Back and side repairs

The wood framing at the rearmost lower areas would be removed, new ones made from a tracing of what we had left with a little imagination for what was gone. A bit of reworking and we had a perfect fit. The lower framing from these rear pieces up to and including the wheel wells was also replaced. These being nothing fancy were an easy fabrication. After cutting and fitting we trimmed any extra to achieve that just right look. A few vertical frame braces were also replaced as well as a few around the side windows. Instead of just stapeling these, as had originally been done, we chose to purchase a number of metal plates with holes precut and bridged the connecting points for a more stable build. Screws would be used for this task. Remember, these things were built as cheaply as the manufacturer could make them. (Nothing has changed in all these years, companies still build as cheaply as they can!!)

Now, with all this damage, the hind end of this poor little Cub was sagging terribly. To lift it into place I used an auto floor jack and a port-a-power. Working just a little at a time on each side, the proper alignment was reached and things were screwed into place. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in my measurments and the right rear side was going to need a little more attention. This I wouldn't find until much later.

The rear end was nothing but a mess. Even though those photos looked to be in fairly good shape, everything had been wet over the years and bowed outward far beyond use. At least the wood was good for parterns. Framing was rebuilt and the inner panel was cut and placed into its rightful position. If you look at the photos you can see that the skin was a messy looking pile of worthless metal from the rear glass down. Believe it or not, I was able to actually save it by reworking what was left into something acceptable. But the skin will be installed quite a way down the road and I am getting ahead of myself.

Here you see the early stages of repair being performed on the back of the trailer.

And another view.

Now this is a later shot with the wiring installed but shows the completed rear frame work.

From the inside.

You can see the new wood over the wheel wells and some added wood for the exterior table mount that the factory never had.That poor lower fit would be trimmed into a smooth and clean fit.

Here it is, damaged rear corner and sagging badly.

In this shot we find the rearmost lower frame support and the piece that would connect this with the wheel well. This shot is out of sequence with the previous photo as it was completed first. The wheel well would follow. That clean, almost white, piece of angled wood was the toughest part to cut. The photo below shows another shot of this devil of a piece of wood. Oh, I swore at it a number of times.. It has also been lifeted into its proper place. (Well, sort of. This side would require a little more lifting before it was all done.)

It's time for a break and a well earned beer. Margie has hers. WHERE'S MINE!!!??



Well, we're back and loads of work has been finished!!

Just a sample of what was instore for us!!

Notice my little black spider friend!!

This is what we had to look out for all through the process!!

As the title implies, we have done a lot to the old girl. To be honest, we just forgot about this blog and the work continued. Since we have rediscovered this place we figured to try and recall how the work went.

After that inspection we tried to figure just what we were in for. Now, I restore automobiles and this would seem to be so much easier. (This we would find to be totally WRONG!! Give me a car, even the newer ones with all its computers and I am right at home!! But me and wood just do not get along very well.)

Anyway, it was decided that we'd continue with the project. Since the trailer was mostly solid repairing the framing was first on the list. With that in mind we started removing all the lower siding as well as the complete rear skin. A total rebuild of the wood work in the rear will be performed. The lower 10 to 18 inches of the rearmost sides also needed replacment. That damaged door area will also be replaced with new wood. To our good fortune we were able to make templates from what was left of these areas.

So, off we went removing parts, making lists of what was needed, make templates and off to the local Big Box hardware store we went..

                                          Here we can see the left side from the rearward forward. Not as bad as we had thought but not as good as we had hoped for.

 While it looks pretty good in this photo, the bulge was bad enough to need to be torn out!!!



                                                                                  

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.