We camped in Frolic for the first time. It's officially done.

 I finally got Frolic on the road, so that means that it is basically done. Do you ever really finish with these sorts of things?

Today is Monday. I got Frolic off the blocks and took it out for a ride on Saturday. I needed to burnish the new brakes and I wanted to see how it pulled. The last time it was moved was when it came here from Mt. Nebo WV. I was in the truck, but my friend who helped me out did the driving. Everything seemed good. Last night we (Kathy and I) did an overnight at Douthat State Park, a campground about 20 miles from here. We took notes on what we had forgotten, and what we need to diddle with, but basically, everything worked fine.

Here are some pictures and comments of/about the trailer when I got it and what it is now.

  

I found the trailer looking at Criag's List. It was sitting on blocks in a back yard in Mt. Nebo WV. At the time, I was living in Guam. With the help of some friends from my church, I was able to put new tires on it and drag it to my house in Covington. We did that when I was back in VA for Christmas Break--Christmas 2020. I tarped it & put a secure lock on the door. I went back to Guam to finish the school year at Pacific Islands University. Frolic sat, alone, in my back yard until May of 2021, when I returned to Covington after finishing my responsibilities at PIU.

Here are the "Before"s.

Like most small travel trailers of the era--Frolic was made in Elkhart IN in 1968--the trailer had a dining booth that could be converted to a bed in the front of the camper. Below are some pictures of the interior. I had removed the stovetop to clean it up and see if it was salvageble.

The outside didn't look too bad . . . until you looked closer.

A tree limb--looks like it was a pretty good-sized one had fallen on the camper. The corner trim was bent, some of the framing was broken, and it had several holes in the roof.

You'll also notice vast quantities of your grandpa's barn roof paint. It took vast quantities of elbow-grease to get it off.

There was a closet with a toilet. You can see the interior walls were in bad shape in this area. I really wanted to save the chennile toilet-seat cover, but allas, it became a scrub rag.

The ceiling was a brown masonite-type product, covered with plastic, not unlike contact paper. The seams were covered with strip of wood wrapped in the same plastic.

Mildew was just about everywhere.

The AC that was stuck in the back window actually worked. I didn't save the custom AC cover, though. 

At some point in the past someone "fixed" running lights by running wire on the surface of the trailer. The wire was in a small conduit type product. It was well screwed-down.

The wheels were a variety that was common in the late 60s. When I looked for a spare, I found they were basically nonexistent. As one trailer restorer described them, "They are made of nonobtainiu,."

Some of the interior paneling was salvageable. My interior decorator, Kathy, had decided that Frolic's interior would be painted, so matching the paneling wasn't essential.

Underneath had surface rust on the frame, but it was basically solid. Amazingly, the black homosote board that covered the underside was like new. The floor was sound. I was thankful for that.

You'll see the mirror again, later.

The lights worked. I used a couple of them.

The bottle says, "Spic & Span." The trailer was not. 

You never want to run out of propane. The tanks actually had fuel in them. I used it up heating my shop--actually, "making my shop less cold"--when I was working on Frolic.

Here are some pictures of the new Frolic.

 

We cleaned up the old foam. Here is Kathy doing the reapholstery.

I'm sure I'll miss some things but off the top of my head:

• I removed all the siding sanded it, used paint stripper, tried a heat gun, patched holes, and then repainted it all. Basically the color scheme is the same. The red is "International Harvester Red." My Dad ran a farm for a couple of years after the war. His tractor was a Farmall, made by I.H.
• I patched the holes in the roof, replaced broken or bowed rafters installed new putty tape at all seams, removed, cleaned up, straightened and re-screwed-down the corner trim. I also installed new vinyl strips on the corner molding that runs from end to end on each side.
• I likewise removed all windows and the door. I cleaned up all the oxidized aluminum and reinstalled them with new putty tape and screws.
• I replaced all rotted or broken framing, and insulated the whole trailer.
• It has new LED running lights and new wiring inside, rather than outside, the walls.
• I saved the brown masonite, minus the plastic coating. It has about 4 coats of kilz on it and two coats of finish white. The strips that cover the seams are oak.
• I replaced interior paneling as need. 
• I build a new 2-person dinette on the side of the trailer. In the front there is a slightly bigger bed that can be converted to a seating area.
• I used some cherry, oak, and walnut lumber that my Father-in-law had harvested, to make the laminate table and countertops. The trim that covers the seams on the walls and ceiling are also from him.
• I was able to reuse all the cabinet doors. The upper ones are refinished. the lower ones in the kitchen are white.
• I was able to add a couple of new drawers in the kitchen area.
• Frolic has a small, but adequate, 3-way refrigerator (propane, 110v, or 12v). The old cooktop cleaned up well and works fine. Likewise the sink and kitchen faucet are originals.
• I used the mirror as a closet door.
• Everything is rewired. Frolic has both 110v & 12v lights.
• All plumbing is new, gas is black pipe & copper, water is pex. There is a new 10-gallon fresh water tank & a 10-gallon gray water tank. There wasn't room for a second waste tank so we went with a self-contained porta-potti. The wet bath has a shower with hot water. There are 2 new propane tanks and a new auto-switch regulator. We should be able to dry camp for a night or two and still have all the comforts except for AC.
• The AC is cleaned up and reinstalled.
• New flooring.
• A modest sound system.
• Underneath everything was wire brushed and painted. New brakes, hubs, bearings, wheels, tires.  The wheel wells are repaired and painted. There is a new spare on a rack on the back.
• There is a new 7 pin plug and wiring harness.
• Thanks to Kathy's skill and good taste. All of the trailer's cushions have been recovered and the windows have custom-made Roman shades. Instead of dark and dingy, the little camper is bright and happy.

Vintage trailers are a thing. Many devotees to the hobby painstakingly labor to keep everything original. We tried to keep the vintage feel, but we wanted to make the little trailer what we wanted it to be.

This is already way to long, so I'll quit. If you are interested in more about different phases of the what we did along the way of rebuilding our little trailer, you can scroll back through this blog. I have posted from time to time along the way. I'd be glad to chat with you about how we did it. I'll probably post again in a few days with some references to some online encouragers who helped me along the way.

For now, bye.