A handful of old friends contacted me and asked me to resurect an old line of discussion which has been lost due to malicious individuals wrecking this fantastic website.

I found some pictures of someone else's trailer that reminded me of what condition mine was when I first bought my Scamp Trailer. The condition is very very similar to what I faced when I brought this wreck home


My 76 scamp was hardly worth the $300 I spent on it originally...
Rotten floors, leaky windows, rivets and no roof vent (just a hole).
The roof sagged in center and puddled and leaked.

No trailer lights, rotten cushion foam with mice living in them....
Door falling off with many holes from attempted remounts. There was mold and mildew on every 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 and irrepairable.

But I allways wanted an egg.

First thing I did was take out everything... all rivets, all cabinets, and replaced the wooden floor where it was rotten. I cut 4" round drain holes into the floor front and back and then spent days scrubbing with tilex, ajax, and simple green and a garden hose on high pressure. The floor holes I cut allowed the water I was spraying inside to drain out whether it was ponding in front or back depending on the tilt of the trailer. I then put 4" PVC plumbing screw caps into the drain holes to serve as plugs for the floor drains

After that, I 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.

more

Next critical thing I had to do was deal with the sagging roof and missing roof vent. I bent conduit into a roof rack to use to lift sag in roof and add mounting place for awning and rooftop storage.

At the rear I mounted a SUV type cargo rack for reciever hitches and made it flip up or down since I had the nice conduit frame to attach to. Flipped up gets it out of the way for parking in tight spaces while in storage. On this flip up frame/rack I mounted an outdoor storage box that locks all my grilling/stove items and other bulky lightweight things.

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.

some more

more pics

a closer look

Next came a little interior attetion.
There was no salvaging any piece of interior wood.
I chose to remake all cabinet doors and table out of birch plywood.
With the right finish it gave me a look of maple, a favorite.
Well, faux maple at birch price, but real wood non-the-less.
A 3/4 inch laminated butcher block-type countertop was cut for a nice double sink and installed.

I choose to not have a stove built in because if I want I have the choice of using area as a table top where I can put a small stove when I want.
I've always prefered cooking outdoors when possible. I have much superior outdoor equipment.

Here is how the outside finished. Sort of. Is it ever finished?
The roof rack has three permanentl solar panels horizontally mounted, though they are hard to see behind the black solar pathlights. I place the pathlights up top aimed at the sun and relocate them around trailer in evening.

The left rear window behind the chimney was broken. I replaced it with a sheet of plexiglass that I can remove easily from the inside leaving just the aluminum frame open. Into this opening I mount a small 5000 BTU air conditioner which I can run off my Honda EU 1000i. I can mount the AC only if the weather demands. I often camp in hot locations.

I removed the icebox and in it's place installed an Aquastar LP demand water heater. it still left good undercabinet space which I filled with that white wire shelving.
Birch ply for tall cabinet adjustable shelves, installed an old car stereo above the shelves since it is not utilized space.

Here are some interior shots

For curtains I lucked out at the fabric store.
On sale, light colored textured fabric that reminded me almost of wood. Less than 2 bucks a yard! Because of the great fabric deal, I splurged and bought this thermal curtain liner stuff to sew into the curtains. This stuff is a four layer thermal blanket with a silver mylar layer like space blankets plus a vapor barrier, cotton batting and a fine white fabric outer layer. Sewn all together on a garage sale sewing machine, these curtains keep almost all light and heat. I can sleep until late in the day and I don't even know it's light outside. It keeps heat in, or heat out. I made a curtain that fits the roof vent too.

I riveted snaps inside so they can also be pulled tight against the windows.
Does anyone recognize what the window crank knob is?

The fiberglass curved door had relaxed over time and left quite a gap at the bottom.
I ran cable top to bottom with turnbuckles to tighten the curve up. Not a beautiful solution, but cheap, adjustable, easy, and coincides with the name I gave this beast. The Skimp. Almost everything but that dang water heater was stuff I had lying around or could get for free.

And here's a picture of it actually being used at Burningman.
I learned that indeed, a scamp CAN look like some kind of bug.

I might raise a few questions about the water heater?
here is a picture of the 15 gal spray tank that supplies the running water

I paste the clip from a legacy post:


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.

Oh, Tom. Thank you so much for bring pictures of your trailer back to us. It's even better then I remember.

What Jana said.

Thank you, thank you, Tom.

Thanks Tom, you're a peach to repost the pics and information

You're truly KING when it comes to resurrecting a very sad egg. This information is important to those who wonder if it's even possible....you've proved it is

Excellent job!

Donna, Suz, and Jana,
You're welcome and I thank you very much for thinking to ask me.
I always figured that it was old news and since so many people have done so many other awesome things that onward and upward. And I didn't look back.
Also, I too seem to have misplaced a bunch of the pictures I had taken.
I had to scour a bunch of old backup disks just for these.
Also, the legacy post I originally started is located at:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/index.ph...=16911&hl=skimp

Again, thank you all for the warm invitation back.



Here is a closer look at my friend Sherry's trailer.

Umm, hey those are pictures (the wreck you posted) of my trailer now

Roy,
That's your trailer now?
I'm serious that mine was in that same condition.
No offense that I said it was hardly worth it.
As you know, being a man of vision, that indeed it is worth it.
What an exciting adventure you'll be starting.
I wish you patience and low costs.
tom

Oh, thanks a lot, Tom!

Now I've got to go back and correct about a jillion posts where I said, "I sure wish somebody had saved some of Thomas Haney's pics of his Scamp!"



Seriously, you have no idea how much it hurt to lose the pics of your Skimp. A heartfelt thank you for reposting them, and for taking the time and trouble to reconstruct the narrative that goes with them!!



BTW, Sherry's trailer's a hoot. I'll bet y'all get lots of "conversation" if/when you camp together!

It was really fun to see these posts again. Still inspirational. Thanks. Now I have to go look for some pc11.

Mary & Maggie O,

I'm still missing some of the pics which were in the original post, I've gone through a couple of hard drive upgrades and that's life.

So this will have to do.

PS
Its really nice to be remembered.

Thanks Thomas for reposting.

What a GREAT Trailer!!!! WOW. My hat's off to anyone who is so handy.

Just such a great job on the work-over. What an artist also, done by freehand.

Tom, a really great job. An added benefit of your outside frame would be to support a tarp cover when you're not in camping season. Being raised from the trailer, it would allow air to circulate and the trailer to "breathe."

Bob

wow, tom wow, wow
tell us more about the great outdoor cooking equipment and where did you get the great light on your countertop?

did a great job on the exterior too. not too many folks can take their gardens with them when they go camping. those flowers sure are drought hardy, too!


all in all thanks, alice

That is the kind of thing that amazes me. To be able to restore such a wreck of a trailer into a beautiful RV. I am stunned at the ingenuity.

Bob,
You're right about the tarp. I have done exactly that. There's nothing like having your camper in the shade. Though preferably a large oak tree, sometimes you have to make do.

Potteralice,
I have a pair of those great little goose neck lights. I got them from a flea market and they are the interior lights from an old 1970's cop car. They are really well made, and since I had them, I could think of no better place to put one. The other is actually mounted on the dash of my car.

The Cooking gear... I restored a turn of the century (before the most recent one) cast iron three burner stove. It has ornate scroll work and I re-jetted it to use propane instead of natural gas. But functionally, I like my Coleman Road Trip grill in the picture below. It works on the table top if I don't want the legs, the cover comes off, the grills are replaceable with griddles or stove grates. Plus, I do the setup of the kitchen for 25 people at Burningman, so I have a lot of stuff if I want to bring any of it.

And Bob,
Thank you for the kind words.

Pictured here is that old stove mentioned above. I actually have it set up for use also in the home. I found it burried in dirt in a dump. It was rusty and all the pipes were even filled with dirt.

The heater is an old "Humphrey Radiant Fire" gas fireplace insert from the 'twentys.
I had the brass replated and took out the old "candles" which burned natural gas and replace the entire gas mechanism with the guts of an Olympian Catalytic propane heater.
It is really toasty and very efficient.

Hey Roy! When are you bringing your baby home? I wanna see it!

Adam in Ayr

You know, everytime I read posts like this I am overwhelmed by the sheer artistry so many members of this group show. Whether it is simple curtains or complete rebuilds, I am never disappointed by the workmanship, design, and ability of our members .

Do you suppose there is something about our little units that attract so many really creative people ?

I think there is something to that. All of the people I've met with fiberglass RVs are unique individuals with a lot of talent in some field.

Thanks Bob and Judy,

I think that if I could have afforded to buy a spanking new trailer I might not have had the guts nor inspiration to become creative. It really would have been much easier.

oh,tom......

i knew i should not have listened to the practical side of my nature when it told me that my beautiful antique propane heater with the ceramic openwork gas tubes was never going to be fixed and that since i had held on to it for 20 years already, it was time to throw it away. (but i did cry when the "handyman" i hired to clean out the tool room broke it up in pieces to fit it into the trash can.)

seeing yours makes me glad that there are folks who fix things and don't just go out and buy the newest available.

i have also seen the kind of gas burner unit you have and wondered if it was practical. yep! it is.

well, at least i still have the tiny coal stove that was once on a yacht. can't find a good use for it either but it sure is pretty.

burningman huh. is it really as wild as i hear?

Potteralice,

Now you make me cry too. You know, they just don't make things like they used to.
Now its all driven by function and cost. Style takes a far back seat. My antique tabletop stove is very practical. Not even my modern unit heats up a pot of coffee as fast or in such style. Notice in the pictures, even though it looks like there is only two burners, there are three knobs. The third knob runs a third burner in the middle of the biggest burner. It is a mini burner for just keeping things warm. Or it can be used in conjunction with the outer bigger burner bringing a pot of water to a faster boil. I sure wish I would have been YOUR handyman.

Burningman is not so much wild as it is awesomely creative. Last year someone made that Rube Goldberg mousetrap game only a hundred feet long. Instead of rolling marbles it used bowling balls. See picture. also, how 'bout these little cupcakes for a tow rig? Many of the pieces of art people make you can actually ride on. Other pieces of work might remind you of childhood. How about this oversize game of "Operation" that will actually give you a shock if you light up the patience nose.

Wild, if that's what you want to call it. Amazing is what I would say.

Last year someone showed me a video of a car commercial that used many car parts and a kind of domino effect. To which I replied,

"Somewhere, Rube Goldberg is smiling."

And the person to whom I had spoken had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. She hadn't the foggiest who the heck Rube Goldberg was.

okay Tom, you have convinced me. where is burningman held? and more importantly, how do i get a ride on the big truck mounted swinging chains shown in the picture? that looks like fun!!!

maybe you could start a new topic called burningman, why not go?
every picture i have seen of the event looks as though there are miles of space around everything and everybody. where is it and how big is it any facitlites or is it strictly boondocking?

back to your comment about the "handyman" i hired. i sure wish it had been you. after asking the guy to straighten up the collection of tools and stuff i have collected over the years i found that his solution was to drive nails into all the walls and suspend everything on them. well, i could have done THAT!! then he left the actual tools as they had been when he arrived and i still couldn't get to them way under the workbench.

I just could not let that comment pass un-commented on.
Rube Goldberg's Wikipedia entry...

Wow, Tom - we add our thanx for re-posting pics of your VERY impressive rehab. The paint job is the greatest, too. LdB