1957 Cardinal

Finally, after a bunch of delays (including getting a call on my one free weekend asking me to build a full-scale Wright Flyer for a marching band prop, but that's another story), I started removing the skin. I expected some damage, but this was plenty gruesome:





Remnants of the original snazzy red & white two-tone paint visible here. The curb side is in much worse shape than the street side. I ended up supporting the remains of the front wall with a bungee cord until I got a chance to clean up the electrical and propane- it basically fell out when I removed the skin.







While it seems solid walking around, curbside floor has some rot at the front edge. I'll need to see how deep it goes. Streetside floor is better, but looks as if it's broken, maybe someone sticking a foot where there's no support under the dinette base:

Same here, when I read the first post and saw the initial pics I thought, tear down, why?
I'm lovin that stove!

I'm in Salem. If I lived in Seaside I'd probably hit the Lusse bumper cars every day- those things are a national treasure.

Gotta admit, I was a bit shocked at the level of damage, but I'm trying not to get discouraged. Here's an obvious newbie question- what's the best way to preserve the dimensions for window openings, etc.? My initial plan was to build and finish the new panels off the trailer, as mobiltec does with his ceiling repairs. Is the best bet to try and remove the damaged panel intact and base dimensions from that insofar as it's possible?

I obviously need to get things shored up on the side walls first to give me something solid to tie into. I'd planned on doing just a single section at a time so as to maintain structural integrity of the whole thing, but I hesitate to close up the front in case I end up needing to remove the stove, cabinetwork, etc.

YUP, I`m with vikx on this one. Just too much rot to not do a total frame off.

Nearly finished removing the skin, including the very long roof (one continuous piece from just above the front window, covering the entire rear). Well, my dream of keeping the original skin and all of that gorgeous patina is drifting away- every one of those putty spots was covering a good-sized hole, dozens of them. It even looks as if a previous owner had drilled through the skin at the back to fish a new taillight harness (lamp cord, nice), and then puttied over the damage. Ah, well.








Surprisingly, the roof around the vent doesn't look bad at all, despite the damage on the interior. As it turns out, the real  damage up there is on the other side, above the wardrobe. Doesn't matter, the panel's coming out anyway. That also explains the weird false back that a PO had put in the wardrobe, and makes me suspect I'll end up pulling the whole cabinet before I'm done.





Just found out I'm getting the boot from my current work area (tenant next door was apparently upset by the can of mineral spirits on my worktable, didn't notice that I'd stripped the paint off the whole thing just a couple months ago- or the gas cans in nearly every unit in the place). I didn't put up much of a fight. It's a good news/bad news sorta deal anyway, in that the yard owner offered me a drywalled 14x23' with power for about $30/mo less than I'm paying for a 14x37' without power or proper walls (chicken wire dividers). Those units were actually my first choice, but there weren't any vacancies at the time. It's going to be a bit tight compared to the amount of room I have now, but it'll be nice not having to fire the generator up every time I turn around, especially with short days and cold temperatures coming. I don't want to start framing repair until I've got it in the new space, which should be available in the next week or so.

I enjoy the demo stage of a renovation.

Thanks for the photos.

Anybody have a good source for 1/2" fiberglass roll insulation? Doing a bit of research, it looks like the best R-value comes from the same stuff that was on there in 1957, amazingly, not to mention the fact that it reduces thermal bridging from the skin to the framework and is much, much easier to install than rigid foam (which is pricier and provides a lower R-value per inch). All the usual sources seem to have the thicker stuff for construction or 3" strips for pipe insulation, not much in between. I'm sure this stuff is used elsewhere...