I thank all of the people who responded about the age/make of the trailer. I did quite a bit of looking online at pictures and sites and discussions, and do agree that the most likely thing is a 1941 trailer base frame, and a kit or some obscure manufacturer for the rest, probably mid to late 50's or very early 60's. I am going to try not knowing exactly what it is bother me.
Here's some things I've learned already. Some of these I've learned from the great MSN group I found - Vintage Vacations. Thanks to all of you! And some I have learned all by myself, painfully in most cases.
1. Just because it looks ugly now, doesn't mean it always will.
2. Just because the guy selling the thing says everything on it is in working condition does not mean it is all in safe working condition.
3. Even if you look under the trailer and everything looks OK doesn't mean it is. Learning what to look for before you buy a trailer would be a good thing.
4. You can't repair everything by yourself if you don't have proper equipment.
5. Some people will laugh at you and some will encourage you. Ignore the laughers and be grateful for the encouragers.
6. Finding people who can repair what you can't and feeling like you can trust them not to mess you up is a very good thing.
Here's how I learned some of this. When I took it into the shop for a safety check, because I do not want to be responsible for any accidents or injuries and I plan on taking this across the country this summer, I had a lot more wrong with the frame and towing system than I thought.
It turns out that not only was one of the leaf springs broken (on the side parked up next to the fence), but believe it or not the axle was on up side down! What the heck....!!!!! The best guess of the repair guys (who, by the way, are all thinking that my trailer is very cool and are excited about helping me get it back together) was that at one time or another somebody decided they needed more ground clearance to get to more remote camping areas. Because I live up next to the Rocky Mountains, this seems quite reasonable, but it messed up the axle and the leaf springs.
So, the estimate for getting a new axle, two new leaf springs, the bearings (which were shot anyway), brakes (which it did not have before at all), fixing the door so that it will stay shut when it is supposed to, adding a tongue jack because it didn't have one, getting the exterior wiring all correct, and oh yeah, replacing the hitch because the one that is on there now is not only too small for the trailer but also only spot welded in 6 places. $1375.00
I have no idea if that is a good price or not, but all of those things have to get done in order to safely tow the trailer where I want to. I know none of that is anything I can do myself. That puts my interior plans back a bit, since my budget isn't extravagant by any means. But I should be able to still strip the inside down to a stable place and at least clean, paint, and make it comfortable and livable for the main trip this summer.
I will most likely leave the interior wiring alone for now, as well as the gas for the stove. We aren't going to be needing the stove for this trip and the electric seems stable enough for the limited time we will be using it. I work for an electrical contractor, so I will have one of the guys double check the electric for me just to make sure the shore power is safe. Eventually I will probably rewire it, since the plug is not a grounded one.
So here is my new plan....
Pay a lot of money to make this thing safe to tow about 3,000 miles this summer - easy to do, hard on the wallet. But since the plan is to restore it and not just use it for a year or two, this seems very necessary.
Strip enough of the interior to get to a solid base to build upon - nerve racking, but probably not too hard
Test for leaks with my garden hose - easy, but hopefully I won't find many
Hope to God it doesn't need a lot of leak repair - pray hard
Fix whatever leaks - I have no idea how hard this will be
Clean it really well - a dirty, but easy job
Decide whether or not to rebuild the dinette seats this year or next - may be a decision that is easy, but doing it may be more difficult than I expect
Make the dinette area capable of being turned into a bed - easy/medium difficulty, the current table will have to be put onto a base that can come apart and then be fixed up to look nicer
Seal the interior with something like Kilz - easy
At that time decide whether to just paint, or to add something to make it smooth enough to paint, or to add a birch veneer and seal that - I hope that decision isn't too hard, but the budget may be the deciding factor for this year
Trim out enough to make it look decent - should be reasonably simple
Get the dinette cushions recovered - this I know will be easy since I can sew very well
Get a mattress for the bed - easy
Get some kind of curtains up - easy, except for the curved walls but I think I have a plan for those.
As I go along I hope the group doesn't get too tired of questions! I'm counting on y'all for some sound advice and tips to avoid some of the pitfalls.
Here are some more pictures. Matt (in the picture) is 6'2" or so, and he can stand up straight in the middle, which gives the trailer an uncrowded feeling to me.
The back side of the beauty The dining area
Just how many layers of contact/wallpaper are needed behind the stove? Answer: Three, adhered to a poster board thickness of black tar paper.Matt, stripping the paint and contact paper off of the two layers of veneer.
Down to the green paint on the original (I think) wood by the dining area.
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