This thread brought back some recent memories and I thought you might like a little inspiration. I performed a similar conversion on an 70's vintage pop-up and it works great for my needs. I was unable to find repair parts for the crank mechanism so I had to hinge my top. It works, but it's not as good as one that raising normally. I agree with the battery recommendation. As you can see, I strapped mine on front so I'd have more room inside. I have almost no money in trailer, but I quit counting the hours invested. I would suggest you stop counting too!

As you can see, I left my rear slide-out and it's very handy. It makes a pretty good workspace and provides another level of storage for me. However, if my top raised and lowered, I'd probably remove it for the wing storage idea you've already been given. I removed the front slide-out because I couldn't get into the trailer while it was hooked up to the truck!

I can't imagine you'd need brakes on this trailer. These are usually very light. I think I could pull mine with a small, 4-cylinder car.

Good luck with the conversion.