Cleaning up an old Boler

[Lizbeth]

Wow Jean...can I adopt you? I have a Boler that needs that treatment and my son is too busy working on his race car.

Seriously it look sooooo much better!

[Karen L W]

Originally Posted by justchillinout

Hey Randy

I'll give the sanding option a try, should be relatively quick.

I know the rubbing compound would be a full day, just on the bottom half!

Thank you for the offer on the lights, however, I've only got less than a month to get the trailer done and I know how shipping across the border is. It is normally at least 6 weeks! But thank you, a million times thank you!

Great work Jean! As for the lights, check out Princess Auto for 7" LED lights (Part #8059586). I bought mine a year ago and they fit my Boler perfectly.

For the sagging door you may want to drill small hole along the bottom edge of the door. Some are filled with water which causes the sag. Another consideration is replacing the hinges or just part of the hinge which can be purchased either from Scamp Trailers (USA) or Paul Neumeister in Ontario 519 393-6410 (days) or 519 393-6776 (evenings)

For brightening up the gel coat I have heard people using Mequiar's #49 Oxidation Remover & Mequiar's #50 Cleaner Wax. Both can be purchased at Canadian Tire.

Hope this help. Karen

[justchillinout]

Karen thanks for the info.

I've picked up the LED lights.

Just a side note - Princess Auto - $39.98 ea
Gregg Distributers - $74.98 ea

Pays to shop around.

On that note, I've been also shopping for replacement hinge pin kits.

Scamp - $5.00 US
Paul - $45.00 CDN

I get that he is just a hobbiest at this, but wow! On a plus note, I did get a quote from Paul on his axles and he was quite competitive. Also, Paul was very nice to deal with.

Just waiting for the rain to subside so that I can get back to work on the trailer.

Thanks also to all for the words of encouragement.

[Donna D.]

Sounds more like Paul was quoting the complete hinge. If you order complete hinges from Scamp remember to order TWO. They're called a "pair" but it's only ONE hinge. I guess they consider the part that goes on the door as one and the part that goes on the body as the other and that makes a pair...

Be aware too, the bolt is mild steel and you MAY want to change that to SS to reduce the chance of rust.

[justchillinout]

Donna, I think I told him the hinge bolts, maybe I'll phone back and confirm. Did seem a little extravagant.

Thanks.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Karen L W

For brightening up the gel coat I have heard people using Mequiar's #49 Oxidation Remover & Mequiar's #50 Cleaner Wax. Both can be purchased at Canadian Tire.

Hope this help. Karen

3M Restore and Wax also does a *great* job of removing the oxidation. Can be put on with a fibercloth but better if the oxidation is heavy to use a power polisher with a wool pad. Then give it a good hand waxing with a paste wax.

[Night Sailor]

Keep the tire in that spot. You need a backing plate on the other side. If you want to grind out the crack and put a piece of fiberglass tape on there, it will be covered with the spare anyway. Chances are simply putting a backing plate on the other side would fix the problem for you. I'd make it about the size of the tire, but any shape really, circular or rectangular. The idea it to spread the load so that one spot does not flew and pull the mounting bolts through the fiberglass.

Originally Posted by justchillinout

Well now that things are a little cleaner, I've noticed a few issues.

#1 - Broken/Cracked tail light lens.

Not too big of a deal, I think I might convert to LED's.

#2 - Stress fractures

Might explain why the tail light lens is cracked! A little impact at some point in its life. Not sure if I should be concerned with this.



#3 - Tire carrier

Looks like the tire carrier is pulling out. What should I do? I'm thinking quick fix is to get a bumper mounter tire carrier and abandon the old trailer mount. But what to do about the body damage?



Could really use some advice on this.

Thanks.

[Night Sailor]

I agree with Randy about the fine grit sanding. It works great as a start to bring back gelcoat, but you have to follow it up with even finer grits up to 1200, and then various type of buffing compounds to make it really shine. A good quality buffer is helpful.

Originally Posted by justchillinout

Hey Randy

I'll give the sanding option a try, should be relatively quick.

I know the rubbing compound would be a full day, just on the bottom half!

Thank you for the offer on the lights, however, I've only got less than a month to get the trailer done and I know how shipping across the border is. It is normally at least 6 weeks! But thank you, a million times thank you!

[Uncle Cereal]

I know I'm reviving this thread. You'll appreciate the heart warming story...

My spare tire almost pulled out my back wall as much as this one. Since I'll be repainting, I'm considering the bumper mount. I would fill in those holes.

My guess is that my backing plate is no bigger than 2" x 5". It apparently didn't do the job.

Any opinion on this?

Also, I need to replace the heater vent and the opper fridge vent. Any suggestions as to where to find that?

Thanks!

[Keaner]

Do the heater and fridge work? I tossed mine and glassed over the holes.

[Uncle Cereal]

Bought a small electrical fridge and, as far as I know, the heater works.

[justchillinout]

Wow, old thread revival is right!

Uncle Cereal, what we finally did for the spare tire carrier was added a backing plate inside the trailer. If memory serves correct, it was a pc of 1/2" plywood about 16" wide by 4" high. And we added the backer bolts to prevent the tire from being sucked in too far.

Otherwise, that was it. Good luck with your project.

Originally Posted by Uncle Cereal

I know I'm reviving this thread. You'll appreciate the heart warming story...

My spare tire almost pulled out my back wall as much as this one. Since I'll be repainting, I'm considering the bumper mount. I would fill in those holes.

My guess is that my backing plate is no bigger than 2" x 5". It apparently didn't do the job.

Any opinion on this?

Also, I need to replace the heater vent and the opper fridge vent. Any suggestions as to where to find that?

Thanks!

[Uncle Cereal]

Just got back from the garage... My bumper's not in good shape enough to hold up the spare so I'll have to put it back up on the wall.

What's a backer bolt?

Thanks!

[justchillinout]

Regarding the backer bolts or stop nuts as Randy Bishop noted in an earlier post.

There is a set of bolts that hold the threaded rod to the trailer and are tight to the outside of the trailer.

Then the stop nuts, which are spaced between the trailer and the spare tire.

Then nuts to hold the rim to the threaded rods.

Hopefully that makes sense. The stop nuts keep the tire AWAY from the trailer enough that the bolts don't pull through like they did on our trailer.

Using my previous pic as an example:



Hopefully this helps.

Originally Posted by Randy Bishop

Looks like someone didn't put stop nuts on the spare holder ..what it needed was a second set of nuts on the bolts to serve as a stop to keep the bolts from pulling through if someone tighten the nuts to tight drawing the bolts through the fiberglass. I can't really tell from the photo's how bad it is but you might be able to put them on now and it be OK..Also a spare rack mounted on the bumper as you mention would work..As far as trying to repair the damage I would probably try to seal the cracks and leave it along, because anything else would require a paint job to cover the repairs.......Theres a product that some people on here has used called Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Repair.... I personally have not used it but maybe someone else can chime in that has used it and tell how it may have worked for them.....It should help on any stress cracks you may have also..If after a good scrubbing there's still a faded look to it you might try sanding it down with 400 grit sandpaper.One of my trilliums was faded pretty bad and that worked great for me I used a electric palm sander and went over the entire camper turned out great, just make sure the gelcoat doesn't have any thin places in it where you might sand down through it and expose the fiberglass underneath..The gelcoat on most of these is fairly thick enough to take a little sanding just be careful..How big are those tail lights, I've got a set of round LED's I bought once to put on a Burro I once owned but they didn't work out.. If I can find them and if they will fit they are yours since your doing this as a favor for the folks...I'll dig around tomorrow and see if I can locate them and see what size they are.... The best that I can remember they were around 5" or 6" but can't remember for sure....GOOD LUCK WITH THE CAMPER RANDY...

[Uncle Cereal]

I get it! Thanks!

Someone had put the nuts INSIDE mine! Theft-proof for sure but a little rough on the fiberglass wall... Sounds good, I'll be adding a few nuts!

[Myderby]

I understand the scotch-brite scouring pads and the BarKeepers Friend as I am in the food industry! What Zep product did you use and what were the steps of the process using Zep? I have a Scamp 19' and the gel-coat is chalky and needs attention. You did a great job, if I could get close to the same results I would be a happy camper.

[Dan Meyer]

Elbow grease plus what magic product restored the shine?

Thanks in advance!

--Dan Meyer

[Keaner]

Not sure about those backer bolts. Is that a factory spec or an addition? I think with the slop of the tire bouncing around you're going to get a lot of damage to the paint and elongated holes in the shell.
I believe it should be tight against the shell with the proper backing plate on the inside of the unit.

[Bob in Mb]

Can't see that hanging the spare off the fiberglass is a good idea no matter how you do it !!! If the bumper is in that bad a shape maybe it needs attention !!!

[John in Michigan]

Originally Posted by Myderby

I understand the scotch-brite scouring pads and the BarKeepers Friend as I am in the food industry! What Zep product did you use and what were the steps of the process using Zep? I have a Scamp 19' and the gel-coat is chalky and needs attention. You did a great job, if I could get close to the same results I would be a happy camper.

Myderby and Dan Meyer,

There is a lengthy thread on how to apply Zep and similar products to FGRVs. I applied Zep commercial wet look floor polish to my Trillium last fall. I applied with a micro fiber cloth soaked with Zep and wrung out. Applied five coats, waiting 1/2 hour between coats. Don't apply in direct sun.

-John