"I.....have a plan!"

Well, now that the trailer has been reduced to individual trailer molecules, the work/fun can begin.  There will be lots of polishing of window frames, cleaning of the frame, restoring the door, collecting of various bits and pieces to finish it out, and so forth but for now it's time to dream.  Dream about how all these various components will come back together - like an exploded diagram in reverse.  What needs to happen is not in question but down to the inch planning for the reconstruction.  Just like my motorcycle, I can envision all the parts as I disassembled them, being categorized for evaluation and each one's future disposition and then the reassembly of the entire trailer.  In order to make sense out of of this and not just cobbling it all back together to make it work, I have been devising a plan.  This plan will take into consideration modifications necessary to enjoy a full size bed, a functional galley, dinette seating as well as improvements to make this trailer a better trailer but not sacrificing the lines and function which makes the Sportsman the ideal trailer that it is.  I apologize for the fuzziness of the exports of the CAD drawings - but I think something is being lost in the  conversion from dwg to bmp to jpg!  Hopefully they convey the idea..........

Looking down through the floor on the left, upwards from the ground on the right

There are three frame extensions that need to be repaired:  the two rear most on the streetside and the one aft of the door curbside.  The welds on the others will all be inspected to ensure there are no weak welds or fatiguing angle that should be replaced.  Also under consideration is the concept of closing in the aft end of the frame to strengthen it - this may be part of a spare tire carrier/rear bumper similar to one seen recently on the Tin Can Tourists Facebook page that I really liked.

I'll have to sort out how the license plate will be incorporated here

Now onto the interior.....

White=Floor, Blue=Seating, Yellow=Bed deck, Red=Galley, Green=Nightstand, Cyan=Cushions

Here we see the dinette seating and the gaucho made up and ready for day use.  The bed is the standard 54" wide allowing for a full size bed to be made up.  The dinette seating is 30" wide so when made down for sleeping, it is standard cot width.  The cross-wise length for both beds is the regulation 75".  This required the galley to be shortened slightly from 32" to 28" requiring a different stove and sink setup.  The ideal stove & sink would be this combination from SMEV.....

....but sadly it is not being imported to the US at this time.  I have some friends who live in England who might procure one for me and bring it with the next time they are visiting the states.  If that isn't possible, then I will refurbish the original sink and utilize a small single burner stove.  Since we enjoy doing our cooking outdoors with our current trailer, the indoor kitchen will be mostly for an early morning mug of hot chocolate or a drink of water right before bed.  I'd rather not do any of the camp cooking inside for all the obvious reasons!

Bedtime!

Here is the same view of the interior with all the cushions folded down (and the bed platforms in place).  As with the galley having to be shortened, the same has to be done with the nightstand by the door.  It will end up being only about 6 inches in width but that is enough for a small book shelf and on the opposite side by the dinette, perhaps a narrow tip-out for a table cloth or placemats.  I'm supposing that either entering or exiting the bed will need to take place with a footstool since going from the stepdown up to the bed will be about a 28-inch rise.  That's OK for me in order to accommodate a full size bed that can be made back into a couch during the day.  The difference between the couch and the aft floor is only 18 inches - pretty average.

Snow is in the forecast for this weekend.......so much for working on the frame in the driveway for now.  I'll have to wait for warmer, drier weather next week.

Happy Birthday, AKF!  Thanks for letting me do what I enjoy doing!