1963 Globetrotter Restoration/Refurbishment

[mhutchinson]

I thought I would start a thread to post my progress. We purchased our 1963 Globetrotter in 2005 from the Bell's from Ontario, Canada. Importing a 40+ year old trailer was a story in itself, but I won't go into that here.

Here are a couple of photo of some of our many camping trips with our silver twinkie:

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 2010


Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts


That was the trip when the shell leaking just got to be too much, so just before Christmas 2011, I started to remove the interior:





Hopefully, someone will gain something from my series of successes and, of course, failures.

Matt

[mhutchinson]

So by late January I was pulling the shell off the frame. Here is the belly pan slowly coming loose from the J-channels. It's hard to imaging drilling out so many rivets.

Sagging Belly Pan:


Pulling the chassis out from under the (precariously high) shell:


The shell safely close to the ground. Yes, that's snow. This was done in January in Syracuse, NY. Usually there's 3 feet of snow but this year was different.

[mhutchinson]

The original plan had been to remove the interior and inner skin, seal the shell, patch the floor and reassemble. Well... when I stuck a screwdriver through the soggy floor in the front and then in the back I knew it wasn't going to be good. When I pulled up the soggy parts and saw how bad the frame was I just plain FREAKED OUT



Matt

[mhutchinson]

Ok, well back to the progress.

Here's the stripped down chassis. The new axle had already arrived and it was time for some cut-off sawing and grinding.

This is what I've heard is a typical frame condition:


I won't bore you with the cutting, grinding and welding so here it is just back from the welder.


And here it is after rust converter and paint. it took 3 tries to get the silver we liked so I used the extra to paint areas of the frame. The wheel wells are black and the tongue and bumper are hammered silver. The rest is a combination of those and some other silvers.



Today, I started temporarily bolting the marine plywood floor to the frame so I can drop the shell on and trace the outline. There wasn't enough wood left in the corners to make a good pattern. Sorry for all the tools piled on .



This week the aluminum for the belly pan should be in and the galvanized sheet steel for the wheel wells. I need to pick up some angle at the same time to make a brake to bend it all.

Matt

[mhutchinson]

We did decide to add a few "modern" features.

Gray water tank above the axle:


And spare tire carrier underneath.


Matt

[mhutchinson]

Since I started this project we've been struggling with restoration vs. refurbishment. Our trailer had the original rear bath and wardrobe but the galley and couches had already be partially refurb'd; you might even say remuddled.

So here's the original layout:


and this is the floor plan that we would really like. It's a cross between the modern Bambi 19 and the late 50's Traveler/Caravel.


Right now we're on the fence as to which layout to go with. I've put the gray water tank inlet where it will work for both and the new layout will fit with the current window layout of the globetrotter shell.

Lots to think about while I progress toward an empty shell on the refurb'd frame and new floor...

Matt

[mhutchinson]

I had the shell on the frame/floor for a few hours this morning to trace the profile. The lifting went better than expected but I guess I should have put in more bracing because it was a bit difficult to get the shell in its normal shape.





I did manage to get a half decent profile and then I riveted the inner skin to the front J-channels and refined it.



Hopefully this week I'll get the rear profile marked and cut them both. The belly skin and galv steel for the wheel wells should be in this week.

Matt

[surfpod]

That's one beautiful body!!

[mhutchinson]

Last weekend I built a DIY sheet metal brake from plans I found at EAA - EAA Experimenter - Dave's Sheet Metal Bending Brake. Other than a lot of holes to drill, it was simple to make. Here are a couple of photos of the brake in action:



Making inner fenders:


Here are the inner fenders sitting in place:


Happiness is 48' of J-channel:


Looking forward to getting the floor and belly pan in place next.

Matt

[mhutchinson]

I've been away from home a lot for work since August but managed to finish the belly skins yesterday. Now to drop the chassis back on the axle and get ready for to reattach the shell that's been waiting patiently in the backyard.

pictures to come...

[Hazim]

So what evert happened to these updates. Looks fantastic

[redthies]

Hazing, I’m not sure if you noticed but it’s a 9 year old thread, and his sig shows a 2015 Sport as his current trailer. His last post was 2017. I’d love to see how this turned out too, but I don’t think we should expect much.