As I reflect over the last couple days work, a saying that I told my wife keeps rolling through my head, "Next time you have an eye on a trailer that has been sitting outdoors for a few years,
leave it there". Wow. No really...WOW, did we bite one off. I took off all the J-rail around all the outside edges and there are no over lapping seams- they were all butt joined, and some had plenty of wood exposed- no wonder this leaked. The back of the trailer is almost 2" narrower that the middle, so someone cut the tin and tried to shrink it a bit to make it tight. After looking at the cuts all away around the tin, I am convinced the original craftsmanship was done by a blind man. About half the wood is rotten, and if it's not, the nailing job has completely failed. I am half tempted to rip this down to the frame and start all over. At best, I got a nice trailer frame and 2 tires.
Don't fret, the blog will continue- I am not giving up. I promised Kim a camping trailer, and I will deliver. Thankfully we are supposed to have a dry winter, because I think this is going to take a bit. I will look into re framing it, and also replacing the tin on the roof so it wraps all the way down like it was supposed to. I think I can salvage all but one side and keep some charm and "battle scars", but I am going to have to bang a few dents out. I will post some more pics once I skin it all.
