And this is how it all starts

 

Not a Boles Aero Trailer

More and more frequently Becky and I have been spending some time talking about what we want to do when we retire. The discussions are starting to be a little less abstract and more concrete. We don't have solid retirement plans but I'm already eligible for an attractive annuity and Becky is within spitting distance of the magic 59.5.

One thing we want to do is travel, both in the US and abroad. When we drove cross-country a few years ago we were in a hurry to get home so we didn't do much sight-seeing, but we both thought there were a lot of places we'd like to explore more.

I've been thinking the flexibility of a camper van would be nice. Not a full-time live-in-it-while-we-tour-the-country thing, but some nights in the van and some in a hotel.

And for those of you who know me, you understand that I couldn't buy one from Winnebago or Airstream when I know I could "do it better". For me half the fun is the project!

So I've been doing some preliminary planning for a camper van conversion. And sometimes I talk about it with people that will listen and not say "You'll shoot your eye out." Apparently one of the people who listened to me ramble on is Greg.

Greg apparently actually did more than politely nod at appropriate points in my dialog. He heard me and maybe he knows me better than I know myself because out of the blue I get a text message:


Obviously it wasn't anything close to a Ford Transit 148" High Roof Cargo Van, but the license plate and old style lights intrigued me. I replied "I'd like to look at it."

I think I also texted something like "Becky is going to think I've gone insane". But I showed the picture to both Becky and Elise and they both were intrigued. Huh? We all went to look at it the next day. The body is in good shape but the interior is mostly unsalvageable due to water leaks around the windows due to degraded seals. I took some pics and went home to do some research.




It's a 1948 Boles Aero (I'll cover this in another post) built in Burbank, CA. It was constructed using WWII aircraft manufacturing techniques: aluminum skin riveted to an aluminum structure. I saw a few pictures of restorations in progress and I was sold. I called Torie and made an offer.



I've convinced myself that this project plays to my strengths. The major work will be the interior and that's mostly nicely crafted wood cabinetry, something I can do and really enjoy doing. I'd also been thinking that the camper van project was going to actually be a prototype van followed by the real one some time after I'd tried using a camper van for a while. This trailer has roughly the same interior dimension as a cargo van, so I'm thinking of it as my "prototype". And this vehicle didn't cost $30K before the camper modifications. It's all perfectly rational...

And I'm officially ahead of schedule: Torie wanted it out of the back yard by next weekend and I managed to get it home today (Tuesday). With efficiencies like that we might be camping next Spring.

The 1948 Boles Aero made it to its new home

Parked and ready for step 1 - Interior Demo




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