elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Mar 8, 2015 21:10:39 GMT -8
I one has the skills to do all the planing, it's easier to build new than restore almost anything. cheaper too, most of the time. Just a short story: I live in a vintage neighborhood. My house build in 1916. There was a house up the street I just loved and always wished it would come on the market. finely the owner died (of old age)and it did. I got a tour of it, by the granddaughter, Looked really cool but was a total wreck, through out, foundation to the roof. A rabbit warren of tiny rooms after the living and dining rooms.I took the look and thought if I bought it, and I didn't, I'd take pictures and give them to my architect to design a new one similar. so much better and cheaper. someone did spend the fortune to restore it though, but not me. I did mine however, but it was in better shape to start with. MY 1949 trailer was such a lost cause I saved only the aluminum skins, they were in great shape, the steel rolling frame, I put on new axle, brakes, and wheels. I saved the windows too and totally rebuild the rest from scratch.
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Mar 8, 2015 20:49:02 GMT -8
I'm going to suggest that the only reason to do this, is because you really want a cool retro trailer, forget selling price. when your ready to sell, you get what you get, for many reasons. Maybe your lucky and make a little something. usually you aren't quite that lucky. That being said, there a few guys out there that make a business of restoring them and they really need to watch the bottom line at all times to come out ahead, and it's pretty hard to do.You have to run a really efficient shop and be a great business man, or woman. Usually art and business don't work in the same brain. Just my observations form running a custom furniture shop for 35 years.It isn't easy and the learning curve for a venture like this is about 10 years. Wayne
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Mar 8, 2015 20:34:38 GMT -8
A add for my 1949 Silver Lodger said it had "extra thick" insulation. That would be the 1/8" paper product they put between the aluminum and the 1/2" plywood sides. Yea baby, that kept the heat at bay.
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Mar 8, 2015 19:57:52 GMT -8
Well yes, but that's about the last place I would take $12000. when I spend money I want to bring "something" home, not just a memory.
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Mar 8, 2015 12:59:59 GMT -8
Take a lot of pictures, both for your reference and for a potential buyer if you sell it later, to buy another one of course. IT can get additive. My son's mother and law is doing one right now and she had hired a guy how knows something about it, I think, but she is doing a lot herself too. Her husband doesn't do stuff like that. So it's not like a novice couldn't do these things. IT does take time, though, to really get in there and do all the repairs most of these old trailers need. Expect it to cost way more than you would expect too. I took one that was a total basket case, built in 1949, and saved just the rolling frame, aluminum skin, and windows. and rebuilt all the rest. I spent almost 4 months re building the whole shell. I'm retired and was working almost full time on it. Cost is at $3500 right now and I still need a complete interior. I'm about to start that now. and expect to finish up at about $12,000. which is probably more than I could sell it for. don't be afraid to do things over, if screwed up, it's much faster a second time and it turns out way better. If you don't like restoring something old, don't do this. Wayne
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Mar 8, 2015 12:02:45 GMT -8
Sorry, forgot to say, I'm in Houston too, in the Heights.
My son's wife's mother, his mother and law, not mine, just bought a 71 Tag Along and she and a girlfriend are rebuilding it, with a new birch interior, to go camping with the sisters on the fly group. She's in Sugerland Wayne
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Mar 8, 2015 12:01:25 GMT -8
Quote " owning a vintage camper is almost as fun as camping"
so, do people actually camp in these? I thought they just sat in your drive and got worked on. That's all mine has done so far. Wayne
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Mar 8, 2015 11:54:39 GMT -8
Keep the pictures of that one coming. I'd love to see more of how it was assembled. Wayne
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Feb 13, 2015 17:27:07 GMT -8
I think it sort of depends if you are looking at museum quality of camping quality. I live in a neighborhood of turn of the century bungalows. We have a restoration home show every year. None are exactly "restored". But then who wants to live in a 1916 museum piece? I had it pointed out once that we should change the term.Probably true. My personal trailer was a total wreck with the interior removed when I got it. It's a 1949 Silver Lodger. I have brochure pics of the factory interior and I thought it was ugly when new.IT was all fir plywood too.So I have chosen to simply design and build my own interior. My son is an architect and I'm a cabinet maker by trade.It's going to cost me close to $12,000 to finish all the needed work. (including a total frame up restoration to get it pullable)I doubt I can ever get that back out of it. I don't know how long I want to keep it either. If the wife gets into it I'd like to redo an old airstream someday.We'll see. We might just love this one. My personal thought would be, I think the value would be based on the quality of the work,unless the trailer was something really rare. Then it should probably go back to original.I doubt it matters much on a Shasta.There is a ceiling for value there. No matter how proper the restoration it's unlikely anyone will give you 40 large for it.
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Feb 13, 2015 16:58:42 GMT -8
Sounds like a full body off restoration.
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Post by elewayne on Feb 13, 2015 13:27:12 GMT -8
You guys have me worried now. I'm just about to start building out my interior. I'm a cabinet maker in Houston and I'v never had any trouble finding 1/8" plywood at the hardwood dealers here. Hardwood dealers are not really "lumber yards" though, per say.They don't sell construction products, exactly. I've usually ordered them as door skins. One might check for a door manufacturer in the area. I will say that I couldn't find any in Denver while I was living there in 2012. but then even the 1/4 " would curl up like a potato chip in the dry weather there.So keeping 1/8" on inventory was a problem. Hummm good lick. Getting veneers layed properly would be a pretty good task for a beginner. not something I would try even knowing pretty much what I'm doing. normally one has veneers pressed in a big flat press.
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Feb 13, 2015 13:17:21 GMT -8
Those pictures are so unfortunate on so many levels. Wayne
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Feb 13, 2015 13:13:48 GMT -8
I use jack stands. It's not a easy as one might think to back a trailer up those ramps with out scooting them. Wayne
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Feb 13, 2015 13:10:22 GMT -8
I'm a long time woodworker by trade and I think the paneling maybe ash rather than oak. It's hard to tell from just what I can see there though, but the grain is a little wild even for red oak. Wayne
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elewayne
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Post by elewayne on Dec 12, 2014 16:27:25 GMT -8
On the Trotwood, is the cabinetry old or have you reproduced it? It really looks great, very cool. I can't wait to get back to work on my 49 Silver Lodger. I'll be building a completely new interior. still a few months till I recover from shoulder surgery. I'm back in planing stages now. Wayne
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