Loretta - Our 1957 Boles Aero, Mira Mar: May 2015

Loretta

In April of 2014 we purchased a 1957 Boles Aero, Mira Mar. She is 19’ long and all original. We named her Loretta after my wife’s sassy Great-aunt Loretta. Loretta is different than most travel trailers of this period in that the interior skin is a whitewashed birch rather than the usual darker stained interiors. With some TLC we are going to restore Loretta to the fully functional travel trailer that she once was, while preserving the essence of the 1950’s. Check out my surf blog: http://uppertrestles.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Water Lines

The water lines on this trailer were aluminum and so corroded that the lines fell apart in my hands. The tank was an old soldered sheet metal tank that God knows what was growing inside. So I ripped it all out and replaced the sheet metal water tank with a custom plastic tank. The water lines for both city and the on board water was replaced with new copper lines (1/2 to 3/8). I got the old hand water pump and the tank fill port stripped polished and re-chromed. The hand pump had channel lock marks all over the base and need a little TLC before it was re-chromed. The city water faucet was toast so I bought a new replica faucet.

Old Tank

New Tank Installed

City water connection lower right

Water lines. I know, the 3/8 line is about as straight as Lombard St.

Before

After

Shiny, and the bakelite handle tip is intact.

Installed

I had a hard time getting the hand pump to work so I pulled the guts and installed a 12v pump.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Polish

We also recently had the exterior and the new propane tanks polished by Jesse owner of Pkazzo's Paint Restoration and Mobile Detailing. Nice work Jesse!
BEFORE:

Kitchen

Haven't posted in a while, but I'm just back from the Pismo Beach Vintage Trailer Rally and got some inspiration. We're almost done with the kitchen, I just need to complete the plumbing.

Recovered the dinette cushions with Sunbrella fabric.

Original and still works!