Space City Trailer Club Patch...

I picked up this trailer club patch off of Ebay. Finally got it today...

I'm not sure how old it is. The image of the trailer and the chain stitching suggest it is is 60's. Houston didn't receive the nickname Space City until 1967. I suppose folks could have been using the nickname before the city gave themselves the name? I dunno. I couldn't find anything about this club. I'm guessing they are defunct. I love the patch though...

It is a nice big patch too. 5.5 inches X 11 inches. Now I have to find a vintage style jacket to put it on. The weird part... I bought it from a guy in Canada. How did it get way up there???

Dinette Table Resto...

Started work on the dinette table. The PO had covered the original yellow and gold flecked Formica with a thin white cheapo formica type stuff. You can see from the picture below there is quite a bit of glue still on the yellow Formica even after I scraped a bunch off...

This sucks. Thats all I can say...

A picture of nails? Yeah. This is something that should NOT be used anywhere near aluminum trim. Ring shank nails. WHY!?!?! Some days I wonder where some folk's heads are. Once they laid down the crappy white Formica stuff they reattached the trim piece with ring shank nails. As Red Dirt would say... this does not make me happy...

Once I got the aluminum trim off the top Formica comes right off. It is glued to Masonite. The Masonite is not attached to the plywood table. I found this logo. From what I can tell is that Roseburg is still in business but they don't make Resin-TITE anymore. I don't know why but I love finding stuff like this...

I spent some time with a scraper and a whole lot of Goo Gone. There is a few problems that need to be addressed...

There is a few deep scrapes and the dark spots. I tried to get the spots off but they aren't going anywhere. The gold flecks that are at the surface actually rust. 

I think the dilemma here is that we actually want the original Formica if we can keep it. We dig the vintage aspect of owning a vintage trailer. So keep the chewed up Formica or replace it? Thats the dilemma...

If we decide to keep the original it needs some protection. I was thinking of getting some of that 2 part epoxy that is made for bar tops. If it was nice and thin it could serve as good protection and fill some of those deep nicks and scratches. It won't get rid of the dark spots but maybe the dark spots add to the character. Maybe not. Maybe a material replacement is the better route. Anybody have any ideas? Let me know.

The table leg is a bit chewed up also. The damage is from a eye bolt in the floor. Not sure how to remedy this. I may sand the whole leg and turn it around so the deep scratches are facing the rear. That or replace the whole leg with new wood...

I'm also not real excited about this aluminum hinge on the leg. It isn't the most secure and a bit bent up. I bought a new heavier hinge to swap this one out. I also have to sort out a way to hold the leg in the down position without that stupid eye bold in the floor...

Even the aluminum trim was a pain. It is so big and awkward that polishing is a pain. But it is done. The areas around every hole is sorta messed up from pounding in those nails...

I need to come up with a few solutions before I move forward on the table. I will keep everyone posted.

Interior Trim...

Just a quickie post...

I pulled all of the interior aluminum trim pieces to clean, wet sand and polish. Mostly counter top trim. There is a sink trim piece and the roof vent trim piece there also...

The good ol' before and after shot...

They were a bit scratched up from general wear and tear but they will be fine. I can't wait to re install them. However, that is long down the list of things to do.

More Parts...

Not the most exciting thing in the world but I got a drip rail knocked out. Luckily the drip rail for the rear window that was removed for the AC unit was saved and found in the trailer. Here we go...

 Here it is in the raw. It isn't in real bad shape just needs a polish...

I started wet sanding with 400 grit and 600 grit. Finished up with 1500 grit. I did this all very quickly but it needed the corrosion removed...

It still had the dried putty on the back of the drip rail. I use a very fine wire wheel chucked in my drill to go at the crud. I only use the wheel on the back of the drip rail because I think the wheel is too aggressive for the front that I want to be very smooth and shiny. The point is to get nice smooth surface for the new putty to stick to when it is reinstalled on the trailer.

The backside cleaned of any residue...

Here is the front side again. Now polished. I'm still not happy with the final product but it is much better than when is started. Like I said before, the thinner aluminum does give up a real deep reflective shine that other thicker pieces do. Oh well.

This shot is only because I love the before and after shots...

One down... 8 more drip rails to go.