Picked up a "canned ham" this weekend - mfg by Lakewood Industries of Artesia, CA

I got the ***le today and it's in my name now. Kind of a wierd deal there as someone had actually ***led it as a mobile home in 1959. After thinking about it and knowing the laws up in the town where I found it I think I know why.

Essentially, you are allowed to put a "mobile home" on some lots, but the city frowns on parking travel trailers there. Apparently someone figured out a way around this law and re-cl***ified the trailer as a M-H (Mobile home - see plate pic).

So once I get new tires on it and grease the bearings, I will have to drive it by an inspector to say "yes this is a travel trailer" (level 1 inspection) and they will re-cl***ified it properly and issue me a new ***le. The AZ MVD is pretty easy to deal with, thankfully.

It also appears that I might be only the 4th owner, as the guy who owned it before the real estate investor had it ***led in AZ since 1959.

 

Yes, I find it more interesting if people put the price. Project or Not. it seems like more of a no BS Approach. Lilke if you buy a Project car or Trailer for $500.00. Ok Great that means that there are good deals out there. But I you put $11,000.00 more into it. I can not resell it for 12,000.00. It is just a vehicle I want for myself. Not to resell and make a profit.

I am not into buying and selling vehicles, I am more into the hobby and love of the vehicles than the investment part of it.
Thats all.
and again, Nice Post and Nice Trailer. looks like it is in good shape.
Good Luck

 

Cool Wood Paneling...gotta love those old trailers. My Dad had a "Rolite" that folded down for travel, but had hard side walls. Haven't seen one in 25 years.

 

Are there any companies making decent reproduction Can-of-Ham trailers?

I'm having enough trouble finding the time to keep up with my old cars no less restore an old trailer.

 

Damn thats nice. Good find. I also have been looking for one to pull behind the Edsel.

 

That brings back memories of camping as kid. We used a truck camper, but others had something just like that.

 

Man, that's an outstanding find! Sooo hard to find without wood rot + all of it looks pristene in the pics. I don't know alot about them but my brother has rebuilt a Lakewood or 2, was one of the "better" made ones in the day (better construction).
I wouldn't polish it either, ugly job and like others said, requires up keep. My brother (he rebuilds canned hams) won't polish one, if his customer wants polished he reskins with modern polished aluminum that has sometype of protective cladding, stays looking great forever I guess. Cheaper in the long run plus the bennie of a new dent free skin!
That's bigger then most camp trailers built back then, it's big enough to be considered a "park" model. Folks would buy it not for camping but to live in even without a bathroom. Might be why it was registered as a mobile home.

 

i know some say not to polish while other say to polish. i think you cant beat the look of them when they are polished. here is a link to a tool that has been used on many campers. you may have already seen it so i apologize for preaching to the choir.

http://www.cyclotoolmakers.com/index.php

i know some of these guys on the tin can tourist website have 100 or more hours involved in the initial cutting and polishing.

 

Found this 1950 Spartan for sale on craiglist -- too cool

http://palmsprings.craigslist.org/rvs/2145731285.html

 

Very nice. I know it is a lot of work, but they do look stunning when polished. Good luck with it, anyway.

 

Hey thanks guys- I plan to start working on it soon and hope to have it ready for my fishing trip to WY this July.

 

So what's the advantage to re***ling it as a travel trailer? Put another way, what is/are the disadvantage(s) of it being ***led/registered as a mobile home?

 

not sure but,wouldnt stainless fasteners and alum sheet cause a reaction?

 

Check out this web site vintageshastaclub lots of cool stuff


pete

 

T.W., man did you score there. Love the size, very rare in what little knowledge I have of these. A pal of mine has the fever and has a few. I know what they are saying about polishing them out, a huge undertaking. I like the look of yours, as is. Congrats on some good times ahead, the pickup is also an *** kicker, my MoPar jones is showing!! ~sololobo~

 

theres one of these, or just like it up the road from me, been sitting in this guys yard for years, tried to get it off him 2 years ago when his wife was having a yard sale..
No go, he said come back after the summer was over and he would have it emptied out of all the junk..that never happened either, think its still there

 

You can no longer get a license plate for a "M_H" in AZ so I could not legally use it on the highway w/o chani\ging the ***le back to a "TT" (Travel Trailer).

 

Hey thanks sololobo - I have decided to keep the patina, do a little sprucing up inside including rebuilding the dinettte and building a platform w/ underneath storage for a mattress in the BR. I need to test out the original appliances and get them in good working order as well. Then I will just enjoy it.

 

T.W.,

If you ever decide to sell it i would be interested. Very nice find.

 

real cool my wife wants to get a scotty so we can attend more events. lucky me

 

http://www.scottytrailers.com/trailergallery.php

 

that's spectacular

 

There is good advice on polishing your trailer on the web under vintage airstreams . The biggest headache with polishing is with newer trailers that have been clearcoated. I helped polish my friends 54 airstream 10 years ago in 1 weekend, and it still looks great, I polished half of my 57 airstream when I started the restoration 9 years ago, and I can still see my face in it (even though life has put the restoration on hold and it is stored outside )check out some before and after airstream shots ,and make up your own mind if that is the look you want.I think that there is nothing cooler in an Rv than a polished alluminum one. good luck

 

They told me they are moving their factory and won't be producing for a few months.

In this economy that might mean moving into the garage behind someone's house.

 

I thought I would post up a few pics of the '54s maiden voyage to the Washakie Wilderness in Northwestern WY. It was about an 1100 mile drag each way.

I rewired the exterior lighting, and even found the beehive lenses I needed to really clean up the old faded marker lights. My 81 yr old mom made me some killer curtains out of some Route 66 material I bought and sent her back in OH.

I made a couch up front (did not want a dinette) and queen bed in the back - both with lots of underneath storage and the plywood matches the original interior really well with the stain I used. The pics below of the couch and bed were taken before I added the 3/4" 1/4 round I am happy to report that the stove/oven worked flawlessly and (although I didn't use it on the road cause it's AC only) the fridge works awesome too. It makes a great beer cooler at my cabin in Northern AZ where I keep it.

Mechanically speaking, the old trailer has electric brakes (which work) and upon inspection, the bearings were in great shape - I just had to repack them. I put on new 6 x 5.5 steelies from wheel vintique (ditched the old widow-maker split rims) and mounted "D" range Gladiator trailer tires (sorry - no biased plies for this old trailer). The trailer pulled flawlessly and the week long fishing trip was a great success with my 2 sons (20, 26). There was an active forest fire in the area - we are lucky we were able to access the area at all.

Here are some pics:

 

Holy cow!!! Is that billowing smoke from the forest fire? You're lucky you didn't get more than your marshmallows roasted.

Sweet camper.

 

Thanks - and yes it is smoke from the fire. It was growing so fast one day that I just sat at camp and watched in amazement. It is a rare day I won't choose to fish but it was hypnotic. It was in a valley across a river so we were pretty safe but the area has since been closed back off from overnight camping. Here is another pic of the smoke from that day:

 

Art supply stores have a product called "Bestine" that is designed just to remove rubber cement, but I find it removes almost any tape residue without harming the surface. Good luck with the trailer it's an especially nice find.

 

Thanks for sharing. Your trailer brought back memories of the Cruiser 15 (15 ft.) trailer that my folks bought new back in '53. Theirs was painted rather than self-colored exterior but had the same style birch veneer cabinets. They kept it until 1965 and traded for a larger model. Lot of fun camping in Western Montana where we lived at the time. Back then, you were welcome to camp and fish pretty much where ever you chose as long as you cleaned up your camp site and didn't shoot at the ranchers' livestock! Sadly, that sort of freedom is now a thing of the past in most of the country.

 

If you were that close YOU WERE TOO CLOSE!!!!!!!!!


Camper looks great