62 Lil' Loafer

[SuburbanLoafer]

Well, have you ever started a project and felt you might be in over your head? I might not be, but I'm just hoping my goal of having this complete by my Independence day trip this year is realistic. I'll probably be referencing this site constantly.

So here's the little monkey I've got to deal with.

http://i.imgur.com/L4plbyo.jpg

1962 8' Lil' Loafer

8 Feet of in over your head, I think every wall on the beast is rotten, too many spider carcasses to count, travel trailer.

Aside from a rather abundant list of things I need to do, the size of the trailer really helps me feel I can manage it.

http://imgur.com/a/IQrMj

This is my first project like this, though I am a pretty crafty person with a number of tools at my disposal, so I'm assured of my eventual success my by my overly optimistic attitude and the small allotted budget that my wife has given me to complete said task. Given that, I'm probably going to clean up and reuse what I can, though I would rather it not look entirely like it dropped out of the 60's when I finish up.

I've already started the tear down though, so now there's no looking back. I'll update with more pictures when I can, but for now, here is a wide view of the carnage.

http://i.imgur.com/WzzdjJO.jpg

I do plan on keeping the spider box/tumor on the back of the trailer and fix that up. It is a really good place for storage and such, but it just needs to look a little better.

[KCStudly]

Cool and different.

You do have quite the task ahead of you. Make sure that you keep having fun!

[Vedette]

I am not much of a "Standie" fan (But, Sandi Loves them??) and said "Oh it is so cute".
My first take on it is .....that it looks like it will be very functional, and has all of the necessary things you will need for camping off of the ground in the rain!
Good Luck with your build.
And remember to enjoy it as much as you anticipate the fun you are going to have with it when you get camping with it??
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[bc toys]

welcome and let me say good luck with your build or rebuild (You can do it) the wife will love it when you get it done If you go to a member on here GAGE page you can see a pic of what it can look like when your done He does great work as I be leave you will and can do

[SuburbanLoafer]

Well, a little update.

The good news:

By the time I'm done I'm basically going to have a brand new trailer!

The bad news:

It's because I have to tear it down to the frame and rebuild it. Just about every frame board is rotting or disintegrated.
So, no way am I going to get it done like July, like I'd hoped. I simply do not have enough time.

Here's just a few quick pictures of one of the sides I took off.

http://imgur.com/a/TUAC5


All in all, a little more work than I had hoped, but part of me braced for this expectation before I even started the tear down.

I am still excited to get it finished some day though. I am very much enjoying the thought of getting to use this someday.

[Patti]

I think it's awesome. Sorry you uncovered so many problems, but hopefully you got a good deal on it!

[SuburbanLoafer]

Well I got the trailer for free to start out with. So that's as good a deal as I could've gotten. haha.

After getting all the siding off, and considering that I am basically rebuilding this from the ground up I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to put all the same beat up sheet metal back on it though. The old sides will make perfect templates for cutting out the new ones though.

Here's a few more pictures of the tear down.








My lovely wife helped me clear out the rest of the stuff from the interior and take off the siding. It was a lot of fun working together on it.

Other plans... I'm going to use foam, instead of the yellow stuff. I also plan on wrapping the whole thing in that protective house wrap stuff. I'm hoping this will last another 50 years when I'm done with it. (I may not have it for 50 years, but I don't see why someone else should have problems with it down the road.)

On a side note though.. Because I've seen some people on here get trailer sides cut out on giant CNC machines. Is that even possible with my trailer? and around how much would something like that run?

[39Ratrod]

Good for you, saving a unique TTT! I dig it!

[SuburbanLoafer]

So the fun part is basically done!



I've been talking to my wife, especially about the wood box that was on the back of the trailer, and we have come to the conclusion that the best thing for us to do with the trailer is to extend the walls all the way to the back. It'll still look like the TTT it used to be, but we will gain about 2ft. of interior room. Since she is allowing me to do this project in the first place, I feel more than happy to give her some allowance as to what is going to happen.

[39Ratrod]

That's cool! I really like to couples making joint decisions. Especially when the hard work is shared. The TTT I am building has been a mostly solo project I ask her all the time about what she thinks about this or that, trying to get her more interested in the project. She used to tent camp with me when we were dating, but those times are long gone.

I'm glad to see your wife is into it! Build on man!

[wagondude]

Seeing the complete lack of joinery in the original structure, it is amazing that the trailer was even roadworthy when new. The fact that it was still intact when you got it is even more amazing. Have fun with the rebuild.

[KCStudly]

Seeing the complete lack of joinery in the original structure, it is amazing that the trailer was even roadworthy when new.

Amen.

On the CNC router thing, the typical commercial sizes are 4x8, 4x10 and you might even find a 5x10. The guy who did my templates only had a 4x8 and my wall height was over 4 ft, so I broke it up into three segments 4 ft wide or less. In fact, for the middle segment I really only needed the top radius and back side of the door frame, and he used scraps so that one wasn't even 4 ft wide. I just moved it back along the cut to continue the arc.

All in all it was a "nice to have" thing, but could have got there without it. The only reason I did it was because we were swapping favors, labor for labor.

[bc toys]

with that extra 24'' you can install a bathroom on the side make for nice comforts at night like your work keep it up Glad the wife is helping you with it

[Gold5one]

For some reason, I'm hearing a song go round in my head--
MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

I don't think I could put it back together-- good luck.

[39Ratrod]

I just showed my daughter the 3/4 front shot where the propane bottle is visible. She said it looks like a minion from "Despicable Me". I totally see it!!!!!