captainkirk
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unknown model and year. 1950's?
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Post by captainkirk on Nov 18, 2022 22:00:01 GMT -8
Hello fellow trailer owners,
I joined the board a couple of weeks ago and I am starting this restoration thread to document my efforts in rebuilding my trailer. I am also hoping for some information on the type of trailer I have and to tell, I suppose, a weird little story.
It is, I was told, a 1958 Catolac Deville. The previous owner found it in a field in northern California and tinkered on it for a few years before selling it to me. The work he did included reconstructing the title and, since I have never been able to find a photo on the internet that matches what I have, I am taking his word on the identity of the manufacturer. There are no decals or manufacturers plate. I have been told it is charming and cute. I bought it in December of 2019 to solve a housing problem. It had no working water, sewer, or electric hook ups when I bought it but by god I had the number of a kind couple with an unofficial rv park in their fenced (and secured) yard. I showed up at their place on the morning of purchase, let them look at it, and they let me rent a space.
Fast forward to late June of 2020 and I get laid off. Oh well…I hated that job. Since there was no way I wanted to remain in Yuba City and I couldn’t possibly get rid of it, I spent the next two months and at least one paycheck getting it ready to tow back to the southwest coast of Oregon. I was committed to this little darling by then as I am sure you will understand. Maybe in love. Where some would see a clapped-out shack on wheels I only saw the beauty and grace. Little by little she is getting there. Some days I am the coolest person I know but on others I feel more like that crazy uncle who is regarded as a cautionary tale.
Most of the work I’ve done occurred during that time in Yuba and it left from there with the following: new floor, new roof timbers and paneling, repaired wall framing (all exterior panels came off except for one because it was glued on. Yep.), sanded and painted roof tin, new 12 volt exterior lighting, 4 circuits of 20 amp thhn laid into the shore side wall (not connected), 2 working ac circuits, insulation through-out except for near wiring, new butyl tape at every seam, new fresh water service, grey water disposal, and improved connections…to a certain point only…that hold the cabin to the towing frame.
You may have guessed that I am doing this a little differently from those restorations that I have read about so far on this board. I lived in it to start with and still do more than ¾ of the time. That also means I haven’t done anything in a shop. That changes the reconstruction entirely. The effect is that this thing will never be a museum quality piece or even able to be towed out on a weekend camping trip. She has faults that can’t be cured without being vacant or that shop-time. She is instead, and may always be, a weathered jewel that has received a lot of care.
Maybe this thread will help those in a similar situation, both in housing and the particulars in the construction methods used. I hope so. I took a lot of pictures. I’ll start with photos showing the condition that I bought it in. Future me will post next the electrical and plumbing work--the first things that I did. Kirk out.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52509581075/in/dateposted-public/" title="P2224985"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52509581075_7e6769e22b_c.jpg" width="800" height="450" alt="P2224985"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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captainkirk
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unknown model and year. 1950's?
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Post by captainkirk on Nov 18, 2022 22:05:47 GMT -8
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52509588905/in/dateposted-public/" title="P2214967"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52509588905_ba0933e01c_z.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="P2214967"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52508625732/in/dateposted-public/" title="P2214975"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508625732_5a277eb840_z.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="P2214975"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52509100576/in/dateposted-public/" title="P3054996"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52509100576_07489376e4_z.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="P3054996"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52509648778/in/dateposted-public/" title="P2214983"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52509648778_f30a41467b_z.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="P2214983"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52509585705/in/dateposted-public/" title="P2214972"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52509585705_54c5c958cb_z.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="P2214972"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52508619442/in/dateposted-public/" title="P3055004"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52508619442_013d66c070_z.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="P3055004"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
its nice to see that she can take a polish
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Post by Teachndad on Nov 19, 2022 9:24:33 GMT -8
Hello and Welcome,
I think we can all appreciate your efforts to get this trailer up and running despite the work around of doing the work as you are living in it. Quite the task!
I don't think this is a Catolac Deville. It doesn't look anything like the Devilles I have seen pictures of. I thought it might be a Corvette, but the Corvettes curve inwards at the base of the front wall. That flat front wall with very mild pitch is unique.
I saw your other picture of the roof noting a depression around the ceiling vent. Have you had any leaks there?
Cheers,
Rod
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captainkirk
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unknown model and year. 1950's?
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Post by captainkirk on Nov 21, 2022 15:39:29 GMT -8
Thanks Rod for your encouragement. My private joke is that this thing is more an antique piece of furniture and not so much a trailer. Like those old wicker chairs you need to sit on carefully. I haven't had any water come through the vent but I have always kept it covered with a tarp. the depression you see around the vent is one of the roof tin seams of which there are three. they are the unpainted sections in a photo below (and filled with tar in another). I sealed those later with eternabond, I think it was, later. The annoying thing is that because of those seams the roof tin will not lay flat since it warps upwards between the seams. Ugh but probably normal. It must of leaked in the past tho because one of the previous owners filled that seam with tar and some type of silver goop. The outer perimeter of the vent was also covered with that stuff. double ugh when it came time for removal. I think i used gun cleaning solvent, mineral spirits, and paint thinner to remove it all. Some water damage does show in the wood around the vent in another photo below. That was not noticeable from the inside because someone before me had painted the entire ceiling from the vent to the back bumper. And i think the PO had added an interior panel in that area although i am no longer certain if that is the case since memory is shaky. The trailer was never properly taken care of from what I can tell. My landlord looked at the old ceiling panels when they were in the burn pile (could not be saved) and said, "yeah, the nail holes along the edges were being worked wider by the nails. The trailer was shaking itself apart." An interesting note about the roof is that the top edge of the floor to ceiling closet behind the door was built out-of-square with respect to the roof. The forward, interior corner was built taller than the walls which created its own little peak in the roof. Maybe it was built originally like that but maybe not since I detected some weird woodwork and an old screw popping through the tin in that area. Really, guys? The upshot is that i don't trust the roof. The tin is painted and patched but im not pushing it. I lost a bunch of photos so they are not always the best. <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52515865105/in/dateposted-public/" title="20200716_141316"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52515865105_d873115857_z.jpg" width="640" height="295" alt="20200716_141316"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52515865055/in/dateposted-public/" title="20200730_094426"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52515865055_7fdcf4d9c1_z.jpg" width="640" height="295" alt="20200730_094426"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/196952361@N06/52515933628/in/dateposted-public/" title="20200806_093035"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52515933628_76b11f6183_z.jpg" width="640" height="295" alt="20200806_093035"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script> |
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captainkirk
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Posts: 5
Likes: 5
unknown model and year. 1950's?
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Post by captainkirk on Jan 25, 2023 13:28:01 GMT -8
Been a while since i have posted here but the work is continuing on. Today i want to post what appears to be the shadow of the manufacturers logo. there is doubt as to whether or not the trailer is a real Catolac and maybe someone will recognize the shape. It is on the rear of the trailer. Sorry about the wood framing that is in the way  20221129_144106 by Rick Morgan, on Flickr |
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Jan 26, 2023 3:06:28 GMT -8
Thanks for the intro.
"Where some would see a clapped-out shack on wheels I only saw the beauty and grace."
Well said.
You lost the job but kept the camper. You came out ahead.
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Post by vikx on Jan 27, 2023 14:04:22 GMT -8
I don't think it's a Catolac Deville either. The paint pattern (arrow) and body shape don't match. None the less, it's a very cool vintage trailer.
Do a search online for vintage trailer images and study the overall body shape, wheelwell shape and the side arrow. Good luck.
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