I picked up this little SPEN trailer about 2 weeks ago. It popped up on FB and since i was trailerless and i have a bad small trailer addiction, i had to have it
It towed home just fine.
It had issues. The floor was halfway removed. It was a patch job anyway. The front panel also had a bad patch job on it.
I finished cutting the floor out and pulled it out
The frame doesnt look that bad, i will do some repairs on it. sometime in its life the most recent floor was just put on top of the original pieces still welded to the crossmembers.
After that was done, I worked to the front and cut out the front panel.
I found the front panel has been repalced at least twice before. The just cut out the fanel and left the flange intact and did not bother cutting the spots welds and just put the panels back on. I removed two different layers of sheetmetal from under the flange. I was able to reuse most of the original flange. One side was damaged, but usable.
Fortunately the trailer also came with a brand new repop front panel for a M100/M416. With a touch of trimming it fell right into place.
After that I decided to just go with a plywood floor for the meantime. I may get a m416 floor to replace it, but the wood works fine for now.
Next I had to make a tailgate for it. I hemmed and hawwed about should i make it go all the way up like the m416, but I decided to try and make it look somewhat original and make it the same dimensions as the SPEN tailgate.
I cut out the sheetmetal and hammered some bends in the side for rigidity. The original tailgates look to just be a flat sheet of metal with the top and bottom rolled into a tube. I dont have the ability for that, so welding in tubing is a go for me.
Cut Cut Cut
Hammer Hammer Hammer
My Edge
Welded the tube to the bottom and made some hinge side pieces. It is clamped on now, I ran out of time
I also made a landing leg for it to get rid of the camper jack. I used some steel tube for the leg. Not original but i want to get that knocked out before i try my hand at doing one that looks more original. But no pictures of that
Next part is to finish up the tailgate and do the frame repair and then put down some paint.
It towed home just fine.
It had issues. The floor was halfway removed. It was a patch job anyway. The front panel also had a bad patch job on it.
I finished cutting the floor out and pulled it out
The frame doesnt look that bad, i will do some repairs on it. sometime in its life the most recent floor was just put on top of the original pieces still welded to the crossmembers.
After that was done, I worked to the front and cut out the front panel.
I found the front panel has been repalced at least twice before. The just cut out the fanel and left the flange intact and did not bother cutting the spots welds and just put the panels back on. I removed two different layers of sheetmetal from under the flange. I was able to reuse most of the original flange. One side was damaged, but usable.
Fortunately the trailer also came with a brand new repop front panel for a M100/M416. With a touch of trimming it fell right into place.
After that I decided to just go with a plywood floor for the meantime. I may get a m416 floor to replace it, but the wood works fine for now.
Next I had to make a tailgate for it. I hemmed and hawwed about should i make it go all the way up like the m416, but I decided to try and make it look somewhat original and make it the same dimensions as the SPEN tailgate.
I cut out the sheetmetal and hammered some bends in the side for rigidity. The original tailgates look to just be a flat sheet of metal with the top and bottom rolled into a tube. I dont have the ability for that, so welding in tubing is a go for me.
Cut Cut Cut
Hammer Hammer Hammer
My Edge
Welded the tube to the bottom and made some hinge side pieces. It is clamped on now, I ran out of time
I also made a landing leg for it to get rid of the camper jack. I used some steel tube for the leg. Not original but i want to get that knocked out before i try my hand at doing one that looks more original. But no pictures of that
Next part is to finish up the tailgate and do the frame repair and then put down some paint.
