Looks like I haven’t updated this since back when the pandemic was still a thing that was happening in other countries. I’ve been using it a few times so should probably update. It has an almost king size bed, it has a toilet, a table, chairs, lights. It’s a fancy tent.

I’ll post pictures.

But for now, here is the new signage on the front that Ursula found for me.

While I haven’t updated the blog, I’ve been working on the trailer.

First of all I got in a floor. I didn’t do this myself, there were too many things that were way beyond my skill level (I should point out, all of this trailer is beyond my skill level, but I have youtube and optimism). It looks pretty good, eh?

Once that was done we sealed the trailer. Herself went to town with the garden hose while I found the leaks by getting wet. Several cans of spray foam and spray rubber later and the thing is dry as a bone. Survived the worst of California storms (about 2 minutes of a light drizzle).

Next I knew I’d need lights, and before I started, I created a very technical and very detailed diagram.

A few hundred feet of cable and I had lights. They work. There are switches. That hang down on wires from the ceiling, but they all work. I’ll mount things later.

This next set of wires looks messy for a very specific reason, it is messy. I will get to the cable tying and taping later. One of the blocks connect the interior wiring to uses, for lights, fans, fridge etc. The other connects to all the other lights, brakes, running lights and these things called turn signals (never seen in LA, but maybe if I take it to Canada the RCMP would like to see a light flashing to show which way I intend to go).

And then I started with the insulation. After much searching I couldn’t find 2″ thick insulation (well I could, but the stuff designed for aircraft is horrifically expensive, and the wool option is none to cheap either). Instead I got R13 insulation which pulls apart into about R6.5 easily enough and started getting that up. Here a spray can of Gorilla glue is your best friend.

Next up is finishing the insulation and putting back up the interior aluminum skin, while mounting all the lights correctly.

Things went pretty slowly on the trailer this year. There was more to do on the house, there was a whole issue with the garden and some gardeners and then it was three million degrees in the valley.

I’ve been back to it and finally the floor is gone.

Buying a house really interrupted any work on the trailer. Plus having a pool when it’s over 40 degrees out really kills any motivation. So I got back to it this weekend. One large hole in the floor is now gone, a hundred feet of wire is gone and then there’s the water tank.

This hulk was taking up too much space. The remains of a Soviet submarine from the Cold War and repurposed to hold enough water to survive the apocalypse in my trailer. Also bolted to the floor and steel pipes built into the trailer, running underneath the trailer and held in so as to survive a nuclear blast without moving.

So I got to play with power tools. The pictures don’t do it justice. Think of all the sparklers you have have seen on the 4th or at Halloween and multiply that by loads.

 
After much sparking, no eye protection (but a fire extinguisher since this is California), a wrench, some vice grips, some swearing, ok, a lot of swearing, this is out.

I’ve been slowly working away at this. All the furniture, cabinets and the shower is gone. I decided to take off the interior shell too. Get to check the insulation, make it easier to rewire everything. First thing, there are a million rivets. I’ve been drilling them out slowly one by one.
What originally looked like smaller sheets are actually folded into each other so come off as one huge sheet.

Wall off and rolled up.

Wheel arch uncovered.

Insulation off.

I’ve been chipping away at the trailer most weekends. I go there for a few hours and pull out more stuff. Last week I removed the shower and the last wall so now nearly everything is gone. I’ve since cleared up the junk and lifted the carpet which makes a huge difference. Really yuuge. Bigly even.

For now here’s a 22 second video of the mess I’ve made. Pretty happy about getting that shower out and the wall with a million rivits. Now I have an excuse to be smelly.

The first job was always going to be to get everything out. With a hammer and a screwdriver I filled the car with pieces of cabinets and seats.

Just drive slowly past any bins I see on the street.

After unscrewing a half a million screws that were over my head my right hand was shot…. and it was my strong one…. While a crowbar and a large hammer would have been faster, I needed to unscrew everything from the walls or it would rip larger holes in the shell.

I looked at getting battery power tools, a drill, a saw, whatever but instead found a 1500W inverter that I could connect to the car battery. What a difference. Ripping out shelves with a powersaw and taking out a million screws with a drill is much easier. I held aloft my magic inverter and screamed “By the power of Greyskull…. I have the poweerrrrrrrr.” Yoda and Nalls declinded to be Battlecat.

Come on Yoda, turn into Battle Cat.

Anyway, after 3 days I’ve removed a little less than half.

There was a bed, a cabinet and some shelves here a minute ago.

Vanishing cabinet and seats.

My latest project, a 1965 22′ Silver Streak. I dragged this home from Johannesburg, California, a middle of nowhere in the desert over 100 miles away. Over the next year I fully intend to regret my decision and curse everyone and everything involved in this project as I try to restore it.

The outside as you can see needs some work. The other side has a garbage bag for a window. I’m thinking of changing that to glass or perspex.

The inside needs a bit of work. A can of petrol (or gas for my American friends) and some matches would help with the smell.

So this will be my weekends for the next year. This will also be Ursula’s weekends for the next year as she tried to convince me to get professional help and NOOOO, don’t put that wire in the propane tank, it’s live and will……