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

[TRP]

So yours is TD50855? Mine is TD50355. Both are 1955.

Humm, that's curious. That sort of sinks my theory.

We need more data.

Anyone know how to start an official registry of vintage vehicles?

Ted

[real550A]

Ted and Steve-
Not that it means anything, but my 1959 KR is #605459. Seems to be consistent with the last two digits being the year?
Perhaps KR used a similar system to BR? Just throwing that out there, to fuel the curiosity. Mike

[TRP]

That's a possibility, except one of the other documented Benroys has a VIN# of TD50135. It has been quoted that Bennet said it was the 35th one built.

Clearly, we don't have enough data points to figure this out.

We have my 55 -TD50355.
We have Steve's -TD50855. Steve, on your registration - does it state the year as also a 55? How did you arrive that yours is a 55?

Need more data...

Granted, it's not like any of this really matters. It's just fun to know the history, how many originals are left, etc.

Ted

[stevegsmith]

Ted and Steve-
Not that it means anything, but my 1959 KR is #605459. Seems to be consistent with the last two digits being the year?
Perhaps KR used a similar system to BR? Just throwing that out there, to fuel the curiosity. Mike

That was my thinking as well. My registration says that the year sold is 1955 as well as the model year.

[stevegsmith]

That's a possibility, except one of the other documented Benroys has a VIN# of TD50135. It has been quoted that Bennet said it was the 35th one built.

Clearly, we don't have enough data points to figure this out.

We have my 55 -TD50355.
We have Steve's -TD50855. Steve, on your registration - does it state the year as also a 55? How did you arrive that yours is a 55?

Need more data...

Granted, it's not like any of this really matters. It's just fun to know the history, how many originals are left, etc.

Ted

I would guess that I'm either the 8th made in the year 55 or rather the 508th made ever. Didn't they stop making them around 1956? I thought I saw somewhere that there were approx 550 made.

[TRP]

According to the information from Grant Whipp, written by Lisa Whipp, Tales and Trails - The Teardrop Times issue #5 spring/summer 1995:

" He built the pilot model in 1953, completed tooling, and with partner Roy Greenwood ('he was the money man,' says Bennet) launched the Benroy line of teardrop trailers. From then until the end of 1955, they manufactured 480 trailers..."

Every bit of info I've ever read always points back to the data on Grant's site, or the info on the Outback teardrop site. I know DK's is a 56. If her Vin ends in '56' that could yield some more data.

We need Gage or Grant to chime in.

The information is out there, we'll find it eventually. The question is, will that be before or after I finish mine?... place your bets.

T

[stevegsmith]

Cool. Thanks Ted. I do like knowing this stuff so I'm eager to see what turns up.

BTW, I've finished making the hatch framing for my rehab. Next thing to do is wire it, skin it, then slap it on. And, since one of my hubs seems a bit too wobbly, I'm going to order a replacement axle and hubs with larger bearings. It's cheap enough and will give me a slight lift without any other mods.....except for the fenders. I think I'm going to add a backing plate to the fenders to strengthen them up a little. The backing plate will extend vertically above the wheel well to grab the original bolt holes through the siding. The fenders will slide down so that the bottom edge is in line with the bottom edge of the trailer. I'll hang the old axle in the garage and keep all the components so I can maintain a complete "original" package.

[TRP]

How 'wobbly' is your original hub? Kind of makes me wonder about mine now. What symptoms caused you to 'dig deeper' on that axle issue? Anything I should look out for?
T

[TRP]

Did a tiny bit of work today on the trailer. I installed a new piece of 1/8 birch ply on the interior. I didn't like the color of the one I had in there. Once that was completed. I started working on the lower galley cabinet. On the right, I made a spot for an old Coleman I have my eye on. I'll mount it on a pair of sliders. On the left is the spot for the battery box and the pull out table.

The galley cabinet is framed in poplar and then skinned in 1/4 birch ply. I then cut out the openings with a flush mount bit on the router. Not sure what to do with the cabinet doors. I was thinking about trimming the cabinets and doors in cherry, but I'm not sure how that will look. We'll see.







Maybe tomorrow I'll get started on the upper galley cabinet.

We'll see. Thanks for letting me share.

Ted

[TRP]

I only had a little bit of time to work on the 'roy today. I managed to frame up the remainder of the cabinets. Maybe this week I'll skin them and get them all ready to figure out what I'm going to do with the cabinet doors. Still not sure what I'm going to do there.

The battery and the remainder of the wiring stuff should be here this week.

Going camping next weekend, so I won't get to work on it over the 3 day weekend.


T

[stevegsmith]

How 'wobbly' is your original hub? Kind of makes me wonder about mine now. What symptoms caused you to 'dig deeper' on that axle issue? Anything I should look out for?
T

It's more like a pulsing really. I installed new bearings and after dry fitting the hub and freespinning, I can see and feel(while holding the hub on with just my fingers) the hub ever-so-slightly pulsing in and out. It's not huge but but the spindle was slightly blued....which I'm assuming meant it experienced some heat in the past. Maybe from this, maybe not. Also, while free spinning the hub slowly, it doesn't stop in one place and just stay there, it sort of swings a little like a pendulum then stops. Initially I thought that maybe it was just a rough casting and that maybe it wasn't balanced well and that maybe since it was so heavy duty that maybe it didn't really matter. At this point, too many maybes. While writing this, I'm remembering rotating the tire before I pulled it. It did the pedulum thingy which I originally thought was just due to the old rubber.
So after shopping around, I can get a straight 1.5" axle with 1 1/16" bearings for under $250. With that and a little shimming at the sping mount, I get the lift I was originally looking for.
So that's where I'm at.
Feel free to comment.

[Lurediver]

I have an original 1955 Benroy that I've been restoring also. I picked it up all complete but the wood I am replacing because of rot.

I believe my id reads TD61955.

[TRP]

Lurediver!

Welcome to the thread! Thanks for the info on your ID. We have also learned (off thread) that another benroy owner (a '56) - her vin ends in '56', so that pretty much solves that 'mystery.

Let's see some photos of your 'roy!

Regarding the registry - TinCan Tourists have a Benroy page on their wiki. I spent some time this morning cleaning up the page, editing some stuff, and adding some info I'm aware of.

Ted

[stevegsmith]

Ted,
Got the hatch framing done and the outer layer skin on last night.
Hope all had a nice weekend.
Here's a pre-skin pic.

[TRP]

Hey Steve,

That looks great. Nice progress. The hatch looks fantastic. What did you ever decide to do with the spindle/hub issues you were having. Did you order up a new axle and such?

Ted