13' Boler Restoration (Gypsy Wagon)

[fofobraselio]

Originally Posted by R A Mar

Did you caulk the seams of the ensolite prior to priming/painting? A repaint is in my plans and I'm trying to plan it out.

Thanks, Rick

Heya,
I used a product called Dynaflex 230. It is a latex based sealent. It comes in a range or colours and I opted for white because that is the colour of my ensolite.

[fofobraselio]

Alright, spring is back in full tilt. At least in my part of the world.

Alas, time to continue the Boler renovation adventures!

After a relatively short winter I've acquired a few new bits for the reno, one which is a brand new 59 litre low profile fresh water tank

I've decided to build a similar wooden mounting box as to enclose the water tank to prevent potential damage from sharp rocks on rough roads. I managed to reclaim some wood from the previous mounting box through this part of the process.

Left - original tank
Right - new tank



First image - old housing
Second image - new housing in process

[fofobraselio]

I have built a wooden box to house the new water tank as to protect it from any potential rock damage and to assist keeping it in place. The frame itself is 6" in height and the water tank is 5.5" with the added 1/2" plywood. This allows the water tank to be stealthy and not overhang under the trailer.

The tank itself comes from D&M Plastics in Alberta. They have great customer service and will install fittings for you at no extra cost. I opted for female threaded fittings. This particular model is RW1049 and fits nicely under my trailer.

The opening sizes I opted for is 1" for water intake and 1/2" for drain, vent and outlet to tap. Hoses and fittings were purchased from home hardware and New Line in Kelowna B.C

Once I structured the box together I spun the fittings in, clamped the hoses, drilled a 2" hole through to the inside and lifted the whole lot with a pair of scissor jacks, feeding the hoses through the hole. When it was flush with the bottom of the trailer I straightened it out and proceeded to drill the holes for mounting.
Mounting consisted of 4 brackets and metal strapping all fastened up with fat washers, bolts and self locking nylon nuts.
Hoses were cut to length as to fit a new lockable Inlet door.
Drain is a bal valve held up with strapping fastened to the wooden box. What fun!

[k0wtz]

nice work!


bob

[fofobraselio]

Steady as she goes..
Decided to take a break from the interior and patch some holes.

I am in the works of installing a shiny new 'Truckfridge Tf49 2 way refrigerator and the compressor is located higher and is smaller than the previous fridge.
I'm also not a fan of the aluminum sliding access panel and would rather opt for a plastic vent.

My earlier patch jobs of fiberglass involved layering fiberglass mat and resin to create large sections of fiberglass large enough to cover the holes. Now I've realized its much, MUCH (omg, the sanding!) easier to use existing fiberglass from some of the old interior furniture

After cleaning off the large amount of silicone, I placed the fiberglass piece in, held it down with 1/4" plywood and began to fiberglass from the inside first.

This piece is from the old kitchen

Happy spring!

[Buggeee]

That will make for an excellent repair.

[fofobraselio]

Still so much to do!

My roommate is building a brewery.. Which is a perfect opportunity to reclaim some wasted / unused material!

We are going with the permanent hinged bed set up with storage drawers underneath as I will be building a smaller Dinette at the front of the trailer.

The piece you see in the center is a 3/4" sandwich of Styrofoam and insulation.. I believe is used for roof insulating??
Any who, it has insulating properties so that's nice haha.

Needs some more cleaning up around the edges but fits nicely.

[fofobraselio]

Time to start building the kitchen.

Although the boler is level.. The walls curve horizontally and vertically. The floor of the kitchen is not level and neither is the wheel well.

I have never built cabinets or furniture in my life and I feel that working with the curves of the trailer has definitely been challenging, love it!

With the help of a handheld scribing tool, jigsaw and some trial and error, I am able to trace out the curves of the walls and build things that fit!

This is the start of where the stove / oven combo will be.

[fofobraselio]

Well after a 2 week long Non urban emergency level 3 first aid course (may come in handy).. Back to BOLER!
Continuing to do work on the kitchen.
Threw in the new fridge to mock out dimensions and build the framing around it.
Also threw in foot activated water pump and our on board grey water tank to confirm that it will all fit in nice and snuggly

[fofobraselio]

This time around, with plenty of help from my misses, we have painted and have begun fiberglassing in the framework for the kitchen as well as insulation. I also cut out the old bunk bed supports that were glassed in and made some fresh ones to accommodate the height for our future front Dinette.
Anyone been to habitat for Humanity restore? It's like a thrift shop for building materials! Great place to find used and still usable hardware and things.
Also treated ourselves with some cool gadgets for our trailer coming soon!

We'll keep you posted [emoji41]

[fofobraselio]

This part of the 'cabinetry' portion of our little boler project was definitely time consuming but is become well worth it.

Not only do you have to deal with cutting things to fit curves, you gotta make hatches, make sure its structurally sound, insulated and try your best to make sure its level!

I used a combination of 1/4" floor underlayment plywood, other plywood thicknesses, 2x2s and 1x2s to create these pieces of furniture that are joined with glue, screws and fiberglass

The kitchen side bench will be featuring a backrest storage tucked under the countertop as well as a large top access under-bum storage. I created new curved support pieces located higher than the original so you're not squatting when you're having lunch. These supports were temporarily bracketed on to the shell to hold it in place while I glass'd em in.

The door side bench features an under-bum battery / electrical compartment with a dorsal fin shaped hatch just for fun as well as a side access 'shoes and daypack' storage area with shelf.


I have created plans for an elaborate wall mounted table leg that will be fashioned in a similar matter to the expensive Lagun style leg
https://www.rv-table-mount.com/
but will be made with a combination of aluminium tubing, galvanized pipes, fittings and drawer slides.


See you next time
-Shaggz

[Roy S]

Really nice looking work!!

[fofobraselio]

It appears that as you dig deeper through the depths of the realm that is total RV renovation you realize that it's those little details that take much time.

I focused my energy on cleaning and fixing up this cute little vintage range that my misses picked up on a local classifieds for cheaps!

Dismantling, wire brushing, sanding, scrubbing, cleaning and painting were just some of the details required to get this little guy fresh. Was also a good opportunity to remove the 'green' copper wire that ran from the old range to the tank and replace it with cleaner, more flexible rubber hose.

Meanwhile,
I recently purchased an 8 foot x 20 inch piece of this glued together fir wood at a second hand store to be used for the Dinette table and countertop.. The material was too narrow and long to be used for a table but I learned with a little cutting, biscuit joining and gluing, we can modify the dimensions of the material quite easily. Thanks Mike for all the help and tools

[bkboler]

That looks awesome! I'm in the process of rebuilding my counter and I know what you mean about nothing really being level. If you don't mind me asking, how is it attached to the outside wall? Any other pics of how you put all the wood together to make the frame for the counter? When I bought my boler there was a rebuilt counter but it was so loose and falling apart from vibrating and shaking down the highway. I ripped it out to rebuild it but I don't want the same thing to happen again.

[fofobraselio]

Originally Posted by bkboler

That looks awesome! I'm in the process of rebuilding my counter and I know what you mean about nothing really being level. If you don't mind me asking, how is it attached to the outside wall? Any other pics of how you put all the wood together to make the frame for the counter? When I bought my boler there was a rebuilt counter but it was so loose and falling apart from vibrating and shaking down the highway. I ripped it out to rebuild it but I don't want the same thing to happen again.

Thanks
And feel free to ask anything anytime.
The frame is physically attached to the fiberglass shell by using JB weld 2 part epoxy on the back of the frames against the shell and then fiberglassed on the sides of the frames to the shell.. This eliminates bolts / rivets, adds structural support and makes a hella strong bond.

These are the most detailed photos of the unfinished frame I have. The wood was put together using wood glue, wood screws, and some small corner brackets

[fofobraselio]

Coming along! I hope to get this thing all done mid July, eek!

I've got most of the furniture painted, we decided to go for white and grey with teal accents and really really dark stained wood pieces. Got a 12v receptacle installed as well as a voltmeter as well as some hatched openings in place.. Fun times working with those euro hinges!

Had some scrap wood from the table and countertop so decided to replace the old sink cover. The fin shaped piece of wood will be our countertop

[bkboler]

That's awesome. Thanks for the reply. I was planning on on using short pieces of 2 x 2's attached to the outer shell with glue and fiberglass just as tabs to attach the side walls. That would have saved me from having to cut a curve in a 2 x 4 to sit tight against the wall. I like your idea of using a thicker piece of wood, that would help prevent the screws from splitting the 2 x 2 with all the shaking on the highway. I just replaced all the tabs holding up the back of all the benches with PL 9000 and fiberglassed them in place wrapping the whole tab. It's amazing how solid it feels. I might put one more layer on just to be safe.
Thanks again for the reply. I am in no way a carpenter but those pics really help.

[bkboler]

Sorry, one more question, how did you attach the plywood base, and also the front vertical supports? are they screwed in from the bottom of the plywood where it overlaps the raised part of the floor?

[fofobraselio]

Originally Posted by bkboler

Sorry, one more question, how did you attach the plywood base, and also the front vertical supports? are they screwed in from the bottom of the plywood where it overlaps the raised part of the floor?

The plywood base is screwed in and glued from underneath up into the 2x2 front supports. The front vertical supports are screwed and glued from the top through the horizontal 2x2s

[fofobraselio]

Progress is being made friends,
Although the colour scheme of the interior is nothing like I intended, the build just seemed to create a colour palette of its own. The stove is teal so we had to work around that. It just kinda happened naturally.

This table leg we are doing is built with galvanized pipes and fittings that slide snugly into an aluminium tube base and is held up in table mode via a clevis pin. The wooded plate is where I will mount the slides to give it the ability to slide forwards and back, allowing it to slide forward into couch mode. hanks to Dereck for his idea
https://youtu.be/owluWNKs7dU

The table, countertop and sink cover is stained and gloss.. So shiny you can see your reflection!


The template for the mattress has been measured and cut using heavy duty craft paper. Thanks to the misses for taking care of this, and shout out to Harlequin for her mattress scribing idea on post #9 under "Senga 1991 Scamp 13' renovation"

Happy camping / renovating!