1974 Boler

[Labrador]

Hello Boler enthusiast,

I purchased a 13' 1974 Boler about two 2 1/2 yrs ago and now finally able to restore. My Boler has the bathroom component but do to lack of care (and space) a lot of the wood, carpet and linoleum are rotting. I have removed the interior down to the shell. Being so new to the Boler I have some concerns that I'm finding it hard to have answered to properly restore my beauty.

Couple things; is there a name on the interior insulation? Also can it be painted without peeling and flaking?

I have read that removing the bathroom wall to open up the Boler a little may compromise the dexterity of the shell. Has anyone heard or experienced any problems of the shell weakening after the bathroom wall has been removed?

Thanks,
Greg

[David Tilston]

Your 13' Boler has a bathroom? Can you please post pictures?

Typically the insulation is called Ensolite. It has been painted a number of times:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ite-41492.html
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ite-34123.html
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ite-56474.html
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ite-25608.html
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ite-23602.html

[Labrador]

David thank you for you're reply, its nice to know I can paint the interior it will do wonder I'm sure.

I have better pics some where but the shower is behind the left wall it is a hand held and there was a seat to sit on plumbing and all. On the right (facing the pics) was a portable toilette.

Not practical for use in a 13' trailer.

[David Tilston]

I am not a Boler expert, but most of the 13' Bolers don't have a bath room. In these trailers the roof is supported by the closet, and the kitchen. I would look at any differences between your closet, and especially your kitchen, and the Bolers that don't have a bathroom. I have seen support rods from the counter top to the upper cabinets. As long as you duplicate any supporting hardware, I would think you are fine to remove those walls, but they are likely better supports then not having them. Will removing the walls leave a gap in the Ensolite?

[Labrador]

Yeah I agree when I seen the bathroom I was very surprised but to be honest i was more surprised when the gentleman I bought the boler of had all the original paper work i.e. receipts, manual and brochures. I was extra excited when I received that binder.

Tomorrow Im going to take a look at the walls, as my concern is a lack of ensolite or a large amount of glue between the roof and ceiling may tear the ensolite off. I have a friend that was looking at the wall and suggested putting in a metal frame and using the walls as a template (he's a metal fabricator) so theres an option.

David have you done fibreglass repairs. In the little bathroom cubby I have a big hole from the drain that was there and the actual plumbing is still there once I remove the plumbing that hole will then be there. I'm guessing regular fibreglass is good to use?

[Donna D.]

Wow, an original 13' Boler with a factory full bathroom.. cool beans! Make this trailer perfect for you, rather than perfect for someone else. These are NOT Model Ts. Value comes from using professional skills with professional results.

Continue to post pictures, please

[David Tilston]

The truth is, you can't go wrong with fibreglass. If you put down too much, grind it off. If you grind off too much, put more down. This is kinda a vicious circle, with lots of itchy fibreglass dust.

The tools are inexpensive. A cheep grinder (~$40 will do), I use the flapper disk, and a flat disk, disposable cover all's, gloves, goggles, and a mask. Try to find a cheep source of cheep paint brushes. I cut the bristles on my brushes down by about half. This makes it a bit easier to push the fibreglass mat and resin around.

I am not an expert on Bolers, (I already said that). Is the floor fibreglass? Not all Bolers have a fibreglass floor. On a Trillium, which I am familiar with, The floor is actually two layers of fibreglass on either side of a piece of plywood. Were I patching a big hole in the bottom of a Trillium, I would probably cut a much larger hole on the inside layer of glass and size the plywood patch to fit that hole. I would do my best to fix the outside layer. then drop the plywood patch over it with a liberal helping of resin. Then close the inside layer of glass.

You might want to source some patch material. Making fibreglass flat is not easy. Cut the patch to fit the hole. Secure it in place, (I use 1x2 straps and I screw right through both the patch, and the trailer). Then grind the edges on both sides of the seam by about and inch or two till they are paper thin where the patch meets the trailer, and progressively thicker as you get further from the seam. Ideally, you would grind both sides of the glass, inside and out. Making a pointy edge. This would be the strongest, but if you can only get to one side, then grinding a wedge will have to do. The whole point of this is to provide a large surface area to spread out the stress. You might have to fiddle with your securing method to get it ground all the way around. Then, fill the space between the two pieces with glass and resin. Try to use as little resin as necessary to saturate the mat. I like to lay down too much, and grind to perfection, or as close as possible.

I get my glass and resin at the local Princess Auto in the auto body section. It helps to cut up the glass mat to strips and triangles as you fill the gap.

[Labrador]

Thanks for all the great tips David going to be a huge help. In fact I did pick up the Fibreglass at princess auto plus the floor is fibreglass also so needless to say i have some work to do.

I was able to remove the walls yesterday and the exciting news was that the ensolite was applied then it appears the wall was mounted. There was very little glue used so that wasn't an issue at all. My boler is at my friends shop so he's going to build a thin metal rib for reinforcement.

[Labrador]

Donna thanks for the advice and i must say its a little intimidating at first. Didn't last long though as soon as the demo started it became exciting (I'm sure you have all been threw it) I could start to vision the compliments/additions i wanted to apply.

The wiring appears to be shot also none of my break lights work nor does my signal lights work when plugged into my truck, so another learning curve lol.

Hear are a few more pics from pick up day to now

[Ian G.]

WOW Greg, great project, brings back memories of what mine looked like just a few short years ago.

I don't think the bathroom was a factory installation, there has never been any documentation on an early version containing a bathroom, also boler used fiberglass for all interior cabinets and wall, the walls in yours appear to be wood. I also notice there is a water heater added, some loving owner in the past put a lot of work into making it their own and looks like they did a good job ... it is just time for a facelift and for you to make it your own

Painting the ensulite, prep is key, clean the surface extremely well with ammonia and water (I discovered that many paint manufacturers will NOT guarantee their product if the surface is cleaned with TSP as it can leave a residue that effect the paint adhesion). After the surface is clean prime with a high adhesive primer, Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 can actually be used to paint over ceramic tile so it have very high adhesive properties. Finally use a top coat of a high quality latex. Latex will breath and allow moisture to escape, many oil based paints form a solid film so if any moisture gets behind it bubbles will form and it will peel. I used Painters Touch, available at Rone, Home Depot, etc.

Wall structural support is critical in a boler, without the support the walls will sag, the least you will notice is the door will not fit and a gap will form at the bottom, in extreme cases the roof will actually collapse. I have documented the structural support I used in my redesign and build on my 1974 boler

[Labrador]

Ian i'm speechless after reviewing the link you sent, if my completed result is half of what you have done I will be more than pleased. Beautiful job...amazing really! Thank you for the info on painting the ensolite greatly appreciated.

The micro bathroom! I'm really not sure but i'm now the third owner of this boler and I know the original owner did some major modifications, the bathroom is probley one and the water heater the other. He did a very good job, like you said I need to make it my own but I really want to take the correct steps. I received a message from Roy in TO and he to made some great points and got me thinking. His reply was to the axel mods i was thinking about.

Ian did you put a new torsion axel on your boler? I really wanted to raise my boler a couple inches but Roy raised some very good points.

[David Tilston]

A couple of threads about the supports at either end of the kitchen. I notice that Gregs trailer doesn't have them. While Trillium does not use these, they should. They have a fibreglass support as a back splash in the kitchen, but all my Trillium 4500's sag above the kitchen. It is not dramatic, but water does pool there.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ded-50454.html
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ing-56364.html

[Ian G.]

Originally Posted by Labrador

Ian did you put a new torsion axel on your boler? I really wanted to raise my boler a couple inches

Hi Greg

As you noticed in my build thread I built a new frame which I designed to use a torsion axle in the conventional trailing arm configuration rather the factory "leading arm". The torsion axle I used is the Flexi-Ride which allows the ride height to be adjusted at any time. The trailing arms use a spline to connect them to the torsion axle, by simply removing the securing lock bolt the arm slips off the splines and can be installed in a large range of positions. If you look at the current ride height of my boler the arms are set a a 10 deg up angle.

You also could adjust the ride height of the standard Dexter axle as long as it was bolted to the frame. Blocks or spacers could be installed between the frame rails and the axle mounts which would effectively raise the trailer.

I too hesitate to raise the height too much as this raises the center of gravity and could result in handling issues or be more effected by side winds etc.

[Labrador]

David thanks for those links and im now starting to be able to manoeuvre around this site and find some great info.

When i removed the wooden walls i was very lucky they both came out in one piece. The shape was there so I made a template of the the shape. A welding friend took the template and is in the process of making a reinforcement for me using a steel rod measuring 1-1 1/2" wide. Because the wholes were already drilled for the walls i will use them to fasten. This way i shouldn't compromise space.

Will defiantly post a few snaps once complete.