newbie seeking hints on painting a Boler - Fiberglass RV
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Old 03-14-2006, 01:32 PM   #1
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Hi there,

We are seriously considering purchasing a partly restored '76 13' Boler trailer. The exterior is ready for priming and painting. Could anyone tell me how difficult it is to do this yourself and/or how much you think it would be to have it done professionally.
The Boler frame and shell appear to be in great condition but the interior parts need to be installed (stove, fridge, taillights). The sellers are asking $3500 Can (about $3000 US). Do you think this is too steep?

Thanks so much for any advice you can give this keener,

Take care
Arleigh
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Old 03-14-2006, 02:16 PM   #2
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IMHO......a Boler needing to be repainted, appliances installed should not command that price. I feel a decent Boler that is ready to camping the next day (everything working) should cost around $2500 US.

However, as a Economics Major, I know that both supply and demad affect price. I have found that in buying cars, houses and trailers people get pretty attached to the first unit they see and feel they need to purchase THAT one and another will not come along again....EVER....if I don't get this one !

However, it never fails that something else always comes along.


Dan
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Old 03-14-2006, 09:38 PM   #3
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Arleigh, a Boler in progress is still a Boler in progerss and @ that price it ISN'T worth it. MANY already "done" Bolers can be found in and around Vancouver at that price. Its just a matter of patience and keep looking! Consider too what ALL else needs to be addressed. Are you 100% sure about that frame? What shape is the inside in...warn, needin to be re~done as well???
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Old 03-15-2006, 07:14 AM   #4
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Remember too, that any expenses you incur to "finish" the trailer...that's getting it ready to use, adds to the cost of the purchase! If you spend $500 on getting it painted, you now have a $4,000 trailer It's your money, not mine...but I'd keep looking.

Try these RV Classified Web Sites from our Helpful-Links pages, especially the one at the top..Buy/Sell: RV Classified Web Sites
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Old 03-18-2006, 06:38 PM   #5
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The Trailer Goddess an I just returned from the R.V. show (Chilliwack B.C.) appended on another page here below. Outside in the private vendors area was a lone Boler of 1979 Vintage I believe. The seller was askin $4299. Granted it was "done" but if you buy someone elses used trailer there is always a TON of stuff you like to do to make it more YOURS and at THAT price the trailer was waaaay overpriced sitting as is. It was done up alright but there was nothing about it "I" would find appealing enough to make me want to even make an offer on it. IMHO if you are going to redo a trailer (or anything else for that matter) with the idea of quickly selling it (maybe AT a profit) you might be better off redoing it in more neutral colors (forget what you MAY think is nice) so as to possible attract more buyers!! Anyone care to comment?
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Old 03-18-2006, 09:19 PM   #6
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I agree. The price is too high.

On the paint. I did mine myself with a high quality housepaint and used a textured roller so it wouldn't look like.. a trailer with cheap housepaint on it.

The look is untraditional, but I saved lots, and am happy with it too.

I have incurred many rock chips since then, in front, and need to touch it up and find a better way of protecting it. A sealer might change the color of the bright white tho. .

Estimates to have a pro do it were anywhere from 1k to 3k. Not in my budget for now.
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Old 03-18-2006, 09:40 PM   #7
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Send a message via Yahoo to Kurt & Ann K.
To eliminate the worry about rock chips, I felt that eliminating the possibility of rocks being flung by the tug's tires was the best choice. "Mud" flaps across the entire back of the tug between the bumper and tires has successfully cured the problem.
Works for us!
Kurt & Ann K.
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Old 03-18-2006, 09:49 PM   #8
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Now you tell em LOL! I didn't like add ons, I am miffed I have a bug guard, but, it beats another cracked windshiled.

And Kurt reminds me.. I say I did it myself, but Kurt, Lizbeth and hubby and Lauren all pitched in to help prep the surface. It was a LOT of work, but many hands had it done in a day.

It took me two weekends on my own to get the paint on. I did two colors and had to do the top white first.
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Old 03-18-2006, 10:08 PM   #9
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A friend of mine painted his race car with an airless sprayer - something like a Wagner Power Painter (Wagner Spray Tech's web site seems to have disappeared, but there are a few brands of these things). The automotive paint experts will tell you this cannot produce an acceptable result, and they're right for most purposes, but for his race car and most people's trailers it can work fine. I did a set of metal kitchen cabinets with one of these things and they looked almost factory-new.

Regardless of the technology used to apply the paint, I agree that the surface prep is the key. Do your own and save lots of money, if you are willing to learn how and take the time to do it right. Even a small trailer is a big surface, which will take many hours to prep right. I've never had the patience to do anything that big. We looked at a Boler which had been painted poorly, and that paint alone was enough to keep us from buying it - the owners thought it was a valuable feature, but they were old and their vision must have been going...

For anyone considering the roller approach, I suggest also consider those short-pile painting pads - I find them better than rollers for some interior home painting jobs. I haven't tried them for trailer, but then I haven't rollered a trailer either. Anything done well beats the ideal method done poorly.

I still have to wonder why a trailer which was undoubtedly gel-coated originally needs painting, but if someone has already sanded right through the gelcoat, paint is the obvious solution. I'm also suspicious of projects-in-progress offered for sale, but it can work out for sometimes.
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Old 03-20-2006, 09:07 AM   #10
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The gel coat is usually the same as the resin that encapsulates the glass fibers, except it has a color added. It is usually polyesther resin, but perhaps could be epoxy. Either one isn't very durable against sunlight.

Wax helps, but is also short lived. So over time the gel coat begins to chalk. It can be polished a lot since the gel coat is quite thick, but on our Scamp rust stains and diesel exhaust stains have gotten so imbedded into the pores that I would expect to sand/polish through the gel coat before eliminating the stains.

The problem for someone startng with a refinishing project this large is that it is a lot of work to begin with, and a collosal amount of work to redo it if the end result is unacceptable. Don't ask me how I know.

A hint. Start with a wheelborrow, trash can or something small. Then work up to something larger to get your gun technique refined. The auto section in a book store or library usually has books with lots of pictures that you can learn a lot from.

Another hint. Contact a young fellow that is interested in painting cars. Offer to buy him a SATA spray gun in exchange for spraying out your rv. It may be the best 4 to 5 hundred you ever spent. And it may be the start of a career for him. In any case, if his eyes widen when you mention it, you likely have a winner. If they don't, find someone else. SATA is considered the top dog of spray guns. Any young person into refinishing cars knows that.
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Old 03-20-2006, 11:24 PM   #11
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Time for another newbie to wade in here. I just picked up my first Boler on the weekend. Mechanically it was better than I first thought, but cosmetically.... yuck. On the plus side,it's very original with out a lot of other peoples ideas in it.

I've done a lot of work on boats, my last project was a restoration of a 73 Hobie Cat, so when I looked at the Boler I saw a fiberglass boat that wouldn't make my wife seasick. When it comes to painting I'm a huge fan of Endura paint. It is a two-part epoxy paint that wears like iron. The other key feature is the prep. When I did the hulls on my catamaran I sanded and faired, then sanded some more working my way done to an 800 grit wet-sand. My painter commended me on a job well done and then proceeded to sand it with 200 grit to rough it up so the paint would adhere. (I found my painter through the company that sold me the paint, he worked cheap if I could fit his time frame).

Today I was checking some sites for deck paint since I've decided to paint the fiberglass floor on my old egg, what I found was a very cool product by Interlux. It is a 2-part paint with a super flow agent that can be rolled or brushed . What that does is allow the paint to even out without leaving the orange-peel or brush strokes behind. I'm going to do a little more research, but this could be the answer for anyone with much more time than money.
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Old 03-24-2006, 07:10 PM   #12
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Time for another newbie to wade in here. I just picked up my first Boler on the weekend. Mechanically it was better than I first thought, but cosmetically.... yuck. On the plus side,it's very original with out a lot of other peoples ideas in it.

I've done a lot of work on boats, my last project was a restoration of a 73 Hobie Cat, so when I looked at the Boler I saw a fiberglass boat that wouldn't make my wife seasick. When it comes to painting I'm a huge fan of Endura paint. It is a two-part epoxy paint that wears like iron. The other key feature is the prep. When I did the hulls on my catamaran I sanded and faired, then sanded some more working my way done to an 800 grit wet-sand. My painter commended me on a job well done and then proceeded to sand it with 200 grit to rough it up so the paint would adhere. (I found my painter through the company that sold me the paint, he worked cheap if I could fit his time frame).

Today I was checking some sites for deck paint since I've decided to paint the fiberglass floor on my old egg, what I found was a very cool product by Interlux. It is a 2-part paint with a super flow agent that can be rolled or brushed . What that does is allow the paint to even out without leaving the orange-peel or brush strokes behind. I'm going to do a little more research, but this could be the answer for anyone with much more time than money.
Hi Greg,
I live in Vancouver, BC too. Where did you get your painting done, does this person do this on the side regularly.... I have been thinking about gettng my 78 Boler painted but don't have alot of cash. Cheap is always good, as long as the work is good!
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Old 03-24-2006, 07:47 PM   #13
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I looked at your inquired boler last year in Van. He wont budge on $3500 and so he still has it. Definitely not worth $3500. I offered him $3k last year and i would throw in some car parts as he has a few old cars. Nope . Wouldnt budge. Was a blessing in discuise. You can find better. Keep looking.
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