My 1971 Trillium 1300 Project

[MikeSavoy]

Hey everyone!. My wife and I picked up this Trillium in the winter of 2023. We think its a 1971 as the seller said it was and there are not identifier stickers on the trailer. Going off of other 71' pictures. I think it is. The door also has the round door latch. There is the 3D trillium logo on the door and body and the front a back windows are Plexiglas. If anyone has any insights on this. That would be helpful.
My wife and I choose this trailer because we love the vintage look. We also wanted something durable, light, didn't have to cook in and without appliances. We are pulling the trailer with a small SUV.

I didn't have a lot of time to get the trailer ready for the 2023 camping season. My plan was to repaint the trailer and fix a massive warp in the door that was preventing the door from closing and making a seal at the top.

Here are some of the pictures from the first initial project.

These are the before pictures.

[MikeSavoy]

I had an idea and I went with it. To remove the warp I cut several slits in the door. I created a jig with my work bench, using Clamps and a car jack. I was happy with the results. The warp is completely gone. I plan on reinforcing the door a bit more in future projects.

[MikeSavoy]

The initial belly band repair wasn't done properly and all the metal pieces and rivets were left in and crudely bondo'd over. The metal left in rusted and expanded and created divots. I didn't have time to do the proper repair so I filled in cracks with more filler for now.

[MikeSavoy]

I removed the jalousie windows, stripped and painted them. I painted the door hinges and sanded down and painted the trailer hitch.

[MikeSavoy]

Overall everything turned out well and we were ready for our first camping season. On our last trip of the year we lost a window pane on the highway. My wife also walked into one of the open windows one night and hurt herself. We decided the windows need to upgraded. I purchased new sliders and they are going in.

[MikeSavoy]

I removed and old vinyl backsplash that was peeling off and replaced it with a faux brick panel. I also updated the curtains.

[Steve Hague]

Nice work Mike. I like your color scheme.
What kind of paint and application process did you use?
Thanks for sharing your progress through photographs, I'm hoping to see more from you.
Steve

[MikeSavoy]

Hey Steve!. Thank you very much!. I decided to go with a two tone white and black color scheme because most accents will be black and easier to tie into the theme. Also these colors were readily available at my local Canadian Tire. I went with a marine boat paint and used the roll and tip method. It turned our fairly smooth for a quick paint job. Inevitably Id like to purchase a paint sprayer for the final paint job and I'm still looking for other high gloss paint options. Any tips would be helpful.

[MikeSavoy]

I removed all the old belly band metal pieces, and cracked bondo.

I removed all the exterior body cabinet rivets and curtain rivets. My goal is to remount the cabinet using wood and screws instead. I'm also attempting a complete curtain delete but ill have to see how that goes with just tinted windows next season. If I don't feel its creating enough privacy, then ill re mount the curtains but again using wood and screws on the interior.

My goal is no exterior rivets.

[MikeSavoy]

Removed the Kitchen overhead cabinet. There was old insolite underneath. I determined it wasn't salvageable and removed it as well. I will just simply repaint this area. There was a also a wooden divider which I also removed to open up the area and better suite the dinette conversion.

[MikeSavoy]

Removed all old windows.

[MikeSavoy]

Dinette Conversion started. So far I removed the existing wooden frame and started to modify it. The subfloor underneath was 1/4 plywood and was suffering dry rot. I will replace it with 3/4 inch plywood.

[MikeSavoy]

The main subfloor looked fairly solid and I debated even touching it right now. My exploratory curiosity got the best of me and Thank goodness I removed it. I discovered a 10 inch Diameter unsealed rotted hole underneath..... I have so many questions...

[Steve Hague]

Wow, looks like you are really diving in. Thanks for posting more pictures. I'm not familiar with the early 70's Trilliums. We have a 1978 Trillium 1300 and a 1978 Trillium 4500, both having fiberglass molded furniture that is bonded to the shell with fiberglass tape and resin. We have no fasteners going through from the exterior to attach the furniture.

I've only done a little painting so far, mainly the belly band repair on our 4500. I used TotalBoat Wet Edge topside paint (Hatteras Off-White) applied by the roll and tip method. It turned out OK for an amateur and looks great from 30 feet away. I have major interior and exterior painting planned for our 1300 this spring, so I'm looking for pointers too.

We love our jalousie windows and have learned to deal with the hazards you mentioned. I'll bet someone would love to have yours if you still have them.

Keep up the good work.

[computerspook]

Looks like you're getting some good work done. It looks like when you get done it'll be a really cool setup. Maybe I'll get to see you out there on the road. And here's good luck to you and getting it all done.

Always remember what they taught us in grade school about the turtle, tortoise or other shelled animal and the rabbit, hare, or other speedy mammal. Yes I've heard a number of versions of the story and fable. But yes slow and steady and quality work and taking your time to do quality work will get you to the finish line.

PS I see you've got a good start on the one other thing you need on a project like this. Take lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures. Down the road you're going to be thankful because you will have covered up something that you need to remember exactly how it was put in place.

[MikeSavoy]

Originally Posted by Steve Hague

Wow, looks like you are really diving in. Thanks for posting more pictures. I'm not familiar with the early 70's Trilliums. We have a 1978 Trillium 1300 and a 1978 Trillium 4500, both having fiberglass molded furniture that is bonded to the shell with fiberglass tape and resin. We have no fasteners going through from the exterior to attach the furniture.

I've only done a little painting so far, mainly the belly band repair on our 4500. I used TotalBoat Wet Edge topside paint (Hatteras Off-White) applied by the roll and tip method. It turned out OK for an amateur and looks great from 30 feet away. I have major interior and exterior painting planned for our 1300 this spring, so I'm looking for pointers too.

We love our jalousie windows and have learned to deal with the hazards you mentioned. I'll bet someone would love to have yours if you still have them.

Keep up the good work.

Hey Steve!. Yes I'm working away in my garage in a balmy 5 oC. There's lots to do before this season so I figured I'd start hammering away. The next off seasons projects "shouldn't" be as time consuming and will be able to wait until March to start when its a bit warmer. I live near Toronto and its a bit chilly up here.
Sounds like you have some really cool Trilliums. I like that you have the versatility to go Big or Small. Id like to see pictures of them sometime.
I really like the fiberglass bonded furniture. its so strong and clean looking. Your interior fasteners sound really economical unlike rivets through the body like mine. It looks terrible and then the obvious leak hazards.
I looked up the paint you said you used. its similar to the Solignum Marine I used. I Just purchased some Rust-Oleum® Marine Coatings Topside Paint. So ill see how it applies.
Looking forward to seeing your painting project pictures!. ill post pictures of my painting work soon.

[MikeSavoy]

Originally Posted by computerspook

Looks like you're getting some good work done. It looks like when you get done it'll be a really cool setup. Maybe I'll get to see you out there on the road. And here's good luck to you and getting it all done.

Always remember what they taught us in grade school about the turtle, tortoise or other shelled animal and the rabbit, hare, or other speedy mammal. Yes I've heard a number of versions of the story and fable. But yes slow and steady and quality work and taking your time to do quality work will get you to the finish line.

PS I see you've got a good start on the one other thing you need on a project like this. Take lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures. Down the road you're going to be thankful because you will have covered up something that you need to remember exactly how it was put in place.

Hey ComputerSpook!, Haha Thank you. Yes I'm definitely trying to get some good quality work done. Yes I remember that Fable. That's the key and I can run lots of smaller quality races if I need to.
Lets just say the demolition is over. The race has started and progress is now being made. The finish line is speck on the horizon but I ate my Wheaties.

I'm taking lots of pictures. Thanks for the tip!. That would be cool if our paths crossed someday!