Restoring Our 1972 Boler American, Annotated pictures Options

[Roy in TO]

I've been asked by a few of the members here to start posting pictures.

Here is the first of many of our '72 Boler American, rescued from 15 years of supervised neglect in the woods of MA.
You may have already seen this in the Referrals: For sale ads in the forums.

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The body was covered in dirt and moss while the roof grew Lichens and was embedded with branches from a fallen tree.

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After a few minutes using the snow brush from the trunk, things are looking better


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A quick once over with the power washer shows marked improvements.
Note the lower door hinge was broken as well.

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Add some soap, water, elbow grease and a 2nd power wash. You get a whole new look!

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Duct taping the roof hole, with the door held up using a bucket.

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Then we hit a snag, the wiring was fried.
Fought with that for a few hours, before heading off to Walmart to buy a wiring kit. By then it's dark and I'm wiring by flashlight.
With the wiring patched and the door tied shut we are off to find a place to stay for the night.

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One look at the mold, and you will know why we didn't sleep in it the first night.
The interior got a good 1st run at cleaning, but was nowhere near close to being suitable for sleeping.
We also forgot to pack the sleeping bags

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After 2 days on the road (1934.9 Km and 4.5 tanks of gas total return) including a freak hail storm while on I-90 somewhere near Syracuse.
Add in one day of cleaning and fixing to pass any border inspections and we finally have our first egg at home.

[Gina D.]

Looks like you are starting all your work and ready to jump right in.

It most certainly looks much less scarey now. Amazing what a good bath can do.

[Donna D.]

Sweat equity....gotta love the $$ savings in the purchase.

Looking forward to more pictures too

[Lee Hillsgrove]

WOW. Amazing what some cleaning can do for the looks of it. Good job!

[Roy in TO]

Looks like you are starting all your work and ready to jump right in.

It most certainly looks much less scary now. Amazing what a good bath can do.

Thanks Gina,

Wait till you see what a little liquid TSP sprayed on followed by a horse brush does to the ensolite.

We have a tentative plan on cleaning which will be followed by Concrobium for mold control. We are going to try to track down a fogger to make sure we hit all the little nooks and crannies.

Someone here suggested using Simple Green to tackle the job. I contacted Simple Green with a link to the eBay listing asking which of their products they would suggest for the task at hand. Thinking I would pick some up while we were picking up the trailer in the USA. They replied by saying they were sending a complementary case of samples, enough to do the job. ETA was last week, but nothing has shown up yet. If it does show up before we finish, we will try a comparison and report back.

[Miriam]

WOW! The hard work really paid off! GREAT JOB!

[jaye580]

WOW you did all of that cleaning while in transit? I am impressed! Makes a huge difference doesn't it! You even have windows, now I am jealous!

[Roy in TO]

WOW you did all of that cleaning while in transit? I am impressed! Makes a huge difference doesn't it! You even have windows, now I am jealous!

Yes, we had to clean the outside including the underside before crossing the border as specified by Agriculture Canada regulations for importation. We were confident the attached foliage would have attracted some attention at Customs.

We were trying not to attract attention since our Boler American was missing a couple of the required things, namely a FMVSS or CSA compliance label and the date of manufacture. (Still trying to determine if Boler American ever provided either).

Got a little scare when we first stopped at the booth and the border guard asked specifically about the date being marked. I replied "I'm not sure, would that be on the tag with the serial number because I know where that is."

That was the closest we came to an inspection, though it is possible someone could have looked at it while we were doing the paperwork. I'm glad because we had only done a cursory cleaning of the inside and was worried they might say something about the mold.

No need to be jealous. I figure in the end we both paid about the same. You bought replacement windows, we paid more, had to travel farther, spend 2 nights in hotels. Yes, cleaning makes a huge difference, thank you for the compliment. I noticed it rained during both our trips.

Roy

[adamp]

Beautiful! Where was it built? You'll be egging in no time!
Adam

[Gigi]

Roy! This is such a charming little guy! After all your efforts to find one, you did really well.

Name? Do we have a name? Perhaps something with words to include
Camouflage?

[Carol Ann in TO]

Beautiful! Where was it built? You'll be egging in no time!
Adam

Well it's probably time for me to stop lurking and introduce myself. I am Roy in TO's wife and co-owner of this egg. My name is Carol Ann in TO (notice a similarity in the names?)

To answer your question -- this particular Boler was made in Witchita. I am very aware of this as I was the one that carefully washed the logos on the front and back ends on the weekend. (along with taking the pictures)

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Thanks to the rest of you for the confidence boost. Although we aren't doubting the intelligence of the purchase, it helps to know that others think we aren't crazy.

Carol Ann in TO

[Lance MacArthur]

Glad to see a Boler American soulmate. We found our '72 boler american on ebay a couple of years ago, and have been having a lot of fun renovating it and travelling. So far we've made two cross=country trips, putting about 20,000 miles on the rig, without serious incident.

Alterations that really made it nice included electric brakes, fantastic fan, and adding front dinette. We're sitting in it as I write, in an rv park in Gilroy, CA, that happens to have its own wifi hotspot. A trend I hope all parks will make.

Anyway, congratulations on your purchase. You'll have many pleasant memories that I hope you share on this site.

[Roy in TO]

Glad to see a Boler American soulmate. We found our '72 boler american on ebay a couple of years ago, and have been having a lot of fun renovating it and travelling. So far we've made two cross=country trips, putting about 20,000 miles on the rig, without serious incident.

Alterations that really made it nice included electric brakes, fantastic fan, and adding front dinette. We're sitting in it as I write, in an rv park in Gilroy, CA, that happens to have its own wifi hotspot. A trend I hope all parks will make.

Anyway, congratulations on your purchase. You'll have many pleasant memories that I hope you share on this site.

Thank you Lance,

I'm interested in your front dinette mod. We have the one piece under seat storage. How did you do it? Are pictures posted here?

I'm sure we will have a lot to talk about over the years. Just wondering, does yours have either the FMVSS or CSA compliance label?

Roy

[Lance MacArthur]

Roy --
I have a thread in modifications called blue boler pix that has a bunch of pix of modifications I've made, including the front dinette.

Basically, I removed all of the fiberglass and gaucho and built framed boxes for each side. I cut out tops for the boxes that matched the curvature, using cardboard for a template, and the made foam cushions to fit on top. The one next to the sink holds our laptops and other stuff, and the one next to the door holds the porta potti. The lids are the same size, so its easy to move the cushion and lid off the porta potti so it can be used in the wee hours without a lot of hassle. Also, since its up on the ledge, its high enough so you don't fall to the floor. Anyway, the website should give you some ideas, which I'm sure could be improved.

I have plates on the frame, but don't know what if any certifications are there. It's in storage until the Isleton crawdad festival. I'll take a look then (June 16), and let you know.

Lance

[Roy in TO]

Name? Do we have a name? Perhaps something with words to include
Camouflage?

Since you asked Gigi



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