66 Compact, Bring to boil, reduce heat, let simmer...

Oh and there are two female college students I know who completely restored a 71 Cardinal with Birch and they did a beautiful job. It looks fantastic. Here's the blog of the build. I have always wanted to do this with a newer trailer cuz I hate the paneling that they started using to replace the birch.

www.physics.sfsu.edu/~sburt/Site/My_Albums/My_Albums.html

It would have looked fantastic.
Birch is best by far as we all know.
Couple things prevented that though.
Money and time.
Has to be done no later than Aug. 31st, and the new roof skin completely blew the budget out of the water.
You could re-do a whole interior in birch for what the roof skin cost.
Time wise, with the deadline, not enough to redo whole interior and with the birch, I would have a 45 min. - hour one way drive to the nearest birch panel.

Time was and is always critical with me. Sense I usually have all my money (really, every penny to my name) tied up in each one I do, I usually have to turn and burn them in 30-60 days each or my dream life will come crashing down around me and my house would be repo'ed.
Pretty sure it all sums up to caviar dreams with imitation crab meat budget, plus the deadline of 8/31/13.
Just think though, it will be perfectly ready for paint and glam inside for the new owner! They won't be finding any surprise rot anywhere.

(Dang Flippers and PO's! LOL)

I'll do birch on my wife's 63 compact back wall though! LOL

The main goal for me on all these repair units I save from the scrap pile is to bring them back from the dead, to being a solid, dry, non-rotted, safe, usable camper for the next owner. I also need to do this in 60 days or less and still keep costs down to where I can still pay my house payment while doing them. If you look at the past units I have repaired, they have mostly been beyond the repair talents of most new owners, and pretty much ready for scrap. This one had a 37"x24" hole in the center of the roof that caused the need of the back 1/3 of the floor to be replaced too. (From rain water running down the 6" diameter crashed through tree limb that was resting on the floor in the back, and sticking through the roof about 6 feet!)
This one was a mini miracle of balance with time and money.

They aren't really "finished" when I'm done with them. They are just ready for camping, and glamping when I hand them off to the next owner.

One of the main reasons I try to stick with 50's trailers is the Birch. It's just the most appealing interior I have ever seen. The warm glow that it gives off especially at night is a very comfortable sight. It's kind of like a comforter only in the shape of a box.

"Beaverboard" - so that is what that crappy 70's paneling is called!  Hadn't heard that before (but I can see how it's fitting...)

There's a real name for that stuff and I just can't remember what it is right now. Been replacing the plumbing in a TravelEZE all day in 102 degree heat. My brain is officially fried now.

We think we need so much more to live, but the poorest people in America today are rich compared to many folks not too long ago. Most youg people couldn't imagine living without all the high-tech stuff, but there was a good portion of the U.S. that didn't have electricity until the rural cooperatives went through in the '30s and '40s. I have a good friend, my age (old, but not THAT old!), who didn't have indoor plumbing till she was in her teens! we could all probably get along - and even, be happy - with a lot less. i do think that's what is behind the resurgeance of the vintage campers, people are longing for a simpler time. This is one way to get it, without throwing out the baby with the bath water.