Interior Demo Day

 

Trailer Treasure

You never know what you'll find in an old trailer. In mine I was lucky enough to find little other than mouse poop. Lots of mouse poop. I mean a huge amount of mouse poop. I also found this 1984 Whisky Flats Days button. Locals will know this annual festival held in Kernville, CA. It also gives me more reason to believe the trailer was mostly local during the course of it's life to date.

I found one other thing behind the stove, but I'll share that later.


Looking Forward

Looking Aft

The temperature was forecast to be down from the Labor Day records so I removed the interior. It wasn't easy. Power tools weren't really an option for the more difficult sections because of the tight confines of trailer cabinetry. So it was a lot of screw driver turning. My arms should be much more tired than they are.

The one thing that continued to amaze me all day was the endless variety of fasteners they used. It's like they used whatever was handy or on sale.

The other thing that was endlessly frustrating was the screw heads. They used slotted screws almost exclusively to attach the cabinets. These are a pain to keep centered but what made this worse was how narrow the slot was. I've never seen screws with such narrow slots. I'd have to trade off screw drivers to find one that fit. They were also very shallow so you really couldn't get a bite. I've never thought about how good we have it when using a simple screw fastener, but I will now.

I uncovered a few interesting things. The trailer was rewired at some point, but it was prior to the mid-1970's because the outlets are two-prong ungrounded outlets. They also retrofit turn indicators about the same time because the same wire was used (all red jacketed). The license plate is black with yellow letters from the 1960's so I'd guess the work was done then.

Fuze Box

The fresh water tank was a sturdy 24 gallon metal unit. It was so sturdy that I had to use a hacksaw to remove the water fill port in order to remove the tank. The tank and the location of the battery were surprisingly far aft in the trailer which is a bit surprising. I've started a weight and balance worksheet to make sure I get that right when I lay things out in their new configuration.

I've still got the icebox and stove. I'm told that restorers often look for them. So I'll set them to the side for the time being.

Oh and the item I found behind the stove. Well here it is. I think it speaks for itself. 😄



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