Progress on the Nomad Travel Trailer

Well today I began the process of tearing apart my trailer. Only had time to take off the front window but hopefully I'll have the whole front end torn off by the end of the week and I can start repairing the floor this weekend!

Even though its only the beginning, it still feels great to see some progress.

New (Temporary) Home For The Nomy

My friend Billy was kind enough to let me park my trailer over at his house while I work on it. Billy also happens to be a high end luxury kitchen cabinet designer and has every wood working tool you would ever need. So thats a not a bad thing either!

At Billy's house about to be torn apart and put back together! Also love the old Bronco in the back.

Helpin Billy add some angle iron to his 4-wheeler trailer. Can you say "TearDrop"!

Not very good for a pipe welder but I was in a hurry. I'll make sure to take better pride in my work on the next one. 

Nomad Camper Trailer Layout

Here are some Sketchup drawings I just made for the layout I'm thinking about doing in my camper. I want it to be a real simple and open design that makes the interior feel bigger than it really is. I also want the inside to have a more modern design and feel to it. Probly will go with white paint and trim and probly just some neutral accent colors. The outside will look almost just like it did when it was first built, so it will still have that retro feel, but I want the inside to feel more modern and new. If I ever get another vintage camper, I'll make sure it has all the appliances and cabinets inside, and I'll probly try to restore it to its original design and feel both inside and out. This one though since I'm starting from scratch, I'm gonna go for that moder Airstream look on the interior, just a little simpler than the Airstreams though since I'm tryin to keep costs down.

Nomad Travel Trailer Restoration

Upon further google research it seems that my 1967 nomad might just be a 1970 nomad. The only thing I have to go on is the dates the people place with the images. But I've seen a couple different photos of trailers that look just like mine that say 1970. Anyways, here are a couple more photos from tearing out the inside walls.

So basically you can see that I have both side and front walls stripped down to the framing and I also pulled up the plywood the guy I bought if from had put down. Theres definitely a lot of wood that needs to be repaired including all the plywood on the floor and some of the framing. So far though things are looking pretty good. I'm hoping we can leave the side walls up while we replace the floor, roof, front and back. Then replace the sections of damaged framing on the sides as needed. Gonna hopefully take it over to a buddies house soon to continue working on it.

1967 Nomad Travel Trailer Restoration Day 1

Well after a lot of research I found out that my trailer is most likely either a 1967 or 1970 model. There isn't much information on this particular model of trailer but I found a few pictures that were like mine. I started tearing down the inside paneling today and found that there was some water damage inside but nothing that should be too difficult to fix. These trailers truly are tin cans. All that holds them together are 2x2s, aluminum sheet metal, and 1/8th inch wood paneling. Pretty amazing that thing is still standing.

It looks like I'm going to be replacing the front and rear end of the trailer. Not as difficult as it sounds just time consuming. Also will have to replace any ceiling paneling and framing that may be damaged but so far its not looking too bad. Here are some photos of what I've done so far.

As you can see there isn't much holding these trailers together structurally. But once they're all together they're pretty sturdy. I plan on beefing mine up as much as possible as I'm pretty sure it was never meant to exceed speeds of 35mph.

Also a great site to learn all about how to restore these trailers is http://www.cannedhamtrailers.com/
The guy that runs the site makes hundreds of youtube videos explaining step by step how to do it. Will probly definitely be donating some money to that site when I get the chance, really great stuff.

Vintage Nomad Travel Trailer!

Well I was perusing through craigslist today came across a vintage canned ham style travel trailer. Despite my better judgment I called the guy up, drove over to his house, and drove away with the trailer. Fortunately it only set me back $400.

The main thing I was looking for was a frame to build off of, and for $400 it was a good deal. As far as the rest of the body goes, I have no idea yet what I've gotten myself into. Fortunately the inside has already been gutted out and he put up vinyl siding for the walls. I'm going to tear out the vinyl tomorrow and see what I'm working with. I know the back has some damage to it as someone had chop about half a foot or so off and put up a rickety make shift wall and door. So I know I'll at least have to replace the back. Supposedly the roof is solid but we will see tomorrow. I can work with the back needing replaced but if the rest is too far gone then I'll just tear the whole thing down and start over. We will see!

The dude covered over the windows with sheet metal. Not sure why. He did give me one of the original windows though and 4 other windows they may work.

The guy also gave me a fresh water tank and a 12 gallon water heater. Tomorrow I will tear down the vinyl and see what I have to work with.