I was able to finish stripping the old roof off the trailer tonight with a little hard labour. Surprisingly, there is a relatively decent structure to the roof, but still, it wasn’t enough to survive 30+ years. With the roof off, I’ll be able to bring the metal base that holds the canvas to the roof down and get it back together and start taking measurements.
I do plan to make the roof just a shade deeper to allow for thicker foam on the bunk ends. I was also able to save the original roof vent from the old roof, it’s not in bad shape and will save me some cash. I’ve got a quote of about $375 for the EPDM rubber and adhesive but I am still shopping around and looking at the various options. I’m also looking at the option of using some steel studs instead of wood for a few cross braces in the roof to save some weight, but we’ll see.
Here’s a quick video of the current status of the trailer. Note the one sideboard I was able to keep for measurements. I also have the front side as well. Both boards are very rotten, but enough to get measurements from. The other two sides disintegrated.
Just stumbled across your blog as I was looking at some information on fixing up my 1974 Lionel trailer. Your roof is interesting, mine is plastic and had been repaired it parts with fiberglass, then a coating of some kind of rubberized paint. I am considering stripping it down and redoing it as it looks very ugly. I see you have brakes on yours as well, whereas mine does not. Anyway, I look forward to following along as you seem to have the same mindset as myself, restoring the old girl. I just pulled out the sink and stove and replaced it with a melamine board. We never use the stove and sink anyway.
Liked the link on WKS as I did not even now about these people, might have something I’m looking for.