1978 Boler Complete Restoration / Rebuild

[slavandheather]

Originally Posted by GMike A

It looks like you had a fridge/freezer and washer dryer combo there Slav. Mine wasnt half that bad. Finishing up my final bottom vent patch today or tomorrow when the temp drops below 90 and then onwards. Great pictures and examples for anyone who is renovating their own egg for sure.

It was just an archaic fridge/freezer that looked like a jet engine!

[slavandheather]

Originally Posted by Luis

Good Job Slav. I am ahead of you having tried to fix the outside of one of the patches (smaller one of the fridge). Mind you, I did not do well.

I am waiting to get my hands on a scrap sheet of FB from the guys at Outback trailers (Joe has been very helpful with my project so far)to complete patching the larger fridge opening. I will follow your wood slat prop.

question for you: are you not opening new holes for water connects, electrical connects, water heater, DOT lights etc? Remember to use wood reinforcements on the inside so screws can work against a backing and not directly to FG.

Regards,
Luis

Luis, thanks!

Thanks for the reminder on using the wood on the inside, was planning on that originally. You can always make a flat piece of FG by laying several layers of mat on wax paper. Once cured, and not too thick, it should conform to whatever shape you need, with help of slats, and then just reinforce with more mat from the inside.

Indeed I'll have ports that will need to go in, but they'll be in different spots.

The plan is this:

-Electrical hook-in will most likely be in the back
-No fridge vents because we're going with an ice-box (drain will be under-side, and down the road may switch to 12V fridge only (no vents).
-Water tank will be in the back, inside, so water fill for that will be in the back
-Not sure yet if I'm going to put in a hose water intake on the side to bypass water tank because we almost always boondock
-No plan for water heater at this point
-Sink drain will be on lower part of body near the sink (not sure yet on my positioning of SMEV stove and sink

Cheers,
Slav

[cram66]

Welcome, looks like a nice and solid
camper to start with.

[slavandheather]

Hi Everyone,

Got a question and would really like some help on this. Is there any reason to put insulation UNDER the sub-floor? If so, what would it be?

In my case, our Boler has the 1/4" thick fiberglass floor (one piece). On top of that I'll be putting down 3/4" plywood, and on top of that final flooring - probably 1/4" cork tiles, but that's not final.

If I was to put insulation under the sub-ply, I don't want it to be anything thick. One thought I had was to use a wool barrier that has a membrane on one side (that is installed in our house under the cork flooring in the kitchen).

The other option is to put down a layer of Reflectix that I'll be using on the walls. Being bubble-wrap lined with reflective layers, would it totally collapse? Does it matter?

Is any of it even necessary with the FG/ply/tile already as part of the floor?

Looking forward to your pro/against thoughts! Much appreciated!!!

Slav

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by slavandheather

Is there any reason to put insulation UNDER the sub-floor? If so, what would it be?

Although the floor loses less heat than a similarly insulated and sized wall or roof, it is still a heat loss path, and thus an opportunity for improvement in a heated (or air conditioned) trailer. Since we walk on the floor, a cold floor is especially noticeable. For this purpose, it doesn't matter which layer of the floor provides the insulation.

Originally Posted by slavandheather

One thought I had was to use a wool barrier that has a membrane on one side (that is installed in our house under the cork flooring in the kitchen).

While I'm sure that has a valuable function when used as intended, I doubt that it would add a meaningful amount of insulation.

Originally Posted by slavandheather

The other option is to put down a layer of Reflectix that I'll be using on the walls. Being bubble-wrap lined with reflective layers, would it totally collapse? Does it matter?

As far as I know, no Reflectix product is intended to bear any load; I assume that it would be unsuitable as a load-bearing layer in a floor, and may at least locally collapse. It has no insuation value without an air space (which is the purpose of the bubbles), so yes this does matter.

[slavandheather]

Thanks Brian.

Looks like there are not many opinions on this. I think I'll just not worry about it and go without any additional fussing. A new option would be radiant heat! That would for sure take it to a new level.

In all reality we will most likely be more than fine with the FG/ply/cork.

Cheers,
Slav

[jmh]

Slav,

Have you considered using 3/8 or 1/2 inch foam insulation rather than reflectix?
A 1/4 layer of plywood on top should be enough to prevent it from compressing.
Then add the final flooring material on top of that.

Jim

[slavandheather]

Originally Posted by jmh

Slav,

Have you considered using 3/8 or 1/2 inch foam insulation rather than reflectix?
A 1/4 layer of plywood on top should be enough to prevent it from compressing.
Then add the final flooring material on top of that.

Jim

Jim, yes, I have given that a little thought but I am worried about the fact that the Boler's body will be bolted to the frame thru the ply and FG floor. Since the foam insulation is really weak, I see it crumbling eventually and the body would become loose in its attachment. Possibly break away during a trip and fly off and I'd be left with just the frame!

I guess at the attachment points I could cut out the foam insulation and insert ply blocks. In the end, not sure it is worth the effort.

Have you actually installed insulation in your rig? If so, have you noticed a drastic improvement in temperature stability inside? Thanks.

Slav

[Thee Jimbo]

Originally Posted by slavandheather

The oscillating cutter worked very well and a panel was cut out on the right side just inside the entry.

Great thread, I am following it closely, thanks to you and all the responders. Love learning, hopefully I will never have to go to this length with my scamp, but who knows.

Quick question, you said the oscillating cutter worked great, what blade did you use with the cutter. thanks. . jimbo

[slavandheather]

[QUOTE=Quick question, you said the oscillating cutter worked great, what blade did you use with the cutter.[/QUOTE]

Hey Jimbo, thanks, glad you are enjoying the thread!

I got the cutter at Harbor Freight and it came with a few attachments. The one that proved the most powerful for all the FG cutting I've done is the half-moon blade. Go slow with it as to not burn it out. It has no label on it, but looks just like the one for cutting wood/metal/plastic (fine teeth).

[Thee Jimbo]

Thanks, I may just have to stop by harbor freight and pick one (or more) up.

Your motivation is overwhelming.

Thanks again for all the detailed updates.

Fiberglass repair is my next "attempt" ; )

[slavandheather]

Originally Posted by Thee Jimbo

Thanks, I may just have to stop by harbor freight and pick one (or more) up.

Your motivation is overwhelming.

Thanks again for all the detailed updates.

Fiberglass repair is my next "attempt" ; )

It has been a fun project for the most part! We hope to enjoy this for a long time, so I'd like to get it done to the best of my ability...and I'm learning along the way!

Always feel free to ask questions...FG is not bad to work with, just have the proper safety equipment. You'll go thru a lot of Nitrile gloves and disposable brushes, so get lots from Harbor Freight.

Slav

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by jmh

Have you considered using 3/8 or 1/2 inch foam insulation rather than reflectix?
A 1/4 layer of plywood on top should be enough to prevent it from compressing.
Then add the final flooring material on top of that.

Originally Posted by slavandheather

Jim, yes, I have given that a little thought but I am worried about the fact that the Boler's body will be bolted to the frame thru the ply and FG floor. Since the foam insulation is really weak, I see it crumbling eventually and the body would become loose in its attachment.

Common extruded polystyrene foam brands - such as Styrofoam - include high-density versions of the product which are intended for use under floors, and suitable for supporting concrete slabs - would that be too weak? I agree that junk polystyrene "beadboard" would likely crumble.

Suitable foam may not be available in a desirably thin thickness.

[jmh]

In my case I just cut the foam to fit around the cabinets and benches, it does not go under them where they attach to the floor. I have not had a chance to test it out in cold weather so I can't say how well it will work but it I'm sure it will help keep some heat inside.

[slavandheather]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Common extruded polystyrene foam brands - such as Styrofoam - include high-density versions of the product which are intended for use under floors, and suitable for supporting concrete slabs - would that be too weak? I agree that junk polystyrene "beadboard" would likely crumble.

Suitable foam may not be available in a desirably thin thickness.

Brian, got it, thanks for the explanation. I wasn't aware of my options. I just got the regular junk beadboard (the white stuff that gets all over the place) to use for cutting out forms for the floor. That was all I saw at Lowe's. Now I see that Home Depot has the high-density stuff that Luis in Alberta was using for cutting cabinetry forms.

You are right though, looks like 3/4" is the thinnest it comes in, and HD only had 1" thick. That would really cut down on my standing room inside.

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by jmh

In my case I just cut the foam to fit around the cabinets and benches, it does not go under them where they attach to the floor. I have not had a chance to test it out in cold weather so I can't say how well it will work but it I'm sure it will help keep some heat inside.

Jim, this sounds like a possibility. I think I'm just going to not worry about it under my floor since I'll have the 1/4" FG, the 3/4" ply, and the final flooring on top, whatever it will be.

[slavandheather]

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to share a couple items we picked up from Jenny Wood, a fellow Scamp owner and artist. We got a cool tote bag and a key-chain to hold all our Boler keys. She has a store on Etsy.

The bag and keychain:

[kootenaigirl]

Very cute, would make nice gifts for fiberglass friends also.

[slavandheather]

Originally Posted by kootenaigirl

Very cute, would make nice gifts for fiberglass friends also.

Now that's a fine idea!

[slavandheather]

As I've mentioned before, we got nice quality plywood for our subfloor that is 3/4" thick, and has an A side (nice) and a C side (not so nice). I wanted the A side so I don't have to sand it and can easily lay the final flooring on top without much fussing.

I thought this process was going to be easier...but I think I'll give up on the notion of anything being easy with this project!

Anyways, I started by cutting a template for the entry-level floor from 1/2" thick styrofoam insulation. That was easy enough:

Used that for tracing onto the ply. But due to unevenness of the FG floor, and rounded FG where the various floor pieces come together, it took some 12 or so times I had to take the board in and out to make all the adjustments. Took a lot longer than I had hoped, but at least this part is good and to my liking.

The entry is a bit screwy. The FG of the body has an up-turned and angled lip with variable thickness FG that is not even remotely straight. This caused some extra issues before I got it good. But I'm not quite sure how to finish this off once the floor will be laid down.

Do I use some sort of aluminum strip to cover the gap? And squirt in caulk to prevent water from going UNDER the floor? Or do I make a small mold and pour in a bunch of resin to make this squared off? What do you guys think? Can you provide pics of what your campers have here? Thanks.

Here you have a couple pics of what I'm faced with:

[GMike A]

Can you get a bunch of C clamps and then squirt the correct adhesive in there ( I say correct because not sure what it would be yet or what base) and then let it cure???