My Travel Trailer Restoration

You're cramping my style!

2010-10-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

As a final precaution in my spline joint process I sandwiched the joint between two 2x4s to help make sure nothing spread as the glue dried. I have clamps on both ends and some old CRT monitors on top for weight. Try doing that with your fancy LCD screen! I also left my two ratchet straps in place clamping the two sheets together.

As you can also see in the above pic these two sheets already have the wheel wells cut out. Cutting these out before joining let me make the cuts outside to avoid getting too much sawdust in my shop as I have yet to invest in a dust collection system. Unfortunately as we move into winter this is going to become less and less of an option.

I'm hungry...

2010-10-29T23:31:00.001-04:00

The next step in the spline joint was to cut 7/8" strips of 1/4" OSB that will be glued in the slot cut in the facing edges of the plywood. I used OSB because I couldn't find 1/4" plywood. The only thing Home Depot had labeled as 1/4" plwood looked more like thinly veneered particle board so I figured this OSB would be stronger.

After dry fitting my strips (pictured above) I ran a heavy bead of glue down the slot in one piece of plywood. Then inserted the OSB strip so the glue oozed out everywhere making good contact with all surfaces. Then I ran another heavy bead of glue down the slot in the other piece of plywood.

Then the fun began! Working alone in the shop and trying to manipulate two 8'x4' pieces of plywood together wasn't exactly easy. With the help of some ratchet straps and my hammer I got them to fit snugly and most of the glue wiped up from the top side at least.

A Joint Venture

2010-10-29T23:16:00.000-04:00

After reading a lot about joining plywood in the Teardrops & Tiny Travel Trailers Forums I decided to go with a spline joint. Yes, there are many other ways of joining plywood. Some easier, some harder and some stronger, but this one seemed best for my situation with the tools I have. It also makes for a perfectly flush joint without too much trouble.

To start with I set my router and T-Slot bit and guide to cut a 1/4" wide by 1/2" deep groove in the two edges to be joined getting it as close to centered as I could. Doesn't have to be perfectly centered as long as the router is run along the same side of each piece of plywood so they line up flush even if they are off center slightly.

In the picture above it might look like the one on the left is slightly off and/or wider. That was due to a slight accidental raising of the router at the end of that cut. It is only the last 1/2" or so, so it should not affect the overall strength of the joint and should fill in with glue.

I got wood!

2010-10-24T16:10:00.001-04:00

I went to Home Depot yesterday and bought three 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" plywood for the floor. Had them cut them all down to 84" while I was there. Dude at Home Depot cut the first three sheets all at once to 74" by mistake. Glad it was him there and not me after I got home with them. While I was there I bought a 2'x4' piece of 1/4" OSB that I'll be ripping strips off of as wedges for connecting the sheets of plywood together. Also picked up a few 2"x4"s that I'll be ripping into 2"x2"s to begin repairing the wall framing. Believe it or not, this small load of lumber came to over $97. That's practically what I paid for the camper to begin with!

Is it in?

2010-10-19T22:02:00.002-04:00

With the help of a buddy we easily pushed the trailer into my shop. You're thinking my shop is a mess? Actually this is the most organized it's been in years. I still have an old stove, furnace, and oil tank to get rid of, but most of the stuff in the back corner is "temporary" storage for my brother and father-in-law.

It should still give me room to putter on the trailer over the winter months. My plan is to get the plywood floor down on the trailer and then use this as a work surface to repair the camper's walls. Yes, that is the camper's aluminum skin on the floor under the trailer.

Lonely Wheel

2010-10-19T21:41:00.002-04:00

Flipped the trailer right side up and put the "good" wheel back on and a very old, slightly too large spare wheel from another trailer. The "good" wheel scared me. If you remember I had one wheel blow about 20 minutes from home. Looks like the other wheel wasn't in very good shape either. Since being removed a couple months ago the treads split open and lost all it's air. I pumped it up, but could hear the air hissing out fast. Good thing I'm only going a few feet into the shop.

I'm putting my foot down!

2010-10-19T21:19:00.000-04:00

Oops, I guess my new foot is actually up in this picture. Just picked up this trailer jack base plate the other day. Unfortunately my jack seems to have been designed for a different type of plate or wheel as there was no hole for the pin. I centered it, marked my holes, used a center punch to keep the drill on center, and went at it with my drill and a 7/16" metal drill bit. Once finished the plate and pin fit perfectly. I figured this job would be easier while the trailer was still upside down after painting.

Back in Black

2010-10-11T15:43:00.001-04:00

Finally flipped the trailer frame and got the bottom painted black. It's looking great. Once this dries I'll flip it right side up and prepare to get the plywood floor screwed down.

Still lacking a replacement wheel for the one I wrecked dragging it home though, but it turns out another old trailer I have has wheels with the same bolt pattern. A couple inches bigger, but good enough to let me wheel it into the shop for the winter once the floor is in place.

Inspection Time

2010-10-11T15:36:00.001-04:00

After the top coat dried and Quality Control gave it their final approval I flipped it once again to paint the underside.

I used a black "Semi-Gloss" thinking the Gloss would look to shiny. Maybe it's the texture of the frame, but this turned out way flatter than I expected making me think the Gloss would have been OK. Oh well, much better than it was before.

Still Smokin'

2010-10-11T15:22:00.001-04:00

BTW, I started this burn on Saturday afternoon and as of Monday afternoon it was still smoldering.

To answer the obvious question, yes I am still working on (or at least wanting to work on) the trailer. A couple weeks ago on one of the few nice days I flipped the frame right-side up and painted it with black rust paint. Totally forgot to get pics of that stage though.

Please don't tell Mr. Gore.

2010-10-11T15:00:00.002-04:00

OK, OK, probably not the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of the scrap, but it sure is fun. At least I kept out all the plastic drawers, carpeting, etc. I honestly would have liked to reuse as much as possible, but there was so much rot and water damage I didn't want to take the risk of mold.

Burn After Reading

2010-10-11T14:54:00.001-04:00

I was originally hoping to hold off on torching the trailer's "innards" until after I was completely finished, but with the burn pile growing bigger thanks to some scrap from my parents I thought I'd better get rid of it before winter. You can probably also see what looks like good firewood in there too. Far from it, this was some rotten wood from a tree my cousin had cut down in her yard. Decent for a bonfire like this, but not much else.

As you can also see it is a nice sunny day. I think this is our first one in weeks. We've had rain like I've never seen before. Apparently the far reaching effects of Hurricane Igor that hit Newfoundland. Many people in Eastern Ontario had basements flooded and lots of water damage. Our sump-pump was running pretty much non-stop, but did it's job perfectly. We did have rain pooling in our fireplace though. Should take a look into that.

It's Raining Men...

2010-09-13T20:48:00.001-04:00

Words cannot describe my anger over the past couple weeks after finishing the wire-brushing and sand-blasting. The only times the weather was nice I was working or had other obligations. Literally it would be gorgeous all day while I was in the office, but the moment I would get home from work it would cloud over and start to sprinkle. It will be nice once the job is moved into my shop so I am no longer a slave to the weather.

Ranting aside it was finally nice today after work so I got a coat of red primer on the underside of the frame. Will then have to flip it back right-side up and paint the top and touch up the sides. Have already decided the final colour will be black to match the "undercoating" that will protect the plywood floor, but otherwise this red primer doesn't look half bad. I haven't touched the wheel hubs yet as I think I'll be removing and greasing them up anyway and will take care of them at that time.

Flip it!

2010-09-13T20:37:00.001-04:00

As you can see in the picture some of the paint just wouldn't come off with the wire-brushing. Scuffed up, but not totally removed. The grinder also couldn't get into the tight corners. This would be a job for another tool I purchased while at Princess Auto, a sand-blaster. The sand-blaster did a great job getting into the nooks and crannies the grinder couldn't reach. Also sandblasted all the paint and rust off the tongue, axle, and leaf springs. For a cheap sand-blaster I was impressed with how well it worked.

Got the idea of propping the trailer up on three points and using a bathroom scale one at a time at each point to figure out the total trailer weight. As long as the frame is kept level adding up the three numbers should be approximately equal to the total trailer weight. Total came in at approximately 350 lbs. Not a bad starting point although I think my goal of staying under 1000 lbs is going to be really tough, but it was light enough for my wife and I to flip the trailer upside down for the wire-brushing and sand-blasting of the underside.

Ugly is only skin deep...

2010-09-13T20:24:00.001-04:00

I went to Princess Auto on the weekend. For you "South of 49'ers" Princess Auto is like a Canadian version of Harbor Freight. The kind of store any man would love to be locked inside overnight. I bought five of these wire-brush wheels you can see in the picture on my grinder. These things are usually $20-$30 at Canadian Tire or Home Depot, on sale at Princess Auto for $3.99. I'm sure the quality isn't the same, but since it took four of them to clean up the trailer frame I'm sure I still saved money even if one of the "good" ones would have done the job.

What Lies Beneath

2010-09-13T20:12:00.001-04:00

Had to use the crowbar to remove the floor. The screws, every couple of inches into the steel cross beams, pulled straight through the plywood flooring and aluminum sheeting. I'll have to use my grinder to cut these screws off top and bottom as they are almost all seized tight. The remaining intact wheel well was also removed and should make a good model for creating a new one or repairing the shredded one.

Look at me when I'm talking to you!

2010-09-03T19:49:00.001-04:00

One last option would be to use the paneling backwards and paint. This would mean filling in all nail holes and joints as they wouldn't be hidden with the "grooves". Think I might at least do this for the ceiling since this 1/8" thick paneling will bend much easier than 1/4" plywood. Also paneling "grooves" on the ceiling would definitely look terrible.

Painted Lady...

2010-09-03T19:43:00.002-04:00

Another option for using this paneling is to paint it. It still looks like paneling, but painted. Test painted this piece white, obviously needs more coats, but doesn't look too bad. Thinking a light green might look good. I can always use it unpainted and paint it down the road if we can't live with the fake wood. Someone mentioned to me that painted paneling looks like you are trying to cover up water damage when reselling. If that time comes I think showing all these pictures would set any prospective buyer at ease.

Another brick in the wall.

2010-09-03T19:36:00.001-04:00

Unfortunately during the week I remembered I had some full sheets of paneling in my barn that a buddy removed from his basement. I say unfortunately because I had settled on having to buy new birch plywood to sheet the inside walls of the camper. Now realizing I have 11 full (full enough for the camper) sheets of this stuff I am faced with the dilemma. Ugly-ish FREE paneling, or close to $300 for new birch I would also have to stain and varnish.

There goes the neighbourhood...

2010-09-03T19:30:00.001-04:00

All the walls removed, just the floor to go. It seems like the screwed this floor down into the frame with self tapping screws. Most are rusted solid so I think this is going to be a job for my trusty crowbar. Looking at the other less rotten side I can see now that the siding was attached at the bottom to a 2x? nailed to the underside of the floor on both sides with notches for the frame supports. I think I might forgo this skirt and just square off the siding at the frame/floor.

I might even attempt to gain a few inches in ceiling height by building up the walls and covering with a few inches of new aluminum at the bottom where it will hardly be noticed after painting to match?

I heart My Impact Wrench!

2010-09-03T19:16:00.001-04:00

There were about six rusted carriage bolts holding each side wall to the deck of the trailer. My impact wrench made short work of all of them. Some unscrewed, most broke, all were rusted to a mere thread where they passed through the deck. With all bolts removed it was nothing for my wife and I to lift the walls off the deck and lean inside my shop to await rebuilding.

Wired for sound!

2010-09-03T19:12:00.001-04:00

At this point I pulled out all the wiring. Wasn't as much as I thought there would be really. Just the trailer signal/brake lights, clearance lights, and a bit a couple 120V lines from the shore connection to an outlet and fridge.

Also removed what was left of the trusses and front wall. I think the sides are all I'm going to be able to save. Even those have a lot of boards to replace. The front and back walls need to be completely replaced and there wasn't a single roof truss in tact.

That's funny, the damage doesn't look as bad from out here.

2010-09-03T19:06:00.002-04:00

So much tar! It's like the thought water was just miraculously seeping through the aluminum. I could understand along the seams, but the whole roof?!?! Anyway, now comes the debate over whether to go to the trouble of using gasoline (NOT RECOMMENDED!) or some other chemical to clean off the tar, then properly seal the seams, hammer out the dents and reuse this roof, or replace with new.

New options include: Rubber type roofs, (EPDM, TPO, Brite-Tek, etc) or Aluminum. Advantages of reusing my old aluminum roof or new are that it's much lighter and possibly cheaper although I haven't sourced new aluminum this size yet. Rubber types are much heavier as they are usually glued over a layer of thin plywood and can be very expensive. One place locally wanted $700 for an 9'x21' piece, nothing smaller or cheaper, not including the glue. I've since found a place online that will cut me a piece of Brite-Tek, "...blends the benefits of EPDM and TPO", 16' long and even offered to trim it down from 9' wide to 8' so it would fit in a tube that UPS would ship for less than $200 shipping included. Now my only decision factor is weight.

Raise the Roof!

2010-09-03T18:48:00.001-04:00

I awoke Sunday morning to find my trailer still standing. I added some old boards to brace up the sides to prepare for removing the roof. I thought there were a lot of staples in the wall siding, but that was nothing compared to what awaited me in the roof.

After removing the corner trim that had screws about every two inches, and silicone by a previous owner, there were then finishing nails and staples about every inch along each edge. Then, contrary to usual trailer construction I've read about, there were nails every two inches along every second roof truss. These I couldn't access from the outside due to the slopped on taring job also done by a previous owner. Most I was able to pry loose from the inside, but the ones around the roof vent were impossible to get at. I ended up using a reciprocating saw to cut the trusses around the vent and take the works off with the roof.

A little privacy please?

2010-09-03T18:36:00.002-04:00

Camping was cold and rained most of the weekend, but was with friends so still had a good time. Kept thinking how nice it would be to hang out in the camper during the rain rather than under a tarp. Hopefully by next summer that will be the reality.

So last weekend I was back at the trailer and got a lot more accomplished than I thought I would. Seems once I got the hang of pulling the staples things went much better. Got both sides and the front skin removed. I probably should have left the front skin until after the roof was removed as at this point it really started to wobble. You might also be able to see in this pic some masking tape and string literally holding the front frame falling off! I had to leave it like this Saturday night and was very worried it was going to collapse completely with a strong breeze.