I figured I needed a rest and a break from the everyday in front of my computer work so I decided to take a little road trip to see the Spartan. The weather forecast said this would be the warmest day we would see in a long time. Here in Chicago the snow has melted and the high temp was in the 40's. Up by the Spartan it reached the high 30's. When I arrived there was a foot or so of snow blocking the driveway from the snow plows that come by to plow the road. I parked by the road with the hazards on and walked into the land looking to see if there were any signs of life around the Spartan. With the exception of a few deer tracks all was quiet at the acres. The spartan sat there with about 6 inches of snow on the roof and not a bit of snow under her. I pulled off the pad lock, since there are no keys, they were lost long ago I would imagine. I banged on the door to wake or rattle any raccoons or squirrels out of there in hopes of not being attacked, like you would see in some Chevy Chase movie. All appeared well in the Spartan, still smells a little, but no signs of mice in any glue traps or any signs of animals getting inside at all.
I decided to make the trip worthwhile so I took the front door handle off the door. It removed easily and it is a Bargman L-66 lock. I took it home to clean it up and to find a new lock. I ordered a new lock and key from Vintagetrailersupply.com. The page says it's for a L-77 but someone in the comments said it will fit the L-66. Cross my fingers! I only bought one lock and key for the front door since the back door is not really used to access the Spartan. If I knew for sure the locks were keyed alike I would purchase two.
After looking at the floor in the Spartan I think it will be worth the time to remove most of the living room floor. I patched the spots that are soft, but I have no way of removing the old stuck on carpet pad and I'm afraid this will cause my tile job to be uneven. I think I will remove strips of the old floor up to the kitchen and replace it up to that point.
I hope to have a cargo container in spring so I can securely store my tools and other items inside instead of in the Spartan. All the junk in the Spartan really hampers my restoration!! Plus, if I have storage at the acres I can take the truck only a couple more times with supplies like the new birch paneling and the new sub-flooring that will go under the tile. The gas I will save will definitely be worth it!
I bought aluminum jacks to level the Spartan out, and forgot to leave them up there. Doh!
Split rims, with original tires?
The dent I pushed out seems to be weathering well! You can hardly see it.
