Building new from scratch

I agree with everything but cheaper when you look at how the factory built these trailers you have to keep a couple things in mind they sold most of these trailers in the one to two thousand dollar price range, this included paying the labor to build them, the profit for the factory, the transportation to the dealer, and the dealer profit. So that means they had to be building the trailer for nearly nothing material wise. Then they had to make them light weight enough that they could be towed by an 85 to 150 horse power vehicle. When you consider all of that I think that the fact that they not only made them but here we are 60 years later with many of them still in repairable condition it is a great testament to their design. There were better trailers built like Airstreams and others but the average family making five or ten grand a year couldn't afford them so they bought a Shasta or something of comparable quality. When I got married I was bringing home $100.00 a week and many people did not make that much. Now in todays world before I retired I charged $50.00 dollars an hour as a starting point and things look different than they did back then. Our dream back then was to make ten thousand a year but you have to realize that a new Caddy loaded was $5000.00, our first custom built house including the lot cost $13,000 (corner lot 3 bedroom, 2 baths, family room, attached garage, and brick exterior). We live in a totally different world today (thank God), by the way our parents thought we were wild and reckless to spend that much money on a house.

I agree mostly with bigbill, and, at least with my project, if the many previous POs had given some thought to maintenance, or if MFGs had given some advice to same, we wouldn't be faced with total rebuilds. I was alive during the early 'Ham' heyday, albiet only as a young'un, and stuff during the 50s was looked at kinda like stuff is now; don't fix it, replace it...
All my Hilander's problems came from ignoring potential leak spots, and the poor thing paid the price, well, I'm paying the price (don't tell Christine I'm using my annuity to pay the price).
The high side of all this is that many of us got to score a good bones carcass for just a few bucks, and the time and money spent after acquision not only keeps us off the streets at night but assures that our wheeled progeny may roll on long after the proposed life span that the manufacturers designed... and that was maybe 10 years at best? Most of the rebuils I've watched over the years on the old Shasta forum will go way beyond the original intent, and no doubt, people who buy from us when we become POs will be much better informed about upkeep.
But mostly, especially after seeing so many examples of Shasta framing, and staple-lapping-bad-joint construction, the initial point back then was to produce an inexpensive way for the newly semi-affluent America to see the counrty. They built them cheaply with no intent for them to last more than the interest/attention span of the newly in-the-black middle class.
That's why it's so cool that we get a do-over here in the 2000s.
Even if it's beyond our comfort zone skill wise, or our immediate bank account limits, with the forum's help we can plod along as we can afford it, and whether old or not old, male or female, or a team of both, and end up with some amazing results.
This is the time, these are the few years, when 'Hams' can really be visable as an important part of today's collectable link to the past, when we 'Boomers' still remember our first excursions, whether by tent or by camper, and smell Mom's pancakes on the Coleman stove, or Dad teaching us to cast a lure into a river a weeks drive from home.
Buy that worn out rig, be not afraid of something as simple as frame rot, spend countless hours on line watching others go before you, and be bold.
As Christine says to me regularly, "worst case scenario, since it has a tongue and wheels, tow it to the scrap yard and spend the rest of your days in the recliner."
My glass of merlot is empty, so good night and good luck.
And get the kreg jig.

GK, you have done it again. First you inspired me to rewire my electric, and now have turned me on to that scratch build site. I promise I won't whine anymore about the shortcomings of these vintage beauties. And, I won't abandon this forum which is filled with so many smart and kind folks. I just have to build into my day ANOTHER hour on the web for that interest.

After I have a few more rebuilds under my belt
That's what I'm going to do
In very very early planing stage
I'm going the route of no wood other than
Birch walls
Will look old but be built new with all new Amenities

Another thing that we remind ourselves of is that despite the fact the the engineering seems pretty lame now, it worked, and if owners had taken care to address leaks immediately,replace the putty tape every 10 years or so, and take care of systems as they needed, most of these trailers would still be intact. I haven't seen one yet where the cupboards shook off the walls. Even in Hamlet, who never got pics in the "wood rot hall of fame" but should have, held together on an almost 500 mile drive home (with a caved in roof to boot). They didn't have the safety devices that new trailers do, nor the luxury, but as bigbill said, even power steering was a luxury. They also weighed many hundreds (or more) of pounds less than their equal length counterparts today. You can't compare the old and new trailers, but it's comforting to know that there probably won't be a big rush to buy and restore RVs from the 1990s.