Episode 1: Shed Spartan is a Yard Spartan Now

This is my 1949 Spartan Royal Mansion. I bought it from a man in Florida eight years ago. I paid $2000 for it, delivered. I stuck it in my shed and haven’t touched it.

1949 Spartan in the shed since 2012

In January 2020 I decided it was time to work on it. Inside the shed it was really dark and kind of scary, so when my brother and his girlfriend were here one weekend I made them help me move it outside. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it yet. I just want the room.

Preferred parking place for the Spartan

The shed spartan is a yard spartan now.

There's a length of aluminum skirting that unscrews for access to the wheel wells

One screw would not come out and I had to grind it off. It was a brass screw. This showed little corrosion against the aluminum so I think brass is a pretty good screw option.

I’m missing a wheel on the right side. This is a 30’ trailer with 2 axles. The men that delivered it borrowed a wheel off another truck they had and they took it with them when they left. I’ve been trying to find a replacement this whole time.

I decided to try moving it with just three wheels. I think it would’ve worked better if my grandma’s old isuzu was a little higher. The hub was gouging out the ground. We really wore out what was left of that old truck’s poor clutch too.

I actually bought two Spartan Royal Mansions in 2012. The other one was manufactured in 1951. It was missing an entire axle. I paid $900 for it.

Ally Min with the one axle

This wheel had 2 lug nuts

Ally Min's wheels take 6 lug nuts. Ally Mo has hubs with 5 holes for bolts

I repurposed the 1951 Spartan straight away. I wasn’t sure what I would do with two of these revolting old trailers, but since there were two available at the same time it just seemed logical to get a spare.

It worked out pretty great for the real glass marker lights. The one with both axles only had one light, but the other one had the other three. So I should be able to rig up some new brackets with LEDs to make this one have some neat lights on it.

I need this light on Ally Mo to round out the set. Ally Min had the other 3.

Inside Ally Mo there was a cabinet randomly sitting in the middle of the observation lounge. This was moved from its original spot because the previous owner wanted to get the refrigerator out. He said it still worked and he was using it. I let him have it. I still have the original refrigerator from the 1951 Spartan. It did not work. I took the compressor out and refinished it and use it like furniture.

Here's some photos of the refrigerator from the 1951 Spartan.

Here it is after I cleaned it up and took it to an auto painter and had it painted BMW Speed Yellow because I thought that was hilarious. Fastest refrigerator in the fifties.

Old refrigerator is just a cabinet now.

Here are some closer photos of some of the bad spots on Ally Mo's aluminum skin.

Terrible corrosion on the bottom of the back door

Rifle entrance wound probably

Scrape and a puncture

Something ferrous was wired on here

This is how they dealt with random penetrations. Glob it up with asphaltic sealant

Exit wound. Whatcha think, .22 caliber?

Something poked this hard.

This is some kind of latch for holding the door open. It wasn't a great choice.

I'm not that worried about all this exterior damage because it was fun patching all the stuff like that on Ally Min. Here's some examples.

Round patches over big holes look kind of neat

Here's how I cleaned up rust and patched the spot from the door latch on Ally Min.
The aluminum handle stops the door handle banging into the wall from wind.

Ally Min has a new wider door big enough to get a washer and dryer inside.
A lever handle can go behind the handle on the wall and keep the door open.

I don't know what I'll do with the doors on Ally Mo. I want them to not let lizards and frogs come inside. And roaches. I will think about it.

Here's the subtitles from this episode:

1

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I've been storing this old trailer for 8 years.

2

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I bought two at the same time. I rebuilt one and stuck this 

one in the shed.

3

01:00:11,300 --> 01:00:13,266

Linda: It's got to go a little bit forward

4

01:00:13,266 --> 01:00:16,266

I don't have plans for a grand adventure in a vintage 

trailer

5

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I just want to free up all that room in my shed.

6

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And if I clean this thing up and make it mouseproof? I'd 

have another 240 square feet of studio space.

7

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Linda: OK, now look. Look!

Harry: Somebody needs to back the truck up.

8

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My brother and his girlfriend came to visit and helped me 

move the trailer

9

01:00:34,900 --> 01:00:37,033

Barbara: I'll go a tiny bit.

10

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This Isuzu was my grandmother's daily driver. 25 years ago.

11

01:00:41,000 --> 01:00:42,400

Linda: Perfect!

12

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Harry: Alright, Clutch!

13

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Harry: Is it out?

Linda: Yeah.

Barbara: No, you're not out.

14

01:01:07,800 --> 01:01:10,800

Barbara: There's still a lot of trailer behind the wheels.

15

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Key detail here: There's supposed to be two wheels on this 

side. There's a bare hub dragging on the ground

16

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Linda: Excellent.

17

01:01:36,900 --> 01:01:39,900

Barbara: What smells weird?

Harry: The clutch

18

01:01:54,000 --> 01:01:57,000

Harry: How am I doing with that tree?

Barbara: You're good. You're good on the tree side. 

19

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Linda: Go forward, straighten it out, and then back it 

straight up.

20

01:02:12,500 --> 01:02:15,500

Barbara: That might be as good as it can get until I get 

another wheel.

21

01:02:19,366 --> 01:02:23,333

Harry: Go straight back now?

Barbara: Yeah.

22

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Barbara: STOP!

23

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Barbara: I can always move it again later if I get a wheel.

24

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Harry: The truck is kind of struggling

25

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Harry: I think I can move it just back. Make it a little bit

 more even.

26

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Barbara: It's awful close to the side of the shed. I don't 

think I'll be able to work on that side easily?

27

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Harry: I like the paneling. A lot.

28

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Harry: Haha, this is a weird fix. I guess the window leaked?

29

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Linda: The windows roll down! Like a car.

30

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Harry: Eww! It stinks like

Oh, there's a rat nest or a mouse nest.

31

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Barbara: All they gots to go!

32

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Harry: My nostrils are burning now. 

Barbara: Right, let's get out of here. 

33

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Harry: I might've gotten hantavirus.

Barbara: There's no hantavirus this side of the Mississippi

34

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Harry: >KLONK

Barbara: Awww, gosh!

35

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Linda: Ahh the hazards of being tall!

36

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Barbara: Oh, even I hit my head on that thing.

37

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The next day we worked on the blocks a bit more

38

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Hi. My name is Barbara. I'm a blank builder and a blogger

39

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and I'm on a mission to rebuild and repurpose this 71 year 

old

40

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aircraft construction aluminum trailer home, Ally Mo.

41

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Now what is the deal with this missing wheel?

42

01:05:26,333 --> 01:05:31,166

When the previous owner delivered this trailer in 2012 they 

used a wheel from another vehicle they owned

43

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They towed it over here from Blountstown and backed it right

into the shed.

44

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They brought a floor jack with them and put it on blocks for

me. Then they took the right front wheel. 

45

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I wasn't worried about it because I'd bought another 

Spartan that was missing an entire axle

46

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And I was planning to take off the remaining axle and put it

up on blocks for good.

47

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So I'd have two whole extra wheels.

48

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I'd completely finished rebuilding the 1951 Spartan, 

currently nomenclatured Ally Min,

49

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before I noticed they changed from a 5 bolt pattern in 1949 

to a 6 bolt pattern in 1951.

50

01:06:19,633 --> 01:06:25,933

OK, I've been operating under a false assumption. I thought 

these were 5 on 5 spacing

51

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Which would mean that this distance should be three inches

52

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But this is three and a quarter. 

53

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It's 3 1/4. There's no way that... How would I think that 

was 3?

54

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It's obviously 3 1/4.

55

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Yes, I measured three times. Shut up! I'm not an expert in 

wheels.

56

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The underside is like tarpaper. Like really thick tarpaper. 

Some asphalt impregnated masonite or something.

57

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And these aluminum channels, I guess, are holding it up? 

58

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So what I gotta do is come under here and remove these 

aluminum channels and let all of this drop away.

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Here's the edge of that stuff. So it was two strips of 4 

foot wide stuff, I guess.

60

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Two years later they'd switched to aluminum going across the

 bottom of the trailer

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Taking off the belly pan was one of the first things I did 

on Ally Min

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I wanted to put piers under it and the belly pan had to go 

first

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They'd also switched from rock wool to fiberglass insulation

 by 1951.Yuck

64

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Working on a slab was nice for that part. I don't want to 

get insulation in the grass. 

65

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It would be a lot easier to work under here if I jacked this

thing up even higher.

66

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But not today

67

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This is the only clearance light left on Ally Mo

 

68

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This part is glass and stainless steel.

69

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It'll clean up nice, like this one from Ally Min

70

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That Spartan had 3 clearance lights.

71

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Amber for the front, red for the back

72

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Since Ally Min is now a permanent structure I put patches 

where all the lights used to be.

73

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I used a marine grade alloy for my patches. After 7 years in

 the weather they're still shiny. I don't mind.

74

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I have not touched the inside of this since I bought it 8 

years ago

75

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This is something I looked at and said, "Wow! I want to pay 

$1000 for that!"

76

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In fact I think I paid $1500

77

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The door is about 5'8"

78

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So I can go in it no problem but I often hit my head coming 

out

79

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This piece of paneling covers up a roof vent 

80

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There's a hole right here in the roof.

81

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So I guess at some point they just covered it up

82

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This closet is where the electrical is located

83

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Latching handles are kinda cool

84

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I guess the latch is broken

85

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There used to be a heater right here

86

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The stock units had a heater so there's a sort of a roof 

vent right there.

87

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Where anything and everything can come and go as it pleases

88

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So I like to remove things like that and just patch the hole

 in the roof

89

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I haven't cleaned this at all. This is the way it was 

delivered to me.

90

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I paid money for this

91

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These little shelves are original

92

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And I don't know what these little holes are for. 

Ventilation?

93

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This is one of the roof vents. There's another one under 

that ceiling that's just covered over.

94

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What I did on the other Spartan was I took out all this 

business in the middle. 

95

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I put closed cell foam on the bottom side of the cover 

96

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And then just used a cricket clamp and just cinched it down 

tight

97

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And I don't often open the covers

98

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But I still have the vents, in the other Spartan. 

99

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And they haven't leaked or given me any problems. They're 

air tight.

100

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Look, it came with a fire extinguisher

101

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There's a sort of a duct from the heater. Interesting

102

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The kitchen was just this nasty when I bought this thing. 

103

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The other one I just gutted it.

104

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I didn't try to clean it or do anything, but, I don't know.

105

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We'll see when I get into it what I want to do

106

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Another roof vent

107

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Here's a dome light just like in a car.

108

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I don't remember there being one of those in the other 

Spartan

109

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This stove is original. It was a propane gas stove.

110

01:12:45,199 --> 01:12:48,199

And it's probably in pretty good shape. I don't know what 

the hell this is

111

01:12:48,766 --> 01:12:51,766

I think a rat has probably built a nest in there. That's 

awesome.

112

01:12:53,133 --> 01:12:57,899

But I will probably remove this and clean it up and see what

 the story is. 

113

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Maybe I can use that

114

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I don't even have an oven in my house

115

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There doesn't seem to be any rats living in there

116

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I think it's weird though, how it covers up the cabinet?

117

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I mean, why is there a door there? How are you supposed to 

use it?

118

01:13:18,100 --> 01:13:21,100

But that's really the way they made em. Just weird.

119

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It really takes up a lot of space

120

01:13:25,233 --> 01:13:30,966

To actually use the thing it would be better to not have 

this cabinet and just have a hot plate or whatever

121

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Oh here's an example of what the insulation is like

122

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It's like a rockwool product

123

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And the rats and mice have been extricating it from the 

inside of the walls and floor this whole time

124

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This little tightness here? I don't like that

125

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The way this door works it's a slider

126

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But it's so very narrow. Still works though

127

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I can't even back up far enough to show it without bumping 

my head on the ceiling

128

01:14:16,533 --> 01:14:19,300

But it's just really dark and creepy in here.

129

01:14:19,300 --> 01:14:23,100

But it's not nearly as dark and creepy in here now that I've

 moved it out of the shed

130

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It needs to be gutted

131

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And even these cabinets that look nice, its a nice curved 

surface

132

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But down at the bottom the plywood is delaminated and it's 

just not....

133

01:14:43,300 --> 01:14:48,566

It just all smells gross and is just too damaged by moisture

134

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The floor is damaged

135

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It just all has to be thrown away

136

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But I'll save the parts I can

137

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Look at this little light switch with a pull switch. The 

whole wall flexes when you pull on it

138

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This window is broken. There's a piece of plexiglass stuck 

in there.

139

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I need to get a new roll-up window

140

01:15:18,699 --> 01:15:22,899

I replaced these, I mean, I replaced the gasket and stuff, 

in the other Spartan

141

01:15:23,899 --> 01:15:28,566

You know it probably took me two weeks of just working on 

the back windows

142

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I took these parts off and repainted them

143

01:15:32,666 --> 01:15:34,233

And it came out nice

144

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The trim around this is kind of weird

145

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I built new trim around the other one, in the other Spartan

146

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And I took off all these window parts and cleaned them and 

repainted them

147

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I do not know why these light fixtures are here. This makes 

no sense.

148

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This was the bedroom. I don't know where the bed was? I 

guess it came straight off the back?

149

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I'm not sure. Look! There was a phone in here!

150

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Oh, you wanna see the bathroom?

151

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There's a mirror on the back of this door. I don't think the

 other Spartan had that feature

152

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I think these mirror clips are original

153

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And I think there's one missing because a guy in Sweden 

bought one from me

154

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I love this door handle

155

01:16:31,133 --> 01:16:37,566

I took the door handle from the other Spartan and I gave it 

to my Aunt Jano and she uses it on her screen door

156

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Look at the lock on it. You just slide that over and now you

 can't...

157

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Well, if it holds. And then you can't do it from the 

outside. Maybe you have to push it the other way

158

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But anyway, it's a pretty cool door lock

159

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This bathroom is all aluminum

160

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Maybe I can have enough light if I come inside here

161

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The other guy the previous owner tried to polish it to see 

how that would work  

162

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It works good. So this could be a very shiny aluminum room

163

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And this is the vent

164

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That looks like some sort of radiation warning

165

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And it's open to the outside

166

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There's a light in here, in the ceiling

167

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And the way it worked was you just stood over the toilet and

 just showered in here

168

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Just washed down the whole thing

169

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It's kind of small and closed in and scary to me

170

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The '51 Spartan had a window right there inside the shower

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But this one doesn't

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I just took this whole thing out

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The floor gets really damaged in the shower areas.

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So I just gutted all of this out of the other Spartan

175

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I cut it up with a reciprocating saw and took it straight to

 the recyclers

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I got about $170 for it

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Even the back of the door was covered in aluminum

178

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On the other one I took that metal to the recyclers

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Without realizing it was a different alloy than is available

 today

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I should have saved all the aluminum for the patches

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I didn't know

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My bad

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I don't know. It just reminds me of a brig. I just don't 

know if I want that

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Kind of spooky

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Anyway, that's the inside

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Maybe tomorrow I'll clean the kitchen

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You know, throw this junk away at least.

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Or see if it's any good.

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I don't know, could be a good coffee cup!

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Oh yeah

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Gross

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Gross gross gross

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Gross gross gross gross gross gross gross

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I only just realized I got one of the original steps for 

this trailer. They were both broken off Ally Min.

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01:19:26,500 --> 01:19:29,166

It's supposed to slide under here.

196

01:19:30,866 --> 01:19:33,866

It's going in the shed for now

197

01:19:55,000 --> 01:19:58,000

That was the first episode of the Beachton Buck Rivet Report

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01:19:58,566 --> 01:20:00,133

Go buck yourself