Welcome to Paradise! My 1956 Shasta

[Bob]

OK, well not yet, but that’s what I’m naming this little 1500 based on the dealer sticker that was hiding under some paint. And believe me, there was a lot hiding under paint on this unit. Some of the patches had patches.





The outside had been painted (the Shasta tag, too) the cabinets had been painted, and the interior, well that’s not paint, that’s stucco. I’ll bet nobody has had to deal with that before. It was heavy, too.




I’m going to gut the interior and repair everything that I take out as I go along and then tackle the frame up rebuild. As far as the cabinets go, what isn’t rotten is stained and dis-colored, so after stripping off the old paint, I’m going to repair and rebuild what I need to and paint everything.



I’ve gotten a few things done: on the outside, I rebuilt the baggage doors and the license plate light. On the inside, the cabinet doors and drawers have been stripped and the boxes rebuilt.





There are more photos here: www.flickr.com/photos/64880715@N02/sets/72157633113814904/

[kathleenc]

Bob, when you rebuild the bases that the seats sit on, would you be able to take measurements? particularly height from floor - my bases are completely missing as is all the front framing (sides and front!). I think I can figure out what pieces are needed from photos and make the curved edge fit the curve of the front of the trailer. Thanks - mine is a 56 also, looking forward to watching your rebuild!

[schweetcruisers]

Hey is your white German Shepard psycho? I have one and he's a great dog but can't be around strangers or other dogs.

[hauswife]

I'm excited! I've got a 56 too!

[Bob]

I'm excited, too! But I'm not in a hurry... I'm going to savor this rebuild (code for I'm a slow worker). I sent you a pm Kathleen about the measurements and pictures. And Schweet, he's not Psycho, he's Arrow. Actually, he's a lot like his owner - hardheaded as hell but basically harmless.

[Hamlet]

Hamlet's people look forward to watching your progress. Congrats and thanks for taking on the restoration of another piece of Americana.

[flowergirl604]

Bob, where did you find a new plastic? plexi? glass? Light bulb cover for your taillight ( the clear short tube piece) ? I am trying to work, rehab mine and I don't think mine is recoverable.... :/. Thanks

[schweetcruisers]

May 18, 2013 7:59:08 GMT -5 flowergirl604 said:

Bob, where did you find a new plastic? plexi? glass? Light bulb cover for your taillight ( the clear short tube piece) ? I am trying to work, rehab mine and I don't think mine is recoverable.... :/. Thanks

www.vintagecampers.com/viewpart.php?partID=2039

[flowergirl604]

Oh for crying out loud!!! I have looked at that site before! Must have looked right past it... Thank you.

[Bob]

Here's another place to get replacement parts: www.customvintagetrailerparts.com/CustomVintageTrailerParts.com/TrailLite.html
The only piece that needed to be replaced on mine was the 12V lamp base. It did need massive cleanup though.

If anyone else needs the dimensions for a 56 dinette base, here's my old piece:
The 40" is the full length at the top and 34" at bottom.

[Bob]

Here's what I've rebuilt or rehabbed so far.



The new dinette base has a sliding door at the curb side. I have a coat of primer on everything and plan to attack the wardrobe next. It was 21" deep, I'm going to re-make it 18" deep for a few inches more room in the middle of the camper. Now I have to find a place to put all of this stuff until I have a rebuilt camper to put it in.

[Bob]

So how do you get a 24x35x57" cabinet through a 20" wide door?






And here are the re-usable parts



Since the camper didn't have the stove or icebox, and about the only thing that we cook inside a camper is coffee, I rebuilt the cabinet for a fridge where the stove would have gone and added more counter space. It's the same length as the original, it just looks longer.

[kathleenc]

So let me see if I got this right: your original post on May 16th said you were a slow worker and you were planning to take your time and savor the process. It's now ONE week later and you've already redone a ton of the interior cabinetry including rebuilding the seat bases and the sink cabinet and the cargo doors!
How is that SLOW? I am thankful you are providing updates - it helps motivate me to get busy on mine.
I do realize you still have all the reframing to do...but still.

[Bob]

Slow, but steady. I've actually spent 4 days messing with that cabinet - time flies on the internet. I decided to wait until after I re-framed the camper to build the wardrobe. It goes from floor to ceiling and I didn't want to end up with it being too short or too tall. Now, if I can just remember to put the kitchen counter in BEFORE the walls go up.

[mobiltec]

Go for it Bob!

[Bob]

I pressure washed it and blew some of the old paint right off. It also helps with getting the paint out of the screw heads. I wasn't worried about getting the inside a little wet, but the water sure did activate the mouse poo smell. Next, it'll be into the barn for some reconstructive surgery.

[mobiltec]

I wish I had a barn.... Boy that did do a job on the paint. Won't take much to get the rest off.

[Bob]

Camper's in the barn now. I found evidence of a leak at the front window:

I went ahead and scrubbed the tar patches off the roof before I started disassembling; thought it would be better to make the mess now than when the new walls are up. I used my oscillating cutter to cut along the ceiling/wall joint and removed the ceiling paneling. While I had access to the underside of the roof metal, I pounded the dents out.


And here's a gratuitous shot of a topless 57 year old

[kathleenc]

Hey, what's that shiny thing parked next to your Shasta?

[kathleenc]

So now your trailer looks like mine. I will be depending on Mobiltec's videos and any pictures you post to reconstruct this part, as I have nothing to use as a template other than the skin. And thank you so much for the measurements and pics of the seat benches!

[Bob]

That shiny thing next to the Shasta is a teardrop trailer that I built starting about this time last year. I modeled it after the 1935 Airstream Torpedo and if you’d like to see the pictures of the build, click on Torpedo Teardrop at this link: www.flickr.com/photos/64880715@N02/sets/

The framing on the front and rear corners crumbled when I took the aluminum off. All four corners below the windows were rotten partially because those joints don't overlap. Shasta did a great job on the roof skin though. Mine had a very well done half inch fold over that was well sealed and didn't leak. The roof vent was a different story. I'll be using the skins as a template also, at least for the corners but I may be able to keep some of the original framing of the walls.

On the bench seats: I left the rounded edges to the front a little long so that I could scribe them into the curved wall of the new framing. I'll be off to the barn as soon as the sun comes up.

[Gone Kayaking]

I think most of us replace those bottom front and back skins with new panels that overlap the sides. It's a smart thing to do.

Mobiltec has a good video in his series on scribing the benches to fit.

[Bob]

Well, I got the aluminum off of the sides today and while the majority of the framing was not rotten, it also was not what I would call framing; more like blocking. See picture: the top plate is scabbed together cut-offs and the vertical members don't even go all the way to the top. Since I wasn't going to re-use any of the interior paneling, these walls are going to the dump. I'll use the skins as a template and give this camper a respectable framework.

[Gone Kayaking]

Yep thank god that there was skin on the outside, cabinets and paneling on the inside to hold it all together.

[Deleted]

I guess it is really a miracle that these lasted 50+ years....

[hellonwheels]

Geez, that framing was a total joke.

[Deleted]

This is a great example though....most think of framing a house...the framework is put up then the outer walls and then the drywall/interior. These old gals were more likely cut out of the paneling and had the stick framing attached to that so as to have something to attach the aluminum to.

[Bob]

I don’t want to be too rough on Shasta, because what they did worked for a lot of years. What I bought was parts and a pattern (and some of the parts were missing). If I didn’t need to replace the interior paneling, the “framing” would have been fine, but as you can see, without the panels, the frame would lose its shape and integrity.

[Bob]

So what do you like better, the frame hanging in the air by a single hook, or that's it's hanging from a light fixture?

[vikx]

From the light fixture, of course... I like lightning.