It's she loverly... My new Boler

[ceilityme]

Hello
I'm the proud new owner of this little beauty. Or conversely the newest project that could potentially break me..

Regardless, I'm very happy to be a member of a wonderfully exclusive group. I've been looking for a over a year but went into overdrive the last few months and finally found one in my pathetic price range.

It has new tires, and a new spare. Woo hoo! The windows are good, the jalousies even have working cranks. No mold yet.
However, as one could guess, the rest needs a ton of work. I know I have to get the frame fixed, lifted, sandblasted, more support etc. I'm going to use it for a while and have this work done in the winter.
'Til then, I have a few questions for you all... please and thankyou.

1. Ensolite - What kind of caulk should I use. I've been reading this site (a lot) and I've read that Dap is good, but will any paintable latex caulk work or do I need a specific kind to adhere to the fiberglass.
2. The stove, heater and fridge (uselessly tiny) aren't working. I'm thinking of ripping all three out. I won't be cooking indoors, I have a 12v cooler and I'm not planning on camping in the winter any time soon. If and when I do, I'll probably get a catalytic heater.
Would it affect the re-sale if these were all removed?

3. The door is messed up. I realize fixing the frame will probably solve most of these problems. I'll fix the frame up a bit before I go whole hog on it, but for small cracks do you suggest fiberglass or epoxy putty? It has some water damage near the door and some genius add a rod for support but it appears to have pushed the door out of whack as well... so I'll be removing that too.

4. The sink doesn't appear to work either. But I'll worry about that later as I haven't checked out the tank yet.

5. Also... Last night when we brought our baby home, the boler jumped off the hitch, just as we were driving back into town after the five hour trip to get it. We hit some really rough road work, we were going slow but, hey, a big nasty rut did the trick. The poor thing dragged behind us for a minute, thank god for the chains. We borrowed a truck to bring it home and didn't realize the hitch pole was too loose until we got there and of course the pin was missing on the trailer. It was too late by then to go to the local hardware store so, we chanced it. Damn construction season. All Edmontonians will get that. lol
So, I have yet another hole in the fiberglass. The propane tank's handle left it's mark. This one is about the size of a plum, there are two other small holes in the front as well, an inch or so wide. I'll put up pictures once it stops raining. My question is... Should I use fiberglass to fix or will epoxy putty do the trick.

I am planning on a full rebuild and repaint. I've never worked with fiberglass, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to work with it. I just don't want to unless I have to.. You know how it goes.

Any ideas or links to help with these problems would be very appreciated. I've tried using the search menu, but it's not getting me the answers I need as I can't find some of the post I've read that would help.
Thanks


I screwed up the title, it should read "Isn't she loverly"?

[ceilityme]

I also forgot to add, some idiot graffitied (if that's a word) many unartful (again, word?) designs with a marker. Since I'm planning to repaint, I'll be scouring it, but do you think that the ink could bleed through? If so, what kind of primer would you use?

[ceilityme]

K, one last question. I cannot find what year she was built. Any ideas?

[John_M]

Congratulations Jude!! Love the orange and white - reminds me of my old VW Westfalia..

[Melanie]

It's so nice...Congrats! Any pictures of the inside?

[fidgetboy]

Congrats looks not too bad from the pic.

[LukeP]

I too, am digging the color! Good stuff!

I'll add one thought for question #2. Of the 3, the stove is probably an easy fix as it doesn't have too many moving parts. Mine didn't work well, and it needed a good cleaning and the lines all blown out - works like a champ now. We don't cook inside either, but I wanted to keep it in for the chance of "you never know when/if I may want to. Or sell it." For #4, my sink wasn't working - just was a plugged drain hose. Easy fix.

Regardless, keep them for parts (for others on here too, who may be willing to fix!) if you yank them out.

[ceilityme]

Thanks everyone. I'm really happy with her but god lord she needs a lot of work. I found the date, 11/73. A honey boler made in Winnepeg by Neonex or Boler Manufactures LTD.
I've decided to patch the holes with epoxy putty for now and then I'll cut out all the damaged areas and do some fiberglass repair work this winter. My dad's coming over to look at the wiring and whatnot tomorrow, so hopefully I can have her road ready for the weekend.
It appear a bunch of the bolts holding the egg to the frame are missing, why, I'm not sure, so I'll replace those tomorrow as well.

[ceilityme]

I'm not going to be keeping the original colour. I'm planning on painting it red and white, a canadiana theme. I do like the original, but with all the holes and messed up door I won't be able to save it as is.

[james kent]

Great find! What colour is the interior as they used to be the same as the outside? It could be orange or white.

[ceilityme]

Originally Posted by james kent

Great find! What colour is the interior as they used to be the same as the outside? It could be orange or white.

The floor is orange fiberglass with some odd wee holes. I'm going to cover it after I've repaired the holes. Not sure what I'm going to cover it with though. The cabinets and seats are all cream, but I'm going to repaint those as well. I'm thinking a light silvery gray.

[Melanie]

Originally Posted by ceilityme

The floor is orange fiberglass with some odd wee holes. I'm going to cover it after I've repaired the holes. Not sure what I'm going to cover it with though. The cabinets and seats are all cream, but I'm going to repaint those as well. I'm thinking a light silvery gray.

I personally would flip out if I had orange floors! I'm about to take on the job of removing vinyl flooring which has been glued down very, very well. Do you really need to cover them? I know...to each his own...just my very personal opinion.

[ceilityme]

I really like the orange too. I won't cover it with anything too permanent, definitely no glue, but the floor has too many holes to ignore. I don't like bugs.. lol
I'm going to cover it for the mean time with some foam puzzle pieces, I figure that will keep my toes warm. Carpet will just get too dirty and until I do the major renos, I'll keep searching for a better alternative.

[Donna D.]

love it!

[valinnes]

The foam puzzle pieces work really well. Easy to work with, comfortable and good insulation. I used double sided carpet tape at the raised floor edge and at the door.

Just a thought: I wouldn't take out the stove and sink too quickly. They're very handy to have, and I think that would affect the resale value, should you ever want to sell.
Val