My Trillium Herd!!!!!

[Randy Bishop]

Bought this one from the Sheriff's dept. in St. Louis Mo. strange thing about this one was it came with a 1966 Title and Scamp didn't start building them until the early 70's just shows you what a Cheif of Police can get accomplished in a pinch Turned out to be a 84 model...Fixed this one up, sanded it down and repainted it off white and sold it to a eldery gentleman who live's just about 6 miles away he installed lift-up windows in the sides and carries it hunting..He parks it along big fields, has a speaker on top, and plays DVD's that calls in predators, then shoots them out the windows....Says he has a great time doing it....I would have thought the white camper would spook them but I guess not................

[Randy Bishop]

This is what the camper I use most of the time looked like when I first got it..Since then I put in a new refrigerator, new hardwood floor, new upholstery, new curtains, new wiring, new lights, cut and extended the tongue and installed a diamond plate box on the front for folding chairs and such and a rack on each end to haul my canoe....Last couple are of it finished,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Randy Bishop]

Here's one I sold to couple just north of Knoxville, Tn. they were some nice people too and was really happy with it when they left....I sewed the new cushion covers in this one also and installed the curtains and hardwood floors..The cabinets were blue when I bought it and the air conditioner was already installed in the back...

[Randy Bishop]

The only 16'er I've owned took a long time to sell it, the others people were coming by every day trying to get'em...

[Randy Bishop]

Oh! I almost forgot to post pictures of the one I sold "SUGERMC" who's a member on here..Well this is the one she bought from me and restored.. I've watched her post pictures as she worked on it and she done a great job and she seemed to have had a great time doing it....I hope so

[Ron Humerickhouse]

Nice Randy,,,thanks for shareing the pics,,,,Ron PM sent

[melissab]

Nice pix! Glad to see they are all being used and not sitting, lonley waiting for adventures. How often do all 4 Trills get to go together with your entire family? That would be a cool profile pix, all of them at a campground together. Your own mini Rally, lol.

I'd sell them to loving families who would treasure them rather than rent them out to people who may trash them. I've seen what folks do to stuff that isnt theirs or even things that were theirs but that were given to them etc so they had no vested interest in them and trashed them. Vehicles, furniture, bikes, homes etc.

[Randy Bishop]

Originally Posted by melissab

Nice pix! Glad to see they are all being used and not sitting, lonley waiting for adventures. How often do all 4 Trills get to go together with your entire family? That would be a cool profile pix, all of them at a campground together. Your own mini Rally, lol.

I'd sell them to loving families who would treasure them rather than rent them out to people who may trash them. I've seen what folks do to stuff that isnt theirs or even things that were theirs but that were given to them etc so they had no vested interest in them and trashed them. Vehicles, furniture, bikes, homes etc.

Yea that's what I'm afraid of someone trashing one and me going off the deep end on some fool..

[Isaac M]

Wow...I can't let my wife see this thread. She'll go crazy to see that many Trilliums! It looks like you have a lot of fun and they look great!

I've got a 1300 stripped down in my garage right now (I really wish I had a shop to work in). I like the look of your new belly bands. I'm wondering if I can pick your brain and learn from your vast experience...Did you use the GM S10 2-3/8" molding for your belly band? The metal pieces that the original belly band attached to on our trailer rusted, swelled, and bulged the fiberglass around each one. Did you find the same thing? Did you sand these flush before you put the new belly band on? If not, does the belly band lay down nice and flat, or can you see slight bumps where these metal pieces are/were?

Thanks!
-Isaac

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Isaac M

The metal pieces that the original belly band attached to on our trailer rusted, swelled, and bulged the fiberglass around each one. Did you find the same thing? Did you sand these flush before you put the new belly band on? If not, does the belly band lay down nice and flat, or can you see slight bumps where these metal pieces are/were?

Thanks!
-Isaac

Those wretched metal tabs! Why oh why did Trillium use steel tabs to hold on an aluminum belly band (with aluminum rivets, of course)? Hadn't they ever heard of ELECTROLYSIS??? Aluminum rots steel quicker than water does!

Eagerly awaiting Randy's expert advice...

Francesca

[Randy Bishop]

Yes the steel pieces were swelled and had bulged the fiberglass out at several locations..I dug out what I could blew out all the debris with a air hose. If you look at the thread Trillium Renov. in the Modifications, Alterations and Updates you will see I ran 2 strips of duct tape then fiberglassed the crack closed sanded it as smooth as I could without leaving any finish removed below where the belly band goes thats why I ran the duct tape. It works as a reference on how low I could go, and yes there are still some small bulges but thats as best as it can be done without having to paint the whole camper which would be requried if you grind down all the bulges. You have to turn lemons into lemonade sometimes... After I sanded it smooth I painted it with 3 coats of Epoxy Appliance paint from Lowes then waited until it rained a couple times because if there is any little bitty spots where water can react with the rust particles it will leave a brown streak down the side of the camper. After the rain I saw 2 small spots that had done this and now I have went back and repaired those. Now I'm ready to install the belly band but this requires several people to install properly because it very very hard to keep it straight..So what I do is have 2 people hold a piece of 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" 10' angle aluminum that I bought along side of the camper where I want the band to go and then I have someone unroll it to me as I stick it on using the metal angle as a guide this keeps it perfectly straight...I also apply a bead of construction adhesive in the center because I don't ever want it to come loose when I spray it off at the car wash with those high powered sprayers...The belly band I use is from CARPARTS I've got one here in the box but there's not much information on it..what it says is VT2003402-S 34' BLACK VAN & TRUCK not sure if that a number code or not..I've got all the information on another thread some where that I posted back a year or so might do a search on my old post..Hope this helps RANDY

[Francesca Knowles]

Do those tabs serve any function other than holding the band on? I'd like to remove them entirely, as no matter how they're covered up they're going to continue to rust, rot, and swell. And are you discarding the original aluminum band?

[Randy Bishop]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

Do those tabs serve any function other than holding the band on? I'd like to remove them entirely, as no matter how they're covered up they're going to continue to rust, rot, and swell. And are you discarding the original aluminum band?

Yes, I sold the bands as scrap aluminum and I dug almost all the metal pieces out when I redo these...It takes alot of gouging. twisting, cutting and mostly BIG UGLY WORDS to get them out... there maybe a couple I couldn't get out due to it damaging the orginal gel-coat but for the most part I removed most all of them...I knew if some else wanted the Belly bands there was "NO" way to ship them and there for I got rid of them..I've got another one to do if someone wants to come all the way to Alabama I'll give them the bands for free just let me know...........THANKS RANDY

[Francesca Knowles]

Hope you don't mind my asking, but why are you discarding the original bands? Is it due to the difficulty of reattaching them? No point in putting new rivets in the rotten tabs... I stuck mine back on with liquid nails and a few judiciously placed screws. Not meant to be a permanent solution, but it's held for several years now. Now that I understand that the tabs can be removed without compromising the trailer's structural integrity, I'll go back and cut them out. Maybe I'll try putting some epoxy plugs in their place, which I can tap for aluminum screws...



Francesca

[Randy Bishop]

Never like the old ones the inserts srinkup and seems you can never get them to stay put and fit right and insects get behind the plastic inserts builds mud nest and to me the plastic moulding I've been installing looks better, but thats just my opion I know some will not agree..once I've sealed the crack I really didn't want to make more holes in the sides, I've seen where water has gotten into the campers in these areas and this way stops that completely..................

[Francesca Knowles]

Randy,

A confession:

I'm such a cheapskate that I can't make myself buy something new if I can figure out a way to make do with the old item.

Your trailers all look just beautiful. Keep up the good work!

Francesca

[Rodre]

Hi Randy, any interior pics? Any front dinette models?

~Rodre

[melissab]

So are you going to add Nancy's to the heard or fix it up to sell??

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by melissab

So are you going to add Nancy's to the heard or fix it up to sell??

I'm wondering, too- or is "the Old Gray Mare" a bit too long in the tooth for breeding stock?
On the subject of her gray color- could it be that she's in cured primer, ready to paint? Or did somebody just slap some house paint on the old girl?
On the trailer, I mean.
NOT on Nancy!

Francesca

[Randy Bishop]

No I don't have any front dinnetts, and yes I'll probably keep Nancy's in the herd also, that is unless I'm not pleased with the turn out..I really don't like them painted so I plan on stripping it down to the orginal finish. the paint thats on it looks likes it was sprayed on but I'm not really sure the type. I talked to a freind of mine that owns a body shop before I purchased it and he thought I could get it off without damaging the gelcoat to bad..Once I get it stripped I'll completely sand it down with first 400 grit then 600 and finally 800..I bought a huge box of sand paper with all these in it for 15 bucks at a yard sale,gota love those yard sales... I trace out the round air sander pad on the paper then cut them out, its wet or dry paper but I mostly use it wet with the hose, once you get down to the 800 its pretty slick..just add a few coats of Redmax and it will shine like new....Or I SURE HOPE SOO ANYWAY......................I've started back on the one I've been working on right now rebuilding the overhead cabinet I'll post pictures as I get it done in the Trillium Renov thread check it out... I rebuild them with fiberglas panels that match the camper..Probably want post thgem until Sunday....Thanks Randy..