"Toybox" travel trailer project. Warning: pictures

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Barry Wolk
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"Toybox" travel trailer project. Warning: pictures

Post by Barry Wolk »

This thread was lost in the recent glitch. I was asked how my car hauler/lounge project was coming along:

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Trailer update.

I found a 1951 Royal Spartanette 35’ aluminum travel trailer in Elgin, IL. that I am converting into a car hauler/air conditioned lounge to drag our Mark II to distant shows. I got the idea while looking for a “toybox” commonly seen at car shows and races. We were in five shows last year and we suffered in the heat so I was looking for a place to escape to during the shows.

Originally I had looked into using an Airstream but the “Twinkie” shape required too much engineering to get the rear end to open. Craig Dorsey of Vintage Vacations recommended that I use a Royal Spartanette due to its “canned ham” shape. This would allow me to open the rear end in clamshell fashion.

I found the perfect trailer for my needs. The trailer has no sheet metal damage and has never been polished. The interior was tired and water damaged but would suit my needs. This trailer was built by the Spartan Aircraft Company, who has excess manufacturing capacity after World War II. Its all aluminum outer shell has held up nicely considering its been in the elements for 52 years. It’s built just like an airplane.

I hired a guy to bring it to me in Michigan. While making those arrangements I commandeered the back (20' x 60') bay of the building I own in Redford, MI.

I gutted the space, blew out all the dust and started over with a bright white paint job on the walls and 20' steel ceiling. The building had been a supply house at one time and had an air conditioned space that was also heated from a roof-top unit. I installed all new ductwork that brought forced air into the new shop area. The ductwork has dual outlets that allow me to close the uppers for winter to push hot air at the floor while reversing the order to give me cold air outlets at the ceiling, where they will be much more effective in cooling the space.

While prepping the new shop area I hired a mechanic in Elgin to get the trailer off the flat tires and grease the bearings. He found the hitch seized and spent hours making it serviceable.

Tires were an issue. The original tires were 700-16 12-ply trailer tires and they had dry-rotted. I found 700R-16 twelve-ply radials trailer tires and I was happy until I found out the price. Almost $1,000. in tires and another $300. for the mechanic, and it was ready for the road.

The guy that brought it to me charged $ .25 per mile to get to the trailer and $1.25 per mile to get the trailer to me. I thought that that was pretty reasonable.

There was a title snafu that delayed the process but I used the extra time to order paint from U-Coat and I painted the floor the color of dried blood. It has already been tested for accuracy. I finished the paint two days before the trailer arrived.

Ah, the title. Illinois listed the travel trailer as a mobile home. In Michigan, you cannot get a plate for a mobile home as it has to be moved professionally as they are 10' feet wide and up to 50’ long. I tried to convince them that this trailer was under 8’ wide and 35' long. I had to get a Sheriff in Elgin to sign a document stating that it was indeed a "travel trailer".

The final touch was to add top-notch lighting for the new shop. I'm in the business so I acquired the latest and the greatest. I used 5 400-watt pulse-start metal halide high-bay fixtures, in a row, switched so that I can have either 2, 3 or 5 lights on at a time.

The demolition phase of the trailer lasted about four days. I can't believe how much "stuff" came out of the trailer. I've salvaged a lot of the interior to be used in reconstructing the new lounge area. We want it to seem like you have stepped back into 1951. All of the modern conveniences will be hidden neatly away.

The back 21' of the trailer will be the garage area. It will have a polished aluminum diamond plate floor with white FRP on the walls and ceiling. Fiberglass Reinforced Panels are typically used in restaurant kitchens . The floor of the garage will have tracks to guide the car into the trailer. It will be pulled into the trailer by winch.

The trailer is , unfortunately, narrower than I thought. All the documentation shows the trailer as being 8’ wide. The interior is only 7’4” wide and narrows to 7’2” at the rear door. The Mark II is 6’5” wide at the bumpers so I’ll have a scant 5” on either side of the car. The doors of the Mark II are over 10” thick so you’d never be able to open a door to get into the car.

Currently, I have suspended the entire body of the riveted aluminum trailer above the separated chassis. I have to jack it up another 6” so I can pull the old trailer platform from underneath the body.

The new trailer chassis will have the capacity to carry a 5,300 lb car and all the goodies up front. The new trailer will have three axles riding on an air suspension. The air suspension will allow me to effortlessly tip the trailer back by adjusting the pressure to each axle. The trailer will tip up about 10° and the weight of the car will allow it to roll back out of the trailer controlled by the winch. Hydraulic disc brakes will provide maximum braking capacity.

I’ll be regularly updating the progress pictures at http://members.cardomain.com/barry2952 on page 5.

Thanks for your interest. Sorry my answer was so long.

Barry

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Last edited by Barry Wolk on Mon Jan 24, 2005 7:43 pm, edited 5 times in total.
'56 Mark II convertible, '51 Royal Spartanette, '56 Chris Craft Continental
'68 Lincoln Continental Limo, '77 Town Car, '55 356 Porsche Continental cabrio,
'69 Mark III convertible,'88 BMW 750iL, '88 BMW 325iX, '97 BMW Z-3, '98 ML-320

My newest car is 15 years old!
Deco
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"Toybox" travel trailer project.

Post by Deco »

Barry,

Very cool project. I'm sure you have already looked into tie downs inside for the Mark II.

My question is are you planning on putting a fold down/retractable support in the rear to be used when the car is loaded/unloaded, or are you going to rely on the hitch to hold things in place?

[ May 16, 2004: Message edited by: Deco ]
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Barry Wolk
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"Toybox" travel trailer project.

Post by Barry Wolk »

If I understand your question correctly you are asking if I am going to support the rear so that the front doesn't flip up while unloading the car. Yes?

Yes. I found some air over hydraulic jacks that will work nicely upside down, mounted to the rear of the new trailer frame.

Barry
Lugnut

"Toybox" travel trailer project.

Post by Lugnut »

Barry -

Give you something to think about with those jacks. Maybe you might want to think about getting four of them and plumb the air lines to where if you suffer a flat on the trailer you can simply use the two jacks on the frame to lift that side of the trailer.
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Barry Wolk
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"Toybox" travel trailer project.

Post by Barry Wolk »

Excellent idea!


Barry

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hawkrod
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"Toybox" travel trailer project.

Post by hawkrod »

wow, cool does not even begine to describe that beauty. i am looking for a spartan myself and had seen a imperial mansion (the biggest one!) for sale but it wasn't nice enough to restore and he actually kept raising the price on me! i am still looking for the right one though. hawkrod
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Barry Wolk
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"Toybox" travel trailer project.

Post by Barry Wolk »

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ChevyGuy
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"Toybox" travel trailer project.

Post by ChevyGuy »

One thought..
The air over hydraulic shocks may work well upside down... for a while...

I had gone through many rebuilds of a hydraulic vang adjuster for a racing sailboat before I realized that I'd been installing it upside down, the seals needed the hyd. oil to lubricate them as the piston went through it... the resulting failure would blow oil all over the boat's interior.
I know it may very well be a different situation.. but I thought it was worth mentioning...


Look to what the fifth wheel trailers common on race cars and horse trailers use for ideas..
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Barry Wolk
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Post by Barry Wolk »

TRAILER PROJECT UPDATE

Now that the car show season is over I have started back on the trailer project in earnest.

I've decided to build a new frame that the old flimsy frame will sit on top of. This will allow me to keep the original structure intact. To this end I stripped the old flooring off of the frame and flipped it over and rolled it into the shop.

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Last edited by Barry Wolk on Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
'56 Mark II convertible, '51 Royal Spartanette, '56 Chris Craft Continental
'68 Lincoln Continental Limo, '77 Town Car, '55 356 Porsche Continental cabrio,
'69 Mark III convertible,'88 BMW 750iL, '88 BMW 325iX, '97 BMW Z-3, '98 ML-320

My newest car is 15 years old!
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Post by SN3 »

Wow! That's a great idea! Good luck! I can't wait until it's done.
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Barry Wolk
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Post by Barry Wolk »

More progress.

I hung the flimsy frame from my bucket truck so that it could be sand blasted above and below. While they were at it I had them blast the paint and rust off of the bucket truck.
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Rolled the frame back into the building and started to fit the new 2" x 6" x 1/4" wall thickness frame rails to the original frame. I had the new rails cut and welded at the required 25° angle to meet the Fulton 15,000 lb. coupler.
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I'm ordering the new Airflex suspension Monday so there will be new pictures around the middle of January.
'56 Mark II convertible, '51 Royal Spartanette, '56 Chris Craft Continental
'68 Lincoln Continental Limo, '77 Town Car, '55 356 Porsche Continental cabrio,
'69 Mark III convertible,'88 BMW 750iL, '88 BMW 325iX, '97 BMW Z-3, '98 ML-320

My newest car is 15 years old!
Lugnut

Post by Lugnut »

Looks like things are really beginning to take shape. It will be most interesting to see the frame with the new suspension attached.

Have a Merry Christmas...........
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Barry Wolk
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Post by Barry Wolk »

Serious progress. All the steel is installed and welded. I hired a pro to weld the critical joints on the trailer tongue but I did the rest of it myself.

I hadn't done any serious welding since high school. About 35 years ago. I had forgotten to protect my neck while welding. Got a hell of a sunburn.

Waiting on axles from Dexter. 3 8,000 lb. axles with AirFlex suspension and stainless steel disk brakes. Should arrive mid-January.
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The original perimeter angle iron will be cut away to create new wheel wells. This will allow me to expand the wheelbase from 72" to 102", the legal limit.
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'56 Mark II convertible, '51 Royal Spartanette, '56 Chris Craft Continental
'68 Lincoln Continental Limo, '77 Town Car, '55 356 Porsche Continental cabrio,
'69 Mark III convertible,'88 BMW 750iL, '88 BMW 325iX, '97 BMW Z-3, '98 ML-320

My newest car is 15 years old!
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Barry Wolk
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Post by Barry Wolk »

I've started priming the structure. I'm painting it with Rust-Oleum industrial enamel and heavy duty primer made for sand-blasted surfaces. The final color coat will be National Blue. Very close to the color of my Mark II.

Now you can see where it gets it's strength.

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'56 Mark II convertible, '51 Royal Spartanette, '56 Chris Craft Continental
'68 Lincoln Continental Limo, '77 Town Car, '55 356 Porsche Continental cabrio,
'69 Mark III convertible,'88 BMW 750iL, '88 BMW 325iX, '97 BMW Z-3, '98 ML-320

My newest car is 15 years old!
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Barry Wolk
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Posts: 10877
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Post by Barry Wolk »

UPDATE 1-22-2005

In order to maximize the potential of each 8,000 lb axle it was necessary to design and fabricate brackets that would allow the suspension to be placed as wide as possible while fitting a relatively narrow travel trailer frame. This also eliminates the "boxcar" sway effect.

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Test fitting the diamond plate aluminum underbelly. I marked the location of the struts on the back side for pilot hole placement

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Test fitting the suspension and lifts.

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Alcoa 16" 8-bolt rims and Goodyear RST 12-ply stell belted tires. Tire pressure /heat sensing system to be installed next week.

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'56 Mark II convertible, '51 Royal Spartanette, '56 Chris Craft Continental
'68 Lincoln Continental Limo, '77 Town Car, '55 356 Porsche Continental cabrio,
'69 Mark III convertible,'88 BMW 750iL, '88 BMW 325iX, '97 BMW Z-3, '98 ML-320

My newest car is 15 years old!
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