Why? Why would I do this to myself, you ask? Well it all started when I was a wee little tyke rolling through the precarious mountain roads of sunny California in an old woody station wagon, pulling my grandpas RV which my dad had borrowed. Fingers full of boogers and eyes glued to the magnificently wondrous nature outside my rear facing bench seat, I stared down ravines that would give mountain climbers a cold sweat, only to turn and see my dad whistling Dixie as he ripped through the mountains, oblivious to the 3 inches of road between life and death below us.
Growing up in Chicago I had never seen topology that wasn’t as flat as a pancake, nor bewildering redwood trees as wide as our house back home. Little did I know, these sweet pillars of my youthful memory bank would come back to bite me in the ass, costing me thousands of dollars and a broken back in the summer of 2025 as I painstakingly rebuilt a 26 foot RV from the ground up.
My wife put it best as I rolled into our urban driveway in Nutley NJ a few short months ago as she poignantly queried, “What have you done?”
Grandpa’s ol’ Woodie Wagon and RV, daringly climbing the Sierra Nevada in 1980 something.
So how did I end up with a 2005 Kodiak Skamper 26 foot RV? Especially when I have no idea how to pull a trailer… you and my wife may simultaneously ask? Well, we can partially blame my youth and the fond memories of hiking stick whittling in the California State Forests, and we can also partially blame temporary insanity.
Every year I take on a couple fun side projects to restore an old vintage motorcycle but last year I took it all one precarious step further!
Learning to restore an old 2006 Aerolite Kodiak Skamper 26 foot travel Trailer camper RV was how I started 2025. Coming off of a grueling 16 hour day work schedule on the Jeremy-Allen White Bruce Springsteen biopic, “Deliver Me From Nowhere” was such a difficult (and if I’m being honest, toxic) experience for me that I needed a break. I set aside a couple months in the spring to purchase and do a full gut-reno rebuild of a 2006 RV.
The seller told me it was in turnkey shape, however I didn’t know much at the time of RV’s and took his word for it. Turned out, this charlatan was lying through his teeth. On the way back from the sellers house in NJ, the tires he said were brand new blew out and causeD a massive hole in the rear quarter of the RV, destroying both the wheel well and the plumbing. When I looked, the date stamped on the dry rotted tire was almost 20 years old. I knew then I had made a woefully miscalculated decision.
The floor was a soggy diaper and needed to be completely rebuilt and restructured from underneath the RV. The plumbing was shot, the gas didn’t work, the AC he claimed ran perfectly was totally dead and the electric needed to be all rewired. two months later, and thanks to my amazing pop-a-dops, my father and I had completely renewed this wonderful camper and were headed out on the road to relax in the woods!
As you can see below, Everything that could be removed and replaced with a new counterpart was swapped out. It was a massive job but the final product proved to be worth it! From the new roof to the new floor, this RV should bring many years of family adventures for the Lutz clan… now all I have to do is get my teenager on board who thinks this makes us culturless hillbillies.
After a half dozen camping trips this summer with this wonderful RV, I became restless once again. Having restored a dowen motorcycles and countless micriophones, outboard gear units, tape machines, RC cars and other time wasting endeavors, I decided it was time to finally buy that boat I had always been dreaming of for the last couple hours.
I set out across the sea of facebook marketplace sellers, determined NOT to buy another stinker from a snake oil salesman but sea life and boat owning were not on my side for I had neither owned a boat nor had any experience with them outside of this super sexy photo of me in Aruba last year, which I shall titilate you with thusly:
And so I set out to buy a seaworthy vessel and ended up with a slick little 16′ Thompson Sidewinder that had been raced extensively in the Long Island Sound. It was apprently a trophy winning machine back in its’ day but sat untouched in a garage for the last 20 years.
What could go wrong?
Spoiler: everything.
Cut the the end (TLDR): It started out looking like a sparly green turd and ended up a diamond.
That’s right, dear reader. I had made arcane magic of the highest order, once again! After spending 8 hours+ a day in my driveway gutting this infernal machine down to the gel coat, I had it buttoned back up and was ready for open waters! I debated telling you this but in the spirit of encouraging you to never give up, I will admit that even though I rebuilt the motor from the ground up, it died in the middle of NJ’s largest body of water the first TWO times I took it out.
At the time of this blog post entry, the boat remains in my driveway under cover, waiting for the next season. Unfortunately, I finally got it fully completed and dialed in the first week of October so my captains hat will have to hang on the hat rack for another six months.
Stay tuned for more insane husband hi jinx to drive my wife and kids crazy as I think about building a hadron accelerator in my backyard! Kidding… not kidding.
Hungry for more? Check out these cool motorcycles I built over the last few years!
Are you still here??
Sheesh, a glutton for boredom huh!
Here’s exactly what I did to the RV in case you were curious.
THE FOLLOWING WORK WAS COMPLETED BETWEEN FEB AND JUNE OF 2025:
1. Brand new pergo flooring throughout, installed from front to back from Camping World NJ. 2. Brand new bathroom tiled floor, with new quarter round trim and caulking. 3. Massive structural repair, which includes an entirely new sub-frame brace system with undercarriage rubberized coating from front to back (only totaling less than 100lbs!). 4. Trailer Frame was sanded and painted black with rust prohibitive trailer paint. 5. Every inch of old window and door caulk was scraped off and recaulked on the entire trailer. Brand New retractable awning with all new hardware. 6. Roof was EPDM and TPO primed. Roof then received 3 coats of liquid rubber brand roof sealant. Gutters were repaired and resealed. 7. Every hookup conduit was replaced entirely and re-sealed. 8. New exterior electric connector flap & lid installed and caulked. Note that all exterior items have professional butyl tape installed for a watertight seals. 9. New $300 deep cycle marine grade battery (the most expensive and largest capacity Walmart sells!). New master kill switch with Digital LCD voltage display installed into the battery box. A unique and extremely handy feature even new RV’s don’t have. 10. New grab handles for pop out hybrid king size bed and front door were replaced and caulked. 11. New roof window and crank replaced & installed 12. New bathroom window ceiling motor 13. New custom aluminum collapsible stairs with custom modified support jack 14. New digital leveling system (with app that syncs to your phone). 15. New white dometic AC fixture (NOS replacement!) 16. Brand New chrome kitchen sink faucets. Sink was also repainted with white porcelain paint. 17. All New outside panels for water, antenna, heater, kitchen fan etc 18. New curtains with new tracks from ikea 19. New blackout blinds for every single window (8 in total) 20. New fire alarms and fire extinguisher 21. We installed All new modern outlets with usb connectivity 22. New built in permanent 3-in-1 RV vacuum installed in the rear of the rv. 23. Four brand new radial R trailer series tires installed June 2025. These new hybrid tires have the sidewall strength of bias ply tractor tires but are highway rated for higher speeds and better traction and heat distribution. Best in class 24. Brand new Spare tire (identical 5th wheel included!) New tire iron and jacks too 25. Brakes were serviced and axles greased and repacked. All electrical was serviced. All lights work and function properly. 26. New storage door latches 27. Tons of Repaired PEX plumbing 28. New kitchen sink and sanded cutting board cover 29. Shampoo’d all cushions and rear carpet box to like new condition. All were then deep-sanitized June 23rd 2025 30. Amazon Fire stick installed and included. 3d printed remote holder installed. HD TV also includes dvd player in working condition. Oiginal TV remote also works! CD stereo radio system also works perfectly and were removed & deep cleaned. 31. New left tail light installed 32. Patched the pop out canvas and screens. Bleached and scrubbed with rotary nylon drill attachment August 29 2025. Very clean. Not brand new but sealed and safe. All zippers work great. No tears. 33. New front door handle and lock (new keys). Door repainted. All trim replaced with new trim. 34. Serviced coaxial TV system works great 35. All new battery terminal wire kit installed in the Brand new flagship marine battery with new hardware. 36. Brand new outdoor “living room” full patio set ($550!) includes new outdoor rug, floor mat, boot scrubbing station, all new 4 camp chairs, folding couch and folding camp table + storage bags for all. 37. Brand new Installed vinyl awning with new hardware from Gerber RV! $1200 alone 38. New uograded electrical wiring, regulator and charging system 39. New emergency brake cable and clips 40. New tongue security hitch lock system w keys. Anti-Sway system mounting brackets are mounted on the frame if you chose to buy the Curt system, though I don’t think this rv needs it. It is extremely light and rides super smooth. 41. Brand new heaviest gauge available, 25 foot Camco 30 amp power cable for primary electric hookup 42. Repaired pex tubing & plumbing system in rear of trailer behind wheels. 43. Rv power washed and sealed May 2925 and again June 2025 with pro grade RV wax sealant 44. New propane gas hookup assembly and auto-switch over system! New connectors and tubes as well for gas system. 45. Repaired underlayment 3M tyvec material for waterproofing. All new 7” wide gorilla RV waterproofing tape sealant from end to end as well. All bottom tyvec was also repaired or replaced 46. New chrome bathroom shower head and assembly. Includes new chrome mount and hose too. 3d printed soap tray permanently installed. New bathroom rugs and hallway runners from wayfair included 47. Repaired stove, stove light and stove fan. New exterior fan exhaust too (recaulked) 48. New screen door handle bar. Also has a brand new metal door handle, new lock, door frame plate and 4 sets of keys. 49. Brand new Wireless backup camera with 7” touchscreen and charger cables 50. Individual trailer tire pressure digital valve stem cap style system. Includes an interior solar charging readout display for your dash 51. Brand New drinking water hoses, new water filter intake system (comes with a new spare filter too still sealed in box) and new water pressure regulator to keep intake at safe 40psi max load 52. New Supco run capacitor booster, which yields an additional %500 starting power for high torque AC start every time. 53. Includes four different brands of septic deoterizer products as well as tons of RV toilet paper and other necessities 54. New skylight with crank out screen door. Fully sealed with RV self-leveling roof sealant 55. Brand New water pump for water system. Water and lights work with either 120v or 220v connections! “Dogbone” adapter included 56. New water tank hoses, sensors and drain plugs (we even replaced the old brittle quick release drainage handles) 57. Brand new professionally installed Dometic blue and white rollup vinyl awning system 58. Serviced fridge (colder than my house fridge). Freezer will freeze water in an ice cube tray in 30 min. Works on both propane AND electric! 59. All new door trim. The original trim was black with mold so we took a week just replacing the 1” plastic trim that goes around the door as well as the pop out king size bed! 60. Includes new plastic wheel chock system and carrying bag, additional metal crank out wheel locking system, wrenches for adjusting these, and stabilizers. New crank out step jack is permanently installed too. 61. New Beech Lane digital leveling system that hooks to your phone app (high end $$$ system) 62. All 4 jacks were serviced and greased. Quick lowering drill bit included 63. New spare tire, new jack, new tire iron, new spare vinyl cover 64. New Camco Rhinoflex 20ft septic system with the upgraded Valterra Flushking reverse flush valve adapter kit. Includes new 29ft Welluck collapsible sewer hose support system. I also have a flush wand I’ll include. 65. New Valterra EZ Hose carrier mounted to undercarriage so your RV won’t stink like the sewer hose! 66. New propane auto changeover system with two tanks and tank cover. 67. New sealed 14” trailer roof vent. I also have an unopened vent “tornado airator” system I never installed to help reduce septic smell, sealed in original packaging. 68. New front diamond plate panel attached with self-taping screws, aluminum trim, and sealed with rv non-self leveling caulk. 69. New blackout shades and valances. 70. Includes a new 170 piece survival kit / first aid kit in army green zipper case for your bathroom 71. New wireless indoor/outdoor weather station with 7” color screen monitor 72. Black and grey water sensors were cleaned and serviced and work perfectly. Electric and gas switches & corresponding gauges work perfectly as well. New switches & wiring installed. 73. Trailer electric hookup and chains replaced. New hitch clips. New emergency brake cable installed 74. June 2025 Gerber RV rebuilt the hot water gas system which now works perfectly! Scalding hot water for nice hot showers and washing. This was the final thing that needed fixing. Water tanks were deep cleaned and old connections replaced. 75. Comes with 2 brand new space heaters for cold camping purchased on Amazon Sept 2025 76. Brand new white hallway replacement Dometic thermostat 77. Brand new hallway privacy curtains, ceiling track and hooks 78. Brand new 3D printed camping spice rack, napkin holder, paper towel rack, rear bunk bed shelves and soap holders! 79. Tons of jack stands, new septic system, tire iron, spare tire, chocks, stabilizers, tool kit, etc. Everything you need and nothing less than honestly EVERYTHING you need. 80. 4 extra sets of keys for all your fam 😉 ❤️ ——— … My fingers are tired, you get the idea. So so so so so so much more too. Tons of helpful stuff will also be included like a small toolbox with everything you need, a 30amp whole house inline surge protector, a large box of spare fuses, new electric tire inflator, four new solar motion outdoor lights installed on each corner, new reflective trailer tape on rear corners, new city and boondock water inlets, new magnetic removable dome lights and fresh batteries, x2 refurbished working OEM clip on king size bed lamps (rare and hard to find!), new rv step stabilizer, a new high end electric generator ($350 new on Amazon), four new exterior solar motion lights, two 3’ solar panels mounted to the roof with wiring to the marine battery, brand new unused bedding from target, cases of extra quick dissolve RV toilet paper, new pop up outdoor garbage cans with bags, new under sink garbage can with bags, new water hoses, new 30 amp extension cable with oversized Velcro tie, new cooking supplies and Coleman cutlery, a 100ft heavy duty extension cord for 120v use, new patio string lights, septic treatment kits, etc. And tons more! * Whew *
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