1950 Spartanette Tandem project

[Got Briards]

hi, new guy here
i`m not very brand oriented (i love all of the all aluminum trailers)
so i figured i share my newest project here


i just stumbled over this Spartan here locally for $500... completely rust free (gotta love AZ weather) with clean title ....

partially gutted, rotten floor in the rear, completely murdered curb door lock, somebody backed up into a pole and the usual front dents
(Spartan`s have notorious short tongues )

but overall she is in very good shape for a 61 year old girl.
the sides are fairly smooth and dent free... just the rolled pan and the rubrail have some battle marks.


my original plan was to clean and prep the old girl for resell ... but after towing the first couple miles i started to fall in love with how nice she towed with the set-back axles....
she is very lightweight (for peeps that are not familiar with Spartans; the body is a true all aluminum aircraft "Fuselage" construction with formed spars and longerons (sp?))
she is also a mid bath and larger (a full two feet longer then my current `66 Streamline trailer) without having a excessive long overhang
so after sleeping over it we decided that she is a keeper and will eventually replace our (rear bath) Streamline as the "Doggy" trailer.
dont get me wrong; i love traveling with our SL ... but now that we have a second large Dog it gets sometimes a little crowded in there

...to be continued ...

stephan

[JimGolden]

Freaking sweet trailer dude! I LOVE Spartanettes! Is that a 28 footer? Or a 32 footer?

Whatever the case, congrats on your decision to keep it. For $500, you can't go wrong.

Best of luck,

[cruiser54]

Hoi Stephan
What beauty, I am inspired! Am curious what you make from it....
Werner

[Got Briards]

she is "just" a regular (28 foot body) "Tandem" ... i think the 31 foot would be the "Royal" Spartanette

first i didnt really like the shape (its kinda a "Teardrop" trailer on drugs ) ...but she is slowly growing on me.
the well rounded rear is just fantastic for dropping the ride height without fear of constantly dragging the butt over curbs
on top of that i think she will be very aerodynamic when finished.

just like with the build of my Streamline i will take some liberty`s in the re-construction of the Sparty ... (fanatic purists will be shocked )
... but there are a couple things that just need to be changed to fit my livestyle ...

i guess its the same thing like "Hotrodding" a car; i try to make the trailers cool, modern and practical without loosing the vintage soul

[cruiser54]

I well understand what you mean! It is as in my occupation (am architect) if I an old house redevelops. The life is not like 200 years ago and I also drive no carriage!
Werner

[Skatiero]

Wow! I love tHe lines!

[Got Briards]

i cleaned out the remaining interior and insulation;



yuck , i`m glad the previous owner already removed most of the insulation ... its a messy papermache/cellulose kinda thing.
the skin sheets are sprayed with bitumen on the inside ... i guess for sound control
here is a closeup of the spar & longeron construction;



the formed spars are tapered; the inside is straight, but the outside is bowed (from 1.5" top/bottom to ~2.5" in the middle).
judging by the fairly large edge bend radius they appear to be of some higher strength aluminum.
the longerons are 1" x .125" L-angle.



the same goes for the roof spars; straight on the inside , but the roof bows from ~3" on the outside to ~4" in the middle.
i really like the construction and how close the spars are set... it is easy to tell that the Spartan designers used to build airplanes

[mnmhays]

Beautiful! Looks like a fun project!

[Got Briards]

i just removed the rear window; it had a ugly steel (?!?) frame and somebody was trying to seal it ...and went a little "triggerhappy" with the caulk gun



i think this window is a constant problem on the Spartan trailers;
just about every trailer that i have seen had leaking problems/ water damage in that area.
so my plan is to permanently mount a fixed window pane into the existing trim ring (that allows to use a flat glass in the curve)
the rear bedroom has two other windows, a door and a roof vent ... so i think i dont need the rear window for ventilation.

i also started to clean the body in some areas ... i use 3M Rubbing compound to remove some of the 60 year old oxidation and grime.
she cleans up nicely...i can only imagine how bright she will be after a Nuvite polish

btw
notice the very close spaced rivets... boy, she is build to last !!!
unfortunately that is also a problem; i guess i have to drill out some 5000 rivets to fix the front & rear damage

[3Ms75Argosy]

What an awesome trailer! I just noticed it has doors on both sides of it.. the ultimate in flow through ventilation! Interesting construction too!
Marc

[Splitrock]

Was the interior skin all wood?

[Got Briards]

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

What an awesome trailer! I just noticed it has doors on both sides of it.. the ultimate in flow through ventilation! Interesting construction too!
Marc

Marc
yes, it has two doors
... what is absolutely perfect for my purpose as a "Basecamp" for my Dogs during an Agility event.
i can set up a larger X-pen (cage) in front of one door (so the dogs can go in and out as they like)
and we can use the other door for human traffic


at my Streamline ^ ... the rear (vent/emergency) door is just too small to be used for that

[Got Briards]

Originally Posted by Splitrock

Was the interior skin all wood?

yes.... it used to be a "Birchwood beauty" with the at that time popular rounded cabinets and shelf`s inside
... but unfortunately the previous owner removed and possible burned almost all of it

my plan is to use (riveted in place) aluminum sheets in some strategic places to give the old lady some extra strength.
i will fill everything with modern Rigid foam-plastic insulation (minimal expanding foam in complex areas) and also add a vapor barrier
most likely i will then skin the inside completely new with Birch plywood.

i need to keep as much open floorspace as possible (room for my rotten spoiled Dogs ),
so the actual cabinet work will be fairly simple; just a small kitchen, nice bathroom and some overhead cabinets

[ALANSD]

I have seen a few of these at our N Georgia rallys, from empty, to reskinned and restored. Awesome potential.

[Splitrock]

Thanks for the good thread. I'll be watching how it goes.

[Got Briards]

Originally Posted by Splitrock

Thanks for the good thread. I'll be watching how it goes.

oh, your welcome
i love this stuff ... better then watching TV (i actually do not watch any TV at all .... only a couple Netflix movies here and there )

here are a couple more pix;



thats me (with "liquid inspiration" in hand) trying to figure out how to fix the nose dents (and the hammer marks of a failed fix by the preowner )

notice that Spartan used small strips of 1/4" - 3/8" plywood to insulate the Birch paneling from the aluminum.
it was on all the spars as well.
i think this is also preventing condensation "sweat" (that can form on the cooler aluminum) to "bleed" tru the interior panels.



door # plate



painted side logo is almost gone
i`m thinking to re-paint the logo onto a removable plate similar to the one on my Spartan Manson ;



...this way it could be unbolted for a re-fresh of the body polish ?!?

[Got Briards]

drilled out the first 500 rivets

i removed the belly pan, the roll-pan pieces and the rub-rails



i also decided to replace the complete front sheet and its supporting spars;
the aluminum was just hammered and stretched too much

this is actually giving me room to work on another thing that needs to be fixed;
as i mentioned before all the Spartans have a very short tongue...
i guess this was fine (and good for aerodynamics) back in the `50 when cars/trucks used to be a little smaller and rounder, but for clearance to my more or less square Doggyvan towvehicle i need to extend the tongue at least 4 inches.
my plan is to run a extra center tube (2 x 4 x .125") from the cross support in front of the first axle all the way to the tongue (or actually 4" past it)

i`m thinking of maybe using this coupler ;


at a rated 15k lbs the coupler is way overkill ... but it would give me the adjustability for my low riding height
... and if i may sell the trailer later it could be adjusted back for a taller ride if needed

[Got Briards]

ok, here is where i`m starting to drift from restoring to customizing ;

the view out of the `50 Spartanette is kinda restricted with only the vent windows ...
the later models used to have larger , non operable "observation" windows together with lower vent wings (like the `54 Manson in the background of the pic in my above post)
i really like that look (and the unrestricted view out of it)

i`m also missing one wing and one is damaged;



so here is my idea;
i`m thinking of removing the two front (dinette) windows and section-cut the frames from two wings down to single wings
(the other wings would be used to repair/complete the other windows) and then re-install it under the original opening.
for the original opening i would fabricate a new frame with a solid glass pane for unobstructed view.

what do you guys think ? ...

[slowmover]

Personally, I'm in love with jalousie windows. Nothing else "catches" a slight breeze so well. That is said so as to give you room to maneuver. You needn't anything from us as your customization of a trailer that not so many years ago would have been scrapped should proceed as inspiration and function guide you. I very much like the bigger Spartans, but have more problems with the Spartanette (purely on the basis of looks). A change from the ordinary would be welcomed . . I'd just hate to have to turn on the A/C early.

[3Ms75Argosy]

The window idea sounds good to me. I too love light.. those old girls deserve some sunshine inside! Will you have to replace all those wood spacers? That might put me over the edge!

Love this thread!
Marc