Been a while since I updated.  Been busy with other chores around the ranch and projects.

The Deville sits right below our house while I am restoring

The driver's side window and wall

Started on the wall on the driver's side of the dinette that was pretty rugged.  I was going to try and save it.  Started off by removing the window and took it out to polish.  I stripped the wall several times and scrapped the old shellac off in layers

  

The dinette seats are reupholstered and ready to go back in when I get the front end re-done.  the original water tank waits for replacing as well.

what did we do before these cool sanders?

A sanding with 120 grit and then again with 220 and i was ready to pre-stain and stain with golden Oak.  I found a light coat of Golden Oak matched the patina of the 1950's original wood when covered with the Amber shellac.

One solid coat of Golden Oak stain and I'm ready for the Amber shellac.

I apply the Amber shellac with a terry cloth pad.  I cut the shellac almost

Five coats of Amber over the golden Oak stain

50/50 with denatured alcohol.  By the time I have got to the bottom, I can do another coat.  The alcohol evaporates and leaves the shellac in a thin coat.

After that goes on,  I lightly sand it with some 000 steel wool and wipe it well.  It's time then for the French Polish technique.

Multiple passes in a circular motion

I apply the shellac...still with 50/50 alcohol with the pad and continue layering.  I'll do twenty layers and the spirit off the residual oil and shellac.  I evaluate every twenty layers for color and depth and shine.

When it's the way i want it, I switch to clear shellac to finish building up.

The end result is what I was hoping for.  I can salvage another piece of original birch and it looks pretty cool to boot.  Matches the other stuff that's done.

Works for me!

 Now, there are as many ways of refinishing the birch on these old trailers as there are types of finishes.  I tried using a brush to apply the shellac but was never happy with the results.  I kept wanting the shellac to behave like varnish does but....it wouldn't cooperate.  I am very happy with how the French Polish technique is turning out and I have the time to "take my time".  It may not be for everyone.

Next up is finishing the last two windows by polishing and redoing the putty tape and new screws and replacing the wood in the front end along with some birch paneling.  Once that's done, the front end is pretty much done.  Yahoo!

Just a short entry to share our pleasure with a cover we bought on EBAY for the Deville.  I think we paid under a hundred for it but it could have been a bit more.  We knew the trailer must leak and we live in a foothill area that sees a lot of snow some winters.  This winter had been mild but some years, we measure the snow in feet.  They called for snow today at well below our elevation and I put the cover on last night.

Here's this morning's weather....

Here's the beginning of the storm.  The horses always stand out in the snow....always.  Really used to trouble me that we gave them warm and dry shelters but they stood out with the snow piling up on their backs.  They have a built in cover with that winter coat they grow, I guess.

We were waiting to get the front end rehab started when we might have three or four days of good weather.  Maybe next week.

We have used the cover through several rain events and are very pleased with how easy it goes up (as long as the wind is not blowing like crazy) with one person doing it.  I use a ladder....roll the cover from each end to the center and place it on the roof in the middle of the trailer.  I move the rolls back and forward till gravity takes it over the edges and climb down to secure it.  Until I learned that rolling to the center trick, it could take me a bit with the wind blowing.

Next post, I'll share what I have discovered about doing my birch wood and what I have decided on.

Here's one of our locals taken out the front window...they enjoy the snow as well!

Here are some before pictures of our 1959 Deville.  Starting at the tongue, I was pleasantly surprised at how most everything was still pretty solid with little rust evident.

The tongue was straight and had the VIN stamped in the metal on the side.  If one were to use the same method of dating and establishing manufacture date as Shastas do, the trailer would be a 1952.  No one really knows as the PO only guessed when he made the forms out for the Utah DMV.  We'll figure it out one of these days.   The jack was brand new and on the side of the tongue was something I had to ask about to figure it out.


It was a hydraulic parking brake.  

You pulled the handle and the fluid went to the drums and locked them down somehow.  i took it off and will not be using it.

The chains we added to travel and I will be mounting them differently.

The original trailer wiring was not functional and we used a temporary setup that worked well.  All new rear lights wiring will be installed as we get to rebuilding the back end.

 The paint was in fair shape overall.  The striping and aluminum stripe were sharp.  There's some evidence that this is not the original color (original was a darker blue/green).  The axle had been rotated and you can see how high she sits.  Normally, the deville sits so low, it is hard to change the tire.  Since we live on a bad dirt road and plan on camping off of bad dirt roads, we'll keep it for now.  It also makes it easier to clean up the underneath.

The original door handle is missing on the outside but is original on the inside. They had an interesting sheet metal thing going and the door handle i very old.  For now, they work and they'll stay.  Looks like the original door handle.

The inside door birch paneling has some  water damage at the bottom.  I will eventually replace it but again, more pressing things beckon.  The rear compartment door is pretty dinged up and will make a new one someday.  Latch works well.

One of the tail lights.  Totally rusted and not working.  I have since pulled them out and buffed them out to near new looking and rebuilt the interior sockets with new springs and connections.  Amazing what the buffing wheel will do.....even makes the red glass look like new and it's 50 years old!

I wanted to share something briefly that I will elaborate on down the road.  If you are interested in restoring vintage trailers or campers, there are a number of wonderful web sites for you to go through and learn from.  One of the best and the one I refer to almost daily now is larry Walsh's Canned Ham  web site.  Full of videos and techniques that illustrate the twists and turns of restoring fifty year old campers.  He has a series of over 40 different videos that cover most every system and method for getting these old trailers back to their prime.  He's also quite an interesting character.  Bookmark this one:

http://www.cannedhamtrailers.com/

This concludes part 1 of the walk around and look inside of the "before".  I've got to tie some flies for an excursion to try and connect with some browns on Friday.  I'll leave you with this....It's a picture taken here at the ranch and something we are thankful for every day....our wonderful wildlife.  This little Bobcat was sleeping the afternoon away in a dead tree right behind the house.  The Ravens let me know he was there and he posed and snoozed for several hours before strolling off.

Saw a Mother and baby Bobcat strolling across our ridge at sunset last week.  They ambled like they owned the mountain....which I guess they do.