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1978 Nomad Trailer Restoration/Project: 88GMCtruck is at it again.

I can stand in it, but then again I'm not very tall

Got the title/licence taken car of today, and picked up a few more misc items at the hardware store. Also got some 3" wood lag bolts to run and sandwich the floor joist/subfloor/wall plate together around the edges.
 
No progress last night, I had to do homework and some other chores around the house. Hopefully tonight the last piece of plywood will slide into place and I can work a bit more on some structural wood in the back wall.

I did order a small laundry list of items that are broken/missing
- clearance light base and lens
- porch light lens
- fridge roof vent
- waster water tank roof vents
- range hood vent
- Butyl putty tape to re-seal windows/doors/seams
- large box of screws to replace old when doing putty tape
- additional table leg, pedistal & base
- towing mirrors for the 88
 
Making more progress. Got the rest of the old flooring out. The hardest part was getting the old stuff out under the shower.
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Door removed to replace the joist underneath. I also added some additional reinforcing since the step mounts here.
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The bottom of the wall stud next to the door, just a *little* rotten. This will be replaced.
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Probably the best corner of the joists, under the storage compartment
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The back drivers side is a little rotten. Pulled the old joists out and made a new one.
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Plywood cut, ready to be slid in under the walls
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And floor insulated
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Plywood partially slid in. I didn't get a picture, but to get the walls up I screwed a 2x4 to the outer wall and used the hi-lift to jack it up. You have no idea how valuable the Hi-Lift has been on this project.
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I HAVE FLOOR!!! Also filled the all the gaps between plywood with putty, to smooth things out.
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Tomorrow comes the epoxy coating, and it'll be curing over the weekend.
 
I might be a little ambitious.... I'm not much of an insomniac though. Once I start a project I really can't stand to leave it partially complete, it just drives me nuts.

Anyway, no pictures but last night the siding was put back on the lower portion, I sorted out all the trailer light wiring, and the water system was hooked back up and tank filled.

The outside lighting was a mess. Someone put one of those converters in for vehicles that have separate turn signals on the trailer side, and all the rear clearance lights were disconnected. I got it all sorted out and now have functioning lights.

As far as plumbing goes, thus far, I need one new line for the hot water heater and a seal kit for the water pump (both leak slightly when at pressure). The fresh water tank is in the front of the trailer so it accounts for the tongue weight that I need (37 gallon tank is quite a bit) and when it's filled, it tows much, much better. Made a trip to town and back, about 14 miles or so. Prior to having it filled there is maybe 150 LBS of tongue weight.
 
hello!

Hi 88.
Sorry..not sure how these forums things work so I hope I'm doing this right. (first timer). I was looking at a trailer very just like yours and was wondering if you could tell be how much it weighs? I have a 93 gmc 1/2 ton and I'm not sure if the old girl will pull that trailer up some of the big hills here in Alberta.

Thanks
David
 
bullet said:
Hi 88.
Sorry..not sure how these forums things work so I hope I'm doing this right. (first timer). I was looking at a trailer very just like yours and was wondering if you could tell be how much it weighs? I have a 93 gmc 1/2 ton and I'm not sure if the old girl will pull that trailer up some of the big hills here in Alberta.

Thanks
David
Click to expand...

Your truck, if properly set up, will have no problem with our Alberta hills, David. I pulled a 30' 9800# 5er through every mountain pass we have, no issues. If it's stock, you will probably have to do some basic work on it first, though (cooling, exhaust, transmission, turn up the fuel a bit, stuff like that. Nothing expensive, nothing too hard to handle with basic tools.

Hey, welcome to the site! You won't find a better crew of knowledgeable, friendly guys anywhere, including the young fella sharing the pics of this outstanding trailer rebuild!

Help us out a bit and fill out your signature with details of your truck and what you've done to it so far. Click on the signature link (in my signature) and it will take you to yours. We need to know what modifications you have already made - it helps with diagnosis, and keeps us olde fartes from having to try and remember what truck you have (or running back to square-one all the time because we can't)

Jim
 
Looks good David.
Seems a lot easier than working on mom n dads airstream. God I really hate to work on that thing. All the plumbing is refer size, they are built from the back forward so everthing overlaps forward, and its all pop rivets. :mad2:

It otta make a nice hideaway when your done. :thumbsup:
 
Very Nice work, I picked up one just like yours but a 76 on Sunday but not near as pretty. Mine has been under a walnut tree for 11 years and was given to me just for hauling it away......It will be alot of work but it will give my nephew and I a project for the summer...pics of the nasty thing are in my photo album...
 
Triton, I just looked through your picts of your trailer. Man, I am glad mine was from Eastern Washington! I grew up near Puyallup and I know how hard the weather can be on things over there. I hope the damage isn't too extensive on your trailer.

Yours looks like it's a little longer than mine, I have a model 1920 (which is a 19' total length, 14' floor length) I'd assume yours is 2' longer than mine. Let us know how the resto goes!
 
Well, I took a sorta break this weekend and did a tent camping trip. It was nice to get away from the trailer for awhile.

But, I'm back at it. Got the floor epoxied.
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Storage Compartment
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Bathroom (through the window since I can't walk in it yet)
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And I spent a few hours taking the stove apart and cleaning. The top was a little rough, and not all the rust was removed but it looks WAY better.
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Tomorrow I'm going to turn to the truck, get the trailer brake controller wired back up.
 
So I started working more this week, which has really killed my progress. I did get a big 50lb box of parts today! Nothing too exciting, mostly stuff to replace vents on the roof and seal up the windows/doors/siding
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Tonight I was letting the floors dry more and instead turning to the truck. I got my towing mirrors installed. The left is the towing mirror, and the right is my OEM mirror.
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Before:
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After - Retracted. They are almost identical to the OEM mirrors, except they have the adjustment sleeve and stick out just a hair farther.
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After - Extended. I think these will let me see around that pesky trailer.
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Time to wire up some stuff. Found some nice 4 pair 12 guage wire in rubber sheath. Running that for trailer 12+, trailer brakes, backup lights and parking lights.
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Wired in some circuit breakers for the trailer 12+ and trailer brakes.
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Wired in a plug for the trailer brake controller. I even used the same plug that 99-02 GMT800 trucks use and mounted it under the dash. Ignore the blue tape on the controller, I was using it to hold it together for the moment.
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