Posted by Thomas Haney, Member


Being new on this or any forum, I thought I'd post my pictures.

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This 76 scamp was hardly worth the $300 I spent on it originally...
Rotten floors, leaky windows,rivets and roof vent. Roof sagged in center and puddled and leaked. No trailer lights, rotten cushion foam and mice living in them....
Door falling off with many holes from attempted remounts. There was mold and mildew on every interior surface. The seller was kind enough to empty a can of lysol in it just before I arrived. what wood cabinet doors and table tops were left were swollen with moisture.

But I allways wanted an egg.


First thing I did was take out everything... all rivets all cabinets, and replace the wooden floor. I cut drain holes into the floor and spent days scrubbing with tilex, ajax, and simple green. THen put drain plugs into the floor drains,

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linoleumed the floor and installed all lights. I found surface mounted tail lights for which I cut holes and they don't protrude at all. See picture. I added electric input to charger/inverter and battery. Rebuilt door: removed interior skin that was sloughing off, remounted and sealed door window, epoxeyed old hinge mount holes and remounted door solidly. Pain.
Did find nice marine epoxey paste called PC-11. Highly recommended.

Cut all new cabinet doors and table from Birch plywood and put many coats of finish. New cabinet hinges and re-riveted everything back in. Used PC-11 in every rivet hole to assure of permanent seal.

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Bent conduit roof rack to use to lift sag in roof and add mounting place for awning and rooftop storage. At rear I mounted a SUV type cargo rack that flips up for close storage. Mounted outdoor box that locks all my grilling/stove items outside

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Then I determined how I'd like to paint the egg. Didn't remind me of any insects or animals so I went with the cottage theme. Sharpie outlines filled with acryllic color paint.

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Found great deal on 15 gal water tank with pressure activated pump for $89 new. Connected it to demand water heater, installed double basin sink and faucett into butcher block galley top.

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INstalled stereo, tongue dolly mounts, propane and much more.

Anyway,
Learned a lot, and had lots of fun making mods.

Everyone should know about the water tank. Fits perfectly under bench and is very inexpensive from Harbor Freight Tools.... Shoulda took a pic...It pumps nicely through demand water heater and even exits to a tap outside for an outside showerhead.....

Wait till it's done. Hope I spend as much time camping in it as I have fixin' it.

-----------------------------
Sincerely
Tom

Here's a pic of the box secured to rack




Also the rear side window was broken so I replaced it with a piece of removable plexiglass. made and AC mounting frame and it fits nicely into window...

You did a terrific job, it looks great. I love the cottage look.
Have lots of fun camping with it.

That is really looking cute. Love the flower boxes and can't wait to see the stones on the bottom of the trailer.

The front of my trailer is plain. No window, no nada. The decal is gone. I have thought really hard about painting a window and shutters and there. Yours turned out so cute, I may have to revisit the idea.

Congratulations. I know you're going to enjoy camping in it.

Do revisit the painting idea. Nice thing about paint is that it is not forever....

My front window is plain too. I've yet to decide what to paint on the window cover. Maybe make it look like a large ballroom inside? A couple of pairs of feet intertwined? Lucy and Ricky? CIA intelligence gathering equipment?

Got any ideas for me?

CIA equipment!!!! I love it!!!

You rig looks great Tom- no doubt a real head turner and conversation starter. I love the one-off stuff.............

$300, lots of elbow grease and being so creative really turned trash into treasure. I would have never thought about the cottage theme. So refreshing to see what can be done to rescue a broken egg. Humpty Dumpty is back together again. Post more pictures as you do more.

Hmmmm

Now I wish I'd have thought of Humpty Dumpty before I got out my paintbrushes...

Dene, that's a great idea. Ever seen it before?

Hi
I would have paid $300.00 and thought you got a great deal.Look at whats its worth now.You did a terrific job and should be proud of it.I am real impressed by your overhead conduit.
:wave

A side benefit to that conduit is that you take your garage where ever you go. Throw on a tarp, and voila! Instant Garage!

Not only does it make an air space between the tarp thrown over the rack, the rack supports a tarp extended from it with shower curtain rings. Very inexpensive and fits in with my new name for it...
The Skimp.

I am making a shower curtain support on the opposite side where my hot water taps out....

It is easy to suspend with this rack.....

I should probably sell a rack kit...

Tom - you probably should!

I am very curious about this rack. How does it help your sagging roof? Did you put holes in the roof to attach it? Also did you make the ceiling cabinet in the front? I have a little dip in my roof and am trying to decide what if anything to do about it. I think the rack would be great for a solar panel.

Dear Maggie,

I had to replace the roof vent first off so I built an aluminum frame around the vent hle and rivetted and sealed it around the hole. Then I attached the new roof vent to that aluminum frame. It is from this aluminum frame that I attach a strap to the roof rack to pull up the frame which also lifted the roof.

Dunno if that makes sense

Hi Tom,
Thank you for explaining. It sounds like it's working well for you. I had pictured something like it to put a solar panel on the roof without touching the shell. I think I'll probably support my roof from the inside somehow. You've done a great job bringing that egg back from the brink.

I LOVE your trailer! The paint job makes it unique and special. How cool! Thanks so much for posting the pictures of it.

Nancy

For the nice compliments.

Also Maggie, I pondered for weeks on how to support or lift the roof from he inside. I couln't think of anything that didn't cut down on the interior headroom or make a visual space barier. If everyone ou know is a little less tall then that wouldn't be an issue.

I think it is a good question for you to post
I won't post it because I have it solved for me.

PS
Am plannig to mount my solar on the rack like you are thinking.

saggy roof. as I've mentioned before, My roof is drooping. or I should say WAS drooping. when I measured the first time I had a wash tup upside down (vent had a hole in it) over the vent. = 1.5 inch drop = water puddle
removed tub = 1/2 inch drop
remove vent = no drop at all.
now I have to decide. vent or no vent and plug the hole.
I'm still working on a solution, I want that vent.

A roof vent is where all the heat goes out....can't imagine not having one.

In your case I believe that the sag is primarily caused by inadequate roof structure. And the vent being firmly attached IS structure.

I have no doubt that if you were to push up your roof with a 2x4 from the inside while you firmly rivet in your new vent that it would hold the roof up in place.. adding the rigidity that is now lacking

I also have no doubt that it is not the extra couple ounces of the weight of a vent that is causing the sag. It is surely that the hole leaves the ability to flex.

My sag was really bad. Unlike the sound of yours

Just in case anyone wants more pictures, here's another. I need one of those "TV artists" to help me make the rocks look real

Too, too cute. That door and those hinges are a crowning touch.

Good job! :)

I think that since you painted all those flowers with shadows etc, you
can also do the rocks very well, without any help. That is a very unique idea to paint it in a cottage style. Very nice, neat and tidy looking
"Art Project". "you know you can do it!!"
Willma

Thanks Willma, for the encouraging words...

I've already tried numerous times to get rock shading... I must be missing some trick...

If you were to see the flowers up close you wouldn't necessarily think they are well done. The shadows there is just a black sharpie marker.

A marker doesn't work well for rock shading, and my brush strokes are wrong.

I may just leave it as is. It's better than anything else I've been able to do.

I have had some luck in the past with using a pallet with two or three colors on it. Perhaps try working on a piece of scrap wood so you can see the effects. My technique usually involves putting three coordinating colors (say light tan, dark tan and a light brown) close to each other on the pallet, then using a sea sponge to dip a little of each. You want the colors to run together but not completely mix. Then dab on the "rock." Get a little more and dab on some more. Use more of the darker colors on the bottom and edges of the "rock." Keep your shadows consistent (shadow the same side of adjoining rocks. If you want the ricks to be different colors and textures, then do every fifth rock with one mix of paint. Then go back and do every other fifth rock with a slightly differnt mix, etc.

If you can't find or don't have a sea sponge, you might try a regular kitchen sponge. Gently tear off the edges and take a few pieces out of the middle in an irregular pattern so you don't get straight lines in the paint. In either case, rotate the sponge with each dab so you don't create identical shapes in the rocks.

For coordinating rock colors, you might need to start with one small can of tan, one cream and one brown and mix lighter and darker shades to suit your needs.

Good luck!

:ola Dear JR, Those were just the kinds of hints I needed. I was attempting to put one color on at a time. I wasn't getting the blend. Also the sea sponge sounds much better than a brush.

Thanks a million. I will post the results one day.

All those hours I spent watching craft and decorating shows on tv weren't a complete waste. :lol2

A friend of mine is trying to talk me into staying with her until her military husband comes back in November. She is attempting to lure me with the promise of all the cable I can watch. Just what I need, no job and unlimited access to the Learning Channel!!!

Hey, Jana, where's the couch potato watching tv smilie? All I can find is the smilie who lost the remote. :hiding

:wave Love your little cottage. I saw the picture of the dolly mounted on the front of your trailer. How is is mounted? I just bought one from Habour Frieght. It is $49, free shipping, of anyone is interested.

:wave :wave

Hello Mary,

I got my dolly at Harbor freight too. There are times I want to move the unit around and the car isn't attached. So I thought best to always have the dolly with the Skimp. (My name for the egg)

Mounting it was easy. I bought a strip of metal, bent a couple of U's from it and welded them to the top of the frame. then I drilled a hole through each U so that I could put a pin through that would hold the dolly axle from lifting out of the U's.

If you do the same but don't want to weld, PLEASE remember that you should NEVER drill into the top or bottom of the frame to put bolts into.
You can however, drill into the sides of the frame without the loss of strength. It is a compression/tension thing. It is prefered though to NOT drill. That is why I welded.

Sorry it took so long, JR. got the couch potato, but couldn't remember where I was to put it.

:E I spoke earlier of some of the modifications that I made, one being a new water tank and pump. I thought I'd post a photo of the tank as I should have done earlier.

This was a perfect fit under the rear bench, although it took up much of the spece, it gave me 15 gal at up to about a gallon a minute.

It has a pressure sensitive pump that detects the drop in pressure when you open a faucett and starts a pumpin' away. It has even enough pressure to go through my demand water heater and to the sink or shower tap on the outside. Very sturdy tank, well built, and has several good mounting options. I used straps.

All I had to do is to remove the sprayer wand and I had at least 10' of high quality rubber hose to reroute to my sink unit.

I think it is a perfect Scamp addition at a great price.

Hi Tom,

It's me again, pestering you for information about your good ideas. I'm interested in your shower set up. Does your hot water heater require shore power? How do you hook up an outside shower to an inside water tank? Any info appreciated. Thanks.

Dear Maggie O....

You're not pestering me.
In one of the above photographs you'll see under the galley a white tall thing. It is an Aquastar 38B LP. It is a demand/tankless water heater. It runs off propane and does not require power of any sort. It will heat water for as long as water flows through it. The moment water flow stops, the burners shut down. A pilot light stays lit waiting for water to flow again.

The output goes up to my sink faucet. It also has a "Tee" and valve that goes to another hose that I drilled a hole through the fiberglass body for. that hose terminates at the body with a garden hose fitting that from the outside I can connect a short line to a shower head with an inline valve that I can shut off the flow with.

The reason I have a valve under the galley for this shower tap and another valve on the shower itself is that I want to have a shutoff right at the shower, and when the shower is not connected I can positively shut off the water so I don't get any accidental flow to this outside tap. I guess it will keep strangers from coming along and taking a long shower too.

The Aquastar heater is a little taller than the inside of my galley so I had to lower the floor in the galley with a wooden box enclosure. That way it didn't stick up through my wooden galley top. The only shorter demand heater is a Paloma. They are no longer made but are available used. I was going to buy one, but ebay people kept bidding them higher than my new Aquastar. Besides parts are available for the Aquastar unlike the Paloma.

My shower curtain is a conduit loop that I connect to my overhead rack shown in other photos above. You can buy a freestanding shower enclosure instead though. You put it up sorta like a tent. I believe Coleman has them.

Other hot shower options are the Zodi and the new llittle coleman thing. Really don't know how well these work.

Anyway, if you see me camping anywhere, just come ask and I'll let you take a shower since you're not a stranger.

Thanks for the reply. Your trailer has a lot of great things going on. All very sensible. One things for sure if I see you camping I'll know it's you.

I know, it's not enough solar to really run anything, but it was better to put them up than have them sit in a dark corner doing nothing.

Together the three pannels rate an amp and a half, but I'll probably only get a third of that due to their lying horizontally. But that will keep battery topped off during disuse.

Greatest challenge was to fish the wire through the conduit rack and down to the battery.. AND back out. (the hard part)

I may put an old quarter amp 12v computer fan in my roof vent and I should be able to run it indeffinately. Till the battery dies.

Tom;

An absolutely wonderful project and example of patience and skills. My wife and I love your paint job and all the neat mod you have done. We are very interested in one of the demand water heaters you installed. I read all the threads and finally found out the brand and model. Great work and you will love the egg.

Brian and Pat
Trillium 5500 and 1300
Land of the midnight sun, Edmonton

Golly, gee Brian,

Thanks for the compliments

You know, none of the demand water heaters are officially approved for RV use. If you do it, make sure you do an extra bang-up good job. Over design everything about it and even if it isn't officially approvable, you'll know it's done safely and right.

I just hope I did it as well as you are going to

The crank that came with my new roof vent / window thingie kept catching tall friends right on the soft spot on tops of heads.

It would have been preferable if they put that soft spot on the back of heads, but they don't listen to me.

So intead I put a propane knob on it. Much lower profile (Higher profile??) and just misses that poorly placed soft spot.

Well, probably not FINAL details, but here are some more silly little things.

1 as mentioned before, here is a propane knob in action. Note that you can't really jam your back or head on it? See photo in below post... sorry



Also note that the curtains snap down and tight to frame with snaps to hold in place and block out all light. All Light? All light, and heat. the following picture shows the four layer insulation on the outside of the curtains. The outer layer is really nice fabric with sewn seams that hold the layer of space blanket mylar, vapor barrier, and cotton batting all together. Drops the temp of Skimp in full sun greatly. Allows me to sleep in if I wish. Also holds heat in and out.



I even put a snap on curtain on the door window. I had to reline the door with new naugahide (picked grey because on sale and hides my dirty finger tips. Mounted a botle opener under window. That way you don't have to rummage inside if you need it. access from inside or outside. Good place too because if the bottle was shaken all suds will just run down the door and outside whether door is open or not.



Speeking of door... has hit me in butt too many times swinging in the wind. I made a pvc tube with a bungie cord stretched inside. It mounts permanantly to my conduit frame and can then be used to grab doorknob and hold in position. Can give a bit in big gust of wind so is not totally rigid.

:wave
Continuing above....
I found that my rolling greywater container (blue plastic thingie) can be held in place during transit by putting table leg through handle...
Hate it when things roll around.

The closet of Lainey's is superior, but I had already done mine by then. It is thin birtch plywood on adjustable rails rivetted to cabinet walls inside. Adjustable..

All homes must have art. Right?
I found a little antique painting in an oval frame that fit between doors of upper cabinet.



The same space on the forward cabinet has an antique match holder. Strike plates are along side of basket. Had to stuff a piece of foam down with matches to hold them in place during transit.

To the outside again.
I painted the chimney in the place where the former stove vent came out.

I had to cut the belly band because it was the perfect place to have my hot water heater flue come out. Flue is caulked with twenty dollar fireproof caulk and flashings. Cover prevents cooties from entering while not in use.

The other screened vent has a computer fan in it to duct out hot air that could possibly build up around water heater there under the galley. It also provides positive air supply to the heater through the lower vent shown below

I put a magnetic stripped piece of clear plastic that serves as a dust cover when in transit. It holds on tight!

I found that I can set my solar pathlights up here for recharging.
It is right next to the permanently mounted panels.



I've now drawn the clapboard horizontal lines, and need to make grey shadows under the lines.

I just haven't solved my highlights and shadows yet.

Thanks for your time

Your trailer looks great. Thanks for the pictures.

Hi Thomas
Your doing a great job--I kinda slacked off for now.Up here we are having a heat wave , so I don't do much but just sit back and enjoy.

Lainey has to work on hers if she is to go on holidays.:wave

Thats the beauty of having 2 units.1 to work on and 1 to use.;)

Ches,

Thats a great idea. Just yesterday I saw a 1946 aluminum teardrop trailer. Very tempted. but I wouldn't be able to post it's progress here because there's no fibreglass.

That propane knob looks really good.

Now I'm not a painting artist, but I did stay at a --- oh never mind.
I was wondering if the reason you are have trouble with the shadowing is the color your using or maybe your forgetting where the sun is coming from. if one rock is shadowed lower left and the next is lower right then things will never get the right look. pick a spot the sun would be and paint with the in mind. also, don't just use black or grey as a shadow color try mixing in the rock color. also you need a brighter spot where the sun hits, too. Find a picture of a rock you like to look at while you paint. Now someone with more knowledge then I can correct me. :)

Thomas N' Jan,

Theoretically, I know what to do, and you're right ....
It's just that every time I do it, I'm very unhappy with the result and then paint it back to original. I believe that my selection of paints is too little, and I'm skimping on paint too.

Sometimes I wish it were just all glossy white.

If tear drop was a homemade unit your ok

I think I've figured it out. you are looking from too closeup. you have to back away and squint. then you get a better idea of what it will look like. also you should wait until the next day to paint over it. many mistakes don't show after you leave it for just a little while. I learned that when I did Machine Embroidery. they said to put it down and back across the room to check it. :lol

Thomas N' Jan,

I think you're right... Step back, and sleep on it.

Also saw a thread called "eggs in high places"
There is a photo of a rock wall. I see that the rocks have a prominent black shadow. I think I will get out the sharpie again and just try highlighting the lower/right sides of rocks with black. It might be all I need.