Need a power inverter?

I found a great power inverter, really cheap at Harbor Freight. IT may not be available much longer, and most likely NOT available in the stores (was no longer in stock at Bellevue, WA) This is on Clearence (notice the "86" in the price) and only availble until they are sold out. Not a bad deal!!

700 Watt Continuous/1400 Watt Peak Power Inverter

• Modified sine wave technology
• Two grounded 110 volt receptacles
• Approximately 90% efficiency
• Low battery alarm/shut off
• Anodized aluminum housing
• 30 amp fuse

Overall dimensions: 12.2'' L x 12.2'' D x 2.44'' H
Weight: 5.1 lbs.

ITEM 91848-6VGA

$39.86

My trailer wiring.

http://waterwerksnw.com/filetransfers/Mike_trailer_wiring.pdf

Next Trips Planned!

So we are heading up to Birch Bay at the end of the month to the "Lighthouse by the Bay RV Resort". Well, I still have not seen the Lighthouse in any of the pictures (they can't be talking about the 6ft model in the last pic, are they??), but my parents seem to love it there so we are joining them for a, are you ready for this? 3 NIGHT TRIP. Wow, only 3 more trips and I'll be up to a whole week! :P

Then September 11-13th, Emerson and I are heading up to the 9th Annual Tin Can Tourist Mt Baker Vintage Trailer Rally at The NW WA fairgrounds. We are caravanning with My Friend Rob and his totally dope 77 Commander. Can't wait! Last few years they have seen 100 units attending, back to the 1930's. I'll have a few thousand pictures from that I'm sure! :)

More Info Here at TCT.com

Who doesn't want more pictures? :)

More Awning Pics, and picked up some matching Red Chairs... the Blue ones were worn out and getting dangerous.


Notice anything new in this picture?


you guessed it! I polished the "Vintage" plate.


and the side that still needs a bit of polishing attention...


ahhh...family portrait!


he grows up so fast! Emerson and I will be attending the Vintage Trailer Rally up in Lynden, WA on Sept 11-13th.


The New Tow Rig: 2003 EB Ford Explorer. It has a mean sounding 4.6l V8, and gets better towing MPG than the Tiguan... hmmm.


and last but not least.. I shrink wrapped the wire loom... More flexible and cleaner than the old hard plastic loom with electrical tape wrap.


hmmm... what's up next? Some more polishing (and seal the rest of the windows), maybe wetsand and polish the paint, new coat of paint on the cupboard doors, polish the "i-beam" curtain rail and install the "Room Divider" aka a brown linen shower curtain, install the new faucet with sprayer hose Thank you Attic Treasures Thrift Store!

Water heater? Not for a while, but on the list for sure!

Yay, Finally got the awning made!

So I got some New Old Stock (from the 60's) Sunbrella Fabric from 48 Rob and brought it down to my dad's shop to get it all sewn up this afternoon.

The Man :)


The Skilz






Instead of wrapping the Fabric over the rope, we wrapped the rope with this rubberiezed fabric he had left over from another job... something about a radiator in Alaska. It's about the same thickness, but will take the abuse of the rail better than almost 50 year old fabric.


setting the gromets in the corners was kinda fun... two pieces that get pressed together by a single blow of the hammer... or maybe two. :)


And all set up! Well, mostly... I'll take it over to the State Park tomorrow and set it up on the grass. Let me tell you, I'm glad we used the rubberized fabric... just a bit of Synthetic Grease (mobile1) and it slides into the track with ease!

Problems and Fixes in the same post!

So we hitched it up to take it down to the Car show Friday Afternoon... (Last weekend) and just before I drove off, I thought, "well, I had lights off the trailer, I should check the lights). Normally, the lights work flawlessly and I just make sure the side marker fires up and the reat work just fine... nope! All 4 side markers were dark... tail lights were dark... Right turn didn't work, and Right Brake didn't work... oh no!

Well with some fiddling around and still nothing I headed out and followed my wife in the GLI down to Tacoma with only one stop turn signal!! (In heavy traffic).


At the show on Saturday night I had some time to fiddle with it, so I ended up tearing into the front corner where I made repairs as I thought I'd find my culprit there... didn't find anything... sadly put it back together, still not working quite right. Towed it home again with one turn signal... :(

So last night I decided to fiddle with it again. Took out the 12v battery to test with, and remounted the ground and sanded off any oxydation on the connector. Put the ground onto the frame instead of just the skin this time!

After I confirmed the lights 'Work' by running leads to each light and trying them out. Found out the ground was good still... so what was the problem? Tail light? Nope all good there... running light wire? seemed to be okay... hmmmm.

So after tearing it all apart, the lights started working, great! Now let's put it together SLOWLY, and with the lights ON, so I know when they turn off. If it wasn't the LAST screw I put back in (after re-sealing that corner for the 3rd time!!) and I had to take it back apart again!

"The Problem" was they knotted the wires at each corner, I'm sure to allow them to pe wedged in the skin so they wouldn't slip down when you had a light off... but, not thinking about it, as I screwed in the bottom wire for the light, it went right into the center of the knot and grounded out the running lights. Then, the newly bare wires touched the skin even when I took that screw and light out.

All better now! Everythng is rewired, shrink wrapped up tight and protected and working like a charm!

whew!

Here is some shots at the Car show.

on our way:


all set up for blacktop camping :P


Pull Ryan, Pull!!! Need some Fancherlube?


Clockwise - Ryan, Hil, and Chris

More updates... pin-stripe and badges on!

Upper Front (sorry about the Shadow)


Starboard


Rear


Upper Rear


Whole Rear


As She Sits Now


Silver Pinstripe

Badges almost ready to go!

I just need to throw a few coats of clear over to get a bit more gloss out of the colored paint... those Elmer's paint pens don't keep a very good gloss when they dry. oh well, Testors was limited on colors. (BTW The Elmer's pens are 50% off right now at Michael's in Issaquah) :)

As they sit in the picture;
"Following" goes on the rear above the License plate. (yes that is a smiley with it's tounge out. :P
Big Aristocrat Trailer goes on the rear above the window.
2 small Aristocrat trailers go on the sides, under the front windows.
Red Mainliner will go on the front above the window (on white paint)
The 2 black Mainliners go beside the small trailers on the sides (on red paint)
Little A badge, goes above grab handle by the door.

Paint is on!!!

So I don't have all of the windows polished yet, but here is a look at the progress so far... Came out looking almost EXACTLY like my last photoshop... good idea to mock up paint before you lay it down.

Ended up just using a brush to slather it on... this paint acted really, really weird.. it spread like tar, but ran like water. Go Figure! :)







There is now a 1/4" silver (couldn't find chrome) vinyl pinstripe between the red and white sections... it runs just under the lip where the white meets the red on the sides, follows the angle and wraps around the front and rear. I need to go get another roll... I thought 36 feet would work, that's what I get for trying to think with a 2 year old in the paint isle of an auto parts store... 12 + 12 + 7 + 7 does not equal 36... streching it in a few places I was able to make up about a foot or so... had to piece together hand cut pieces from the Sample window piece... it's all the way around, but I'll replace the rear stripe eventually.

okay more pics...

hand painted lines with a 1" brush... not bad, eh? (it's supposed to be angled)


The polished windows look really nice against the new paint!


running everything I come accross on that polishing wheel...


even painted the Frame and ROOF!




Color Matched the new badges with a base coat of the White.


Here's the bumper weld... not too pretty but fixed, and that's what matters most!


so you can see how I painted the frame... that goes all the way up to the tounge. "If it's something worth doing..."


like I was saying... tar-water paint... brushed on did give it a nice gloss shine... I made the mistake of rollering a section after doing the roof... finish is flat and lifeless there, but here you can see the shine! I will still wetsand and buff after the paint has a while to cure (1 month?)

okay before I get to the paint pictures....

when I was doing the inside walls, as I mentioned earlier in this blog... I forgot to insulate a section of the wall. Specifically between the window and the Kichen Cupboards, 3 feet and up to the ceiling. so I took that corner apart to insulate it... and I remembered I also had some rot down there that I left alone... well even my repair didn't hold well, so I rebuilt that corner.

Scary... pulling of the siding!




Okay so the big L you see is a new piece, around the corner in the front there is a new 1x3" too... so that corner is all new now. Also, that footer is new (had to rip a 1x4 down... weird size like actual 2"!) and replaced and supported a couple cross pieces. I used that tin to help protect the corner and keep it all together. A lot stronger now!!


the old girl is sanded and ready for paint! Bye Bye Aristocrat Stripes!


The red went on first (stupid, should start on the upper section first... less runs to touch up later... ask me how I know!


the next morning I touched up the red a bit, then started with the white. This white was matched from my son's radio flyer "retro" trike... I used the seat to color match the Valspar Industrial Anti-rust, Scratch-Resistant Oil Based Enamel(Smae exact paint they use for the tractor and implement paint, typically IH White is used). I call it "Radio Flyer White". (notice how blue (cold) the old paint is in comparison) the new paint really warmed up the exterior, and gave a preview of what's inside :)