fkrobertson
New member
Long time lurker, first time poster. I am in the process of "restoring" a WWII Bantam T3 trailer, and adding some modifications to turn it into an expedition trailer based on all the excellent builds and ideas I have seen in this forum. There were several major modifications done to the trailer before I owned it that make it nearly impossible for a true, complete restoration (i.e. tailgate added and original pintle hitch cut off). But where possible I am trying to keep the trailer as original as I can. Eventually I would like to add a water tight cover, and roof top tent, but for now I am grinding off all the rust, refinishing, adding larger tires, and modifying the hitch attachment point to allow for use of both a 2" ball on road and a pintle when leaving pavement. Here are some pictures so far:
Trailer before I started any work:
[/URL][/IMG]
Flipped over to start grinding off rust and peeling bottom paint:
[/URL][/IMG]
Several rust holes in the bottom pan and sides that I welded shut:
Original ACM serial number under the driver's side front spring hanger. I gave this number to Chuck Lutz, a forum member at g503 who was able to provide me with a rough estimate of the date of delivery and serial number! Thanks Chuck!
Once the underside was clean, flipped it over to power wash and grind the tub clean. After the tub was clean I also welded in some pocket stakes to the sides (didn't get any pictures of the process but you will see them in later photographs). I plan to use the trailer as a trash hauler/furniture mover/hardware store runs too, so these stake pockets should allow me to add taller wood siding to haul sheets of ply wood etc.
After that, de-grease, acid wash and POR 15 coat for both the tub and the under side:
Then a coat of raptor liner over the POR 15 in the tub. I let the POR 15 cure for about 4 hours until it was just tacky to the touch, then hit it with the bed liner. Worked like a charm.
Once the tub cured, I used some POR 15 tie coat primer on the under carriage. I wasn't positive anything else would stick to cured POR 15, so I used POR's official, and very expensive, primer.
Then coated the primer with Gillespie paint from army jeep parts on the underside, to match what the trailer would have originally looked like. (Sorry for the dark photo).
Painted the wheels to match and added some 31x10.5x15 mud terrains. The tires fit with no modification to the trailer. I have no desire to lift or mess with the original configuration of the springs. This ride height should suffice for the places I intend to go:
Next up is final sand/wash/paint for the body. I'll also post up some pictures of how I modified the hitch setup and tail gate chains/latches. Nothing too exciting yet, just restoration and minor modification. Can't wait to actually build the expedition aspects I have planned! Comments, criticisms, ideas appreciated!
Trailer before I started any work:
Flipped over to start grinding off rust and peeling bottom paint:
Several rust holes in the bottom pan and sides that I welded shut:
Original ACM serial number under the driver's side front spring hanger. I gave this number to Chuck Lutz, a forum member at g503 who was able to provide me with a rough estimate of the date of delivery and serial number! Thanks Chuck!
Once the underside was clean, flipped it over to power wash and grind the tub clean. After the tub was clean I also welded in some pocket stakes to the sides (didn't get any pictures of the process but you will see them in later photographs). I plan to use the trailer as a trash hauler/furniture mover/hardware store runs too, so these stake pockets should allow me to add taller wood siding to haul sheets of ply wood etc.
After that, de-grease, acid wash and POR 15 coat for both the tub and the under side:
Then a coat of raptor liner over the POR 15 in the tub. I let the POR 15 cure for about 4 hours until it was just tacky to the touch, then hit it with the bed liner. Worked like a charm.
Once the tub cured, I used some POR 15 tie coat primer on the under carriage. I wasn't positive anything else would stick to cured POR 15, so I used POR's official, and very expensive, primer.
Then coated the primer with Gillespie paint from army jeep parts on the underside, to match what the trailer would have originally looked like. (Sorry for the dark photo).
Painted the wheels to match and added some 31x10.5x15 mud terrains. The tires fit with no modification to the trailer. I have no desire to lift or mess with the original configuration of the springs. This ride height should suffice for the places I intend to go:
Next up is final sand/wash/paint for the body. I'll also post up some pictures of how I modified the hitch setup and tail gate chains/latches. Nothing too exciting yet, just restoration and minor modification. Can't wait to actually build the expedition aspects I have planned! Comments, criticisms, ideas appreciated!
