Paint and calk "elephant hide" 1977 13 ft scamp

[Jiggs]

I am remodeling a 1977 13 ft scamp and the original wall "elephant hide" is sagging, needs paint, and needs to have the seams filled in. Any information on products to use or techniques to complete this project?

[David B.]

Jiggs, although I have not personally done what you are about to do, there are past threads explaining the process. Basically you should reglue the sagging ensilite, thoroughly clean it, use a paintable latex calk to fill in the seams. You dampen a rag or paper towel wadded up to gently dab at the calk prior to it fully drying to try to match the texture of the elephant hide. Paint with a good latex paint. If you don’t want to go this route, you can still purchase new seam tape.
Keep us posted and take pictures of the entire process.
Good luck.
Dave&Paula

[sharon_b]

Jiggs the seam tape from scamp is guaranteed to stick only to the hair on your arms & yank it out. The 3M spray adhesive that’s recommended to add on makes an awful mess with overspray & leaves your hands tacky for days. It will hold the tape up just long enough for you to think you accomplished something then promptly fall down & attach to the upholstery. Save yourself the money & aggravation, do the caulk. I wish I had!!

[jeroen]

What to use to glue that stuff? I tried the 3M adhesive spray and it didn't work well.

[ladylavender]

Steve cleaned the skin with Simple green. then he caulked with a silicone caulk. I tried it and made a mess. He tried to use tape on both sides and it worked great.

[Buggeee]

Here's a section from my build thread on this.

I followed it up with two coats of high quality, mildew resistant, exterior gloss acrylic latex paint tinted to my color preference. Love it.

Originally Posted by Buggeee

Back inside we go...

...I used an instagrab type construction adhesive to ...re-lay the elephant hide over it. This is what they use for things like tub-surrounds and stuff like that. Its like liquid nails in the sense that is handled like caulk and stays flexible - but it grabs immediately. I used it wherever the elephant hide had come loose from the fiberglass walls... this stuff works GREAT, and its real fast and real easy. Just squirt it around on the wall or the hide and smooth the hide back on with your hands. Done. I used a squeegee like for auto body filler to smooth the adhesive along the seams as a filler, rather than the tape, which had come off.



Then two good coats of Bulseye 123 Plus primer, which is good for smooth surfaces, and here's how things stood on the walls.

[Dennis Hannaburg]

For my 78 Boler I made a cut in the middle of the sagging parts. I then spread " no more nails" with a small trowel. It's been three years and still holding. I also spread a small amount over the incision to approximate the two sides.

[Lydia W]

Jiggs... I tried putting up new seam tape in my 1977 13 foot Scamp and was extremely frustrated. I'd get the entire camper taped only to find it sagging or completely off the next morning. Spoke with Scamp about it, did everything they told me to do, but still found the tape wouldn't stick properly. Finally gave up and used paintable calk. It turned out perfect! I haven't painted the elephant skin or calk - didn't need to - and 5 years later it still looks great. I may re-calk in a few places, but otherwise it's holding up better than I expected.

[k0wtz]

Some of you guys and your solutions are amazing!

bob

[Blondee]

Did you remove the tape and calk the seam or did you just calk over the tape and all. My tape on the ceiling seems to be okay. I just appy a little marine goop glue if he tae comes loose.