Re-imagining a 1948 Boles Aero Trailer

  Mirror Finish '48 Boles Aero in Tow Well I'd planned to do the polishing of my Boles myself. After all I'd done nearly everything else except the welding (I'll do that on my next project). But reality set in quickly when I gave it a go. I was finishing up a weekend of small projects on the Boles and decided to give polishing a try. A few hours later my arms were fatigued and I'd made little progress. Not to mention I'd done only a half ass job. I did some rough math and realized it was going to take 30-40 hours to complete the job. And if you factor in that I'd probably only be able to accomplish 4 hours per day before pooping out, that meant 7-10 days or 4-5 weekends. My Attempt at Polishing Polishing isn't cheap. 30-40 hours of labor in any industry is a pricy prospect. And the polishing of vintage and current model airstreams is a hot business. But the prospect of finishing the Boles this Spring and doing it without visiting the Dr for tendonitis wo

It's Alive! My goal for this outing was to check out the lights, brakes and the brake controller I'd installed in our Toyota Highlander. The Highlander has a 5000lb tow capacity and 500lb hitch capacity so it should easily handle the Boles. I'd installed a OEM tow hitch and Redarc Tow Pro Elite brakes controller. I like both of these vs the many other options because they have that integrated factory look. The Redarc unit is hidden up under the dash and the controller knob looks like just another factory knob with all the other switches. I put the wheels on, checked the tire pressure and took the Boles off the jackstands that have been supporting it during the renovation process. Then I backed up the Highlander and connected the 7-blade connector and proceeded to check out the lights. The Hookup Exterior lights are simple enough but I'd kept the central brake light and wanted to see if they way I'd wired it worked out. Most camp trailers didn't have turn signals

  Kitchen Area with Formica Countertop I considered a lot of different options for the counter and table top but I settled on Formica. Specifically the "Navy Grafix" color. I'd considered some more colorful options and also patterns, but I decided I'll work splashy colors in with the easily replaceable soft goods like throw pillow. 3/4" Baltic Birch counter with components dry fit Formica countertops are easy enough to install and there are lots of good Youtube videos available. Of course I made some design choices that made it harder than it normally would be. Namely I decided to use and "undermount" stainless steel sink and mount it flush with the top. This means that the sink needs to be recessed and hung from the top rather than attached to the bottom. I used a router to cut in a recess for the lip of the sink to rest on and glued in the sink. The sink lip needs to be perfectly level with top of the birch plywood. I needed to fill any gap created wh

  Norcold NR751SS The trailer originally had an icebox not a refrigerator. If I was doing a "restoration" I probably would have used on of the conversion kits to turn the icebox into a fridge, but this is a renovation so I wanted to take full advantage of newer, more efficient technology. I installed a Norcold NR751 SS (SS means stainless steel vs black). It's a  2.7 cuft electric fridge (no propane) that can run off either 12V (or 24V) DC or 120V AC. If wired for both DC and AC it automatically switches to 120V AC when that's available. I picked it up as a "Used Like New" on Amazon for a substantial discount. It was a slight ding in the frame (you may see it on the left hand side) and the shipping foam was obviously abused but otherwise it seems fine. The ding is definitely offset by the ~$400 savings! This is a rugged unit with a steel frame enclosing all the pieces. It features a SECOP compressor so it's relatively energy efficient. Your mileage may v

  MPP Solar PIP – 1012LV-MS I did an earlier post on my electrical installation plans. This post covers the "as-installed" system which is always a bit different. The electrical system has three distinct but interrelated parts:  12V DC - essentially battery power. Runs most of the electrical devices required for typical use. 120V AC inverter - The MPP Solar "all-in-one" (AIO) converts battery 12V DC into 120V AC that is routed to a few outlets (e.g. where the microwave is plugged in). Power output is limited to 1000W continuous. 120V AC shore - power supplied from an external source like a house or RV park. This is wired to the MPP Solar "all-in-one" and when shore power is available (ie the trailer is plugged into an external 120V source) it is used to run the battery charger and also will bypass the 120V AC inverter to provide power wherever the inverter would have provided power. The refridgerator has a feature where it will automatically switch from 12

 This is a rather mundane subject but I actually had a bunch of questions and could find no posts or detail online to answer them. I guess everyone thinks it's so obvious and boring that they don't detail it. So I guess this is a public service post. Worthington 20lb Aluminum Propane Tank When I got the Boles it had dual steel 20 lb propane tanks with the typical side-by-side tray and hold down arrangement. The tanks were long expired, the regulator arrangement consisted of two separate devices, and the lines were basically straight copper (no flex lines). My propane needs would be limited: a two-burner cooktop (no stove) and a small 6500 BTU furnace. I'd also have significantly more insulation so the furnace wouldn't need to work so hard. I did some rough calculations and figured a single tank would probably last me a year of the camping I was likely to do. Looking at a Boles Aero advertisement from the era it looked like they originally used a single tank. Maybe even