Suggestions needed for restoration of 1980 13ft Scamp

[Tom & Trisha N.]

Hi all,

We've been monitoring this forum for about two weeks now and have a learned a lot about Scamps--thanks everyone. We just purchased a 1980 13ft Scamp last week and will begin restoring the trailer. Our three big projects are: 1) Replacing the entire floor, 2) Replacing and possibly relocating AC, and 3) Painting and/or re-gelcoating the exterior--we're going to also refloor with laminate flooring and remodel the interior, but want to complete the top 3 priorities first.

We noticed some dry rotting near the AC area (which is an eyesore positioned in the bottom rear of the trailer) so we are in the process of taking the AC out--Does anyone have suggestions or recommendations? I am not too keen on the AC location and am considering removing the AC, patching up the hole, and relocating the AC, but it seems like a lot of work. Other ideas are buying a portable AC and venting it from a window-but space will be limited.

We have read a lot of discussions about painting and gel coating, but are still confused. There are some spots on the top of the trailer where the gel coat has eroded and the fiberglass is exposed--does this mean we have to "spot gelcoat" with a kit? The trailer does not leak from the roof. Or do we have to gel coat the entire trailer again? If so, will this restore the entire gelcoat white look? Or do we have to paint it afterwards if we want to make it look new again? If we choose to repaint it, should we go to a Marine painting specialist or can an auto painting place do the same work? How much will it cost us? We're getting estimates ranging from a cheap $400 Maaco estimate to up to $3500 from a fiberglass specialist. I only want to budget for about $1000 for the paint job. Do we gel coat, paint, or both?

As you see, we are new at this and would appreciate any recommendations to our many questions.

Thanks,
Tom and Trisha

[Donna D.]

to FiberglassRV Tom and Trisha, we're very glad you're here!

You're going to get a lot of help here. I'm going to get you started by suggesting our very good search function. You'll see the button up on the top right of very page. I'd suggest searching for words like +exterior +paint (using "more search options"). Rather than searching all forums, change it to "All About Our Unique Little Molded Fiberglass Trailers" by highlighting.

This is what I found: PAINT

Also, post one question at a time in a topic, otherwise you'll liable to inundated with replies. You have some things that you want to do first, what is that? Post that question and when ready to do something else, post that question. Otherwise, all you'll be doing is reading and not getting anything done (lesson learned here).

Once again, welcome and thanks for posting the pictures, we love to look at pics!

[Bob H]

Good to see another restoration project in the making, it seems like there is always someone breathing fresh life into a older trailer and sharing in the progress is what makes this forum so great.

I'll put in my 2 cents in about the A/C. After my experiences with mine in my '83 Scamp 13'.

First off, unless your Scamp was built at the factory with additional roof bracing and support, do not consider a roof-top installation. Without the built-in support, a roof top A/C could easily become a table top or floor mounted A/C at the worst moment.

I personally prefer a closet mounted A/C for several reasons.

A/C's are heavy, mounting it in the closet, on top of the wheel well gives it total support, puts it right over the axle, in the center of the trailer, and at a low center of gravity. Opposed to a window mount, which require extensive load support, uses up a window, raises the center of gravity, and shifts the load further from the center of the trailer. Also, if it's in one of the side windows, someone's going to sit with a loud, cold breeze blowing down the back of their neck, or worse yet blowing on your head, or your toes at night.


If you wish to see a bit of how I installed mine, you can follow a little of what I did

here

. Just be sure you allow proper ventilation and condensation draining and you'll keep your cool.

Have fun with the restore, and as always...take & post lots of photos!
ConwayBob

[Nancy A.]

I would like to recommend for your AC changeover the 12V TurboKool evaporative cooler. I just installed one in my '99 Burro and it works great. It will work off 12V or 110 when plugged in. It has a 200cfm fan which can work off your battery or a solar panel for longer stays. It can even work as an exhaust fan like a Fantastic Fan. It only weighs 13 pounds and can be roof-mounted through a 14 inch roof vent.

You can see the specs on the web site - www.turbokool.com. I will be showing mine off at the Arizona White Mountain Rally. I can also get a discount for forum members.

I'm very pleased with mine - I'll post pictures soon.

[mgoodson]

Re: I would like to recommend for your AC changeover the 12V TurboKool evaporative cooler.

Note that Tom and Trisha live in Florida, where relative humidity is much higher than in the southwest. Evaporative coolers may not be quite as efficient here as they are in parts of the country with drier air.

[Roy in TO]

Evaporative coolers may not be quite as efficient here {Florida}as they are in parts of the country with drier air.

I checked the web site thinking it might be OK for me up here in Toronto. It says "Recommended for areas where the average relative humidity does not exceed 75% " BTW the site says it weighs 16 LBS.

Then I checked the Weather data for our area for the summer months.

Max temps are 35-38 C, 95-100 F
Extreme Humidex 40-50 C, 104-122 F
Avg relative humidity > 80 %

So it would not cut it up here in this part of the great white north either.

I know there has been a lot of discussion on how much is needed for A/C. IMO for my area where we usually camp, any A/C that cuts the humidity down, will make things much more comfortable, even if it does not drop the temp to the goosebump zone.

[Nancy A.]

An evaporative cooler is certainly not effective in high humidity, even during the monsoon season here in Arizona. But it does do a good job in many situations.

My attraction to the TurboKool is that one can keep cool even when boondocking by running it off of the house battery or a solar panel. It draws a low amperage and a solar panel can supply the power it needs.

I also like that it can function as an exhaust fan. Mine is located near my stove and also the bathroom so it can serve both needs to exhaust air.

And finally it is so light I don't worry about stressing my roof or adding to the overall weight of my Burro.

For those of us who have Dry heat it is a good alternative to refrigerated air.

Stay cool however you can!!

Nancy A.

[Roy in TO]

Stay cool however you can!!

Eggs-actly!

I was simply trying to point out that the various solutions to our needs differ as much as our trailers. One has to consider all factors. Your solution looked promising for me, till I checked the details.

[Bob H]

Evaporative, or "Swamp" Coolers are the thing in low humidity areas. It's amazing how evaporation can cool things down.

During my stint over in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, the guys in my outfit took to cutting the legs off of pairs of thermal longjohns, (we wondered why we were issued them), and made them into sling carriers for our drinking water bottles. We'd wet them and let the dry hot wind wick away the moisture. With temps. around 120 deg. with very low humidity, our drinking water cooled down to under 80 deg. Tepid, but very cool in contrast.

BTW, we found out later why we were issued long johns... That winter we 'bout froze our butts, and everyone was wearing one-legged long johns.

Unfortunately here, as well as Florida, just dosen't have humidity levels low enough for a evaporative cooler to be effective, it just can't evaporate enough.