The Pearl

Those finishing touches...

2012-02-21T17:27:00.001-05:00

Detail of trailer restored by Joe and Robin Lyons of Santa Barbara

There are signs of spring in the air. I just noticed the sprouts of daffodils poking out from the brown leaves on the side of my house. So, of course that means it is high time that we start working on the Pearl again. Last year we completed the bulk of her renovation, but there are a few things that we have left to do. Well, maybe not have to do.

I really would like to add some baby moons and white wall tires. If anyone out there knows what size and a source for these that would fit on a Shasta Compact, please let me know.

Another wish list item that I have is an outdoor mat for camping. Having some trouble here.....I would love a mat with a fun fresh style, but alas, the mats seem to be designed by the same crusty old man that designs the paint scheme on the sides of contemporary rv's - broad strokes of analogous colors. Someone should really clue the RV industry to the fact that this design was dated 15 years ago.

So here is a possibility:

From www.solutions.com

I also thought it would be fun to make a mat by clicking together these fake grass 10" squares (they come with the daisies):

Artificial grass mat with daisies and clover from Tradeage.com

I also want to add some fun party lights, like these from beau coup:

lantern party lights

Ok, yeah, we still don't have the water tank installed, boring. Just need to set my priorities - fun stuff, first, then water tank, electric heater, and fix that "cam over" problem that we had last summer (see our blog from last summer's cross country trip)

Happy Glamping!

Our Canopy has arrived!

2011-09-17T17:09:00.000-04:00

We ordered a canopy from Vintage Trailer Supply. The folks there were very nice to work with. I wanted to order one of the "classic awning stripe" canopies and they let me special order it in a discontinued pink/white color combo.

We love it!

the top of the canopy is pink and white stripe and the underside is pink

the color of the canopy matched perfectly

Making the bed in a Shasta Compact

2011-09-17T16:41:00.000-04:00

Well, some of you may be wondering how anyone can sleep in a teeny Shasta Compact. I went across country with 3 children, ages 16, 14 and 10 and we all fit! However, when my husband joined us, it was a tight squeeze. I purchased a one minute set-up tent at Target and the boys (my two oldest) slept in it for the remainder of the trip. To see our travel blog: hasslercrosscountry.blogspot.com

Below are some photos of how we made up the bed. The original design of the bed included slide out benches that do not meet in the middle (they remain two separate beds). We wanted the option to pull the benches together to make one large bed. The solution below is a temporary one, because we were running out of summer before we finished the Pearl, at some point we will work on making a more elegant and permanent solution.

For now though...

When the bench seat and back cushions are laid flat, there is a gap of a few inches which we fill with the decorative pillows so that the flat cushions will stay tightly together.

This makes a fairly large bed - king size sheets are needed.

Under the cushions are 1/2" thick plywood sheets.

Here is what it looks like under the cushions

The plywood is supported by slats which fit into the existing slots on the benches.

There are three slats, we store the table under the bed at night.

Each plywood sheet is stored under the bench cushions during the day. Being only 1/2" thick, you can't feel them through the cushions (the cushions are 5" thick.

bench cushion back in place

as you can see, my back cushion overlaps the window trim a bit.

Dave is storing the slats in the bench.

Sometimes, we would put the back cushions on the floor, between the two benches and I would put the decorative pillow in the gap between the back cushions and the benches to hold them tightly together. This way, we had 3 small beds. Bella slept in the canvas bunk that suspends above the bed.

Done!

2011-08-03T08:24:00.003-04:00

Yay! She's done. We finished her on Sunday - the last thing I did was shorten the curtains. Then we packed our clothes in the car and headed off for a cross country trip. Right now it is just me and the 3 kids, but Dave will join us in San Francisco. Our plan is to travel the lower states across to California, travel up the California coast and head back along the upper states. We traveled through the Shenandoah National Park yesterday - today on to Knoxville. It is so wonderful to be able to use Pearl!
Here are some pics:

Our friend Anita hand knit the beautiful dish rag and towel hanging from range

Painted!

2011-07-28T16:09:00.000-04:00

We painted the Pearl in Spinnaker White and 1956 Ford Sunset Coral.

I really like the way she came out. We'll be adding the running lights, break lights, wings, etc. tomorrow. I'll post more then. Exhausted....

Prep and Primer

2011-07-26T20:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we finished sanding the body with 220 grit sandpaper and cleaned it all down with TSP substitute and water. Next I worked on polishing the aluminum stripe. After that I taped off the polished aluminum stripe (with frogtape) and washed off the Pearl with the TSP substitute and water mixture again to get rid of any waxy residue that would interfere with the paint adhesion.

Today we applied bondo to a few areas that needed it and sanded that with 80 grit sandpaper. We went over the whole body with a tack cloth. The primer we applied is a mixture of Rustoleum primer with Rustoleum Reducer (one to one ratio). This was applied with a compressor and spray gun (at 35 psi). Thanks to Kevin for lending us his compressor and sprayer :)

This was my husband's first time using a spray gun and he did a great job! It looks really great. He applied 2 light coats. By this time it was getting late, so we'll put on the white and pink colors tomorrow. The only problem was that we don't have a garage to work in, so we had to spray outside. The sprayer has a lot of overspray which wafted into the air and into the street. The kids held up a tarp to try to stem the flow of paint.

I can't wait until tomorrow to see her painted! The weather is supposed to be nice. Cross your fingers!

The Frog tape is supposed to leave a clean line - we'll see tomorrow

Stripped and ready for bondo

Joshua giving the thumbs up.

David applying the primer (it is a light gray color)

Christian holding up the tarp with an oar

Joshua with the other oar

Stripped to bare metal

2011-07-24T09:53:00.001-04:00

I visited MDC RV Center in Hyannis to purchase supplies for our plumbing. We don't have a bathroom, but have a sink so we needed a new fresh water tank, hoses, city water connection and a gray water tank. Dana at MDC was such an amazing help! He told me exactly what I needed to buy and suggested an external gray water rolling tote which I think will work wonderfully. Thanks Dana!

We worked on preparing the Pearl for priming and painting yesterday. Dave installed the wheel well trim, the drip edge and the awning rail. This was no easy feat because each had bends and dings that needed to be smoothed out.

I stripped the trim pieces with Strip-eze chemical stripper. That worked so well that I decided to see if I could strip the top coat of paint on the Pearl. One of the previous owners had painted it with a brush over the factory paint. This had been done some years ago and the paint showed brush marks, drips and paint chipping in places. So I applied the stripper and it immediately started to bubble the paint. What I didn't expect is that it took the paint off, right down to the bare metal! So now I was committed - I stripped the whole thing.

stripped - the z stripe still shows because it has oxidation

trim around wheel well

Butyl tape installed under awning rail and drip edge

Dave and Christian would like to leave it the bare metal. Not me though, I miss the pink.

Today Dave will work on the electrical, installing the tops of the bench seats and the countertop. I'll work on polishing the z-stripe, taping it off, sanding the bare metal, polishing the tulip shaped original propane light and running for more supplies.

We may get more rain today so we may not be able to paint :(

I purchased automotive paint online at TCP global: http://www.tcpglobal.com/restorationshop/

The pink under the z stripe will be a 1956 Ford Sunset Coral. The cost of the paint for all supplies, white paint for the top and the custom Ford paint for the bottom was $446. The customer service was great. This isn't like buying house paint, there are hardeners and reducers and such that I didn't know anything about. They helped me choose just what I need. I can't wait to see it painted!

Our neighbor, Kevin, loaned us his compressor and paint sprayer. Thanks Kevin!

Kitchen cabinets installed!

2011-07-20T09:48:00.002-04:00

We are getting achingly close to the decorating stage. My husband and son, Christian, built the cabinets and the drawers yesterday. They re-used the drawer fronts (with some tweaking) and the sink cabinet door. However, all the framework had to be rebuilt as did the drawer boxes. The range still has the plastic protective covering on the door and door handle

Upper cabinet with frosted acrylic panels

Aqua retro hex knob

Boomerang pulls - ours were missing, but purchased original pulls from someone who parted out their Shasta

Refrigerator magnet

I lined drawers with super grip shelf liner from Target

Here are some of my finds from "Savers"

I decided to use a basket under the range to hold kitchen towels and pots/pans. I'll sew a liner for it to prevent the pots and pans from getting scratched up. The kids and I went to "Savers", which is a big second hand store. I scored a white enamel pot with black trim for $2.99 and bakelite handled flatware for 4 for a dollar. We also got many kitchen utensils, some of which were vintage pink.

This week we will install the tops of the gaucho benches, the countertop, sink and the lights. Dave will also be putting in the new water tank and the electrical panel, battery etc. I have MORE aluminum to polish, some more painting and I need to prep the outside of the trailer for her paint job (this weekend). I purchased automotive paint online in Ford's 1956 Sunset Coral for the bottom. Can't wait to see it.

More inspiration - flooring from Cath Kidston

2011-07-18T13:57:00.000-04:00

I love my Tarkett bubble fun flooring, but I was looking for flooring for my kitchen and bath and came acrosss vinyl tiles from Cath Kidston that are seriously cute! I think they would be great in a vintage camper. Below is a sampling - see other colors at: http://www.harveymaria.co.uk/floor-range/Cath-Kidston-for-harveymaria

Getting a 21 1/2" stove through a 20" door

2011-07-18T13:49:00.000-04:00

Heavy Sigh. So the stove/oven is 21 1/2" wide and the door opening is 20" wide. Ugh! Dave had already replaced one of the door jams that had water damage. But there was no other way - the jam had to come back out so we could fit the stove through the door.

20" wide door opening

21 1/2" wide stove

Dave has built the framing for the kitchen cabinets

We painted the back of the newly built door with blackboard paint.

Door, Interior Panels and more polishing

2011-07-17T22:25:00.001-04:00

I was away visiting my sister and had a bunch of fun while my poor husband was slaving away on the Shasta. He took apart the door so we could have a new metal piece fabricated at the bottom where there was a tear in the metal. We suspected that water was getting in but he wasn't prepared for what he uncovered! There was nothing left of the bottom of the door but a pulpy mess of wood rot. He completely re-built the door and it looks great! I am painting the back of the door with chalkboard paint. I thought it would be fun for Bella to be able to draw on it. Second coat of chalkboard paint goes on tomorrow and I'll post pics.

Here Dave has installed interior panels and look! cabinetry even!

The cabinet over the sink and range.
I replaced the yellow formica with frosted acrylic panels.
There will be LED lights inside the cabinet which will illuminate the frosted panels.

Both gaucho benches are in

The gaucho benches have beadboard sliding panels
(which replaced the yellow formica).

The closet.

Beadboard panels are installed in kitchen back wall.

All of the wood will need another coat of paint.

Joshua and Bella worked on polishing the screen door.

She's legal

2011-07-01T16:29:00.000-04:00

This was the part I dreaded. The registry of motor vehicles scares me. I went to our insurance agent first, who told me that I wouldn't be able to register the trailer (ever) because I couldn't produce a previous registration. "But the previous owner bought it from a guy in NH and it wasn't registered". I admit, that sounded a bit sketchy. "Well", she said, you could probably get a signed affidavit from the original owner". Signed what? From who? The original owner may well be dead for all I know.

However, I had a secret weapon. The previous owner had prepared me well. He told me to go to the registry with a form that is signed by a police officer and verifies the VIN (found on the tongue of the trailer). If the trailer is under $3000 pounds, I shouldn't need a title to register it. I was ready.

I went to the registry, forms in hand and you know what? The RMV worker didn't even care. She registered my trailer with not even a raised eyebrow. The only thing that caused her to pause was the color. There is a checkbox for the color and pink wasn't listed so I left it blank.

"What color is the trailer?" she asked.

"Pink".

"We don't have pink, we have red. What color is your trailer?"

"Red".

"Good - here are your plates"

Ever feel like you're in a Monty Python episode?

Bubble Fun Flooring installed!

2011-07-01T16:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, we're getting to the fun parts. The "Bubble Fun" floor by Tarkett (in turquoise) was installed today. I think it looks great!

Also, we received the stainless steel marine range. The Compact has a sloping shape in the front and back. The marine range is angled on the back in the bottom to allow for a ship's hull. Works great for the Compact too!

The range is by Force 10, my model is a little different than the one shown left. The control panel and handle are both stainless.

Beauty is (aluminum) skin deep

2011-07-01T15:51:00.000-04:00

David and Christian have been busy installing the aluminum skins that Falmouth sheet metal fabricated for us. It is tricky because we were not replacing the sides and the lines in the metal had to align from the back and front to the sides.

The new electrical has been run and the insulation is almost done

Insulation, electrical and paint

2011-06-19T20:20:00.000-04:00

We've been busy, busy, busy! David installed new electrical wires and, with the help of the kids, insulation on the two side walls. The aluminum on the roof, front and back is at the sheet metal shop where new panels are being fabricated.

Christian sprayed the trailer frame with rubberized undercoating

Installing insulation and taping it in.

Christian, Joshua and Bella working together

Even Hazel gets into the act. Inspecting under the trailer - quality control!

We put down the subfloor in preparation for the finished floor which will be coming next week.

And I worked on painting the cupboards. Yes, we decided to go with paint. I love the look of the stained birch, but this little trailer will spend most of her life parked near the beach so I decided to go with a lighter beach cottage kinda look. After all, we live on Cape Cod, where if you stand still too long, you'll be painted white.

I also polished the louvered window. That took some time! I have 2 more windows to go and the z stripes, the top of the baggage door, the screen door and something else which my mind has blocked out at the moment.

Next week we'll be installing the aluminum skins on the roof, front and back, continue polishing aluminum, and continue painting. Next weekend Dave will hopefully be putting in the birch panels.

Taking it one day at a time - too overwhelming!

Inspiration

2011-06-07T17:12:00.000-04:00

We have so far to go, but I can't help dreaming....

Interior framing, polishing Aluminum and removing vent

2011-06-07T16:30:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we worked on the Pearl. My husband removed the vent to prepare for removing the roof skins. We got a price from Falmouth sheet metal - $2000! Yikes! That is $1000 more than we had budgeted to redo the roof, front and back panels. The sides aren't that bad, so we are keeping those. The labor was reasonable, but, we were told, the price of aluminum "fluctuates". Apparently, right now it has fluctuated through the roof.

Removing the vent turned out to be quite a job. Years of tar, gunk, and sealant had formed an impervious barrier. Good if you are trying to stop water, not so good if you are trying to remove the vent.

We are replacing the original vent with a Fan-Tastic 6000 from Vintage Trailer supply. Soooo, if anyone wants the old one....

Dave also installed nailer strips on the edges of the trailer so we will have something to nail the wooden plywood to. Originally, this would not have been necessary because the inside ceiling panels were applied before the aluminum skins and went on top of the walls. We are delaying taking off the aluminum roof skins until the new ones are ready to be installed.

Wood nailer strips on edges of ceiling

On another note, don't underestimate the power of those thin sheets of aluminum skins! When Dave took off the front panel so we could get a price for re-fabricating, the trailer started to do the hokey pokey. He braced the front and back to keep thinks from getting ugly.

I worked on polishing aluminum....

Removing old putty tape so I can get down to business.

The drip cap on the left is before polishing
The one on the right - after polishing

Here are the wings after polishing. Now, many of you will notice that these wings are not original. Nope, I think they came from a later model. The size is right - but they have a diamond shape pattern between the lines and the holes aren't lined up with the holes on the trailer. However, they are wings and I'm going to fly with them.

More drip caps polished. (Never noticed how many drip caps are on this trailer till now)

Here are the products I used. The goo gone was used to remove the gunk from the putty tape. I ran out of Mother's mag and aluminum and the hardware store only had small jars so I bought the Nevr-Dull. This has a wool like substance in the can with a solution on it. I liked working with it. The Rust remover (naval jelly) I did not use. I bought it to help remove some of the rust spots on the aluminum (where the old rusted screws had been) but read the back when I got home..... "Do not use on aluminum". Not sure why, didn't want to find out.

We got an order from Vintage trailer supply (not the last I'm sure)

We ordered:

Code	Item	Qty	Price	Grand Total
VTS-838	Round Cabinet Welt (25' Length) [Round Welt Color:Almond]	4	$14.98	$59.92
VTS-396	Propane Tank Rack	1	$23.45	$23.45
VTS-372	Two-Tank Regulator	1	$39.99	$39.99
VTS-373	Propane Regulator Cover	1	$2.99	$2.99
VTS-419	3/4" Butyl Putty Tape	4	$5.73	$22.92
VTS-567	Progressive Dynamics 4045: 45 Amp Converter + AC/DC Distribution Panel	1	$179.99	$179.99

Also, on a more fun note (fun for me - not hubby):

I bought these (enameled tin) from Etsy:

Making progress after a long winter's nap

2011-05-31T17:49:00.000-04:00

Well, after hibernating all winter, we are getting back on track with the Shasta.

The original wheel tubs were very rusted and bent. When these are installed, they go under the subfloor and the finished floor, then the whole shebang is covered with the bench seats which are screwed down to the floor. As you can tell, this would be seriously unfun to have to replace in the future, so we decided to have new ones made out of stainless steel. We went to a local sheet metal shop (Falmouth sheet metal) and they came out great!

Dave, my hubby, has been very busy! He has been replacing any of the framing that is rotted or has an (ahem) smell. Also, to give extra strength to the roof, he has cut thin strips of plywood and has sandwiched the framing in between to give it more rigidity without a lot of extra weight.

The metal frame of the trailer is exposed, so he spent all day yesterday knocking off any loose rust with a power drill and a wire brush attachment. It looks much better. I'll be cleaning the metal frame with a wax and tar remover and then we will prime with Rustoleum rusted metal primer and finish it with black Rustoleum paint.

Ok, lest you think that I spent the day at the beach while my poor hubby worked, I was working on removing rust from the exterior lights (I only spent half the day at the beach). I started by using some "at home" solutions that I found on the web.... Vinegar, followed by a paste of baking soda and water, aluminum foil, dance by the light of a full moon. Then I went to Autozone and got this...

Worked great. But you know what works even better? A sandblaster! Our wonderful neighbor offered to take these to work (and anything else that I need de-rusted) and he'd sandblast 'em. So, I'll be sending these and the door handles and the license plate holder and the.... you get the idea. He even said that the wheels would fit in the sandblast booth. So that frees me up for my next project - I'll be polishing the aluminum. We bought some Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish which I will break out next weekend.

We are having new roof panels fabricated by Falmouth sheet metal also.

Here are some fun inspiration photos I found online:

Starting Demo, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2010-10-20T12:00:00.000-04:00

We started stripping down the old gal to see what she was hiding and it wasn't pretty. Above is a photo of what was hiding underneath the stove. Note the two mouse traps. Now that seems like an odd place to put a mouse trap. Did the mice drag them into hiding? Among the nasties, we found a piece of a slip of paper which shows the last couple of digits of the Vehicle Identification Number! It shows that the trailer was registered in Illinois - maybe this will help in tracking down a title. We found the key to the luggage door inside the top of the stove. The worst was the discovery that the mice had stripped down a live wire to the point that there was little between us and a fiery death. We'll be re-wiring. We found lots and lots of mouse dung. There is one piece of roof framing that supported a mouse mansion that is going to need to be removed. The good news is that we haven't found any rot (yet). The water tank is going to be removed (as soon as we can figure out how to do that - any suggestions?). Then we'll remove the rest of the cabinetry and flooring to assess the floor framing.

Our general plan is to keep the layout, keep the cabinetry (but replace areas that are just too gross, like the bottoms of the drawers) or water damaged (like some of the birch panels). I am hoping to refinish the wood using a shellac (mixture of clear and amber).

We will keep the old stove - We took it apart and I'm cleaning it. The door of the stove and the top will be sent out to have new white porcelain put on them. I have contacted a local fabricator to re-chrome the panel behind the knobs, the door handle and the trim at the top back of the stove.

The original ice box was replaced by a previous owner with a newer AC/DC refrigerator. I haven't had any luck finding an old ice box to put back in the kitchen. Soooo, we are going to make a cabinet box to slide in the opening, trim out the opening and add a shelf to support 2 Pottery Barn baskets (one on the bottom of the cabinet and one on the shelf). These baskets are large enough to hold pots/pans and I think will look great. We may hook up the refrigerator in the closet or just buy a 5 day cooler and store that in the closet.

All electrical will be replaced, new insulation, and a new water tank will be installed. We are hoping to add an on demand hot water heater under the sink. The compact didn't come with hot water, but that is a luxury I would like to add. We'll also put in an electrical inverter to convert AC to DC and allow us to add a battery.

We'll add a strip of lights behind the wavy trim on each of the side cabinets and the cabinets above the kitchen. I plan to replace the yellow sliding laminate doors in the kitchen with a frosted acrylic panel so the lights will shine through when they are closed. We'll also add electrical outlets.

The countertop in the kitchen will be replaced with aqua boomerang formica. The tabletop was replaced with aqua boomerang by the previous owner and there is some left over.

The aluminum roof needs to be replaced as well. I found a local fabricator who can fabricate the panels. The sides aren't in bad shape, so we'll keep those. I need to polish all of the aluminum, replace the window weatherstripping and oil as needed.

New bench cushions will need to be made. The tops of the benches were removed by a previous owner, so we'll be making new tops (and probably modifying design so that the beds will meet in the middle without a gap).

The outside will be repainted but I'm keeping the pink color. The rims need to be sandblasted and re-painted.

Cripe, I'm getting tired just writing about all that needs to be done!

I'll be adding a list of what we spent, where we got it and how much it cost to this site. We purchased Pearl for $2100 and we've put together a rough budget to accomplish everything we want to do. We estimated about $6,500. This gave my husband, Dave, heart palpitations so we are trying to figure out where to trim. Boy, stuff adds up fast!

Decorating Note:

I found this really neat flooring. It is from Tarkett and is called fiber flooring. You can check out an article at This Old House about it: http://hardwareaisle.thisoldhouse.com/2008/07/tarkett-floors.html

I need to clean the stove now so I can send of the parts to be restored. I'll post photos.

Thanks for visiting!

Lisa

A Trailer By Any Other Name Would Smell as Foul

2010-10-12T09:52:00.000-04:00

Ok, what to name her? The suggestions came fast and furious. Everything ranging from Pink Princess (my 9 year old girl) to Doom Bringer (15 year old son). My son also suggested The Black Pearl, which, considering his other suggestions, was a clear attempt at compromise. In the spirit of that compromise, I suggested The Pink Pearl. Ahhhhhhhh no, still too precious. So I suggested, "What if we call her The Pearl and when we say that, I'll think The Pink Pearl and you can think The Black Pearl?" Reluctant head nod.

So she's The Pearl

She's Home!

2010-10-12T08:49:00.000-04:00

We received our new (old) 1961 ish Shasta Compact on Sunday evening at midnight - the witching hour (I hope that won't be a sign of things to come). The previous owner was kind enough to bring her all the way here to not-so-sunny Cape Cod (thanks Bob!).

The first thing we did was check under the trailer (she's a girl). We'll be naming her soon. As you can see from the photos, she is 12 feet of "Needs TLC". The thing that you can't tell from the pictures is that she exudes the sweet aroma of au de mouse urine. I took a bucket of bleachy water to her on Monday morning.

She already has one fan (besides me). A neighbor's friend stopped by to take a peek at her. Turns out she's a Vintage Shasta owner too (go Lisa). In fact, it is entirely Lisa's fault that I started this journey. I saw her adorable red shasta parked in front of the neighbor's house last summer and I was irrevocably hooked! It's a communicable disease.

View photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/54768738@N03/sets/