Reconstructing the '64 Scotty Sportsman, rebuilding the floor

Scotty frame, sanded and undercoated.  Fortunately, the frame in very good shape for its 50 years!

Reconstructing the Scotty: In the last few months, we are back working on the Scotty.  I think I have acquired about every item needed for the rebuild over the past  several years, some through Amazon.com, like roof and running lights, new two burner range, new bar sink; some off eBay, like a Humphrey's gas lamp and sink hand-pump; and quite a bit on visits to a true old trailer resource in nearby Sacramento, RVDoctorGeorge.com (a company in Sacramento that scraps old and newer travel trailers, with about everything one might need that can't be found elsewhere). 

New Jalousie window, top, old one (missing most of its parts), below, and 12 volt fan; found both at

RVDoctorGeorge.com in Sacramento, an old trailer rebuilder's dream!

There, I found a good Jalousie window for the door for $75, almost a perfect fit, though rebuilding the door is yet to come. And, a set of four dinette cushions, the right color scheme and only $200, and other miscellaneous objects like knobs, hinges, a 12 volt fan and the like.

Save all those side, floor and roof panels and pieces; you will use some of them as

templates for your reconstructed Scotty trailer.

And, as mentioned in a previous post; we kept those old body panels, as templates.  Boy, happy I kept those old pieces, for they were/are very helpful in figuring out items as "just where to the two wheel wells get inserted into the floor", how were the front dinette and the rear gaucho bed constructed, and much more.  We also took extensive pictures of the "before trailer" and the trailer as we tore it apart - many times these have been helpful in beginning to put the new trailer body back together again!

The partially deconstructed trailer body; and, keep those side, roof and floor pieces as templates for the new trailer - they will come in awfully handy.  Also, take a lot of pictures of any tricky finish/construction details.

Working on installing the step-down floor, after installing all new redwood 2X2 joists.

New floor down, wheel wells installed, prior to putting down new linoleum.

Once we had the aluminum skins and roof panels off, it didn't take too long to knock the trailer box apart. Other than the right rear quarter panel, totally dry-rotted, saved the pieces for templates for future use. And, we took lots of pictures of the interior, and details of the demolition – as future reminders for rebuilding the Scotty.

New floor, and new linoleum, now installed.  Seems like we are headed in right direction!

Down to the floor – each side of the trailer is attached in 4-5 places, to the side trailer extensions, and in four places to the drop-down floor supports. Cut most of those off with my Dremel tool – then it was easy to pull the floor up and out. Again, saved the floor pieces as templates – this would be useful when it came time to locate the wheel well locations on the new floor.

We purchased 4 x 8 by three-quarter inch sheets of exterior marine chip board – believing this was more stable and weather impervious than three-quarter inch plywood. We used 2X2 inch red wood for the subfloor joists and edge pieces – thinking this was rot resistant. Once cut and bolted down, I  double-waterproofed from underneath with intent to make it weather-impervious. Will probably hit the undercoating again, once the entire body, aluminum sides and trim is finished. Best of all, in the West, we hardly ever camp in nasty weather, so the trailer, seldom wet and garaged when not used, should easily last another 50 years!

We found a nice linoleum pattern at Home Depot, with a subtle pattern, and in a few days had it cut and glued down. Future challenge will be to find new molding trim – but this can wait till later Will probably check out RVDrGeorge.com in Sacramento.

The three new cabinets constructed by friend Tom Wilson, with a bit of help from me.  We trimmed 6" width off both floor mount cabinets, so we can add 6" width to the gaucho bed in the rear of the trailer!

In the meantime, my buddy Tom Wilson, with only a little help from me, has remanufactured the three cabinets. With both the floor-mounted kitchen cabinet, and the wardrobe on the other side – we trimmed 6 inches off the width – with intention to make the bed 6 inches wider in the back (that will make the rear gaucho, when made into a bed, almost 55" in width; yay!).

Commensurately, the overhead cabinet was remanufactured, 6 inches narrower than the original. However, a new two-burner gas stove and oval bar sink (Amazon purchases) will both fit into the new kitchen cabinet – when we get to that point. In each case, the new cabinets for quality man, much better than a foot out – thanks to Tom's skills and experience.

Here, the two new sides were made from two pieces of 4X10' 1/2" marine plywood, special ordered from Boise Cascade through Home Depot.  We joined them horizontally, with Tightbond glue and steel ties.  Next step...to install the sides!

Next post will cover the installation of the sides and next steps to finishing the trailer box!  Already starting to think of the exterior color scheme (white base, Scotty Aqua blue and some Ford Ruby Red to match our 2013 Ford Escape tow vehicle)!

For more insight into this rebuild, connect with rebuilder Tim at his Email here, follow his Scotty-rebuild blog and check the web site for the National Serro Scotty Organization, nationalserroscotty.org, offering a huge resource to Scotty trailer owners and rebuilders!

Footnote: I am also the travel writer for the Stockton, CA, Record newspaper.  To read more about our travels, most of them with our Scotty teardrop, read Tim Viall's travel blog, follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Happy travels in your world!