More trailer talk! The good, the bad, and the uuuuugly!
Hi folks! This has been a pathetic excuse for a blog lately! I know, I know!

I've been working every spare minute on fixing up my poor, neglected little travel trailer. I'm really trying to keep this project on the front burner and on the "fast track" to completion, for several reasons.
First, because my landladies won't let us keep it in the driveway permanently and I want to get as much done as possible before they get annoyed with the trailer being in the carport. Secondly, because it's already June and I do want to camp in it this summer!

There is a real sense of accomplishment in working on this old girl. I've never been the kind of girl who was really handy with tools, although I'm plenty artistic and creative and *fairly* logical thinking. I've never been a "car chick" like my sister, and I've never ever had any occasion to dabble in carpentry or the like. It's so nice when I can finally figure out what the hell it is that I'm doing! So far I've done a LOT of the work on the exterior of the trailer myself. (hubby has helped!) It hasn't been hard but it has been tedious. All the aluminum "skin" of the trailer was in fairly good shape but the paint has oxidized, there was a lot of grime and nastiness on her.
Someone had done a really terrible job of "sealing" around the windows, lights and hardware with some sort of latex based sealant, which all had to be stripped off. It was also someone's bright idea to put aluminized roofing tar on the roof, and that dripped down in places and made it look just hideous. The aluminum windows are in good shape but with a heavy layer of oxidization. Basically, all I've done for the last week is strip and scrape and pry layers of gunk off of her.
I've also removed the aluminum trim rails/gutters that run along her edge. These will be polished and put back on.

Talk about trial and error, I've been trying to find the best way to remove the oxidation on all the aluminum. What a nightmare. I've tried wd-40 with steel wool, which does make for a nice shine, but the amount of scrubbing with that method was apt to do me in. Hubby suggested "aluminum jelly" that he saw at the hardware store. I tried that, but it was still less than optimal. Finally I posted on the vintage trailer group at yahoo, and one gal there told me just to use tile-x with steel wool and so far that is working like a charm. Thank goodness. All my aluminum will be shiny again some day, as God is my witness!

Okay, ready for the pics???

The grody "before" pic!

After a week of work. The windows are masked off for a first coat of paint. She's looking much better already!

The fun part is shopping for retro stuff to decorate with, it's all about the accessories!

The curtain fabric I bought on ebay! Vintage 60's, so Brady Bunch! I love it!

The kids are helping. Here they are getting ready to knock down an abandoned wasps nest we found in the trailer! This pic cracks me up every time I see it!

I'll be back soon. Busy weekend ahead. My stepson arrives from Virginia, and I'm doing flowers for a wedding. Whew!
P.S. Lori, who left me a comment on the last post, get back to me with your e-mail and I'll write you with a bunch of info!
P.P.S. I'm now one of the Sisters on the Fly! #266, Yay!


06.23.05 @ 07:53 AM PST [link]