Back to the kitchen

Well, enough on that oddity. We need to continue with the kitchen. This trailer had and will still have Turquoise coloured paint on the inside. A good friend gave us that badly needed stove/oven but it was PINK!!! Another web friend actually wanted pink but he had a cook top that was terquoise. So, a trade was set up and we now have the proper colour top. But the door is still pink and will need to be, either traded or redone. Fortunately there are companies that will reporcelainize the door. It will eventually be sent out.

The above photo is the pink top. It was in perfect condition. Would the trade item that we receive be as nice? Well, it was every bit as nice as seen in the below photo.

As luck would have it the free stove was the nastiest item that I have EVER had to clean. But it was free and we are, in no way, complaining. It was decided to completely disassemble it and replace all the insolation.

Now, I cannot express just how important it is to have a peek at the insolation on any old stove that will be installed into one of the dry stick and aluminum cover trailers. Our insolation have settled down to the bottom of each cavity that it was placed in "way back when".

Do yourself a favour and have a look at yours. There will be tremendous heat developed when you use the oven.

I'll post photos of the rebuild once I get that done. For now it is just sitting in place to hide the hole.

Okay, now that the stove has been introduced let's move on the thr fit and finish work in that kitchen. Margie wanted a copper finish on the back splash so a web search was launched. After some time consuming hunting we found a company in Texas that had 3 pieces of the perfect panels. Only 4 and we need 4 so no room for mistakes. (One of my most visited past times!!) Could we do this and NOT screw it up? If we did we'd be in real trouble. (Actually, a second design was worked out before we started.) Now, I am an auto mechanic and use to work in dealeships in the New Car department. I installed many add on items from little trinkets to complete air conditioning systems so you would think that it would be a breeze putting this in and cutting it sorrectly. Well, for some reason, when I cut holes n a roof or dash in a motor vehicle I ALWAYS get it dead on. But, give me a piece of wood and tell me to cut it 11 inches long I will, somehow, fins a way to cut is 10 1/2!! Go figure. So when I error these days I try to error on the long side. So... this was my approach here. In the end that was best as butt joints just did not look as clean as an overlap. It was designed for overlapping so that is exactly what we did. Best of all it turned out great. 

Everything was cleaned within an inch of its life and then recleaned. I did not want to have to do this a second time!!

The one problem that did pop up was the Liquid Nails that I sed must have been old or something because when it hardened it let go and the panels were loose. I was going to have to do just what I had wanted to avoid!! I removed them, recleaned everything one more time. Now on my jusb I have used silicone to lock items in place. This is something i understand and have quite a stock of. So silicone it will be. Once I reinstalled the panels with this stuff it all stayed in place. Best of all, the clear silicoe works well as a seal at the joints. Anything splashed on the panels will NOT work its way behind making it dirty and smelly. 

As you see in the photos the overhead storage was also installed at this time. The doors and bottom of the original were in terrible shape so we cut new doors. Painted them and placed the original pull bottons in the new doors. The bottom was removed and a new one was glued and stapled in place.

Here you see it trial fitted in place. We removed it and painted that area whte that can be seen to the right. The back splash was installed and the storage cupboard installed for good. Margie has already started stocking the cupboard as you can see. Oh yes, that stove hood was aso a gift from the friend that gave us the stove. It also was pink and we peinted it terquoise. (Thanks Chris!)

Now for the trim work. All the original polished aluminum trim was saved, cleaned and buffed up and reused. On the backsplash the builder originall used wood??? What in the world were they thinking?? We found aluminum trim and the local big box store and cut it to fit. What a difference!!

Nezt was the cooler door. It was disassembled and repained to match. Reassembled and the cooler installed in its original location. Some 12 volt wiring was added to accomodate the electric fan that was to be installed in a few minutes. Who would have figured that such a little thing like a small fan would make life more tollerable in the confines of the little trailer? It really did help a lot. (An A/C unit will be installed later but that will be in another post.

Margie made curtins

And here ya go!! The completed kitchen. (Except for the PINK stove door)

So sorry for the delay in posts but I have tried to post a couple times only to push the wrong button and loose all my work. So.... I decided to just stay away for a while and to return when I felt that I wanted to continue.. I will be posting again very soon. (As soon as I relearn all the changes. I never really learned to old method of posting very well.)  Me and computers are not good friends..

Found an oddity!!

While we were doing the resurrection we ran across one item that could not be explained. It was 2 chains welded to the axle and hung on a strap with hooks on each end. On the end of these chains is a bracket for securing the trailer. It definitely is a tie down of some kind, but for what? It looks factory installed too!! We asked a number of Santa Fe owners if they had these and not a one had it on theirs. Not even a sign??

We did get some feedback from someone that knew a little of the companies history. He said that there was a trailer show in Hawaii and that Santa Fe did send trailers over to the show on a boat. For some reason, they had these trailers returned to So. Cal. (Ya would think that they would just leave them there and sell 'em.) Anyway, while we cannot confirm it, we have always wondered if this might be one of those trailers.. Guess we will never know, but it is a possibility.

These are the 2 chains we found. They are welded to the axle. The brackets are in my hand. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. I'll try and get a better shot for this story.

Here is the hook for those chains. it is screwed to the frame 2X4 that runs front to back under the trailer with the hooks in the upward position.

Over to the left side of this shot you can see the chains and bracket hanging from the factory installed hanger bracket.

Kitchen!! (Means good food!!)

We next focused on the kitchen area. At least the counter and cabinets. Margie had the doors and drawers already painted turquoise and the base of the cabinets white. She did LOTS!!! of painting...

Well, it's a start anyway... We are missing the stove and will be looking for one. Hopefully it will match the turquoise.

Oh yeah, somewhere along the hunt we found that mirror. It's a plastic that can take the rough life of a camping trailer. But to look at it you would think it was glass. None of that haze most plastics tend to have.



Bring back the furnishings!!!

With the floor now in place it was time to try and put some of the parts in their place. Started with the seats/bed. Margie had painted everything and the installation was much cleaner than trying to paint while items were in place. In the end it sure looked good.

The base portions of the seats/bed were screwed into position and the slide outs placed over them. All of the original parts were in very good condition so a paint job and remounting seemed to be the best thing to do.

The overhead storage was next. We had a little trouble mounting it so that things would not drop from the ceiling. Once I found the framing under the ceiling I felt assured it wasn't going anywhere.

Here's Margie enjoying a sandwich on one of those "National camp where you are" days. Behind her is the storage along the left side of the trailer. This thing has loads of storage along its port side. Pretty handy when you only have 9 feet to work with. (And yes, she made one for me too.. See that one on the seat next to her? And the beer is mine too!! It sure tasted great after a full days work.)

Finally, the flooring!!!!

It has finally reached the point where the installation of something actually has that feel of progress!! The flooring was that turning point for us.

Before we installed the new flooring I went under and added a second layer of flooring under the main flooring. The main flooring was just fine. No damage anywhere but it just did not have that "SOLID" feel to us. Like most small trailers, you could feel the flexing as you walked over it. So, wanting to feel something a bit stronger we installed a second layer of plywood under the trailer. I screwed it into place from above actually lifting the new wood up into place. We now have a very sturdy feel to the floor. No saging or movement in any way.

Now we were ready for the vinyl flooring. Margie wanted something rustic that would match the new interior colours so off to the big box stores we went. She found the perfect product at the local Lowes Store. Price was real fair and we were fortunate to get our hands on it when we did as it was the last of the roll and I do not recall seeing it in stock since. WHEW!!! If that had been sold when we went for it I hate to imagine the time spent chasing another.

Now I laid awake for nights trying to think my way through this installation. For some reason I was thinking it would be a real tough job. I couldn't have been more wrong!!! Perhaps all that thinking made it easier? With all the interior item out of the way I laid down sheets of paper from a roll to develope a template. I would roll out a strip about 7" wide and then another, taping the next layer to the last. After about 20 minutes I had a perfect fit. I then laid out the vinyl flooring upside down. Placed the template upside down on the flooring, making sure that the run of the lines were as we wanted. Then traced it all out with a magic marker. Next I took a long metal rod and, with a razor box cutter trimmed the flooring around the edges.





The link below will take you to a photo of the template. For some reason, it just will not post on this site. All the others worked fine, but not this one. So... the link will have to do.

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpg/97636e265a364561cb1ba060e2150dd596202a9e_r.jpg

This would be the entire piece of flooring minus the actual piece that we used for the Cub. That part that is missing below would be what was used. We did get some use from the remaining parts.

Next, after a cold one, I spread out the flooring to confirm a good fit. Rolling back the rear 1/3 I spread the glue onto the wood. Letting it set up for 20 minutes I then rolled the flooring over the glue and, with a roller pressed everything into place. I followed this with the center 1/3 and then the last 1/3. In the end it took me about 2 hours or so to install the flooring. Remember, I had thought this would be a tough job but was I ever wrong??!!

For the first time I really had a feeling of accomplishment. Margie and I cracked open a few more cold ones and just sat there looking at our handy work. Were we ever proud.

Time to move inside....

Well, we finally have some structural support and it is actually safe to venture inside this rig. While we did not need to strip it entirely, we did remove a good portion of the interior. The seats/beds were removed, all doors and drawers as well as the counter top with sink and plumbing. The floor tile work was stripped to the base wood to be made ready for a new, one piece, vinyl flooring. It was felt that a one piece floor would eliminate dirt working its way into the cracks of the floor. No cracks no dirt..!!

The previuos owner had, for some reason, installed this thick cork on the cealing from the roof vent forward, and carried it down the front wall. I don't mind telling you that this stuff was pure UGLY!! in its worst form. Margie had volunteered to do the interior so she started the long and tedious task of removal. Remember, this stuff was mostly overhead so the work was tough going. She's a real hard worker and did a great job removing all that crud. A stiff putty knife and palm sander did the trick.

Now that the cork had been removed the rest of the interior was sanded and preped for paint. It was decided that a tan would do for the walls and white for the cealing and some of the trim. The original wood was a contact type of paper that had a gray tint to it. This stuff was not that nice wood that is found in many earlier trailers. (Wish it had been though.) But in the end we do actually like the tan we chose and am very happy with the result.

When it came to the kitchen area white was the base colour with turquiose being the accent. This trailer had turquoise exterior stripes and the stove, sink and hand pump were all this same colour.

What was I doing during all this hard work?? Well, taking pictures to share here with all of you!! But truth be told, I was working on some items that could be handled away from the trailer.

Below are some of the photos taken during Margie's labours.

While the photo below does not do her any justice, she is really a lovely looking woman and I hate showing her in this "hard worker condition". But it is just how she looked after all that hard work.

Okay, to show just how good she really looks here is a small, but accurate photo of her at her best.