Curtis Wright restoration

[chris hart]

Over the last year and a half, I have been restoring my 1948 Curtis Wright Model 5. I tallied nearly 2000 hours restoring it. I'm still working on it! But, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as the fun stuff has begun. Installing the bling. Curtains went in today. Nice Hawaiian pattern. The dinette cushions are completed and installed. All exterior parts (exterior light surrounds, hitch, license plate light, etc.) painted and ready for install after a trailer polish in two weeks. The nearly impossible 6.50x16 tires (imported from Florida!) are being mounted tomorrow on freshly painted rims. The awesome 9'x12' Marti's Awnings awning arrived yesterday. So sweet! Restored to original tilt beds will be ready Friday (those alone ran 2K for the bed purchase and the restore to original). I am so much the kid in the candy store! It is raining down nice looking stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have the adult to pay for all of the "candy". There are so many last minute details to take care of before a mini rally Mother's day weekend. The shakedown cruise. That is the deadline. It WILL be ready. I will be taking it up to Pismo Vintage trailer rally the following weekend. That's when I should have all of the tchotchkes ready to get a nice vibe going inside. What a life changer this trailer restoration has been. It certainly has been the biggest challenge for me to restore it. It seemed to consume all of my time and thoughts and kind of robbed me of my usual life. After this one, I'm going to have to take a break from restoring for a while. Go fishing. Take my wife out to a show. Not be beat every day. Looking back....heluva ride. Here are some curtain installed pictures. Final pictures will probably be at the mini rally on Mother's Day. Chris

[Glenritas]

Woo Hoo ! Looooking Good !

I know what you mean about the thrash to the end. Heck I'm still installing the shower and the rest of the interior and have to have it functional by the end of the month for its first camp out although it won't be complete by then.

I'll be working on it about a week then off to another gathering . Then repeat and I'll see you at the Vintage Trailer Rally in Pismo.

[ericpeltier]

MORE PICTURES, Chris! You know just two pictures is not the fix we need!

[chris hart]

"The fix" is in the works. Next week, it should all come together: beds, curtains, working tv, tchhotchkes, bling, cherry on top.

[bikeukeguy]

I am so envious. I am repairing the ravages of age on a 1952 Clipper. I will be up front, I will be borrowing some ideas, like what your entry step makeover. Looks like I got another 1600 hours to go. Mine came with the interior consisting of a toilet, or a blank canvas. Thanks for the inspiration, really great job.. Retiring and going on a 6 month "cruise", in 1 year and 3 days.

[chris hart]

I saw the trailer over a fence buried deep in the back of a yard literally off Route 66 in San Bernardino. I knew I had to buy it and fix it up. I always seem to think I can just dust these trailers up and flip them. The other thing I always do is start a project and work until I finish it. My attention stays with the project and doesn't waiver. All other projects are out of my mind and on the trailer. That is a good thing and a bad thing. The job gets done and gets worked on as it should. I have many friends that have many projects half done because they took their eye off the prize. The down side of it is that I really checked out of the many things that I enjoy besides trailer restoring. This project consumed me. Yes, it is almost done but, at a pretty steep price. I have talked to many trailer restorers that do the weekend warrior thing on them. Three and four years later, they got the job done. Well done. I thought I had learned my lesson restoring a 1936 teardrop trailer about 7 years ago. That one took about 1000 hours. I still have it. The time and effort to restore it is still kind of painful. To sell it would also be painful. At the start of this restore, I knew I'd sell it just to pay all of the bills that I have racked up doing the job. I have a feeling that my time will be worth about $10 an hour to the buyer of this beautiful Curtis Wright. Much of restoring these trailers is art. Well thought out plans and putting those plans into action no matter what the pain might be. The 6 gallons of stripper inside to remove 4 layers of paint was one of those painful plans. I guess if I thought about it, there are dozens of painful plans that I had to get through. That's the key. Get through it. The git-r-dun attitude. The only problem has been time. All projects seemed to appear somewhat easy. Then reality sets in and feels like one of those nightmares where you are running through thick shag carpeting with a monster chasing you. Just keep going! I'm out of the shag, finishing the whole thing, and feeling pretty good about it. I guess I should have taken more time to do it but that is my problem. I just can't leave it alone for very long. Pretty much, every day, I'd work on it somehow. As a teacher, I have summers off, weekends, vacations, and sick days. I calculated that I spent almost as much time teaching and teaching related work as I did working on the trailer. I'm bushed! I'm OK with selling this trailer since I knew from the outset that I'd restore and sell it. What I thought would be a few hundred hours turned into a real workout. I can't wait to just use it a couple of times. Tilt the bed up in back with the vintage reading light shining over my shoulder, watch the Predicta TV with an old trailer movie, Set the awning up and sit outside to have a cold one, and sit at the dinette and have a simple breakfast. All on what I created. I hope others can see the work that I did. They need to see the before and after pictures. I guess I am the only one that can really see the before and after. Half of the work is hidden in the walls, floors, and time planning, driving, drawing, and imagining. I'll be posting pictures soon. I have the beds coming on Tuesday. The polishing will be done on Saturday. Curtains will be done probably tomorrow or over the weekend. All of the lights and propane tank will be installed next week. Kind of like a naked lady with all of the clothes, makeup, and jewelry on the bed waiting to be put on. She should be real pretty! I'll be up at the Pismo rally to give her a go. Before Pismo, there is a very small rally for about 20 trailers Mother's Day weekend. That should be a good trial run for her. I hope all goes well! So, keep working on your trailer, but really, take time to smell the roses once in a while! Chris

[calais66]

Well done, sir! The satisfaction you feel is worth the price, I think. It's also inspiring and challenging for those of us halfway through our projects to see such a wonderful light at the end of the tunnel as your trailer is. Congrats and enjoy the history you've preserved!

[Darin n Bet]

What awesome workmanship. Absolutely beautiful trailer. Do you have a blog or somewhere that we can view all of your project photos in one place?

Also, may I ask what type of paint you used? We are almost ready to paint the interior of our '57 Silver Streak and would love to know what paint worked for you.

Thank you for posting your project! It's inspiring, and I can relate to your being consumed with your work.

[chris hart]

Hello! Thanks for the comments! The interior paint was Imron industrial with DTM primer. Tough stuff. I would also recommend PPG Omni. 6 gallons of stripper before that. There is no blog but I do have pictures of everything that I did to the trailer. Some time, I will put together a select set of pictures to post somewhere. Probably some before and after pictures. Another fine weekend working on the trailer. This weekend was different. Today was spent putting on the "bling". This was nice because each piece that I put on was one of many things that I had worked on for months. All exterior lights were installed. Wheels with hubcaps installed. Electric brake wires installed. Wire junction box installed with 7 pin connector to truck installed. Bumper installed. Grab handle with light by door installed. Fender skirts installed. Propane tank and regulator installed. Tongue jack handle installed. Here are a couple of pictures of the tongue and the tilt bed at the restorer. They really did a nice job. Can't wait to get both beds in tomorrow. Bling!