Boler Help

[guambomb]

Hi Just bought a 1972 Boler from a guy that had it in his yard for years. Bought it for $200 I thought I got a steal. The body is great its the inside that sucks. He ripped all the ensolite foam out and no cushions.

Questions:
1. What else can I use for the interior walls instead of ensolite foam it is very hard to find and not cheap?
2. I dont want to use screws for the fiber glass, so what type of adhesive can I use that I can find at my local Lowes that can stick to fiber glass and hold it strong?
3. How do I take out the acorn nuts connected to the kitchen. There seems to be mildew all over so I want to clean it hard core.

Please help if you can
Thanks Joe

[LukeP]

Wow, $200 is a steal! Nice find!

1. Reflectix can be used and is reasonably priced, and can be purchased at Lowes. It comes in various sized rolls, it's double sided bubble foil. Then you'd need to cover it with a fabric of some sort - headliner, hulliner, etc.

2. By adhesive, do you mean for installing whatever interior you put in? Or something else? Our local Lowes carries Loctite Hi Heat and Water Resistant spray adhesive. Also, PC11 marine epoxy works well in certain applications with fiberglass. There's lots of options, depends on what you're looking to do.

3. Acorn nuts are likely covering rivets. You can drill them out from the outside, then re-rivet or bolt (there's lots of discussion on this if you use the google search for the archives)


Good luck!

Originally Posted by guambomb

Hi Just bought a 1972 Boler from a guy that had it in his yard for years. Bought it for $200 I thought I got a steal. The body is great its the inside that sucks. He ripped all the ensolite foam out and no cushions.

Questions:
1. What else can I use for the interior walls instead of ensolite foam it is very hard to find and not cheap?
2. I dont want to use screws for the fiber glass, so what type of adhesive can I use that I can find at my local Lowes that can stick to fiber glass and hold it strong?
3. How do I take out the acorn nuts connected to the kitchen. There seems to be mildew all over so I want to clean it hard core.

Please help if you can
Thanks Joe

[David Morgan]

Wow... You did get a steal!

For the liner there are a few options. One you can check out "marine head liners" online or a good boat shop should be able to help you. Two you can order the stuff we call Rat fur from Scamp their cost is pretty reasonable. I have never installed either but it looks like hard work!

The acorn nuts come off two ways I have found. Break them off. Or drill out the rivet from the outside. Basically all it is, is a pop rivet with the acorn over the head, instead of a backer washer. You can also order new hardware from scamp. But most of us use stainless machine screws with washers. You can get the fancy plastic washers and snap caps for the outside and seal them up with butyl putty. A decent hardware store should have them. But if all else fails... Again you can get them from scamp.

Welcome to the sick world of Vintage fiberglass!

And please post some pictures!!

[guambomb]

Thanks for all the help. I think I will try the Reflectix. Does the Reflectix serve as an insulation too? I live in Florida so I really dont need to stay warm I need to get cold. Also does the reflectix have a sticky back where it will stick to the fiberglass? With the acorn nuts I think I will have to drill them out like I saw in a youtube video. I bought the camper like American Pickers. I was on my way to a car show in the woods of Florida and saw this guys with all types of campers. Bolers, Teardrops, and Lovebug he had about 9 campers. I offered $200 hundred because that was how much cash I had on my and he was very happy to part with it. If this one goes well for me. I will try and buy the lovebug too. thanks everyone Joe

[CliveAlive]

Originally Posted by guambomb

Thanks for all the help. I think I will try the Reflectix. Does the Reflectix serve as an insulation too? I live in Florida so I really dont need to stay warm I need to get cold. Also does the reflectix have a sticky back where it will stick to the fiberglass? With the acorn nuts I think I will have to drill them out like I saw in a youtube video. I bought the camper like American Pickers. I was on my way to a car show in the woods of Florida and saw this guys with all types of campers. Bolers, Teardrops, and Lovebug he had about 9 campers. I offered $200 hundred because that was how much cash I had on my and he was very happy to part with it. If this one goes well for me. I will try and buy the lovebug too. thanks everyone Joe

It sounds like you paid way too much to me. No insulation, mold and mildew, major reno's needed, etc.

Now, where in Florida is this guy located ?

[David Morgan]

Originally Posted by guambomb

Thanks for all the help. I think I will try the Reflectix. Does the Reflectix serve as an insulation too? I live in Florida so I really dont need to stay warm I need to get cold. Also does the reflectix have a sticky back where it will stick to the fiberglass? With the acorn nuts I think I will have to drill them out like I saw in a youtube video. I bought the camper like American Pickers. I was on my way to a car show in the woods of Florida and saw this guys with all types of campers. Bolers, Teardrops, and Lovebug he had about 9 campers. I offered $200 hundred because that was how much cash I had on my and he was very happy to part with it. If this one goes well for me. I will try and buy the lovebug too. thanks everyone Joe

Reflectix is bubble wrap with Mylar on both sides. It is not sticky, you can glue it up with 3m spray adhesive or other good contact cement. You will probably want to put a fabric liner over that. But you need to use a marine grade or you will get mold and mildew right away. I have seen a few guys take them into a bed liner shop and shoot the entire inside with polyurethane bed liner. It looks good and works, but not much insinuative properties. The reflectix is really good for reflecting heat, witch I think would be good down south. But to answer your primary question 3m spray contact cement in the green can I believe is the way to go. I don't remember the number offhand.

[Vickie B.]

Hi Joe,

I just put up the reflectix in mine. I used 3M90 adhesive spray. Many folks have said the "lower" numbers don't work.

Unless you're into the "shiny silver" look, you will want to cover the reflectix. Robert Johans, who has a restoration business, has even used upholstery fabric. I put vinyl over mine. I like the clean-ability, but it shows every little bump underneath. We'll see how it holds up, etc.

Have fun---I'm almost done--thank goodness!

Vickie

[spudfriend]

Originally Posted by David Morgan

Reflectix is bubble wrap with Mylar on both sides. It is not sticky, you can glue it up with 3m spray adhesive or other good contact cement. You will probably want to put a fabric liner over that. But you need to use a marine grade or you will get mold and mildew right away. I have seen a few guys take them into a bed liner shop and shoot the entire inside with polyurethane bed liner. It looks good and works, but not much insinuative properties. The reflectix is really good for reflecting heat, witch I think would be good down south. But to answer your primary question 3m spray contact cement in the green can I believe is the way to go. I don't remember the number offhand.

So would you say not to even use a cheap indoor/outdoor grade carpet picked up from Lowes for real cheap? We also picked up Roberts Indoor/Oudoor Carpet Adhesive "6700" Superior to adhere it to the fiberglass. We originally thought we'd just attach the carpet directly, but then saw a post about being able to attach a headliner with velcro just in case we need access to wires, but attaching the velcro has proven tough. Wonder if we could use Gorilla Glue to attach the velcro to the fiberglass and to the carpet and then attach the headliner.

[spudfriend]

Originally Posted by Vickie B.

Hi Joe,

I just put up the reflectix in mine. I used 3M90 adhesive spray. Many folks have said the "lower" numbers don't work.

Unless you're into the "shiny silver" look, you will want to cover the reflectix. Robert Johans, who has a restoration business, has even used upholstery fabric. I put vinyl over mine. I like the clean-ability, but it shows every little bump underneath. We'll see how it holds up, etc.

Have fun---I'm almost done--thank goodness!

Vickie

So has anyone NOT put in reflectix and regretted not putting it in? It's terribly hot inside even w/o the headliner installed? Should we put it in?

[Sheryl]

Originally Posted by spudfriend

So has anyone NOT put in reflectix and regretted not putting it in? It's terribly hot inside even w/o the headliner installed? Should we put it in?

I bought inexpensive I/O carpet (Home Depot) before I starting reading here on FGRV. I decided to go ahead with the carpet since I already had it. It was a job (smaller pieces or tiles would have been easier). (I had no old material to use for a pattern so I just cut into fairly small sections). I used Roberts 6700 adhesive (I do have a couple spots not wanting to hold so well, but for the most part it worked well.) Bottom line, I'm okay with the carpet, believe it'll serve my purpose well, but if my Boler were in better condition and/or if I were looking at a future resale, I think I would regret that I didn't do something like reflectix. But now it's hard to think about redoing it!

The one thing I would really do differently with the carpet is work with smaller pieces so that I could do a better job of fitting my seams together so that none overlap.

[Donna D.]

Just remember, you need something fairly soft (fabric, etc) to bend around those compound curves in the upper corners. That's why folks put vinyl or marine headliner material on top of the reflectix. It's gotta bend and be able to be shaped or it's liable to be really, really lumpy looking.

[psyber_guy]

I bought the rat fur for my Boler from Scamp and plan on the Reflectix under it. The rat fur is only $9.00/yd but it takes 25 yds to do the inside of the Boler.

[adriemel83]

I am just in the finishing touches of my boler reno, luckily I didn;t have to replace the ensolite, so not much I can suggest there. As for nuts and adhesives, I built a strong love/hate relationship with rivets. My best suggestion for them is don;t cheap out on a rivet gun. A quality gun will save sore wrists, smashed knuckles and improper popped rivets. As for the price. Wowaz! 200 bucks is better than a steal. I'd go back in a heartbeat and buy up the entire collection he has built up if the prices are all similar!

[LukeP]

Originally Posted by psyber_guy

I bought the rat fur for my Boler from Scamp and plan on the Reflectix under it. The rat fur is only $9.00/yd but it takes 25 yds to do the inside of the Boler.

Hey Craig, it only took 15 yards of headliner for my Boler (and I had a little extra leftover). Not sure if they'd let you return the extra, but if you're careful, you may have enough left over to try.