Almost done with our 1965 Caravel

[Jim Foster]

We got our '65 Caravel in 2000. We use it lots. We have re-done the flooring, upholstery, changed to 15"wheels, changed to golf cart batteries, installed an inverter, flat HDTV, changed the front goucho to a dinette, just lots of goodies.

The trailer was not original when we got it. I am a Street Rodder, so original is OK, but updated us most always better, ...........and safer.

[airedale]

Very Nice!

[safari57]

Very nice Jim. I too play with old cars and have restified our Flying Cloud. I like to look at originals but want all the amenities of new and enjoy the challenge of having it still look "new old".

If I remember right you've also put a lot of miles under those wheels since you redid it.

Thanks for sharing the photos

Barry

[Jim Foster]

Originally Posted by safari57

Very nice Jim. I too play with old cars and have restified our Flying Cloud. I like to look at originals but want all the amenities of new and enjoy the challenge of having it still look "new old".

If I remember right you've also put a lot of miles under those wheels since you redid it.

Thanks for sharing the photos

Barry

Yes, we have towed "Lucky" somewhere around 80 thousamd miles. In 2003 we spent 223 nights on the road. One trip that year included visiting 28 states, DC and Niagara Falls, Canada. That one trip was over 9,000 miles, but only accounted for 87 of the 223 nights on the road. Others were short stays at car events and the like.

[RetroTrailer]

GORGEOUS!! I love that mirror polish look, well done for all your hard work and I hope you have many years of fun in your lovely Caravel!!

[65CV]

Jim-

Great job on the Caravel!

Can you give us a little detail on the storage you installed forward of the dinette? How deep is it and how deep are the seats? Are you happy with it?

We're considering the same idea.

Thanks,

John

[toastie]

Originally Posted by Jim Foster

We got our '65 Caravel in 2000. We use it lots. We have re-done the flooring, upholstery, changed to 15"wheels, changed to golf cart batteries, installed an inverter, flat HDTV, changed the front goucho to a dinette, just lots of goodies.

The trailer was not original when we got it. I am a Street Rodder, so original is OK, but updated us most always better, ...........and safer.

Jim

What a great job, bet you turn a few heads around when traveling, I'm in the process of restoration of a 1955 Safari, hope to have that shine both inside and the outside............

[toastie]

Originally Posted by Jim Foster

We got our '65 Caravel in 2000. We use it lots. We have re-done the flooring, upholstery, changed to 15"wheels, changed to golf cart batteries, installed an inverter, flat HDTV, changed the front goucho to a dinette, just lots of goodies.

The trailer was not original when we got it. I am a Street Rodder, so original is OK, but updated us most always better, ...........and safer.

Jim

Where did you get the hot water cover?

Steve

[krikles]

Steve - while we wait for Jim to reply, I have a similar HW cover on my Caravel. When I first bought my Caravel it had a regular white Atwood cover but I took the cover to my brother's auto body shop. He sent it to a guy he knows who chromes/nickel plates bumpers, etc. and it looks fabulous (it cost around $50 if I remember right). Motivation to keep the trailer as shiny as the HW cover
Roxanna

[Jim Foster]

Originally Posted by 65CV

Can you give us a little detail on the storage you installed forward of the dinette? How deep is it and how deep are the seats? Are you happy with it?

John

Wow, where do I start? Here goes......

I cut up the goucho and used that material for the most part. I bought 1 sheet each 1/8 x 4x8 Birch or Oak (don't remember which) plywood door skin material. 3/8 x 4x8 clear mahogany plywood. Some 2x2 for framing and electrical fittings to add two 120v plugs, two 12v recepticles and a cable TV connector. There are four sliding doors on the cabinet. They slide in plastic double window channel I got from a Marine Emporium, a boat repair facility. Neither channel is fastened in place. The lower is entrapped by the trim as is the top channel which floats in place held up by the sliding doors. Remove half a dozen screws holding the upper trim and the whole setup comes out. It's very light doing it that way. The sliding doors are made from the 1/8 plywood, doubled and glued right side out, then the edges sanded to slide easily in the boat window channel. The outer doore have a finger hole in the outside end, the center doors have knobs.

I added the top shelf of the cabinet. The shelf right above the water tank was already there.

You can see the depth of the seats, they are the same as the street side goucho. The cabinet is deep enough to enclose the fresh water tank. I moved the curb side seat out from the wall a little to add some storage behind. I used all three storage doors from the goucho. One at the front of each seat, and the third in the middle front. At that point there is a small cabinet coming out under the table, in front of the water tank just deep enough to hold "Six Packs" or those long 12 packs of soft drinks.

As you can see, I just moved the table rail from the side to the front. I have since made an adjustable table leg made from an adjustable tent stake and another table rail on the inside of the door, so that when the door is open, the table can be moved outside for nice morning breakfasts. The adjustable table leg allows for differences in ground level when used outside.

The whole thing cost me $168.00 to do.

The water heater cover is the one that was on the trailer. It is aluminum, and was painted with some very tough paint of some kind. I used the good Jasco to remove the paint and polished the cover. The same with the inside of the entry door. Looks very nice with the door open. CAUTION...Never let the sun reflect off of the inside of the door onto your outside carpet or anything else!!!! It is concave and WILL burn whatever it shines upon. Trust Me.... It happened to me.

Do we like it.......You bet we do!!

[65CV]

Jim-

That was far more detail than expected... thank you very much!

If our Connecticut <-> California paths cross, I definitely owe you a cold one!

The pictures explain so much.

John

[Jim Foster]

Originally Posted by 65CV

Jim-

That was far more detail than expected... thank you very much!

If our Connecticut <-> California paths cross, I definitely owe you a cold one!

The pictures explain so much.

John

There seemed to be so much interest, I thought I would spill all the beans in one place.

[amigaman]

Where did you get your front window rockguard?