I started searching for motorhomes within a ridiculously cheap budget, over an area covering most of the southeast. I looked high and low, from Virginia, all the way into Florida. There were a lot of cheap RVs to be had, but most of them were really questionable. Anything under say $3,000-$4,000 was going to come with a whole heap of problems. I’m not just talking about minor things that could be fixed with a lick of paint or some caulk. These things had major issues like significant if not structural water damage, not running or had drive train problems, major appliances not working etc. Then in December 2014 I came across a 1987 Georgie Boy Cruise Master class ‘A’ motorhome on craigslist. It was in a small town called Griffin about an hour south of Atlanta, Georgia.
The ad had stated that Georgie was not without his set of problems. Chief among which, he wasn’t running and wouldn’t start – had been running fine, but suddenly and strangely wouldn’t start. This raised a few concerns, but there’s only so many things that make an engine start (or not). At worst, it would need a starter, at best a battery….or gas….or something minor like that. You just never know what someone’s definition of “won’t start” is. I emailed back and forth with the owners to get a good sense of the history and the current condition of things. They owned it less than a year. It had been sitting most of that time. Other than mysteriously not starting, even with a new battery, it seemed like it was all there and had solid bones. The roof-top a/c and fridge worked, but they weren’t sure about the other appliances. For the price, though, it was definitely worth a look. I had already planned to spend New Year’s at a campground with a couple of friends a couple hours northeast of Atlanta, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to go check it out.
When I got to the house, there he was. In all his 80’s glory. I met the owners, (rather an interesting couple of ladies) and started taking a look around. The exterior certainly showed some of it’s age. There didn’t seem to be any significant damage or problems, 
though. The inside, a festival of brown and velour, also looked halfway decent. It just needed a good cleaning. In talking to the owners, I was as baffled as they were about the engine not starting. Nothing they were telling me made sense. So I had a little look around for myself. I had brought some tools with me. I checked a few things, including making sure there was good voltage everywhere there was supposed to be. I then checked to be sure the transmission was in park, moving the shifter through the gears and back to park. I went to turn the key, not expecting much, and lo an behold, the engine started turning over. Shocked and amazed, I tried again and the engine fired up like a champ! I was dazzled, and ran outside to find the owners completely flabbergasted. They were actually standing there in amazement with their mouths open. They had been trying to get Georgie to start for months. It had been sitting in their yard for probably close to 6 months, maybe more. The owners were totally spooked and absolutely wanted to get rid of the RV. They kept the deal that we had previously worked out and I just had to make it happen!
To be continued in Part 3