Banner Trailer Fun

[Bonnie Hunter]

After five years of looking I just purchased my first and only Travel Trailer.  My parents had a few and we had some great times in them.  So this is my Old Lady gift to myself.  It's taken quite some time to find one that either wasn't a complete disaster and needed complete renovation or not priced beyond my budget.  I have horses so that's enough to drain my pocket.  

I'm sure that I can bring this trailer to it's former beauty.  My main issue now is taking out the junk paneling and replacing it with 1/8 inch baltic birch then using a golden oak stain to match up with the nice birch that's original to the trailer.  Add a new fridge, seal up the roof and go over it completely for electric, plumbing, and gas systems before I take it on the road.  I am very glad that I joined this group since there seems to be much valuable information here on restoring.

Like most of the very few Banner trailer owners, There is virtually no information on them.  The person I purchased it from had the state come out and give it a number, I found the number on the tongue so I'm going with the original serial number.  This person also had it as a 1975 Banner Waco trailer and it's clearly not.  The beautiful birch paneling, the wood cabinets, stove, vent fan, light fixtures, all are 60's era. And of course Banner went out of business in 1972 so pretty unlikely that it's a 1975.  I'll be registering it when I'm ready to use it and by then I'll have the complete tongue numbers which look like they begin with 67-. As far as I can tell I got a nice trailer that at one point was very well taken care of.  Just kind of neglected in recent years, hence the water damage and bad paneling replacement.  The water damage is old since everything is dry and there's no smell or trace of dampness, mildew or mold so I think I won't have to tear the whole thing apart.

Wondering how this measures up to trailers other's have bought and what I might be looking for as far as issues that come as a surprise.  I love this little trailer and I'm really looking forward to restoring it.