1955 Benroy - Rebuild (08/20/2013 - Painted! Now reassembly)

[TRP]

Ted,
What tires are you using? My local shop suggests 205/75 R15's.
Looking for something cheap. Thx.

Mine came with brand new tires on it. They are 165 R15. They appear to be a trailer tire. "Sport Metric" is the brand. I'd like to sell the ones on it and get 185 R15, white walls. Those are outrageously expensive. There is a photo of a Benroy on the web (the "route 66" one), that benroy is running 215/70 R15's. I'm looking for a standard white letter / thin white wall tire I can buff out to a wide white. I think I've settled on a BF Goodrich tire, but they are 85.00 each. Tires are just expensive right now.

Let me know what you end up doing,
Ted

[stevegsmith]

I think I have the original tires. Tire guy says the date stamp is from 1955.
They were made by the United States Rubber Company and are called "Centipede Grip".
They measure 27.5ish" tall. Side stamp just says 6.50-15' under that it says "4 Ply".

I havent found my tire yet but will post when I do if you'd like. This is your thread and I dont want to get too posty but am more than happy sharing info. You just let me know.

[TRP]

Whoa! Bias ply tires!? Sounds like you may be in the running for the most original Benroy!

I have no problem with you or anyone posting here. Mi thread es su' thread.

I didn't get a whole lot done today on the trailer. My finger decided to hurt today. Kind of odd it hasn't really hurt much until today. Go figure!

Maybe tomorrow?

T

[High Desert]

Not sure if you're familiar with Coker Tire, but they do have quite the selection of wide whites. They're spendy but do have the look, and I've heard they stand behind what the sell. I know several members have their tires on the road.

http://www.cokertire.com/tire-sizes/where/sidewall-style/wide-whitewall/tire-rim-diameter/15.html

Hope that finger gets healed up soon Ted, enjoying watching your build.

[dano]

I have a set of 15" smothies 5" wide with a 3 5/8 off set if anyone wants them for a very good price.

Dano

[TRP]

Anybody who's watching know the secret to bending this 1/8 Birch ply around that front radius? I tried to score it every 1/4 or so and that just resulted in it snapping on the score lines.

Grrr...

T

[dano]

I did luan and never did anything to it. Just bent it, glued and screwed. I dont think you need to score it and that may be why it snapped.
Dan

[TRP]

I did luan and never did anything to it. Just bent it, glued and screwed. I dont think you need to score it and that may be why it snapped.
Dan

Yeah, the scoring made the 1/8 birch ply too weak and that's why it broke. I tried another piece without scoring it. I sprayed the wood with ammonia and steamed it with the iron. I worked it for a while and got it really close, with in 1/4" of perfect. I pushed a bit too hard, trying to get it to lay in along the spars.... CRACK! A 2 foot crack opened up on one side. So - the record stands at 2 pieces of 1/8 Birch ply, broken. I should have tried to use a screw to pull it in and I'm sure it would have been fine. Oh well, live and learn.

Maybe I'll return the remaining two pieces of 1/8 birch ply and look into some Luan.

Dano, I'll give you a call tomorrow. I'm frustrated and tired. I'm not much in the mood for conversation. I'm afraid I wouldn't make a good first impression. I hear an ice cold beer calling my name.

Thanks for looking,
Ted

[TRP]

Working from home today. While on lunch I went out into the garage and tried my hand at bending the 1/8" ply once again.

Dano and I have been exchanging messages via PM. (Turns out he lives about 4 miles away!) Using his suggestions and a few more from Gabe, I strung up this contraption. Seems to be doing well so far. I'm letting it 'bake' in the sun for a while. I misted the 1/8 birch with ammonia and then let that dry in the sun. With balsa wood the ammonia helps the wood fibers relax a bit so the wood will bend better. Maybe it works for Birch too. We'll see.





I think I'll let it sit in this configuration for a day or two and then try again. I think the key is smooth consistent pressure across the span try to avoid 'hard edges' on the 1/8 birch.

Thanks again,
Ted

[TRP]

Hey Gang, I'm back. Had to take a few weeks off of the build. One weekend was because of my daughters birthday, then we took a family vacation. I'm back now. Ready to make some progress.

Woke up this morning with a head full of steam and flushed out the walls, cut some spars, and installed the inner and outer skins.


The Fantastic Fan is in and ready for power. Once the aluminum is on. I' will wire 'er up.


Oh, this happened while I was out of town. The registration and the title for the trailer arrived. It's official, the Benroy is mine. Pictured you see the Year Of Make (YOM) plate for my trailer. Back in 1951 -1955 the California Department of Motor vehicles (DMV) used one style of plate, a black plate with yellow letters/numbers. It was a base plate with a 51 embossed in the corner. Each year there after, up through 55 they simply affixed a new 'year' tab over the '51'. In 1963 DMV went to a smaller plate, also black with yellow letters. DMV asked everyone to turn in their older plates and move to the new smaller size plate. The YOM program allows you to register your vehicle (or trailer) with a plate from the year of make, regardless of the 1963 plate swap. My trailer came with it's original 1963 plate, but I kind of like the vintage 1955 plates.I searched around and found this restored 1955 plate. I also found the correct year tab for this plate. It's all official and registered in my name with this plate. Kind of neat. Kind of unique.


Oh I also received my hinge and door trim parts from Grant.

Next up?... maybe the hatch? Who knows.

Thanks for letting me share,
Ted

[real550A]

More good progress, Ted! Definitely shaping up nicely. I posted a couple more of my "renovation" pics today, but now, you've raised the stakes!
I'll have to post my newly acquired YOM Minnesota 58-59 trailer plate. I found an unused one, still in the sleeve! Best, Mike

[TRP]

Thanks, Mike. Yours looks like it's coming along nicely as well.

Steve - did we ever determine what number yours was? Mine is stamped as 355.

Based on this info: http://www.outbackteardrop.com/benroy.html
"Charles Tello of Ventura, CA. stated his teardrop is serial #135, which Ben said it was actually the 35th Benroy teardrop built."

With that - I think that would make mine the 255th one build. Make sense? No where near as cool as the 35th one built... but it doesn't suck.

There should be an official Benroy registry. Just saying...

T

[TRP]

Double post... grrr... my fault.

[real550A]

Ted- A registry of the remaining Benroy's is a GREAT IDEA! It would take someone with some computer knowledge on how to do these things...
that pretty much leaves me out! I doubt it would consume much of anyone's time, given the numbers that are probably left. It sure would be
fun to see it grow. Mike

[stevegsmith]

?....

Steve - did we ever determine what number yours was? Mine is stamped as 355.



T

mine is TD50855

I don't understand the designation if yours is 255.
Helpa brother out.