I finally got it!

[Woodbutcher]

Thanks Dave and Bill. I will post as I get stuff done. Wish I could have gotten it earlier in the season so I could have started.

[ipconfig]

1 thing to check when you start rebuilding is the belly pan. I have been working on a streamline and found that the belly pan had been infested with rats at 1 time. There was a couple of inches of poop in the belly I had to clean out. I love these old trailers and we enjoy ours everytime we take it out.

[pitbullluvajrod]

Nice looking trailer, seems to have been well kept. The taillight situation is a real attraction for me. I was thinking about a center mounted hatch LED brake light strip, with fender mounted LED turn signal strips. This old bird is pretty much the same thing. What I noticed and took a liking to was the split door. That would be a nice addition to the Teardrop world. I wish all the best in your restoration, doesn't look like it will take much.

Jerry S.

[Woodbutcher]

1 thing to check when you start rebuilding is the belly pan. I have been working on a streamline and found that the belly pan had been infested with rats at 1 time. There was a couple of inches of poop in the belly I had to clean out. I love these old trailers and we enjoy ours everytime we take it out.

I checked the belly pan and there is no rust or holes and looks real solid.


Jerry I am not sure what to do with the brake light. I like the look but don't know about the safety and legality of one light. There may be a way to mount some lights to the bumper. I'm still collecting info on this trailer and want to see what other owners have done.

[deleted]

Jealous! And happy for you. Congrats!

[kd8cgo]

Wow, that is a jaw dropping beautiful and unique camper! Congratulations!

For the tail lights, you could put a dual element LED or Incandescent bulb on the outer two round eyelid locations. With some circuitry, you can make all three spots a dual use parking and turn/brake light without adding wires (unless they don't have tail lights in those locations already) You can make the center light a brake light that won't blink with the left or right, by using diodes.

[pitbullluvajrod]

As far as the brake light goes... If trailers follow the same rule as "hot rods", if it was factory built with a single brake light, you can restore it to that spec. Bumper mounted lights would work, hopefully they wont be permanently mounted. I would run a set of quality magnetic lights for travel. Just my opinion.

Jerry.

[Woodbutcher]

I need to find out what is legal when it comes to the lights. But since there are no body panels available for this trailer anymore I want to be sure the guy behind me see's me. To get to the tail light wiring I have to pull off the inside panels and then figure out how to get the new wires to the front. There is a full belly pan on this thing .

[doug hodder]

Steve...it may be that Illinois will allow you to run just the existing lights on it considering it's vintage and is titled as such. In Ca. if it is registered as a certain vintage, you only need to run what was required at the time. In the case of my '47 Mobilglide..that means, no turn signals and only the original brake/license plate light on one side. Me...I don't like that, as traffic, speeds and too many distractions in a car can cause someone not to pay attention and rear end your nice vintage trailer.

If you don't like the look of the extra lights, for sake of originality or appearance ...what I do, and have done on a number of tears, is to put a set of lights in LED's under the rear of the trailer that is only seen from someone following not standing next to it. An extra set of brakes/ turns, kinda gives me a sense of security. With the originals, I then have 2 turns and 2 brakes on each side, and only the original set of running lights. I am also going to add some bottom clearance lights on the Mobilglide as well. They really didn't require much back in those days as far as rear end illumination. Can you also find an original trailer plate and get it tied to the trailer? You can do that out here. That's a big + especially if you want to turn it. Doug

PS...look to upgrade the existing lights to some LED's, either in a replacement bulb or a complete unit that can be retrofitted into the existing housing. Just an idea.

[Corwin C]

As far as safety equipment/lighting goes here in Utah, original equipment is sufficient due to "grandfather" laws. But, as previously mentioned, there are idiots out there that are confused by anything out of the ordinary.

I did see at a show one time were the owner had temporary lights for driving a Model A Ford, then they were put away for display. That way, whenever it was on the road, it met the modern standard (third brake and all) for lighting. I think that they were magnetically mounted. In your case, locating a piece of properly coated steel behind the Al skin could make magnets feasable.

[Mary C]

After thinking about this light situation all night I decided that If a car was following me I think I would want some lights, proper signals and break lights. not everyone would know of its antiquity nor original type of legal equipment. It is a safety issue. While it might look great in a show situation, it would be something I would want to remain that way. All it takes is one individual to run into the back. I also think for your own safety and for that of others I would put lots of lights even if you build some type of contraption that could be put on and taken off when transporting.

Just my $.02

Mary C.

[Woodbutcher]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. It is appreciated. I am not comfortable with a single brake light either. But I want to keep the rear end looking stock. I've been scouring the internet trying to find out what other ownwers have done. Some have taken the 2 turn signal lights and replaced them with round LED lights that have a flat chrome ring. That gives them turn signals, running lights and brake lights. That requires running new wires and removal of the inner skin to get to them. My hope is to do this. But I would prefer to keep the original lights and housing. It has a unique look with the eyebrow over the light. After I get the lights out I will see if I can adapt a small round LEd setup in the existing light fixture. If Not I may try Dougs suggestion of adding some LED strip lights under the bumper. The brake light over the license plate can remain a brake light.

Since this traile was manufactured in California I checked Ebay for a 1951 trailer plate. WOW, big bucks. How come? Doug do you know how these antique plates work. I have done a title transfer but have not registered for plates. How do you register your vintage trailers? Maybe I need to check Illinois DMV and see if I find a vintage plate I can register it.

Here is a picture of the rear to see what we are talking about. The lights on the bumper are temporary towing lights.

[doug hodder]

Steve...it's by state. You can't register a Ca. vintage plate to an Illinois residing trailer. This program was recently started out here. And yes, finding the vintage plates can be expensive, but like I said, the program just got going here for the trailers so I'd imagine that they are going to get much more expensive as there aren't so many of them around. We've been able to plate a vintage car for quite a while. If Illinois doesn't have a similar program, all you can really do is put a current plate on it and swap it out with the vintage one when you want. Doug

[Midget]

We have a 1948 Airstream which is built almost the same as your trailer. My plan was to build a rack which holds a full array of stop/turn/tail lights that can be mounted to the rear part of the frame. It would be removable so when we attended vintage meets it could be unplugged and stored away. This would leave the original single light for originality.

BTW-if you plan to drop the belly pan, be sure to check the attachment of the outriggers to the pipe. The frame was built like a fish spine but they used aluminum outriggers that were riveted to the steel pipe. There have been a lot of issues with the aluminum corroding with it's reaction to the steel which weakens the frame.

Bob

[Woodbutcher]

Thanks for the idea Bob. That sounds like a good option. Once I get the trailer inside my barn I plan on checking out the frame. I am not really excited about taking the belly pan down but I know I need to get a good look. The floor is not all flat so I might have some issues underneath with the frame. Plus running new wiring will be much easier and I may put AC in and can hide it better. I may PM you once in a while with some questions. A friend in NC just bought a 1961 Airstream. Not sure of the model but he said it was about 18ft long. He will do a complete restoration as well.

Thanks,
Steve


Doug, I will look into my states rules on a vintage plate. I like the idea if it can be done.