Andy the 57 Westerner Restoration Thread

Hi Friends  

May 2020 - I continued on the windows, but made a detour. I picked up a yellow and white Princess stove on Ebay for a good price in late May 2020. This is the type of stove that was originally in Andy, but lost long ago.



May 2020 - I built a wood frame as a cradle for the front window assembly until it is placed in the trailer. It keeps it from stressing the rivets and damaging the flanges.

Wood frame for front window assembly 



Here is the before image of the front window assembly as purchased before any work was done. 



I finally finished the front window assembly with new center glass and new Hehr window gaskets. Frame is hand polished.  '


During this time, I also riveted in the "keepers", the locking strip for the extension arms that open the windows.  These have new back frame gaskets as well as new screen material. The door window frame is also present from a donor trailer - a 1965 Fireball.

Keepers are in and door window frame 

I also hand polished the interior aluminum window glazing and the internal midframe supports.




September 2020. I built a movable rack to keep Andy’s walls out of the way until it’s their turn for restoration. We needed room to the left for my wife’s car. No place for the walls. So, I built the rack.



The next work was done at two locations 360 miles away from So Cal to Nor Cal. I bought new tires for the trip and a new spare as well. The old ones had less than a thousand miles on them, but were 8 years old. It’s the price of peace of mind.

December 2020 - On the road again… The galvanized wheel wells started to split at the screw holes on the trip. The top arc of the wheel wells couldn't handle the wind force and flexing from the road so the arc started to split also.  At a rest stop, I noticed the splitting at 180 miles of a 360 mile trip and removed them before they would inevitably fly off. I was going to replace with new ones anyway as they were already bent up.



That’s the original plywood still with brown paint and a scab across the seam for added structural integrity.

Over the past few months, I added 6 more floor joists to the floor for support.he 6 new joists would be measured, cut and notched with a skill saw and shimmed with large stainless steel fender washers to even things out. No one is perfect. At the Nor Cal work address, I drilled all the joists for carriage bolts. Since I had replaced all the outriggers with new steel 5 years earlier, the ends had to be drilled. I used pilot holes in the wood and a sacrificial pilot drill to got through the lumber and dimple the steel. Removed the clamped wood and then drilled out the hole using the dimpled steel to start and enlarged to match the size of the carriage bolts. Oil and patience were my friends when drilling out the steel.

Clamped Joists


Joists Bolted - Notches over axle are for a lap joint for the plywood floor.





March 2021

Painted the joists with primer and black paint.






Rod’s Mobil Restoration services will hopefully be in business over our upcoming Spring break…

Cheers,

Rod

The  6 new floor joists or stringers have been painted and bolted in.  The sills still need to be bolted in and the plywood added for the floor.  Lap joints to be glued and screwed next.





I will be adding blocking to the step in area of the floor also just front of the curbside tire.

Rod

Hi Friends,

Spring break afforded a week of consistent work on Andy. The floor has been finally fastened with carriage bolts and the plywood has been screwed and fastened atop. It only took over 2.5 years and another up and back trip 360 miles north.

I glued and screwed the lap joints to make the entire plywood floor despite some shaving with a multi tool to four of the floor joists. The two wrenches and the hammer in the picture below belonged to my dad, who passed away in November of last year. He never got to see a completed trailer, alas, but I used his hammer to set the carriage bolts and the wrenches to tighten the carriage bolt nuts. The wrenches are vintage Craftsman wrenches older than my Westerner. The screws went in later in the week.





A Forstner bit makes things look really nice and neat when used to counter sink the carriage bolt heads.







The last day took a full day of work with only a 10 minute break. I was mapping out the center lines to all the floor joists and noting any bolts that might be in the way when I started screwing the plywood to the floor joists. Measure twice, drill once.  128 screws later and I was done.



BTW, I noticed that trailers come with a built-in clamp rack on the tongue.


I pained me  to screw down the light bar assembly into the new floor.  That's why they make Bondo to fill the holes, I guess. 


One last view of Andy heading back south on an unventful return trip .



Cheers,

Rod

Brilliant stuff Rod !

Dan is right - walls are way cool. We are all chanting Walls, Walls, Walls :-)

Hi Friends,

Just a little posting today. I am trying to squeeze in little jobs in a busy schedule. Here is the latest. I wanted to reinforce the floor where you step into the trailer, so I chose this option. I glued and screwed a 11” x 26” piece of 1” plywood underneath that area of the floor.

I was planning on blocking everything underneath, but this trailer when complete may be used just 4 times a year.
If I blocked everything, I would never get this trailer finished. So I elected to keep the floor as it is with the underneath reinforcement added in this position.

This picture shows the area I reinforced. I pre-clamped, measured and predrilled all 7 holes.


I set the Titebond II glue.



All holes were countersunk.



For good measure, I used a scissor jack underneath just to make sure the wood was compressed against the underside of the plywood floor as I had no clamps on that side. Once the screws went in, the jack was no longer needed.



Inching towards the walls, but first,
1. Fill in holes and gaps with body filler
2. Buy flooring and get it installed
3. Work on walls. But wait, carport is too low...

Cheers,

Rod

LOL.    Thanks PT.

I will get there, eventually. (knuckles)

Hi Friends,

The Marmoleum has been installed! I had someone install it for me.  I chose Marmoleum Fresco Arabian Pearl 3861. Online samples show it more pinky. It’s not. It’s more a tan color. You have to order a sample to really get the best impression. I ordered samples directly from Forbo the manufacturer for free. They are small. I was able to order a larger sample for a modest fee from another online seller. That larger size made choosing much easier.   The flooring store I went to had remnants, but they had nothing I liked, so I ordered the material.

Before



After



The photograph doesn't show the pattern. It's a very subtle marble pattern with tans and light browns. It should go well with any reds or yellows depending on which way I go with the cushions. I really believe it will go well with a nice warm amber interior.

I also had new wheel wells made. The originals were damaged and splitting in spots.





That’s it for now. I have two other projects with my Rod and Reel that are taking up my time right now.

Cheers,

Rod

We should have a flat bed rally...