Bare metal!

I'm about a month behind and slightly out of order with this posting ... but such is life. Just before the Rally at the River last month, I finally finished stripping the paint from the Chiclet. It took me a total of 35 hours and cost $200. in chemicals. No joke - I kept track! Needless to say, I have now perfected my paint stripping techniques. My lawn is covered with a kaleidoscope of paint chips to prove it! And mark my words, I'll NEVER do it again!!!

The coolest part of getting all those layers of paint removed is that I could see the original stripes etched into the bare aluminum. This trailer has the most unique pattern I've ever seen. I knew this design would be like a fingerprint - it could tell me more about the identity of my little treasure. So I used blue painter's tape to trace the original lines. I took pictures and sent them off to Juergen for his opinion. He wrote back with an enthusiastic "Yes, this is definitely a '52 Honorbuilt Romer. It is the first year they were in business and yours is a very rare trailer." So it is not a homebuilt "kit" trailer after all - it was actually manufactured by the Honorbuilt Company. Now that I know how rare the Chiclet is, the pressure is really on - I better do it justice!