Midget Trailer - Updates and maintenance

[Midget]

Sharon / Brian,

Not sure about the dam gathering yet. I'm still looking for a job so were not making any long range plans. If nothing comes up by then we'll probably make a last minute run up there. It would be great to see you all again and share a bottle of red!

We removed the masking tape yesterday on the new paint job and started reinstalling the trim. When I built the trailer I used silicon sealer under the trim and though it did seal pretty well, any bits that squished out turned an ugly brown. It was fun getting the stuff off the trim pieces. This time around we used butyl tape. I hung the door and reinstalled the tongue box yesterday. Lynn is working on new curtains and wrapping the new foam with new material. I'll get more pics posted up later today.

Bob

[Midget]

We got a lot of work done today. Finished installing the rest of the trim, put everything back in the tongue box and wired it all back up. Lynn is working on the curtains. We couldn't find the right material for the cushions so we're going to use the blue denim from our old ones until we find the right stuff. I noticed I hadn't posted a curb side view with our new door window so here it is.

The lower paint looks blue in the picture but it's really more of a turquoise. The color is the same as our early Bronco, Swiss Aqua.

Just a few more days before we hit the road for the motorcycle races at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. Anyone interested in joining us?

Bob

[Vedette]

Wish we were closer, as we are chomping at the bit too.
Sandi and I had a day in the shop working on our new teardrop Kermit.
Always nice when progress is made but now it is time to rest again

[S. Heisley]

It looks good; but.....More, More!

[Midget]

We're getting close to finishing up our updates and maintenance to our Midget Trailer. Here are some things we did and found.

- We repainted the outside. The top and sides above the aluminum trim is done with exterior latex house paint. This seals the wood pretty well. We store the trailer indoors so it isn't exposed to the elements when not in use. We did find some cracking of the 1/8 inch hardwood we used to do the top. It's two layers of 1/8 inch wood laminated together. I sanded it down and sealed the cracks before we repainted it. The lower area below the aluminum trim line is single stage auto paint. It also had some cracking which I sanded and filled before reapplying a new coat of paint. I also found some cracking in the lower front corners near the frame rails which were sanded and filled before repainting. Overall I think it has weathered the elements fairly well.

- We resealed most all the aluminum trim with butyl tape. I had originally used silicone sealer and it sealed well but anything that squished out from under the trim had turned a nasty dark color which I couldn't remove without scratching up the paint. My advice is do not use this stuff.

- We replaced the roof vent with a Fantastic Vent. This is a huge improvement over the bathroom vent we had used before as it moves a lot more air and the direction of air flow is both blowing in or exhausting out of the trailer. The old vent had a light which the new one doesn't but I rewired the switch to our reading lights so we still have switched lighting. It's also a lot quieter. One issue I have is that the lid doesn't sit square when open due to the lifting arm is on one side. I tried to use an aluminum strip to straighten it and also tried an old lid from a vintage vent we had but nothing worked. I'll think of something to straighten it out.

- We replaced the windows. Both the door and street side windows were 18x16 crank out windows. Now we have a 30x20 emergency exit window on the street side and the door has a 18x22 slider. This will help in ventilation and for the door, the slide prevents the window from gouging the side of the trailer as the crank out window did.

- The closet doors were changed from opening into the trailer to a sliding door set up. This solves a problem we had when we had to clear the bed to open the doors. Here's a couple pics..



- We changed the bed set up to a sliding gaucho style to help in the conversion from bed to bench. We also changed from 3 inch foam to 4 inch foam. Lynn covered the foam with the same blue denim covers. We're looking for new material to make new covers.

She also did new drapes for the windows since they were larger than the old ones. Here's the door.

Overall we're please with the maintenance and upgrades. The windows look a little more modern but we'll get used to it. It was great being able to fix some of the things that have bothered us along the way and I'm sure it will fun to have the trailer out on the road another 11 years. Trip # 58 is coming up this weekend and we're anxious to see how the changes do.

Bob

[Gage]

Well done Bob. And as far as the modern windows go, there's nothing wrong with a little up grading. Are you guys going to make it to Shasta (Dam Gathering) next month?

[Midget]

Gage,

Thanks for the comment. I guess the windows will have to grow on me. I would like to go to the dam gathering but due to being out of work we really can't plan that far in advance. If a job comes along we may not be able to take the time. I'd like to see everyone again but I'd also like to get my career back on track.

Bob

[Patti]

This is just an awesome job you have done here. I love the interior pics and would love to see more.

[Midget]

Patti,

Here are the four corners of the inside.





These have the bed pushed in to make a bench. It slides towards the door and the cushions lay flat to make the bed.

Bob

[S. Heisley]

It looks like you'll be good to go for another 11 years!

[Midget]

As a follow up to our posts, we went to the American Federation of Motorcycle racing event at Buttonwillow Raceway Park this past weekend. We had posted in the southwest section as an invite for others to join us but received no takers. As for the updates and changes we did, everything worked really well. Here's our campsite right on the fence.


On Sunday we drove to the Carrizo Plain National Monument for a couple days. I'll put up a post in the southwest section as a trip report.

Bob

[Patti]

Thanks for posting the interior corners. You have done a beautiful job.

[doris s.]

I'm planning a standy teardrop so Iove reading your posts and seeing your pictures! Nice job on the updates. I am planning to re-coat our big woody with some poly this spring. Have a wonderful summer and I hope a new job comes your way very soon!

Doris

[rebapuck]

I love your interior. Clean and simple. Just enough.

[Midget]

We finally washed the trailer after our adventure last week and everything seems to be holding up well. After the motorcycle races we went to the Carrizo Plain National Monument for a few days. Lots of dirt roads and even though we had the rock flaps on the truck, we found some marks on the lower front. Nothing to worry about as we have extra paint to do touch ups.

We were looking at our trip schedule for the end of next month. The weekend before the Dam Gathering is a vintage race which we were planning to go to. We decided that we could hit that event and then spend a few days travelling north to Shasta. This will be our first Dam Gathering. We'll probably get in Wednesday and have a few days to relax.

Bob