for me, so now I just have to get it from NC up to PA, and rebuild the door. Again.
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby coyote » Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:23 pm

Very nice work. :applause:
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby dmb90260 » Sat Apr 14, 2018 8:23 am

Impressive. Very nice work. :applause: :beer:
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Tue Apr 17, 2018 7:27 am

Thank you both!
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Re: 1976 Scotty 13' Gaucho - Ground-up Rebuild - "The X-76"

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Tue May 29, 2018 9:28 am

The Scotty now has air conditioning, for when we're at a campground and have access to electric hookup. If we're boondocking, we could run the unit off a 2200w inverter generator, or we have to 'rough it' and settle for the roof fan.

The A/C is built into the cabinet below the stove, and vents out the side wall of the camper, through the original vents for the original refrigerator. Its built on a sliding assembly that makes installation easy.

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Using my experience with installing A/C in the teardrop, I built a shroud to isolate and direct the hot exhaust down and out the lower side wall louver. The fresh air comes in the top louver, also with some fresh air pulling from around the front of the A/C unit.

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Condensate is drained out the bottom of the unit, through a tube that exits where the hot air louver is. This tube gets tucked inside the louver when not in use.

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