Labor on Labor Day

No beach. No BBQ'ing. No lounging for us today. We went up to work on the trailer instead.

More sanding of course.

And I sanded and shellac-ed the ironing board and a cupboard, and then sanded more inside the trailer.  The ironing board wood was so dry, it just soaked up the shellac.

Before & After:

I had heard that one way you can find out the year of your trailer is by looking at the back of the mirror, if you still have the original.

So since I had to remove the mirror to sand the panel door front, I wanted to check it out.  Sure enough, found another cool "time stamp"!  

It says 3 31 58 (even though is looks like a 38).

We are going thru sand paper like crazy.

My fellow trailer gal-pal Brenda stopped by, and took this pic of us.  Lookin' oh sooooo sessy!

Well, that's about all for now. Who knows when we will have a free weekend from now on to come work on Penny since all three of our kids are in fall sports now....

Hasta la Shasta!

Tile Samples

I've seen the Armstrong VCT tiles on Lowes and Home Depot for sale on their sites, but I really want to see what they look like in person.  Colors from online are never the same.

Have been to (a few of) their stores asking to look at samples or chips, but no one ever had them.  Well, I take that back.  One Home Depot had a big color sample board about 16 feet high.  Yeah, that's really helpful.

So finally today while visiting the Home Depot in Santa Ana off Edinger, THEY HAD CHIP SAMPLES.  Praise the lawd.

But I still have no flippin' idea which one to pick....

Just keep sanding. Just keep sanding, sanding....

Went up to work on the trailer over the weekend.  Just more sanding.

This is my Hubster.

Then the fellas cut out the ceiling panel around the vent to see how much wood rot there was.

They pulled out the old insulation etc.  Because the vent is so close to the right cupboard over the oven, they had to pull that out as well.  It looks like the wood rot & damage is only in the vent area. Good sign.

The vent

They also pulled out the support wood that was underneath the oven.  It had gotten charred.  So they will replace it with a piece of hardibacker.  Luckily the charred part of the laminate won't show.  I'd never find any replacement laminate!

We will have to put the sanding on hold, and focus on getting the window frames cleaned and polished the next time we are there, so Dave can get all the windows sealed before there are any bad rain showers.

Treasures from the Trailer

Worked on the trailer today.

First I sanded the inside of this cupboard.  But it had really thick gunk on the shelves and sanding alone was not working. So I put some paint/epoxy remover stuff on it and then scraped some of the gunk off.  Even got a couple of chemical burns on my forearms.  Beauty is pain.

It still looks pretty bad.  Hopefully shelf liners will cover it up...

Before

After. Not much difference, ugh.

I found on the top shelf a realllllly old piece of contact paper stuck on it.  So I think that is where the gunk came from, from the sticky part.

This is me. No makeup. Covered in wood dust. The sander is so loud I have to wear ear plugs or I'll have ringing for days. I loathe selfies. I am actually smiling under the mask too.

So while sanding out the cupboards, I came across a couple of treasures.  The first was some S&H stamps. The other was a girly coin. One side says "Heads I Win" the other side says "Tales You Lose".  What a naughty previous owner...

So I showed Dave (the dude doing the renovation work) my findings, and he says "Oh yeah that reminds me...the other day I found this inside the side wall by the door.  It was wedged between some frame joints." and he shows me a penny.  I stepped outside the trailer so I could read the date better, and it is a 1957 penny!  Omigosh how cool is that! I verbosely said "I bet a Shasta worker put it in there!"  Dave thinks it's worth about $10 bucks now (thanks to Google information).

The 1957 penny

I get back to my sanding, and as the menial work continues my imagination wanders......I could picture some fella who works in the Shasta factory in Van Nuys, CA (where she was built) who places a penny from his pocket into every trailer he works on.  He tucks it in inconspicuously with hopes that someday, a person in the future may find it somehow.  It's like his little time capsule secret he is creating for all the Shastas he is a part of working on.

Then. It hit me.

Her name will be Penny.

Yay!  I FINALLY found a name for her!!!

Since getting her, I had considered a few names:

1. "Cali" since she was made in Van Nuys and I was born in California and that is where we live.  But I saw another trailer owner over at the Glamping Forum already had that name.  I could have still done it, but then it felt like I was copying.  
2. "Truly" because when I told one of my friends that I finally got a vintage trailer they said Dreams Do Come True!  
3. "Frances" because that is both my Grandmothers' names but I knew the kids wouldn't like to have an old lady's name on her. 
4. "Ellie" was one of my favorites from the Disney movie UP and how she says Adventure is out there!  But my friend's trailer is already named Ellie Mae and again, it felt like I was copying.

So I just kinda waited, knowing that something would come to me.  But I was getting tired of referring to her as 'the trailer', or 'the Shasta' or just 'her'.  So I have to say I am beyond thrilled that she has finally been dubbed a name!!! Whew. One thing to cross of the trailer list...

I shall call her 'Penny,' and she shall be mine, and she shall be my Penny.

Cuz lawd knows, she is costing us a pretty penny.

More Framing Progress & Sanding

There a bunch of restoration progress photos in my sub-album in Photobucket.  Just too lazy to upload all of them here.

A few days ago, I sanded about 3/4 of the interior.  I used hubby's palm sander.  My ears are still humming with tinnitus from the high-pitch screech noise it made.  Will need to wear ear plugs next time.  I'm still messing around with the amount of amber shellac mixed with clear shellac onto scrap pieces to see what the best mix will be to try to get the new panel to at least blend with the existing.  So far, a mix of 75% clear with 25% amber might do it.  The ones below are just a bit too dark at 50/50 mix.

It's been a PITA trying to figure out how to get it to blend naturally.  The existing wood is a weird pale, almost milk-paint look to it.  And I keep getting mixed info from folks on the vintage trailer boards that it is Ash not Birch, no, it's Birch not Ash.  *smacks head*  So I am on my own trying to figure it all out.  Fake it till you make it, right.

So I am lightly sanding down the original panels to get the old lacquer shine off, and will do a couple of coats of shellac just to help tone down and refresh the dry-ish wood look it has.  Wish me luck when I get to that point.

Dave has been moving along fairly quickly the past couple weeks.  The entire back end and both front sides is all done with the framing, new insulation and birch plywood.

What is left to restore is the front and the one section of roof around the vent.  Then he wants to get the windows back in.  Which means I have to stop with the wood work and get to working on stripping the old paint off the window frames and will do an acid wash to get them shiny again.  I will use the technique from Larry who has some very useful YouTube trailer restoration tutorials, and the window frame one is here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWZy8ORjl_g

So, off-trailer topic....I have wanted to know how to crochet grannie squares for the longest time and then REALLY wanted to learn after seeing all the cute grannie square afghans in the vintage trailer pics on Pinterest (< my Board of trailer stuff).  My wish came true!  Last week while visiting some family out in Vegas my sister-in-law's Mother is an experienced crocheter and she was more than happy to show me how.  I had already tried watching YouTubes and reading blogs on how to do it, but I learn fastest when I can sit next to someone so they can show me what I am doing wrong, or right.  So grateful to her taking the time and patience to teach me how.

I am uber proud to show off my first crochet project,  it's a pillow cover I made for the Shasta!

Until next time, Hasta la Shasta!

Fabric & New Friend

Some women like to buy shoes. Or clothes. Me likey fabric!

This is some fabric I got today for the trailer.  Will make yo-yo's for pillows, quilt and bunting.  Now if I could just make room to set up the sewing machine...

But something cool happened while I was at the fabric store...

As I was standing at the counter having the fabric get cut, there was another gal there getting fabric and I commented on her colors and asked what project she was doing..  It came up that I was using the fabric for a vintage trailer, and she informs me that she has a vintage Winnabego....and it's out front in the parking lot....and she lives in it full-time!  I was so excited, and she let me come inside to see "Winnie" and we chatted for a bit.  I was so intrigued by her story and the reason(s) she chose to be a full-time RVer.  She is writing a book and I look forward to the day I can read it!

I wish I would have taken her picture next to Winnie, but didn't think of it till later. 

But it is just so cool to me, how the majority of us who own vintage trailers (or things) and how we are truly "cut from the same fabric"!

Making Some Progress!

Woot Woot, making some progress!

I went to the trailer yesterday.  Making progress and moving along:  The rotted and damaged flooring in the rear replaced, the rotted wood frames and panel was replaced with new frames and reinforced including new insulation, and a shiny new piece of interior birch paneling installed!  Can't wait to get in there to start sanding and shellac-ing.  (...I say that now, but I'm sure after hours of sanding and shellac-ing I will be a whining wuss about it).  

 Skin is put back on the right side

Now, Dave is starting to work on the Left side.

I started practicing my shellac-ing skills, or lack thereof.  The left piece is a scrap of the new birch and right is an old scrap piece from the trailer.  It has a lot more grain than the new stuff.  Plus, it has like a light white wash to it, even when sanded it is still visible.  Not sure how I'm going to be able to match up the look to it.  Ugh.

I'm So Board

As most of us are, I am a visual person.  Sometimes I have to just group things together so I can "get the vision".  So I made this Idea Board to see if a potential fabric I found for awning would work.  Right now the outdoor fabric is 50% at JoAnn's so I don't know how long the sale will be since it is seasonal, and need to figure it out soon.

• Exterior paint...that will probably change 32 times before I make a final decision.  I like the idea of having it Antique White so it is neutral then I can change the decor or theme to whatever my flight of fancy is at the time (can't help it, I'm a Gemini).
• Same goes for the flooring, would like to keep it neutral as well.  Don't get me wrong, I love all those cool retro colors they have out now but sometimes it just seems like 'too much' when I look at them on Pinterest.
• Found the Coleman cooler at a thrift store for $5bucks *happy clap* and it is the standard dark green *yawn* so I will be painting it in an enamel but haven't gotten the spray paint yet.
• I made the pillow covers and door mat.  Gotta love Photoshop.
• Found the set of suitcases at an awesome thrift store while visiting my folks in Oregon.
• Got the enamel canisters from eBay.  I love the retro ones and were looking at a bunch, but these just made me smile and I like how I can change the content labels.
• And the Therm-A-Jug was from eBay as well, just haven't found any that were in good shape around here and our thrift stores here in OC just don't seem to carry vintage-y items.
• I'm still not sure about the faucet, but I like the low arc to this one since there is not much clearance from the sink to the above cupboard.

And of course, there will be other Disneyland items since I am such a Disnerd!

Little Bit O' History

Been trying to do a little bit of research on the Shasta and found just a couple of interesting tidbits:

Shasta Airflyte Trailer Specifications

Weight Length Height Width Hitch Weight Sleeps Heater Fridge

1800 lbs. (1840 in '62 & '63) 15'10" (including hitch) 8'4" 7' 200 lbs. 6 ???? BTU 100 lb. ice box

Water Tank Lighting Toilet Shower Axle Electric Brakes Tire Size Gas Tanks

16 Gal. 110V, 12V, Gas No No Single Standard 6.70x15 1

Spec Credit: OldTrailer.com

A couple of online sources about Shasta trailers states:

The Shasta Airflyte

"The Airflyte was released to the public in 1958. It was 16 feet long and purported to have 50 improvements to Shasta’s previous number series, such as the 1400, 1500 and 1600, which were considered precursors to the Airflyte. The Airflyte had more windows, a sleeker design, and “wings”–small wing-like ornaments on the top rear portion of the trailer, which gave the Airflyte a signature look."

and...

"In the 1950s and 60s, the toaster-on-wheels look of the original Shasta trailer was the most recognizable shape on the road. There were other RV brands, but only Shasta was distinguished by those wings that signified flight and freedom. In 1958 the Airflyte was released. The 16' "Airflyte" was considered a big deal at the time.  Over 50 improvements, more windows and sleeker design. These models came with "wings", made from wood and aluminum. Wooden screen doors are a good clue you have a model prior to 1960.  Also, pay close attention to window detail... this can also help in identification."
Credit: Classic Shasta Resources

So that kind of answers why the 1958 is one of the coveted years with Shasta aficionados! I was wondering why.

The previous owner gave me a couple of photos of her that I scanned:

(This is in the PO's backyard.)

Aww, you can see where her wings used to be!

There were two owners.  The original couple - The Muller's lived in Orange, Calif. and took their family camping with it.  Years later their neighbor Mike down the street purchased it from them but never took it out of his backyard, and his grandkids just played inside of it.  This is whom we purchased the trailer from.

You can see that at one time the entire trailer had been painted white.  But because it has been just sitting out in the back yard for decades, it has faded and the original paint has come through.

The decision for the exterior paint is still down the road a bit, but I can't decide if we should get her back to a shade of blue or just do whatever color we fancy?  The top portion looks like it was polished aluminum but because of the PO using Bondo on some areas we won't be able to buff that out and will have to paint the top portion as well.  I was thinking an Ecru, a silver "Z" stripe and then blue on the lower portion.

What would you do?

Update Since Finding & Buying Our Shasta

Basically, just a couple of days after we pulled the trailer from the sellers' back yard, I/we left for Oregon to visit my folks for three weeks so didn't have much time to update this blog.  All the photos are in my Photobucket album.

The day we went to pick her up, I had to coordinate having Dave (who is doing the restoration labor) tow it straight over to AAA so they could do a VIN verification on the tongue of the hitch.  Since there was no license plate (it was 'stolen') and the title was not in the DMV system because it had been so many years not registered, it had fallen out of the system.  I had gotten all the forms ahead of time, printed out a bill of sale for the seller and I to complete, and purchased a one-time trip pass - you can see I taped it in the rear window.

Dave pulling her out of the seller's back yard.
He had to get her over the dirt pile and around the corner of the house.

This is the first time I got to see her unobstructed.  She's got a nice rear end!

Dave got it out of the backyard no problem and I followed him to the nearest AAA office.  I tellya, that membership is worth it just for the ability to not have to deal with a DMV office.  Of course I got the most uptight AAA clerk there was, she was a real peach.  When she came out to look at the VIN, you could tell she didn't really know what she was doing because I had to point it out to her.  When she saw that the number was only five characters long she then asked How OLD is this trailer?  Uh, I already told you it was a 1958 trailer.  For a moment she acted almost like it wasn't a legitimate VIN number and that I was wanking her chain.  So finally, after a bunch of forms that she filled out we were done.  Phew.

Then I left for Oregon a couple days after that.  But before I left, I needed to make a copy of the only door and baggage storage key that we had.  Ah, but Lowes nor Ace Hardware could make a copy because they are not standard.  So I searched online and purchased some blanks.  Hubster had to take them to a real locksmith dude and have them made.  They were so small the locksmith dude didn't even charge him.  Yay.

I have a button maker and can make key chains.
Perfect use for the trailer keys!

During my absence, Dave and I would correspond over the phone but where my folks live there is really bad cell coverage so I would literally have to stand out in the middle of the field to talk to him.  And he would forward photos of the de-construction of the trailer to keep me updated.  For the first phase, he said after removing the skin on the rear and the kitchen side it revealed wood damage (wow, what a shocker) on the lower half portions.

As soon as I got back to OC, we met at Ganahl Lumber to pick out the birch plywood.  He wanted me to be there to help choose which panels I wanted for the grain and color.  At first I was like, Oh I trust you to pick them out (because I had vacation road trip hangover and didn't want to drive up to Anaheim).  But he insisted.  I'm glad I did because there was obvious variables in each panel and in color, and being a perfectionist with color some of them had a buff tone and some had a yellowish tone.  We found seven nice panels with pretty grain flow.

We looked at several panels before selecting seven of them.

Those small pieces on top are scraps from the trailer.

Dave cuts these down for the framing.

So now I am ordering window seals, backframe gasket seals, and a new Fan-Tastic Fan vent from Vintage Trailer Supply. We will also be replacing the front side windows since they are not tempered.  It's not exactly something I want to spend MORE money on since the existing and original glass is in great condition....but for my kids' safety sake and ours, it is worth the insurance.

While I was up in Oregon, I procured some great thrift store finds that I will show in another post.

Well, this is the nut shell version.  There has been a lot more details and headache that I have not included only because I didn't want to bore my only two followers....

The Want Ad That Found Her

When you begin your descent into the abyss of searching for a vintage trailer, nothing else seems to matter and it becomes obsessive. And all the sage owners of trailers would tell you on the boards, "Young Grasshopper. Be patient. It will find you."  But I was starting to really doubt that. And seriously wanted to just quit.  

So in my efforts to aid the hunt, I made this Craigslist Want Ad and chose to use a graphic to make it stand out so it wouldn't get drowned in the ocean of trailer pics.  It annoyed me when I would see a cute picture of a trailer on Craigslist and I'd think "Oooooo that is cute!". Click on it, and it was someone else who was also searching for a vintage trailer, and they just used that picture as an example of what they were wanting to buy. Grrrrr. I posted it in the cities that I would be willing to travel to, or willing to have it U-Shipped out here to Southern California. Annnnnnd then someone would flag them as Spam and have them deleted, especially in the Northwest area.  Bitch. Don't mess with my ad, you trailer flipper, I know who you are.  So after months of renewing the ad in the cities that were not saturated by trailer flippers, it WORKED!

One day I received an email from a gentleman:  "1958 Shasta, complete. New tires/rims/hitch. All original, 2nd owner. Much more. $X,XXX obo. Orange, Calif."   Hmmmm. This is only 25 minutes away from me!  I asked for photos.  The seller did not own a computer.  It was his friend who is on Craigslist a lot that saw my ad and told the seller about my Want Ad.  He asked for my cell number and he could send photos that way it was easier for the seller, but sometimes I am hesitant about giving out my cell phone number to a stranger.  Especially from Craigslist.  But I was so curious to see what this trailer looked like, I gave it to him.  The photos starting dinging in my iPhone texts and I was STOKED.  I called the seller and we chatted for a bit about the trailer and planned for us to check it out the next day.  

I posted that I was excited to finally get to inspect a trailer and uploaded a photo of it on the Tin Can Tourist's Facebook page. Now I am by no means a Shasta aficionado or expert,  (we just seem to like that style out of all the others) and I was pleasantly surprised by the Comments from the other members:
"I want it. I'm serious, that is the make & model I want!"
"Camp out in their drive ...send them a deposit."
"I hope you get it, looks like a pretty nice trailer to start with."
"I'll give U your money back if you have doubts ....I'll be waiting & waiting & waiting.... lol"
"Looks like someone has done a pretty good job of body/bondo work... and the interior isn't bad looking either! I'd say you got yourself a winner!"
"Very original. Right down to the ironing board and floor tiles. Glad you were able to rescue it."

And then I received a private message "If you don't end up buying the trailer let me know!"

So the next day we drove up to Orange to check it out, and I knew she was the one!   So believe what the sage owners have said all along...be patient, and it will happen.  She fell into my lap, and I didn't have to fight off the Shasta Sharks to get her either!

Why Am I Obsessed With Finding a Vintage Trailer?

Am I NUTS!?
Why on earth have I been so obsessed with procuring a vintage travel trailer.  I don't want to have to look at one more lame Craigslist ad for the rest of my life with it's awful grammar, terrible spelling, blurry or tiny photos (if there are any photos at all).  Don't get me started about the lack of images for one to even make an assessment if they want to be slightly interested.

So in my search in addition to CL ads (if you are serious about your search I highly recommend getting the Craigslist + Pro app which makes the search so much easier to search the entire US), I would also check other sites that listed trailers for sale such as Tin Can Tourists, Vintage Trailer Talk Forum, Vintage Campers for Sale Group on Facebook and occasionally eBay

I was doing this every day. For months. On the hour. I was a crazy lady.

All the owners of their own vintage trailers would give sage encouragement about being patient in the hunt, that it will happen when it's right and the trailer will find you.

And mine did find me.