Not enough hours

I haven't had much time to play with the little speedster lately, I've been working on a 47' ten foot Boles Aero trailer, I'm trying to get it done prior to the Vintage Trailer Show in Pismo on May 20th.

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/dinubadave/IMG_1009.jpg

Cool - doesn't look 47 foot though! Nice shine.

That's really cool, Dave!
The 47' thing took me a minute. You meant '47, right?

Yep, 1947, 10' Boles-Aero, 42nd trailer built by Boles

I just started polishing it, well about a week into it, the 'wings' on the bottom edge are a new addition, must have put in about 2,000 aviation buck rivets in the past three weeks. I still need to do the interior; new birch, insulation, and wiring. I took the picture really looking at the trailer and noticed the reflection of the Speedster, thus, the post!

Dave,

My hat is off to you, that is stunning! I adore vintage trailers and yours is clearly a labor of love.

angela

Dave!

One of the entries in our car show last weekend was a 1960 Holiday Rambler (maybe Holiday Cruiser?) travel trailer - all done in turquoise and polished aluminum. OUTSTANDING!!!!! Plus, he was pulling it with a restored (and really cherry) 1960 Chevy Pickup done in the same color scheme.

The owner had found it in a barn in Maine and did most of the restoration himself, except for a few of the more difficult bits which he had a local trailer restoration shop do.

Those antique trailers are beautiful when restored, and except for a truck-based "motor home" I saw at the Hilton Head car show last Fall, I didn't know they dated back into the 1940's.

What a wicked cool project!!! Where did you find it??

Gordon
The envious Speedstah Guy from Beaufort

Thanks Angela and Gordon, I've been into these old trailers for a couple of years now. I really like the Boles-Aero's because they're an aluminum frame trailer, built like the Airstreams. I have this 10', a 1950 12' and a 1952 14', those are the three smallest sizes of the Boles, but I've only heard of four of these 10'er's being found. I also have a 1961 Airstream Bambi, a 1956 Airstream Bubble and a 1954 (very rare) Airlight, which is a bit smaller than a Bambi, looks like an Airstream but has the door between the taillights. I just started on this little guy, it had some problems so I added the 'wings' along the bottom edge and I also put a new frame under it along with a new axle. I had to DA sand it prior to buffing, went down to 220 grit in some places and worked out to 1200 grit before I took the polisher to her. Here's a couple more pictures;

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/dinubadave/IMG_0755.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/dinubadave/IMG_0898.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/dinubadave/IMG_0771.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/dinubadave/IMG_0902.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/dinubadave/IMG_0950.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/dinubadave/IMG_1004.jpg

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww347/dinubadave/IMG_0999.jpg

Gordon, sorry, I forgot to mention the Holiday, it's a cool late 50's trailer, (if it's the one I'm thinking) a large window in the front, with a kind of 50's space age interior. If any of you are in Pismo the third weekend in May (20th, 21st and 22nd) you should swing by the camper place just south of the 7-11 (on the right at the light), they'll be about 300 vintage trailers there. It sold out in less than two days. I'll be there.

Dave

Dave, that 10' trailer should be light enough to be towed by a Speedster, wouldn't it? Outstanding work, BTW, love it! I have seen a few RV-series(homebuilt Dick VanGrunsven designed) airplanes done up in polished finish, they look sweet too!

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=16744

Thanks Daniel, it was an aviation guy who told me about sanding first; it takes a little guts to take a DA to the side of a vintage trailer. I also have a 1947 Teardrop, that would probably be a better choice for the Speedster, but I doubt if it'll see a hitch. I have a 56 Chevy 2DRHT that I restored a few years back, I'm probably going to use it for my tow vehicle. Dave

So, after all the polishing, what do you apply on this little beauty to keep that finish? It looks great!

Hey Dave, that is very cool. I think I'm going to have to take a drive out to your place to check out your toys! Will you be around this weekend?
Troy

Hi Troy, I'm going to take the Speedster to Pismo on Friday and Sat., then I'm coming back Sat. Evening. I'll be around Sunday if you want to come out. 559-269-0752 cell Dave

Hi Rich,

Thanks, I appreciate the compliment.

As for after polish care; the goal here is to slow down the inevitable - reoxidation. You can use a Polish/Sealer from Rolite or Walbernize, but if you just wash it a couple of times a year, and every other year just do a polish job with Nuvite 'S' (final stage polishing) using a Cyclo polisher and cloth, you'll be ok.

Airstream puts a clear coat over their new trailers, but that is over newly installed aluminum, not polished aluminum. In painting, I never go past 400 grit, I feel I need that for the paint to stick. I can't imagine trying to clear coat 'polished' aluminum, note; I work it out to 1200 grit prior to polishing.

Thinking about it, you might get a satisfactory finish if you sanded it out to 600 grit and then clear coated the the trailer, but by the time you've worked it out that far, why not go all the way and polish it.

Dave

FYI-Dave, part of the reason I commented was that I am in the process of "dressing up" the engine bay of my Beck Speedster and introducing some aluminum sheet in certain areas that I will be "brush finishing" (actually just sanding) to get that matte finish. I was directed to a product called Shark Hide that I think I'm going to try. I just want some application to keep the finish stable and be somewhat stain free for awhile. I'm sure there will be some upkeep sooner or later down the road. Wondering if you've ever tried it? The trailer certainly is cool.

Hi Rich,

I've heard of the product but I've never used it. As long as you're going to sand it, why not just clear coat it. If you're going to use rivets and like the buck rivet look, but can't be on both sides, you could use Oympic Rivets; they work like pop-rivets but you can smooth the top down (with a special tool) so the finish product looks like you used buck rivets.

Dave

dave - VERY COOL trailer! There is another SOCer on here who is in the RV/Trailer biz, Tom DeWalt. He checks in every once-in-a-while. He would be a good source/reference for your trailer needs. Did I say, Cool Trailer! I'll post some pics later today from the Vintage Trailer Show here at the Newport Dunes RV Park in Newport Beach.

Did a follow-up on the posted "Olympic shaveable rivets". I recall people in the recent here looking for "finished-look" hardware for nameplates and "faux" recreations. Check shave-head rivet data here:
http://bylerrivet.com/products/pdfs/product1541a.pdf
See the before/after image.
(To avoid thread drift, I'll include this: http://www.vintagetrailersupply.com/ )

I saw what must be described as a documentary on PBS a while back all about the old fashioned trailer industry, and the craze that was these things back in the day. Some truly unbelievable things were contrived, many home built, one-off, and some so small they could be towed by a VW bug, I'd bet, and plenty roomy for two. These folks meet and drive around the country showing off, as I get it, and going to one of their shows would be quite a kick.

If you can make it to the Pismo Beach show this coming May 20-22nd, you'll be hooked. Nothing like a polished aluminum trailer with the inside looking like a restored wooden criscraft boat. Some of these are really light, most got started after WWII by avaition builders, who built these like a plane, light enough to be pulled by the cars of the late 30's and 40's, most had motors around 60hp.

Well, yes, that would be way cool, no doubt -- Pismo. I made it out to Morro Bay last year, but such is not in the cards this year, sorry to say. Will have to see what comes 'round back east, if there is a way to find that out.