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01-26-2019, 02:23 PM
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#1
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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1950 Silver Steak Clipper Restomod
Hello all,
I’ve decided to start a build thread for my 1950 Clipper restomod project. This forum has been so helpful I want to add my own experience to the mix. I hope this thread helps someone in the future.
I’ve been working on this trailer for about 9 months.
Here it is the day I picked it up.
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01-27-2019, 06:50 PM
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#2
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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The original owner had started working on the trailer about 15 yrs before I found it. They didn’t get too far. Some demo inside but the biggest help was stripping all the interior paint. That was great for me. I planned to gut the interior and design, fabricate a completely new layout with a bathroom. Here is the original interior.
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01-27-2019, 07:46 PM
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#3
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2 Rivet Member
1949 22' Liner
St Petersburg
, FL
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 44
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1950
Love it! Looks like you and I are in a similar boat, although I'm a little further ahead in our '49 as we recently got back from our initial trip in albeit a skeleton situation, then again you state you are 9 months in so maybe not. Where is she at this point in time in regards to your renovations? Looks like she has major potential.
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01-28-2019, 09:56 AM
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#4
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1 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Sierra Vista
, Arizona
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SGT374
Hello all,
I’ve decided to start a build thread for my 1950 Clipper restomod project. This forum has been so helpful I want to add my own experience to the mix. I hope this thread helps someone in the future.
I’ve been working on this trailer for about 9 months.
Here it is the day I picked it up.
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Hello from Arizona,
I have seen your earlier posts and I'm following your progress. I was wondering about the condition of the metal frame under your Silver Streak. My Sabre is only a 17 footer, but I notices some damage to the frame beneath the rotten wooden flooring covering the frame as you enter the trailer. Like you, I would like to post the progress of our restoration on this site too, but my son and I are waiting out the winter and trying to complete that "retired-honey-do-list," before we begin.
Keep up the great work and posting your progress for all us vintage forum folks.
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01-28-2019, 03:27 PM
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#5
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Al,
I’m hoping to have an aluminum tent by early summer.
Dccywood,
The original frame is different than yours I believe. Mine is a pipe frame. The aluminum outriggers were in bad shape so I built an entirely new frame using all steel.
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01-28-2019, 03:49 PM
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#6
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Demo
I started removing the interior down to the ribs. The farther along I got the more nervous I was about getting it back together. I took notes and lots of pictures. As far as getting it back together...well... time will tell.
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01-28-2019, 05:23 PM
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#7
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Rivet Master
1966 22' Safari
1955 22' Flying Cloud
Fredericksburg
, Texas
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 2,955
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We labeled our skin on the inside with a magic marker as we removed. Mark arrows for up/down and fore/aft on each piece. The old rivet holes will line up and help in locating the correct location. One thing I did have to do was trim a bit off the bottom of all lower panels. The original floor on the 55s were 5/8” and I went back with 3/4” plywood. Not much, but wanted a little flexibility at the bottom. Good luck
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01-29-2019, 06:07 AM
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#8
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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New Floorplan
This is my redesigned floorplan. I will be adding a wet bath with 2 15 gallon grey tanks below the floor. 8gallon black and 30 gallons of fresh water above floor. I will need to move one window about 10” to make this layout work but I’m liking it. I haven’t decided if the front will be convertible lounges like original or a full time bed. Convertible lounges will create new challenges for fresh water but doable.
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01-29-2019, 05:31 PM
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#9
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3 Rivet Member
1976 29' Ambassador
Dallas
, Texas
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 140
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SGT374
This is my redesigned floorplan. I will be adding a wet bath with 2 15 gallon grey tanks below the floor. 8gallon black and 30 gallons of fresh water above floor. I will need to move one window about 10” to make this layout work but I’m liking it. I haven’t decided if the front will be convertible lounges like original or a full time bed. Convertible lounges will create new challenges for fresh water but doable.
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Think it’s worth adding additional outrigger to the front and back of frame? Seems like it large area to span without the support. Obviously, it worked for this long but a potential relatively easy improvement if they don’t get in the way of anything else.
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01-29-2019, 05:32 PM
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#10
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3 Rivet Member
1976 29' Ambassador
Dallas
, Texas
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 140
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Well, I looked at the frame again and given it’s design and the center support it a pipe it looks it would be much more difficult.
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01-30-2019, 08:13 AM
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#11
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Removing windows
Tabney,
The final frame design does have additional supports front and back. I used angle iron as a full length outrigger wouldn’t work with the belly pan design.
Once the interior was gutted I removed all the windows and door or rebuilding.
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01-31-2019, 11:01 AM
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#12
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Window rebuild
I rebuilt all 3 windows. I drilled out every rivet to disassemble the entire frame. The bolts holding the glass in were rusted and were a bit of a challenge.
I sanded every piece with 150 grit sandpaper then maroon synthetic wool. I decided not to polish the interior frame.
The biggest challenge was reforming the hinge. I cut a 1/4” dowel in half, inserted into hinge and reformed. Worked great.
New glass, window seal, split nuts and rivets. They are ready to install.
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01-31-2019, 11:06 AM
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#13
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Should I remove a window?
my current design has the new bath where there is an existing window. I was planning to move the window 10” and center it up with the bath, put in frosted glass and be done. I’m now thinking maybe I should just remove the window entirely. What do you think?
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01-31-2019, 12:40 PM
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#14
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Rivet Master
2007 22' International CCD
Corona
, California
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,180
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SGT374
my current design has the new bath where there is an existing window. I was planning to move the window 10” and center it up with the bath, put in frosted glass and be done. I’m now thinking maybe I should just remove the window entirely. What do you think?
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My thought would be to go with moving the window and putting frosted glass in for privacy. Advantage of the window is that you can easily ventilate the bathroom in nice weather, and the extra daylight is also very nice.
My wet bath has no window, and I have to turn on the light to use it no matter what. It has a small power vent, but the area gets very wet and takes a surprisingly long time to dry, even out here in the California High Desert...I wish I had room for a window!
__________________
Rich, KE4GNK/AE, Overkill Engineering Dept.
'The Silver HamShack' ('07 International 22FB CCD 75th Anniversary)
Multiple Yaesu Ham Radios inside and many antennae sprouting from roof, ProPride hitch, Prodigy P2 controller.
2012 shortbed CrewMax 4x4 Toyota Tacoma TV with more antennae on it.
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02-01-2019, 11:45 AM
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#15
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Thank you rmkrum for your thoughts.
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02-01-2019, 11:52 AM
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#16
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Compound polish
After the windows were done I needed something to do that didn’t cost money and I had already purchased the supplies to polish. I used Nuvite 9 and a dewalt polisher. It was worth the time now because it really lets you see all the scratches and pits.
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02-01-2019, 01:25 PM
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#17
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Rivet Master
1955 22' Safari
Laredo
, Texas
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 1,342
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Up to you of course
Quote:
Originally Posted by SGT374
This is my redesigned floorplan. I will be adding a wet bath with 2 15 gallon grey tanks below the floor. 8gallon black and 30 gallons of fresh water above floor. I will need to move one window about 10” to make this layout work but I’m liking it. I haven’t decided if the front will be convertible lounges like original or a full time bed. Convertible lounges will create new challenges for fresh water but doable.
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Just wanted to share my experience with adding shallow gray water tanks to a 50's trailer. My goal was to keep everything inside the belly pan but I found the shallow tanks were not ideal in the real world. Even a tiny bit out of level reduced usable tank capacity dramatically and I was unable to get the tanks to empty completely unless I raised the tongue 6-8 inches. Not too convenient while camping. My drain pipe connected to the end (rather than the bottom) of the tank, which was the cause of the problem.
On my next trailer I had a custom tank made that was much deeper and had a bottom that sloped toward the curb side for complete emptying. YMMV.
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02-01-2019, 06:26 PM
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#18
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Thanks for the input Bambitex. I know it’s not ideal but i didn’t want anything below the belly pan. I used two tanks from tank-mart, 70H, that is premoulded to slope to the drain. The outlet/inlet is also moulded into the tank so it sounds like it’s similar to what you had made. As to if it will actually work...well...time will tell!
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02-02-2019, 03:14 PM
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#19
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Lifting the shell
I built the Gantrys from a plan on this site. They worked great and my wife didn’t blow a gasket when she saw them next to the house.
I supported the enterior with lumber and rigged up through the roof vent openings.
After putting some tension on the rigging I removed the front and rear bellypan rivets.
These trailers are built different, I think, than Airstream. The shell is not supported by the floor. It has 6 tabs sandwitched between floor outriggers. Those 6 tabs buck rivet to the main ribs and support the shell.
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02-03-2019, 02:05 PM
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#20
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2 Rivet Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Ferdinand
, Indiana
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 33
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Frame
I’ve decided to build an entirely new frame. After taking very carefull measurements and lots of pictures I had to demo the old to make room. I live in a subdivision with limited space so I couldn’t keep until the new one was done. That would have been great.
After much thought I decided to stay with a leaf spring drop axle. I did considered straight axle and torsion suspension but the arguments seem to be split 50/50.
The only parts that will be kept are the leaf springs and axle cross members. Everything else goes.
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