1957 Cardinal travel trailer restoration

I was able to shake out just a few hours to work on the trailer this week, but I did manage to remove two of the lower door side panels (as well as the door itself). Plenty of twisty nails held the flashing around the door and the threshold, wherein I learned the wonder of Vampliers screw removal pliers. Seriously, these are great. Granted, 80% of the twisty nail heads ended up busting off no matter how careful I was (by comparison, I've removed about half of the J-rail without a single busted or stripped screw), but I'll take it. No shortage of rot, although I was pleased that there's at least some solid framing left. One disappointment is what appears to be old damage to the paneling behind the icebox/back of the closet, which explains the fresher birch ply there. Count that one as a red flag missed on my part. I'll have a better idea once I get at it from the inside, but it almost looks as if it might have been fire damage. Oddly, the adjacent fr

After several weeks of life intruding (including needing to build a full-scale Wright Flyer marching band prop the same weekend), I was finally able to shake out enough time to begin pulling the skin off of the Cardinal. I knew there was going to be rot, and I wasn't disappointed (hmm, that didn't come out quite right). The damage is far more extensive than the water staining visible in the interior would indicate, enough so that I ended up supporting the front wall with a bungee cord to hold things in place until I get a chance to deal with the electrical and propane lines. The curb side is in rougher shape than the street side. I'll need to dig deeper before deciding whether I can get by with a patch job on the floor (broken on the street side, some rot on the curb side), or if I'll need to pull all of the cabinets for full replacement. Definitely a good reminder that any visible water damage at all likely means major rot underneath. A