Can only go up from here!

When you go all the way to the frame, it can only improve after that. After looking at a blank canvas, now we can get to the good stuff. 

It can only get better...

I went ahead and wrote scripture on the flooring. 

We hope God blesses our little trailer and we have safe journeys.

Originally, as you can see around the edge of the floor, there are 2x2s with carriage bolts through them. What was the most difficult is that not only is it running through the 2x2 and the plywood flooring, it also had to run through a 2x4 on it's side and then into the frame. That made for a VERY long drill bit and a very long carriage bolt. It was a frustrating job.

Then, in hindsight, we should've put the flooring down before the 2x2's since it was very hard to cut the floor inside. It was like a big puzzle. We thought, "oh we can come put the floor in in 30 minutes or so". Yeah, no. It took 3 1/2 hours. But the results are fantastic!

We love turning the tiles so it's more of a diamond pattern, but boy, it was hard to do! We got a great deal on the tile. The carpet store near our town was going out of business so we got the white tiles for $5 a box. Then we ordered the red tile from Home Depot and looks just wonderful.

Next step is getting the cabinets sanded and repaired and then putting the walls back up! With Christmas right around the corner, don't know how much we'll be able to work on it, but we've got a great start putting it back together.

Starting from Scratch

Since we had to go all the way down to the frame, we might as well fix it right. My husband and father-in-law cut a piece of metal and welded it to the frame for added support. It didn't have much right where the doorway was, where the most traffic would be. 

We also replaced the 2x4s inbetween the frame and added lots of extra support.

 

After repacking the bearings, we pounded out the dents in the wheel wells and added lots of rubberized undercoating. Can I add LOTS! We probably have gone through at least 8 cans and we're not done yet.

Had to rivet some extra metal to the outside of the wells since they had rusted pieces on them. Went ahead and attached them to the frame, so now it's flooring time!

It seems we have spent a lot of time on this step, but it's so important to have a good base to start. We have the plywood cut for the flooring, but that's for another post.

Update: Worse than we thought.

We took the door side wall off. It was harder to remove than we thought. We cut out a piece of flooring since it was rotten right by the door.

After we took out the dinette bench, the floor was bad there too. Sooooo, we just decided to start taking things apart.

I almost wanted to cry. I know this is best, but it's still hard to look at.

I had to leave for work, but later my husband sent me this.

Well, you can only go forward from here. Now we can make some positive progress!

Work in Progress

We knew it had water damage, but it's almost in every area. We got the front skin off and really saw what we could barely see from the outside.

We are pretty sure someone before us had also taken the aluminum off and replaced a lot of the wood, but it was abused sometime after that and the water did its damage.

Next step: take all the aluminum off.

Sorry the picture's a little fuzzy. Like to get the cabinets out and then start fixing back up.

Went to our first Vintage Trailer Rally this weekend. Tons of fun and great people to talk with. Little Lola Mae will be there next year!

It was meant to be mine...

Strange title, I know. This poor abused sweetheart was abandoned and abused and left on the side of the road. My husband saw it on a side street in a busy town near us. He told me about it, knowing my passion for owning a vintage camper. Not too long after, he saw it again.

He does computer work and was working with a local tow company when it turned up in their lot. He asked what they were going to do with it. Since it was abandoned, they had to keep it a certain amount of time then they would probably send it to the crusher. NO!! Put my name on it immediately!

After the allotted time, and considerable amount of red tape, the camper is mine.

First step: build a fire and start throwing stuff in. It was a disaster. Bedding and stinky mattresses, food containers, needles and a smell I just can't describe.

My mission was to take out the hundreds of screws and nails that were randomly put in the walls. Screws were taken out of the windows and put in the walls to hold up who knows what.

There wasn't a single window that wasn't broken. Poor thing.

There's water damage, but won't see how bad until the next step.

After the inside was cleaned out, the next step was to remove the windows and doors so the aluminum skin can be taken off. Easier said than done! Someone in the past had removed all of those and reinstalled them with so much silicone it took a heat gun to take it off. What a job! My poor father in law was drenched when he was done.

That's where we are for now. Next is try to remove the front skin and see how bad 

the water damage is.