This my first post and my first fiberglass trailer. This what the out side looks like after days of wet sanding and 3 coats of finish. I will post more pictures following this one
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This is the front side of trailer
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This is a picture of the inside of our trailer
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Good job. I love the wainscot

I love the paint job. It looks great!

Nice work Rick! Was the original fiberglass color light blue?

Tom Trostel

That is the orginal gelcoat, I will be posting before pictures soon and some more pictures of the inside.

Here are some more pictures of the inside. Tom, its your pictures that gave me some ideas

Rick,
I am almost at the decision to repaint my Compact Jr. or leave it alone. Please tell me the type of paint you used. In a more recent post, a paint called Interlux was used. Do you have any suggestions after you painted yours?

Thank you.

Cliff
That is the original gel coat. I was at the same decision, what to paint it with. The trailer finish was in bad condition, in fact the trailer looked almost gray in some areas. I went to find some Interlux paint at a local marine shop and they didn't have the color I wanted. I was going to order some paint and decided to start wet sanding the outside. As I was sanding the color got better and better and decided not to paint it yet. The finish still had a dull look to it so I put a coat of liquid floor finish in a test area and I was suprized how it bounced back. The pictures show it with 3 coats of floor finish. Many people think I painted it. Just a quick note, this floor finish is a professional product that is made to stand up against heavy foot traffic and since I wasn't going to walk on the trailer I thought it was worth a try. The trailer has been outside all summer and still looks great. I got the idea from the liquid finishes used on other trailers and boats. Their make up is almost the same as the floor finish. I still want to recoat with some more finish then a coat of wax for added protection. I hope this helps. From my experance I would get the inside ready and even if the windows aren't leaking, mine were, I would remove them clean them up and reinstall them. This is a very easy job and whether you paint or wet sand the job will turn out better and you know your windows will not leak.
Good Luck, take your time and keep asking questions
Rick

Hey Rick,
GREAT pics there, it looks like your work has turned out GREAT! The trailer's color is pretty cool too. I think I can relate to some of the other members wondering if it was painted or not though, as I've only ever seen a Hunter product in blue that was a light powdery blue. Your blue is WAY more attractive! hehe
I'm curious though, in the middle of your original three pics, where you can just barely see the canvas boot around the pop top, it looks like the Compact Jr logo is stenciled on the boot or something, is that the case? the little glimpse of it that is in the pic looks interesting, I'm just wondering if it came that way, or did you do that, or what? Would love to see more pics of it.
You've also got me thinking of more work I should be doing on my rig, like pulling out the windows and resealing, before they DO decide to leak...hehe
Anyway, looking great Rick, keep up the good work, and keep sharing your project results with all of us fellow curious FGRV folks! hehe
Joe

Rick,
Thank you very much, and agree with Joseph. Nice blue color on your trailer. What grit wet/dry sandpaper do you recommend. I can give it a try and see what happens. There are spots that look like the paint is sun bleached out on the roof area. I won't know until I try a test area with sand paper.

As of today, I have all the windows, and accessories taken off, a couple more screws, and then the floor bolts. I will leave the bolts for last until I decide how, where, when, or if I will paint. :-)

I am a newbie with fiberglass trailers, but is the Interlux paint what everyone recommends around the forum? Will auto body paint work well on fiberglass?

I started with 220 and worked up to 600 3m sandpaper. I would recommend power washing the trailer first, if you have a power washer, this may remove some of "the bleach out areas". Your trailer doesn't look as bad as mine, so it may not take as long to wet sand. Then use a good product to bring back the shine. Let me know how you make out.

Joe
The paint before wet sanding looked like a very light power blue or even light gray. That blue color came out only after wet sanding and appling the finish.
The Compact Logo is one that I did on my computer. It is close to the orginal but when looked at side by side you can notice the difference. I printed the Logo on printable fabric and iron it on the the canvas top. I will e mail a pdf of the logo to anyone that wants it.
Thanks for the postive comments
Rick

Here's a relief pic of the original Compact Jr. logo. I took this at the 2008 Oregon Gathering. Maybe someone will find it of use:

that's the shot I need to do the art for new decals.
I'll get on it.

Rick - I'd like that .pdf file. please send it my way, or, even better, ask Donna or Tom or someone else in the know how to post it in the document center here on the site.

Jen

Thanks for the pics and descriptions of improvements. I recently bought a nice light blue '72
Compact, Jr. with all original interior. Has stove, oven, heater and 3-way refrig. I got everything working and we took off for a 3 week vacation. I plan to make improvements, but not till it gets toooo cold to travel. Thanks!

dennis

P.S. I tow with a '91 Honda Civic Hatchback - 31 mpg and lovin' it.

Dennis:

I would not use that Civic for towing an egg. Check out the fourth paragraph.

A word about tow vehicles

(as requested by many Vintage Trillium owners)

Buying the correct tow vehicle is not as easy as it seems. Everyone you talk to will have a different opinion. After all, everyone loves their own car - that's why they bought it. Here is the best objective advice we can give....

The most important consideration is - safety for yourself and others.
The only way to be assured of that is to go by what the Car Manufacturer says - meaning - as stated in the vehicle's owner's manual..
No car salesman, RV salesman, other owners, previous owners, uncles, or mechanics, etc. can provide an accurate figure of the vehicle's towing capacity. There are far too many variations of engines, transmissions, drive train type, wheel base, HD options, coolers, brakes, etc. for anyone to have an accurate - on the spot - answer.

If you're buying a used car, be sure to look for the owner's manual.
If you're buying a new car, not only can you look at the owner's manual, but there is usually a chart in the showroom which will give you a quick summary. (You should still look in the owner's manual.)

Finally - and maybe most important - we all know that these days everyone gets sued when there's trouble. You can be the most cautious, best driver, and be involved in a bad accident which is not your fault. Don't get caught with a tow vehicle too light for the trailer. Car manufacturers spend a lot of money on engineering, testing, (and lawyers). Take their tow rating to heart.

Keep the highways safe. Tow with the right rig. And remember, this is one area where bigger is better."

Exerpted from:

http://www.trilliumrv.com/models.htm

Rick,

In a previous post you have pictures of the roof area. It looks like you were able to keep the bow in roof line with the roof spars. Any comments about your method, are you still pleased with the outcome. I am guessing you have a few more screws that punctured the actual roof exterior to clamp the spars. Is this correct?

Cliff

Cliff
You are right. When I had the roof laying on saw horses, inside looking up, and I cut the beams to the curve of the roof. the length of the beams are about 21", you have to mesure from roof support to roof support or your beams will hit the supports when the roof is down. When cutting the beams, the curve must get less as you get closer to the end of the roof. I then took cider planking and laid it inside the roof, marked where I wanted the beams and drilled holes through the planking and roof. If needed, you can hold the planking together with tape. I then placed the beams on the inside of the roof, drilled pliot holes into the beams from the outside of the roof, I had to lay on my back because the topside of the roof was facing the ground and anchored the beams with lag bolts and large washers. Before I screwed in the lag bolts I used butal putty to seal the holes. You can't see the bolts from the ground when the roof is attached to the trailer. So far the roof has held up very good, no leaks and I think it looks good. Then I first got the traoler the roof was concaved about 4 to 6 inches so I needed a good fix. The wood added about 5 lbs to the top. Cider is very light. I bought the cider at Home Depot. Total cost of this project was about $30.00. This is the same cider I used on the cabinets. I hope I explained this proceedure ok. I have some pictures but I don't think they will help.
Rick

Cliff
I found my pictures on my computer so now I can post them. They were in the wrong file
The first picture is a before picture of our sagging roof
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This is a picture of the finished inside of the roof
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These are pictures of the top of the roof showing the bolts
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A close up of the bolt and washer
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Any question let me know. I will post some more pictures of before and after now that I found them

Rick,

Good job! Thanks for the extra pictures. Just a little hesitant on putting holes in the roof. If sealed properly, it wouldn't be a problem, but still. Looks like the extra cedar ribs gives you an extra handle to push the top up.

Changing the subject a bit, I noticed you don't have insulation in the interior. I have yet to camp in the Compact, but some of the later models seem to have insulation. Can you comment on lack of insulation. I have it stripped down to the shell, and after seeing a few new Casitas, I am wondering if I should try applying insulation and carpet on the walls inside. Those walls on the CJ are sure thin.

I noticed that to. We have camped in 80 to 85 weather and the air conditioner has kept it cool and have camped in 40 weather with just a cube ceramic heater and it was to hot with heater on low. We have not had a problem with condensation on the walls or ceiling, why I don't know. I do have insulation on the walls behind my storage closet. I used a hot water heater blanket for this and it worked out very good.
Rick