1966

One of the dilemmas of owning the campground is that our personal trailers are all set up somewhat permanently for rentals, leaving us with nothing to camp in.  Sylvia picked up this 1966 Fireball with the idea that we could do a quick facelift and have a camper to use ourselves.

Probably not the best, but we looked and bought this one in the dark.  While still worth the money we paid for it, inspection in the daylight showed a little more damage than we initially thought.  The sticking door turned out to be a serious issue.   Two of the outriggers (steel cross members from the frame to the outside of the body) had been torn off sometime in the past and the body had literally sagged down on one side.  I thought the roof had a hump up over the front bunk.  It's actually supposed to have a flat roof and the bottom edges of the windows on the door side are supposed to be even.  I did see the damage to the back where  it had been hit in the rear or backed into something solid

As we were taking off the skin we noticed the sagging side had actually ripped the roof over the door, which some previous owner had tried unsuccessfully to repair.  The resulting water leaks had caused considerable damage to the structural framing.  The siding where the body attaches to the frame had been broken as well.  Since the interior looked so nice we decided not to do a frame off rebuild but instead rebuild the walls in place.  First step was to jack the body up to where it belonged (lifting it about 3" just behind the door) and welding new cross members to the frame to support it.We braced up the ceiling, and removed and replaced all the damaged wood, including the lower half of the wall paneling.  This trailer has a blond finish wood we would not be able to match so we went with a contrasting paneling on the lower half, in this case bead board (wainscoting).  We salvaged the good sections of the lower paneling to replace the areas damaged around the door frame and one cabinet damaged by the rear end wreck.  Not unexpected, but we also had to replace all the bender board around all the edges.  Before long we had a nice solid body just like it was new.  We then did some upgrades to the wiring (this one got one of the 12V converter systems, some extra outlets and all new plumbing including a new poly water tank.  Final step before skin is the new insulation.

This trailer has a nice open floor plan, but in this case we felt it was just a bit too open.  The gaucho bed is right behind the door, leaving the head of the bed right by the door opening, with no headboard.  Sylvia wanted a divider/headboard that would not make it feel closed in, and this is what I came up with, a mid century modern design.  The left photo above is during a test fit, removed and then finished, and reinstalled in the right photo.  Just for fun I built a couple of pendant lights that work on a dimmer switch.  The interior is still a work in progress as time but the scheme is apparent here... a combo of white wainscoting, turquoise trim and the blond paneling.

To add some flash to the exterior we used a band of polished aluminum around the perimeter of the trailer.

Even though I sketched out several designs on paper it's not the same as standing back and looking at it on the actual trailer.  Before sending for paint we used masking tape to visualize the design.  In this case we changed it to a less busy design. Back from paint it's ready for final assembly.

The finished product... at least the exterior.  Yes, it matches our 1958 Chevy Biscayne.

It's the details that make or break a trailer.  We tried to incorporate ideas to make this one rather showy without breaking the bank.  Little things like the painted propane tanks, polishing the curly cues, reproduction decals, a chrome cover on the bumper cover can make a trailer "pop".  Wheels are a big thing to me... nothing like painted steel wheels with new baby moon caps to look right on a vintage trailer.  The matching vintage patio chairs are just a little icing on the cake.

Notice the door... the original was junk and we wanted a screen door.  This one was salvaged from a junked out 70's Shasta.

Coming soon... interior pictures once we get the upholstery and new curtains finished and decorate it in our mid century modern theme.

This trailer is a great example of a Retro Restoration "Makeover"

It is not a full restoration but is now a structurally sound, fully functional camper that looks so much better than it did three weeks earlier.  Let us show you what we can do to your trailer!