It all began one fall day in 2010. For some reason (that I don’t remember), my wife and I were moseying around Fresno, California on a Saturday. With nothing better to do, we stop at a yard sale. Who can resist a good yard sale, right? No real bargains to be had, but hey, what is this? That’s a cool little trailer they have for sale. We didn’t have a clue about vintage trailers, but seeing that we like all things antique and vintage, we checked it out. It doesn’t look too bad. Nothing a little cleaning and elbow grease can’t fix. So for a measly $600 (later figured out that was WAY too much), we hook it up to the 4-runner, and bring her home.
So we get her home and start cleaning out the junk and looking at the overall condition. I had done a minor restoration on an overhead camper that we presently used, so it didn’t look like something we couldn’t do. Who doesn’t love natural birch cabinets with rounded edges!
After pulling that first piece of skin off the back, it was go big or go home. There was a LOT of water damage. I have thought many times afterwards that we were lucky it made it home in one piece. 50 year old glue and nails are pretty strong even in old rotten wood. So we tore into it with a vengeance and eventually got to the bottom. All the way to the bottom!
To make a long story short, we went all the way down to the axles and springs. Everything in the floor is new and insulated with 1 ½” Styrofoam. We had to rebuild the walls, salvaging only maybe half of the original framing. We managed to save all the cabinets, fixing the water damage the best we could. A few of the battle scars still show, but to us, it gives it character. Because we do a lot of outdoor cooking when we go camping, we opted to put in a modern gas refrigerator where the closet was originally. All the electrical is new, and it is wired for A/C on top someday. I reinforced the top with 1 ½” aluminum tubing for the A/C when the time comes.
Fast forward 5 years later, and we are finally ready to enjoy it. It was a long journey and the light at the end of the tunnel got dim at times, but worth it in the end.
By the Owner: Mike Porter, Tulare, CA
