Hi, I'm "new"

[Kkat]

WoW. Great stuff all. Thanks Kai for all the details, and advice on the eyebrow.
I will be located between Molalla and Mulino, just west of Liberal (!!) when I get all settled in.

I will take more photos tomorrow (farm-sitting, and not where the trailer is right now), including where the possible missing cabinets may have been (thanks, Dave F)..

Dudley, someone has pop-riveted a plate that says "1981" over possibly the original manufacture date...don't know if I want to pry that off. I have enlarged it a little and attached.
With all the input, I will go back and poke around the walls, etc, when I get a few minutes.

[Dudley]

If it matches the title and you can get plates for it , then all should be well. Nobody is going to look into a 45 year old trailer to see when they were produced. My serial plate was so worn that the only thing I could make out was the serial number and build date.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Dudley

If it matches the title and you can get plates for it , then all should be well. Nobody is going to look into a 45 year old trailer to see when they were produced. My serial plate was so worn that the only thing I could make out was the serial number and build date.

Agree X 10. If it does match the title I would get a cheap metal stamp set from Harbor Freight and stamp it on the frame and make it look like it's been there for years. I wouldn't worry what year it states....unless it reads 2016 .

[Jim Reimer]

Try a new thread titled Ventura questions. The respondents will come out of the woodwork. We see lots of them here in Manitoba at our rallys. Jim R.

[Dudley]

BTW the belly band covers one of the flaws of the design, the top and bottom halves of the trailer are not fiberglassed together but rely on being screwed into wood on the inside. Some folks have glassed them together during a rebuild. The wood on some units has been rotten due to water intrusion, just a heads up.

[Kai in Seattle]

DUDLEY & Kkat: The amerigo is joined at the belly the same way. NOT glassed all around but screwed into a wooden strip (2x4, likely). IF we were doing ours again, this time we'd fiberglass it closed--but you still need the wood there to screw a LOT of things to. It's all part of the jigsaw puzzle way these are assembled. No part of the design can be lightly discarded.


We'd fiberglass it on the outside, nice and thick, keeping it tucked up inside so the belly band still fits over it...but inside, I think we'd leave it unglassed so it can dry out. You're going to have to screw into it to hold the belly band on...we ran our screws thoroughly through beeswax (a toilet ring works great for this and is cheap) before screwing into the wood. seals the microscopic wood pores with wax to help keep moisture out. Also we put a butyl tape strip there before screwing the belly band over it--again, sealing it as much as possible.


If you glassed it from the outside--you'd still have to put the butyl tape under the band, and you'd still probably want to run the screws through beeswax; you just want to help prevent moisture from getting into that wood strip that you do need.


It doesn't have a frame inside per se, but it has parts of a frame, and the belly wood is a huge part of that.


I like the idea of using a stamp set and making your own markings. Ours, a 1973, has no VIN or other ID # as they weren't assigning them at that time.


I like that you still have a table! Ours didn't--so in the end we opted for a small folding table that we can use inside and outside and at gatherings for BBQs and whatnot.


I like the look of yours inside--but then, I like these square eggs!


BEST
Kai

[Kai in Seattle]

Kkat, does your ceiling have molded-in areas that show where the uprights used to be? Ours does--that's why we ended up putting them back pretty much exactly where they came from--it was designed very carefully to have and to hold the supporting walls in a carefully-planned marriage... 8)


BESt
Kai

[Kkat]

Again, thanks for all the input. ! Kai, I didn't immediately notice molded-in places.... but will look with that in mind.

I am starting the process of contacting 2 owners back...maybe I will eventually find the original.

[Kkat]

Thanks, I plan on doing that as soon as I get the one unfun project I have going---that will be fun, but could also be long!

[Kkat]

oops. Still learning the posting ins and outs...last reply was supposed to go with Manitoba Jim's suggestion--

[SilverLeocraft1980]

Welcome! This a cool little unit! 👍

[Mary F]

This 2009 post has pics of a Ventura interior. I couldn't get the pics to open up/expand, but from the position of the windows, it doesn't look like there were upper cabinets? And the cabinet to the left of the door is also not floor to ceiling, but the galley cabinet instead.

[Kkat]

thanks, Leo.
Mary, I haven't been able to see the photos, yet, but will keep trying. Since it doesn't have floor-to-ceiling anything on either side, I plan on getting SOMEthing going on that

[Kkat]

Well, that was too easy...got the photos.

[Kkat]

...er, Steve, not "Leo."
Mary, thanks for directing me to that thread. It has useful info! The more input the better

[Kkat]

I had written a snail mail to the person whose name was on the title of my trailer (the person I got it from had not changed it into his name). Amazingly enough, I received a detailed (!!!) email from him today (copied and pasted below):

I do not know that much about the previous history of the trailer.
I bought it at an abandoned vehicle auction in Portland around 1999ish.
The roof vent and door were gone, as well as most of the front half of the roof. The furnace, fridge and oven were inoperable and unsafe.
I removed the closet and furnace, which were to the left of the door and replaced it with a place to sit. I rebuilt the table, the front bench and made the cabinet doors.
I rebuilt the door doorframe the roof framing removed all the old soft installation and replaced it with Styrofoam board insulation. I replace the interior ceiling with plastic sheet so it would not be damaged if there was another leak. I replaced the framing on the roof and the roof itself.fiberglassed and gelcoated the roof.

I gave the trailer to my son, never thinking he would sell it, otherwise I would not have given it to him.

The trailer was made in Canada and has a non-conforming serial number. The original serial number is on the frame of the tongue in front.

To get it titled we took it to the state police who inspected it and let us register it using the serial number on the trailer, which is duplicated on the homemade plaque on the front.
I tried looking it up on the Internet and the best I could figure was the venture trailer company went out of business in the mid-80s sometime.

The stove and sink-both work fine. The 110 electric plug iand light bulb are the only 110 wiring in the trailer.

The wires hanging out of the wall I believe are hot - 12 volts, when the trailer is hooked to a vehicle- I left them there with the intention of hooking a light up to them at some future point.

For heat in the winter time we would either plug-in to 110 and use a small portable heater. Or you can light burner or run a gas lamp and the trailer will heat up fairly quickly. You just have to be careful to make sure you have adequate ventilation.

Overall it is a great little trailer for camping in the rain. We used to tow it with our jeep wrangler and our Subaru outback.

Sent from my iPhone


I am thrilled to receive some history on it, and even thinking my restored version may be able to be towed by my CR-V (will consult prior formulas on that)...and with the wealth of information and experience from the group, someday will be on the road.

[Dudley]

+Looks like some of the blanks have been filled in! Should be good to go on registering it. One way to date it is look at the bottom front of the trailer, down near the frame, if its flat all the way across its early probably 74 . If there is raised area then its 75+. Looks like the changed the mold around 75 for an area to put a portapotty.

The red and white one is my old 76 and the grey one I believe is a 74(being rebuilt by a RV shop employee. Also noted is the hole for the furnace is larger in the 76.