Hot Rods are my business
Summer is here and we’re enjoying the fruits of the hard work of winter! The season is short , so we’re packing all the adventures and excitement we can into the season.
The Spartan is all we hoped, it’s comfortable and practical. Kim looked beautiful in the period dress our friend Cheryl gave her, perfect for the trailer.
We’ll be getting ready for a trip east to Pennsylvania in a few weeks, and a short trip to Gun Lake for the 4th, and many more fun times after that!
See that guy, with polishing compound in his beard, ears, eyes, reflected in the trailer? That guy, yup, right there, the one who said he wasn’t going to polish another trailer, that this one would be painted. Looks like he’s polishing a trailer, doesn’t it?
I was going to simply acid wash the trailer and call it good for this fall, but after I got done with the wash, I didn’t like how it looked. I had bought a new buffer, pads, and Nuvite polish from Vintage Trailer Supply, so I had everything on hand, and started in. I bought some 3M Super Duty rubbing compound, which I’ve used in the past for the first cut, but it’s SO messy, greasy, flings all over, that I tried the Nuvite G7 I’d bought, and it works MUCH better! Not nearly as dirty (although you wouldn’t know that by looking at me!), cuts better, and doesn’t fill the bonnet with greasy left over compound. It’s a winner. C grade compound after that for the 2nd cut, and it’s as good as I can get it with a rotary buff. I’ll have some residual swirl marks, but it’ll be fine.
I realized both of my step ladders, and the planks I use as scaffold to get up on the roof and polish are at our sons house in Dexter, they used them painting and a little kitchen remodel in their new home. The steel ramps on sawhorses are great for doing the sides, I can’t get up on the roof to polish. Darn. So, I’m going for a tu-tone bare metal scheme, only the sides below the drip rail will be polished (for now), the roof and back will be left the dull white acid wash. Later, when I recover from polishing the sides, and I have my ladders and planks back, I’ll get ambitious and do the rest. For now it’ll look interesting, and much, much better than it did.
Tomorrow I want to get the 2nd cut completed on the curb side (shown), I still have to do the upper panels between the windows, and then move on to the street side. It should go faster than today, since the wash is done, I should be able to polish the rest in about 4 hours. Then, I’d like to get started on the screen doors and get the curtain rods up. Kim is finishing up the curtains tonight, so it’d be nice to see the interior with the barkcloth curtains in.
In other news, the Zip-Dee awning arrived today, my buddy Jake Moomey is going to stop by Saturday and help install it, he put one on his Spartan this spring hours before they left for Camp Dearborn, so he’s experienced!
That’s all until tomorrow, time to take an Aleve and pass out…
Finally, I got varnish on the interior of the Spartan! Two coats on the forward 1/3rd, and one coat everywhere else. The cabinet doors, drawers, and all the other little parts also have two coats. I got two coats on the part of the interior, shown above, because I put the second coat on while the first coat was still a bit “tacky”. You can see the break at the piece of trim over the counter top. Everything beyond that is just one coat, and is visibly duller than the forward panels. Now, sand everything with 220, then another two coats, and I can start putting this thing back together.
We’re ordering the foam for the cushions, and Marmoleum for the countertops this week, once the varnish is done Kim will make the cushions (we have the material for them and the curtains) and I can finish up the hundreds of unfinished chores yet to be done, and hopefully it’ll be so we can use it this summer.
Following are more photos of the interior, the first are of the paneling just stained, a mix of Golden Pecan Minwax oil stain, and a bit of yellow paint, and then with varnish on.
There’s light at the end of the tunnel!
I’ve got to be better at updating this page! My excuse is that since there was no way I was going to get it done for the TCT Spring Rally three weeks ago, that I might as well relax. And, my grandson came over, and we went camping twice, and the lawn needed to be mowed, and, and, ad infinitum. Anyway, after a month long hiatus on getting much done on the trailer, today I finally got stain on the cabinet doors and kitchen drawers.
I used Minwax oil stain, Golden Pecan to try to get close to the original finish on the wardrobe doors I salvaged from another old Spartan. It’s very close, the wildly different grain pattern and colors of the various sheets of 3/4″, 1/4″ and 1/8″ all seems to blend together pretty well once stained. I touched a couple places on those original doors where I sanded through the varnish to bare wood, the stain is an identical match color wise on those panels. A little more brown on some of the other new panels, but it’ll look pretty uniform once the poly is laid down.
We’ve had two wonderful weekends camping with the Tin Can Tourist this spring. Last weekend in Muskegon MI at Hoffmaster State park on Lake Michigan, and the third weekend in May in Milford at Camp Dearborn. We’ve been using the little Tini-Home canned ham trailer, it’s cozy and comfortable, but I’m anxious to get the Spartan done so we can stretch out a bit.
Todays project was to rebuild and lengthen the Spartan trailers tongue and install the power jack. Why I haven’t used these on every other trailer we’ve done is a mystery, this thing is the bomb! Instead of cutting the tongue off and making an entire new one, I simply “sistered” a length of 2×5 mild steel tubing onto the existing tongue, lengthened it about two inches, didn’t have to change the angle or alter it in any way. I’m happy with the result, it’s long enough to use the Reese load level hitch bars, and the power lift is really, really nice.
I assembled and welded the new legs onto the new coupler before I welded anything on the trailer tongue, which was a bit of foresight I usually don’t have. The bottom has strips of 7 gauge steel strips welded to the new legs, which I welded (from above) to the inside of the original channel. The top is welded solidly, as well as the ends. I’m proud of the stick-welded job, it looks good, and the ancient coupler/jack is headed for the scrap pile.
I temporarily wired up the thermostat/control for the roof mounted A/C-heat pump, and like everything else, it fired right up and works AMAZINGLY well. The A/C is ice cold, the heat works, and it’s all controlled by the wall mounted ‘stat. Pretty high tech for me!
I had gotten the fridge vent stack installed as well, and wired up the 12V feed to it, and started it. It cools down as it should, and while I had no doubt it would, it’s nice to verify it works after all that effort, and trading a really nice vintage camper I bought last winter for it! The water heater is also vented, the cap is on the roof covering both vent stacks, all that remains to be done is to plumb the 3/8″ soft copper line to them both, and the kitchen stove.
I’m getting close.
On the ’34 Roadster front, some progress too. I put together the body cradle I’d made for the ’36’s body, and got the ’34 body safely setting on it instead precariously perched on jack stands and a jenga-like stack of 4×4’s. The rear end is mocked up, and I decided the flimsy looking hairpin radius rods that came with the project weren’t going to cut it. Instead, I started making a set of really beefy, and traditional looking, hairpin rods from a seat of ’36 front wishbones I had. I like how they look, and once I get the spring clamps I ordered from Mac’s Antique Auto, I can mount the rear axle and set the chassis on it’s wheels. Big step!
Stay tuned, summer is coming, I want to get the Spartan done in time for our July 4th stay at Gun Lake, so I’ve got a lot to do!
It seems like a long time since I worked on the trailer, in reality, it’s only been a couple weeks. I’ve decided that the goal of making Camp Dearborn and the Tin Can Tourist Spring Rally isn’t going to happen, so I’ve slowed down a bit, but I’ve still gotten quite a bit done.
The new axle is under the trailer, and the Dodge 17″ 8 lug wheels and Michelon 24575R17 10 ply rated tires are on. The trailer now looks like ours, it looks good and feels good having that chore done. In addition, both waste tanks are under the trailer and the plumbing is 90% complete, so there are three things (almost) checked off the list. Most of the trim is done inside, I have to steam and bend a couple pieces of quarter round, and cut the hole in the roof for the fridge and hot water heater vent, finally get the interior varnished, and a thousand other little jobs that I haven’t even thought of yet.
I’ve taken advantage of the lack of a rush on the trailer, to finally start organizing and working on the ’34 Ford roadster project I bought last fall after selling the ’48 Pontiac convertible. I lifted the body off the frame, and made a (sort of) frame table/jig using two Stanley Work-Mates and some steel rectangular tubing. I have the frame leveled, squared, tacked together, the engine mounts are in, and the front axle is hanging from the crossmember. I’ve started welding the center section in, and will get the ’40 Ford rear crossmember flattened and in tomorrow. At least, that’s the plan…
So, that’s what’s happening here at Cool McCool’s Garage, progress on two fronts!
A Facebook friend in California just relayed that he’d found a cool old bread loaf style trailer near his home. Prewar, intact, fairly priced, but a total rebuild. He was torn, because he has a very cool, very rare trailer now, and this other one would be a nice compliment to their current one, and his vintage tow car.
He passed.
I should take a lesson from that. While I’m making good progress on the ’47 Spartan, it’s down to the fussy finishing and detail work that I’m not fond of, not patient enough for, and takes more time than I want to spend. It’s also clear I’m in no way going to meet my (self imposed) deadline of having the trailer done by the third week of may for the Tin Can Tourist Spring Rally in Milford to debut. I could have it usable, but not finished, and I don’t think it’s worth taking it uncompleted, not polished or finished to the level we want. It’s disappointing, but not we have two others to use, and lots of events coming up this summer where we can “debut” in style.
I have the plumbing done, the fridge is in and the vent system roughed in. Had to order more Olympic rivets before I can cut the vent hole in the roof and move the original stove vent blister to that space, so that’s a bit of a hold up.
The plumbing is done, mostly. The grey water tank has to be hung and the sink drains run to it. My good friend Mike Greene of Sierra Custom Interiors gave me a bunch of PEX tubing drops, crimp rings, miscellaneous fittings and the crimping tool, I’m indebted to him for that. It went well, it’s always good to add another thing to my skill set.
The trim work is also 90% complete. I steam bent the curved pieces with a home-built steamer set up, my first attempt at bending wood. It went pretty well, and I have a few little pieces yet to go that can’t be done till some other things get done, like the fridge cabinet.
We have the interior fabrics, thanks to another friend who’s an upholsterer and let us buy the fabric on her account for half what it’d have otherwise cost. The foam we have to order, but she’s helping us out with that too. Kim will make the covers and curtains. It should be very dramatic, we’re excited about our choices, no peeking until we’re done!
All this is good, and I have to admit I did feel relief whenI decided the other day not to try to have it ready for May. It was like a weight had been lifted. Not that I’m not working on it, but the pressure is now off. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by that project, and seeing my long neglected Thunderbird, the half-completed ’63 Riviera I started last year, and the “new” ’34 roadster setting in pieces, all of them covered with a thick, soft layer of wood dust, was a bit overwhelming.
These three cars are cars I’ve loved since I was a kid, and always wanted. The fact that none of them are completed and drivable doesn’t really matter, because I love having a project, but three at once, along with normal maintenance on our other cars, not to mention household chores, lawn care, and so on, takes tool on my “free” time. Part of my rationale for having all these projects is to provide activity for my upcoming retirement, so the fact that they’re not finished shouldn’t be a stress factor. It seems a long way off, but I know that 4 years from now I’ll look back and wonder where the time went.
And what I was worried about.
Good day of progress on the Spartan. Had an issue with the GFI devices, but with the help of my friend Butch Starner, figured out is just wired them wrong. Dinette booth done, wiring done, bed frame and its storage drawer done. Up next, plumbing, and we’re going to order fabric and counter tops.
I have a little space heater in the trailer, a fire in the stove in the shop, and I’ve been busy doing what I consider “cabinet work”, although I’m sure my high school shop teacher, and my brother-in-law would shake their heads in disbelief and walk away, I think I’m making progress.
Above, we have the beginnings of a lunch counter, which we had to have because we bought two of these killer bar stools right after we bought the this trailer (a ’47 Spartan Manor). Seen here in it’s first, roughed in state as a wiggly bunch of sticks, I had to take in the trailer and see if was actually going to fit and be useable.
The verdict is: Yes.
To the right of the cool bar stool is the dinette booth, which is a modified version of the one in out last Spartan. This one is longer on the curb side, and shorter on the street side (the side we see here), and will sit 4 people comfortably. I made the seats cushions of the ’46, our last Spartan, about 3″ too short in an attempt to make the booth seem “roomy”, but they were awkward and uncomfortable. This one has deeper cushions, the table will be narrower, and we’ll again have a “coffee table” option, one with shorter legs. The larger dining table will stow away behind the back of the curb side of the dinette, to be used only when we have guests for inside meals or when Milo, our grandson, stays with us. (We hope that’s often!)
Once again, we’ll have a wrap around shelf under the panoramic front windows, that’ll continue down the top of the booth to display stuff. That was one feature of the ’46 that we really liked. This should be a notable improvement over that trailers seating.
I’m waiting to get the beautiful (but slightly larger than we really want) vintage GM Frigidaire fridge (that we scavenged from the Spartanette we bought this summer, along with the Dixie stove) from the shop that’s converting it from electric to RV propane and 110V operation. This was all arranged by our good friend Mike Greene of Sierra Custom Interiors, a fellow TCT member and all around great guy. It should be done next week, then I’ll be able to build the sink and fridge cabinets, and complete the bathroom. I’d like to have the fridge on hand to assure I build things correctly, all these other things hinge on where and how the fridge will be positioned.
It’s gonna be close…
Also in the wings is the beautiful little Dixie gas range. This too was scavenged from the Spartanette before it left. It’s in great shape, although the clock lens was broken the face of the clocks graphics are peeling, and the springs which hold the oven door closed are both broken. All this stuff should be easy to fix, the stove and fridge will really set off the interior of the trailer.
The street side cabinets are framed in, with space for the stove, and the lavatory sink is in place behind the little partition between galley and bedroom. This all fits well and looks great, we’ll have a simple display shelf above the stove, no upper cabinets on this side of the galley.
Todays project, in bitter cold, was the wardrobe cabinet that is just inside the front door, where the original furnace sat. I all the interior doors, kitchen doors and drawers from a ’49 Imperial Mansion, and am using what I can in this Manor. Two of the wardrobe doors worked perfectly for our wardrobe, I’m very happy with how this turned out. The sink, a stainless double basin unit with built in drain board from IKEA, will be just aft of the wardrobe, and the fridge will set somewhere behind that, which will also determine where the partition for the bathroom will be.
I cut down a small pair of what had been overhead cupboard doors from the Mansion to use as upper doors. I’m pleased with how it all came together. It’ll looks original, but will be all modern and very functional for our needs.
About all I can do until the fridge is done and on hand now is to frame in the bed base in the back, and I can start cutting making cabinet doors, as I don’t have enough of the correct size to re-use from the Mansion, and originals from this trailer are trashed.
In other news, the Traveleze trailer I bought a couple weeks ago has a new home, Mike Greene bought it and is going to restore it for his family to use. I had a small mishap with it, got stuck in the snow trying to back it in the barn at my dad’s to keep it out of the weather. I could only back up, the truck kept sliding a bit sideways, and I ended up backing it into a small tree at the edge of the drive. This wouldn’t have hurt it a bit, but it turned out the wood framing at the rear of the trailer was completely rotted away, and the siding buckled, revealing the beginnings of a black hole where the trailers framing should have been. This was demoralizing, I’d hoped to use it as is, and with the Spartan project, and the three car projects now on hold until that gets done, I just didn’t want to fix it. Mike didn’t care, planned on a complete rebuild of whatever trailer he found, so we cut a deal, he came and got it yesterday. Everybody’s happy!
That’s Mike, happily changing wheels and tires for the trip to Bristol, Indiana!
Made it 5 days.
Well, so much for the best laid plans. I swore the Spartan was priority #1, then the T’bird, then the ’34, but look what followed me home today.
This is a late 60’s (we think) “Travel-eze” camper, roughly 18′ box, probably 22′ overall, that we rescued from a church camp near Lansing MI. My good friend Mike O’Connor took another vintage trailer pal, Brandon, and I there about two months ago, to show us half a dozen vintage campers on the campgrounds that the camp manager wanted moved off, ASAP. I was cool to the idea of even going to look, but once there, I was sort of smitten with the cool, 60’s shape of this one, and how nice (relative to any other old camper we’ve dragged home) the interior was.
The camp manager Bob assured us that yes, they all have too go, and the sooner the better. Since I’ve been laid up a bit secondary to my hip replacement 6 weeks ago, and the ground had been, until last nights bitter cold, soft, today, with the morning temps hovering just above zero, seemed like a good day to try to retrieve this one for us. As I said, I was cool to the idea of adding another project to my plate, but kept looking at the photos, thinking about it, and decided I ought to go get before someone else beat me to it. Besides, my friend Mike Greene, who helped me today, wanted to see them, and Butch needed something to do, so, why not?
Faithful readers will remember last summer, when on what was the hottest, most humid day of the season, Butch, Mike O’Connor, and I dug the Spartanette from it’s resting place of 50 years. It pays to have good friends, with poor memories… In a twist of irony not lost on any of us, this one was only a couple of miles from the site we pulled that trailer from.
I called my pals Butch and Mike G., and we descended upon this honey hole of vintage camping gold early this morning. Mike’s heavy duty 4×4 3/4 ton diesel pickup we though would yank the trailer from it’s resting place with no problems, but the inch of ice on the ground said otherwise. A little dirt from under the trailer shoveled under the truck tires stopped the spinning, and in a short time, we had the trailer up and out into the yard where we planned on quickly changing the ancient, rotted tires for the only slightly better ancient, rotted tires we brought along.
This was a good plan, except two of the wheels we brought didn’t fit, and one of the tires on the two rims that did fit had gone flat on the way up. Undaunted, we put the two questionably “good” ones we had on the trailer, and headed out for home, with an equally questionable spare pilfered from one of the other trailers.
What could possibly go wrong?
We got 5 miles, when one of the trailers original tires gave up the ghost and exploded in spectacular fashion, happily a quarter mile from a gas station and a tire store. We took the leaky tire we’d left in the back of Butches van to the tire store, where in a few minutes they dismounted it from the rim, cleaned the rim and re-mounted it with no leaks. We mounted it back up, aired up the spare, mounted it, and headed back out, confident, with three “good” tires rolling, and one ancient spare, stolen, er, “borrowed” from one of the other derelict trailers, we thought we had it made.
Mike, “Tire Trouble” Green assess the damaged tire alongside the road. “This seems to be problem, right here…”
Thought, because another couple of miles, a loud “bang” had us at the side of the road again, but a quick inspection showed all 4 tires aired up, nothing dragging, so we set back out. Mike, towing it with his truck, immediately noticed the curtain in the front window blowing OUT of the window, and said, “Well, this can’t be good.”, and I noticed the door blowing open against the tarp strap we’d secured it with, so we stopped again.
This time, the culprit was a broken street side front window, looked like a rock from an oncoming car had tossed a pebble and cracked it. Happily, all the pieces aside from the impact spot were still in place, so we limped to the next closest gas station, another mile or so, where I bought two rolls of cheap duct tape and taped the broken pieces together, put some reinforcing strips across the rest, and also the window on the other side.
We were now well and truly on our way, and continued on home, about 35 miles without any incidents, although Mike was a little uncomfortable at our slow, 45 mph pace on a major highway, with no lights, no brakes, or safety chains. The plan was, if something bad happened, we’d just unhitch and leave it by the side of the road. Butch was following with his van, so I felt confident. The state trooper we met later never gave our little parade a second glance, so we were fine!
Getting it home and giving it a close inspection, I’m really happy. There’s been a little seeping around the front roof vent, but the paneling isn’t rotten, the roof doesn’t flex, so I think I can simply pull the vent, shim it and the roof skin up a little, (so water will shed off better) reseal, replace and call it good.
The flooring is fine, the walls and ceiling are that odd “pickled” finish popular in the 60’s, and the rounded shape also look very ’60-ish, but the copper appliances and orange upholstery and curtains look early 70’s. It’s a bit odd, but overall it’s clean, not moldy, doesn’t stink, and nothing blew off or shook loose coming home. Even with the vibration of the blown out tire!
Hopefully, a little fluff and buff, new wheels and tires, clean and pack the wheel bearings and running light check will have it useable as is.
Many thanks to Mike G., Mike O, and Butch for the help, comaradary and for validating my poor decisions!
Cool McCool's Garage 