I’ve been working on separating the trailer body from the frame. The frame is connected to the trailer in two ways. There something like a half dozen carriage bolts from the 2×2’s at the bottom of the left and right walls down through angles that are part of the frame. Those are easy to remove once you remove the side panels. They’re mostly too rusty to unscrew, but easy to cut off with a Dremel.
There are also three 2×3’s that run the length of the underbody. This is at the back looking forward.
The one in the center just sits on the frame. The left and right are bolted to the frame with more carriage bolts. Like this:
Another dozen or so of them. Also needs a Dremel, but this done prone under the trailer.
There was some plumbing that came from the toilet and went around the frame. That had to be removed. Mild steel plumbing fixtures that have been exposed to the elements for 65 years- that’s not coming apart easily. Here’s what the bathroom looked like (I’ve already removed the shower head, toilet, and shower curtain and rod.
I wonder why they put a fuse box in a 24×45 bathroom, about 2 feet from a shower? Seems like a possible problem there. But the walls were NASTY. Some kind of paneling with a coating on hardboard/Masonite. Then they were painted pink many years ago, and that was peeling pretty badly. And put on with several hundred slotted screws. All painted over, so hard to remove. So I got that all off. I then cut out the drain.
And it now looks like this:
And that picture answers one question I’ve had. I have wondered whether the bathroom was a modification, or original. Since that part of the rear wall is un-varnished, it’s original. If it weren’t done at the factory that back wall would be more the same color as the other interior walls.
I want to use the center longitudinal beam as a template to make the replacement beams, so I had a bunch of large wood screws to remove. They were all slotted and very hard to get out. Fortunately I don’t care about the floor. So I chiseled a recess
And then I can grab with locking pliers, and they come out easy.
So once all the carriage bolts were removed, the frame and body are now separate:
I’m working on the side 2×2’s. Those are connected via carriage bolts from above. Removing those requires pulling the lower side panels. Now here’s something interesting. Look at the small added piece of aluminum on the right side above the wheel well.
I’ve always wondered why. Look what’s behind it!
Looks like the panel was a bit too small, and they added a piece. Stuck that on so there was some metal behind the gap, which is marginally better than not, but stilll pretty shoddy. I’m still deciding what to do there. Obviously some pretty badly rotted wood here.
