Gallery

1952

Rod and Reel

Great start for a vintage camper restoration.  Very complete trailer, but about 25% of the interior paneling had water damage, which we repaired as usual.

Due to a life by the ocean the original polished aluminum skin was severely corroded and pitted from the salt air.  A quick test showed that simply polishing the old skin was not going to provide suitable results so we re-skinned it with all new polished aluminum.  Picture to the left shows the results as I peel off the protective plastic film.  Also note we cleaned and painted the tongue, wheels and back bumper  green to match the interior, and added new baby moon caps.

Read more about the advantages of our new polished skin below...

Check out the classic camper interior on this Rod & Reel!  Trailers of this era have such beautiful woodwork, the cabinetry is much like fine furniture.  Once everything was refinished in amber shellac, the replacement panels matched perfectly.

A note about our polished skin vs. polishing the original: Polishing the original aluminum is dirty, hard work that unless one has a lot of patience will prove less than satisfactory results.  Pits are hard to remove, any dent will stick out like a sore thumb,  inconsistencies in the aluminum will result in a blotchy finish, and odds are a year from now you may need to do it again.  Our new polished skin has a hard cladding on the surface that is actually the material that is polished from the factory to a uniform high shine  that will last for years.  We have trailers now with this skin on for ten years with no sign of oxidizing, the process that dulls aluminum.  Labor wise, I can purchase and install the new aluminum for less money than paying me the hours to polish one, making this by far the better option!