Heilite tent trailer

Dustin B · Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 5:13 pm Post subject:

[quote="sprkplg08"]

wythac · Samba Member Joined: August 02, 2004 Posts: 2791

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I had to make mine too.

cage66 · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 9:42 am Post subject:

Who makes new canvases? I am going to get mine fixed up soon but if it's a little more just to get a new one I will go that route.

folks55 · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:48 am Post subject:

There is a local guy here in Hesperia that's been doing some kick ass repair work on some of my buddies Heilites. I'm going to him for some zippers and patch work too pretty soon. I think he is quoting $1K for 100% all new tent.

cage66 · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 6:06 pm Post subject:

Shit! That's not bad. There is some place called idahocanvas.com I was going to check out. I want the canvas, cover and I would like an awning also.

folks55 · Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 9:55 pm Post subject:

Hey Dustini need to get that guys info from you so I can get my canvas repaired.

Dustin B · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 5:07 pm Post subject:

folks55 · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 11:48 pm Post subject:

Cool thanks bro

Kathy J · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 8:53 am Post subject: Many Heilite SW questions!

Hi, everybody! My husband and I were given a Heilite single wheel trailer this past weekend. It belonged to the elderly father of a friend, and he is getting rid of things he no longer wants or uses. He had the canvas tent and cover replaced 20-30 years ago and I don't think the trailer has been used since then. It was stored outdoors, so it got wet a lot. We opened it up, and the not-cotton canvas tent and cover are in fantastic shape other than being mildewed and full of spiders and spider webs <ick>.

The trailer itself is in good shape other than the aluminum is heavily oxidized and it has a few dents and scrapes from not being stored properly. We would like to restore the trailer to a prettier condition, preferably as close to factory as possible, and make it functional again while improving safety. We opened it up yesterday and just took stock of what we have, trying to get some idea of what to start working on first. So we have a lot of questions (marked with *) about this little guy.

*Age-- The serial number is 2274. We received no paperwork with the trailer, so we don't know how old it is. A few months back when we were first told that we would be getting the Heilite (after it was freed from a sticky family situation) I did a lot of online research. At that time I saw a sort of chart online somewhere that gave approximate years of manufacture based on serial number, but now I can't find it. Can anyone help us determine the year it was made?

*Paint--We want to finish the wood panels under the bed area and in the cargo cabinet somehow to keep them from further water damage. It appears that the wood parts used to be painted silver (ours are very worn but have traces of silver paint in the grain). Were all the Heilites painted that way?

*Mildew-- Does anyone have suggestions for getting mildew out of tent fabric? I'm not sure what this fabric is, but it's definitely not 100% cotton. I don't care if the stains remain, but the smell HAS to go. I don't think bleach is the best thing to use, as that might weaken the fabric. Once it's clean, we intend to coat it with NeverWet to permanently waterproof it. (If you don't know about NeverWet, Google it...great stuff!)

*Wiring--Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the entire light system wiring harness? All I can find is the patent diagram for the tail light wiring shield assembly. The wires on our trailer are all rotten and broken.

*Hitches-- I've seen photos online of T-shaped hitches that various folks have made or had made for them to accommodate the dual hitches required by the Heilite SW. What would be the recommended square tubing gauge for one of these to withstand the stress of the rotational torque it's going to be taking as the SW rocks side to side while being pulled? And can the hitches on the trailer be swapped out for ones that accept larger balls? Those tiny 1 inch balls just make me nervous.

*Tires--the tire on ours is intact and holds air, but it's old and probably needs to be replaced. Is there a suggested best size/brand that is recommended for modern highway speeds? I don't see us driving anywhere while keeping our speed under 50mph the entire time...

*Locks--the former owner has keys that he thinks go to our trailer, but they don't work. Is it possible to change out the key cylinders on these things? We got the side doors open by prying/lifting up the top with the help of a 3rd person, but we'd rather not have to do that every time we want to open it. Smile

*Parts--one of the leg adjusters is broken. The short piece of bike chain inside the leg channel got too rusty and a piece snapped off of it. Did Heilite use motorcycle chain when these things were made, or something else? It is also missing a few of the big headless bolts with the hole in them that are attached to the chain ends with cotter pins. Is there a source for those, or do we have to make our own?

*Support leg wheels--we want to put wheels on two of the legs to make it easier to move. Has anyone done this, and would you share your method?

I think that's all my questions...for now, anyway. I'm certain I'll have lots more as we actually start working on this thing. Let's see if I can upload a couple of photos of it...

Heavily mildewed but solid cover.

The mildew under the cover seems to be confined to the outer edge folds. The trailer is propped up on folding chairs because two of the legs were "missing", later found inside the cargo cabinet. The missing bolts and broken adjuster chain are the apparent reason that the legs were taken off.

The centers of the tent panels are immaculate but smelly.

The worst of the mildew on the tent is on the back side (across from the door opening), but the smell has permeated the entire tent.

Our trailer's very faded serial number plate, #2274.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide to us with this thing!

Dustin B · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 12:23 pm Post subject: Re: Many Heilite SW questions!

Kathy J · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:54 pm Post subject: Re: Many Heilite SW questions!

folks55 · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 9:36 pm Post subject:

I love to see all these Heilites coming out of the woodworks Wink

sprkplg08 · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:44 am Post subject:

There's a roof top heilite tent for sale in san Diego's Craigslist. I'd love to pick it up but I don't have a use for it. Just search HEILITE CAR-TOPPER TENT to find it.

Kathy J · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:51 am Post subject:

That car topper Heilite is a thing of beauty.

Dustin B · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 12:38 pm Post subject: Re: Many Heilite SW questions!

Kathy J · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:20 pm Post subject:

We haven't been back to where the trailer is stored since Sunday, but my husband had pics of the back of our trailer on his phone. The red plastic lenses are obviously not original--they have SAE numbers on them. But I'm wondering if the rusty metal 'cups' they cover might be. Our friend thinks that the yellow lights were added back in the 80s. You can see the wires hanging out of the right-hand light...not sure how that happened.

--Kathy

Dustin B · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:24 pm Post subject:

Kathy- yeah it definitely has updated tail lights.

On page two in this thread there's a heilite that has the body tag number 2285 and it's a 1959 model. So I think its safe to say yours is a 59 as well.

It should have the plastic tail lights like mine but only two. Its a common taillight. I've seen them pop up on ebay from time to time and a friend of mine found some NOS one's but they are $20 or $30 each if I remember correctly. The only thing that would be easy to replace is if its missing the ring that holds the lens on.
_________________
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62 og paint L469 type 1
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64 heilite viscount tent trailer
71 sears clamshell trailer

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Original paint and patina extravaganza http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=187156

Kathy J · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:08 pm Post subject:

That would be awesome if it's a '59 model! Both my husband and I were made in '59! Wink

wythac · Samba Member Joined: August 02, 2004 Posts: 2791

Camping on the Washington Coast with my boy and my Heilite Viking.
Don't tell my Puck, but I think I like this trailer better....

Why? Sleeps more. Less delicate. I can load it with firewood.

Kathy J

Dang, wrote a long post yesterday and it vanished after I hit 'submit'. Grrr...

Anyway, we found out a bit more about our trailer. The elderly gentleman that previously owned it bought it from a co-worker in 1963 or '64. He had the canvas replaced about 20 years ago by someone in Ludington, Michigan. That person normally worked on boats, making boat covers and seats, so he used all heavy marine canvas and vinyl, and heavy duty zippers. That explains why our tent is still in such good shape despite being stored outdoors. The former owner doesn't remember what year the trailer was made, but he's going to go through his files and see if he has any paperwork on it.

We spent part of this weekend taking more of the trailer apart. We got the lights off--definitely not old, I found identical ones on Autozone's website. Pulled out the old rotten wiring and got new wiring for it. We will be upgrading the lights to LEDs because we think the trailer may be a bit bouncy when it finally gets on the road. LEDs can take more abuse than incandescent bulbs can. It won't be 'period' or 'original equipment' but it will be safer.

Removed the upper bed frame and put it on sawhorses so we could clean it up and work on the wood. As we moved it, one of the hooks that allows the frame to be attached to the lower trailer broke and fell apart. I think it was a victim of DH's hissy fit about the locked locks and the resulting application of a pry bar to the top. I guess I'll have to try to fabricate a new hook. That ought to be fun...

The wood on ours was definitely painted silver on the tops and bottoms of both pieces. The paint goes under the frame crosspieces underneath so it was obviously done off the frame. We think it was done when it was built because the wood is riveted in, but who knows? We're sanding it off the tops of the wood pieces because they're both rather rough. We plan to give them heavy coats of varnish eventually.

Took off one of the rusty hitches in prep for eventual sandblasting and powder coating. The bolts on the other one are still stuck; more penetrating oil was applied and we'll wait some more. We're going through the penetrating oil by the quart on this thing. Getting the hitch attachments off of the body for refinishing will be a challenge--the heads of the bolts are up inside the body frame. It's going to be a tight fit to get hands and tools up in there.

We managed to get the wheel & tire off, after having to go buy several extra large sized wrench sockets. The bearings on the wheel move just fine, and the wheel assembly rotates freely on the vertical bearing. But the shock is frozen with rust, and the wheel strut does not flex where we expected it to. This area is a problem--if the strut doesn't flex when the trailer hits bumps, it's going to jump all over the road.

We haven't yet gotten the bolts loose enough to get the wheel assembly off of the trailer. Before we do that, does anyone have pictures of a Heilite single wheel suspension while disassembled? We'd like to know what's inside the horizontal cylinder. DH thinks it's a horizontally mounted spring. We're a bit leery of opening up that canister for fear of injury if it comes out under pressure.

The photo is a bit confusing due to the angle. In this, the trailer is standing up on one long edge, wheel is removed, the shock is free at the bottom bolt and is lying across the wheel support. The thing we're unsure of is the large cylindrical object marked by the red arrow. What is it, how does it work and what's inside it?

If we can't get the single wheel suspension working, we're going to have to put the trailer body on a 2 wheel trailer in order to make it functional. We'd prefer not to do that if we can avoid it. Any help y'all can offer on this would be greatly appreciated!


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