Let's see what we have under that skin....?

Well, out in the driveway sits this pile of metal and wood. Just what it really is is still an unanswered question. So, I grab a couple brews and head out to open her up. (Figured that after a brew or two it wouldn't matter if it was a real pile on junk. At least I'd be feelin' happy!!) The first thing we did was have a "look see" at why the ass end was dragging so low. As expected the wood that was suppose to be there as the bodies basic framing was something akin to corrigate cardboard. The inner back wood paneling was collapsed at the lower 18in. or so. A look at the right side shows signs of a large outward bulge!! When the rear end dropped the side just, sort of, stayed put but the wood bulged outward to accomodate for that shift downward. With it went the right wheel well. The 2X4 that was the door step had left the basic body and was sticking about 3in. away from the body. That left us with a large gap at the enterance.

It did, however, get better as we went along. The damage was just the rear half of the rig, from the door back, and about 10in. up from the bottom. Most of the real trouble was that back side. That would need a total rebuild.

Let's talk flooring. SInce that was something of a surprise. It was totally acceptable. Although, we would eventually add a little extra support to the floors underbody. (I hate a floor that has give to it and many of these trailers do have some give. It's just my preference.)

This was enough for me at this time. It had taken about 3 hours and the brews were wearing off by now and it was thought to be better to stop where we were and finish the inspection later in the week.

Let's start this thing out right, with a couple of these!!

       The rear end was torn off for inspection and not much was left that was usable.

Another view from the other side. Not any better from this side!!

                         

 Here is that door area damage. It would all need to be replaced.

                               




Good news was the skin was reusabe. Thanksfully!!

                            

Pieces all over the place.

                                                      


                                         



I believe I'll have another one of these!!!



The search and what we would find....

 It was late summer of 2009 and we had made the decission to expand our vintage vehicle collection by one. This time it wouldn't be a car, but instead it was to be a vintage trailer. Something on the small side was our desire. I, Bob, wanted to build a teardrop but Margie wanted to be able to stand so a canned ham would be where our focus would lead us.

 After a couple misfires, on August 5, 2009 we happened to come across a '63 Santa Fe Cub 12 footer on Craig's List. It was one of 2 trailers that a young lady, Ann, had for sale. The economy had demanded her selling them to fund her education.

 Upon inspection it was love at first site. An offer of $600 was accepted and this baby was ours. Ann had done some work on her and had installed a set of new tires.

 All that was needed was our truck to tow her home. Ann was driving a very small Kia and offered to drop it off for us. Margie and I looked at one another thinking this was really no vehicle for towing duty. (Now keep in mind that we both make our living in the automotive business, so we do know cars well.) Believe it or not, Ann towed the Cub home with not a single problem. The distance was only about 5 miles but part was up a short, but pretty steep, grade. That little Kia made the hill without the slightest bit of slowing. Impressive at the very least. As it turned out, Ann told us that she had towed the Cub from Riverside to the Lake Elsinore storage site where we found the little Cub. A distance in excess of 40 miles. And... there was a grade that made was much longer and steeper than the one she had just made on the way to our home.

 Money exchanged hands and we now had our newest vintage vehicle. Or at least we were thinking in those terms. A more accurate discription would be that we now had another very BIG project on our hands.

 I somehow had to work this project into my time as well as finishing another project that was under way. The partial restoration of a 1941 Plymouth that belonged to a friend from our vintage car club. Fortunately Margie would do loads and loads of the work and free me up for the other tasks on many occations, as I will show throughout this story.

  Here are a few photos from delivery day.

 

The adventure begins.

We hope to share our adventures with our vintage 1963 Santa Fe Cub trailer.