1979 Scamp 16' Project

[Ryan P R]

Here is a freshly painted tire with new rubber on the Scamp-- maybe I already post this photo? I'll get chrome baby moons once I can test drive this and make sure the new hub bearings are working well and not heating up.


I the battery brackets on the tongue would not accommodate a small battery. I had to grind off the angle iron and put in some new ones spaced out wider for my new large group 29 battery. I don't have welder, so I just bolted the new angle iron on.
I also de-rusted, primed and painted that area. I'm doing the entire chassis this way sort of piece meal as I work on something in that area. Flinging rust all over your face and body is not that pleasant.

[Ryan P R]

Much needed storage added to the kitchen sink cabinet. I used full extension 22" slides on the right, and a tip out shelf kit made by "rev a shelf".


Not shown in the photos- I had to glue a wood block inside the edges of the new openings to screw the hardware into. For the extension slides, I also had to add the backing piece of wood on the back of the inside cabinet- which is of course really the wall. I attached it with 4 SS screws from the outside of the trailer.


Also not shown in the photos, I drilled 7/8" holes in both doors as the "handles" and finished them with the same satin poly as the other doors. The 7/8" hole is just enough to stick a finger in to pull. I did not want bigger holes like I used for the cabinet doors, I figured stuff might fall out of the drawers with holes that big.

[Ryan P R]

While I am fortunate that the original owners of this Scamp had the very efficient Atwood 8012 furnace installed (1.8amps)-- I've always been very annoyed with the way it was installed. Right smack in the middle of an otherwise wide usable space under the stove. I would have just shifted to the side to open up the space.....but while actual vent for this model is very small- it was scanned onto an older large vent (duette?) on the exterior of the trailer, and yes right through the belly band. I figured it takes up that space, so just leave it in that space for now or I will never get to camp in this thing.
I installed some very narrow (2.75" interior drawer width) yet tall (10") drawers on each side of the furnace. They won't hold a lot of volume, but if figure some smaller often used items would be great to keep in there.

[Ryan P R]

In our other trailer I always used an old (14 years old) LED orange flash light that runs off a single AA battery for the kids nightlight. It worked well and the battery would last for maybe 60 hours or so easily, but I wanted built night lights for us and the kids in the Scamp.
I used 6" flex lite strips from Advance Auto Parts. For the kids I cut 1 down to 3" (3 LEDs) and surface mounted it to the side of the closet near the front door. It provides just the right amount of light for them to ward off the boogie man. I would have preferred it inside of nice fixure, buts its low profile and we did not need a fixture there for another light anyways.
Over our bed/dinette I install one of the 6" lengths inside of our "euro" style fixtures right next to/behind the white LED array. There is a small push button switch on the back of the fixture to control it- the switch is clearly a visible add-on, but being on the back side there is no eye sore.
The idea of ours just simply not to wake the kids with bright lights when we go to bed after them, or when I make my late night visits down the hall to the loo. I may also add the same lights over the sink cabinet, and in the bathroom- both installed within the regular lighting fixtures.

[Ryan P R]

Today I went from not understanding how to thread or operate our sewing machine (it's been in the attic the entire time).... to making 3 blackout shades/panels for our Scamps 3 14" square windows. Besides sewing on some buttons, and hemming a few pairs of pant legs 3-4 years ago I haven't really sewed anything since middle school HomeEc class.

Nevertheless I am very pleased with the shades so far. I used red outdoor fabric (olefin fibers) and RonLoc blackout lining. They attach to the top of the window with Velcro. Hook side is self adhesive onto the aluminum frames, the loop side is sewed onto the back of the fabric- you can buy it a mixed pack like this, it's called "DECOR". At the bottom of the shade is a small pocket with a wooden 1/2" dowel rod. The dowel rod helps to roll up the fabric evenly. They are also notched on the side to accommodate the window cranks so that the shade can fit perfectly flush with window frames to block out all light. I will add a few spots of strategically placed Velcro on the bottom to really keep them closed up tight.
I will make the shades for the remaining windows in a similar fashion, but may modify the design a little bit on a few of the others so that I can just raise the blackout lining under the red fabric to let in some light, while still retaining complete privacy. Or I might just create a method to lower just the top of the shades a few inches for similar results. I have many ideas on how to do both of these things, as well as methods for keeping the rolled up shades in place-- I just need to experiment with them a bit and make up my mind.

The folded/cut white paper is a demonstration of how I created the notch for the crank hands posts. I used a backstitch around the pimento of the notch to hold back the fold parts, and then followed it up with an edge-loop-stitch (not sure if that's the proper term) that goes around the edge of the opening. I followed that up with some Fray Check and paid special attention to the inside corners- as they cannot be hemmed properly using this method.

[Donna D.]

Great job Ryan!

I'm envious. I don't sew.. or should say I won't sew. The last time I used a machine I ran over my thumb with the pressure foot and literally stitched my thumb. Sigh.

[GMike A]

Nice job as usual. I have 19 older Singer Model 501 and 503A machines that I am restoring. Last model that Singer made with Metal parts. These are work horses and an awesome machine with double needles and lots of stitch patterns for its era.
Another one of my many projects. Lots of men sew.!!!

[Dennis Clinton]

Mike-my mother had one of those machines! My wife fell in love with it, so I had to find one for her. My granddaughter now uses it.(Of course my mother's was regeared to commercial speed-scared everyone away from using it).

[GrregP]

Beautiful work on the drawers. Do the slides come in lengths that just happen to work well or did you have to build up or modify something? They look so perfectly mounted.

[Rpryor3]

Originally Posted by GMike A

Nice job as usual. I have 19 older Singer Model 501 and 503A machines that I am restoring. Last model that Singer made with Metal parts. These are work horses and an awesome machine with double needles and lots of stitch patterns for its era.
Another one of my many projects. Lots of men sew.!!!

Yes but when men sew its called "Automotive Upholstery".

[Ryan P R]

But upholstery to me means taking it to an entirely new level of difficulty.

I was just sewing-- no need to call me a seamstress though!


The full extension slides are a really nice luxury. They are very smooth operating and stay shut on their own. They come in many lengths and if if you get he proper size your drawer will extend completely out of the cabinet-- which is if course the biggest advantage of them.
Much nicer than the slides in my home that only open 2/3 of the way. The full ext. slides are also easy to mount in the Scamp, as you can buy a rear bracket (adjustable) for $3 that allows you to mount them to the rear wall as opposed to a non-existing side structure. The only downside to them in they cost $16-$20 each plus the back brackets.

I got some more work done on my shades yesterday-- I'll show photos later.

[Ryan P R]

I installed a lighted license ate holder from vintagetrailersupply. It's the the old Airstream style, it looks nice. I sprayed it with some clear to keep it from rusting.

The most efficient Fan 12v I could find was mentioned ONLY ONCE on this entire forum, I'm sure glad the one person posted about it though. I bought it and love it so far. It is a Caframo Ultimate ( model 757 or 747). It only draws 0.40 amps on high and 0.28 amps on low. Compared to a standard store bought generic 12v cig lighter fan that pulls 0.8amps. Plus it is smaller than I thought it would and moves more air than I expected it to. The fan head can pivot and it can also rotate 360 degrees on the base, it is very versatile. This fan really kicks some serious butt! The overall quality seems much better than a typical 12v fan.
My only complaint is that there is a bit more vibration than I would like. When you hold it in your hand and run it you can feel it "wobbling" a bit. It doesn't make any noise as a result. ... Until you mount on a cabinet. Mounted on my sturdy wood cabinet it causes some low resonant sounds on the high setting because of the wobble, again the sound does not come from the fan itself but is caused by the fan making the cabinet resonate. This does not happen on the low setting, and in fact the low setting will move plenty of air for most purposes. I do plan in pulling the blade off ( it's a somewhat soft rubber blade) and balancing with an RC tire/prop balancer.

Instead of a conventional fire extinguisher I put in an aerosol can of Tundra. It is an all purpose extinguisher that is supposed to spray for 32 seconds as opposed to the 8 seconds for a "normal" small RV sized one. Since they are only $20 or so for a 2 pack I might test one of them these days just to increase my confidence in its abilities.
These "Tundra" cans do not come with a mount, but they about the same diameter as a regular spray can. I mounted mine with some cool doohickey that my father-in-laws, coworkers dad invented and patented. It's great for hanging cans of spray paint, WD40 etc.
I also put in my paper towel holder.
Take note of the shades I made-- they are fashioned so they can be partially opened like a roman shade, only with velcro and no strings.

[GMike A]

Pretty nice Ryan. Would like to know more about the holder. I have seen videos of the Tundra and it puts a regular extinguisher to shame.
Looks like you are reaching for a white butterfly there.

[Ryan P R]

Mike-

I do not think the holder is on the market, I'll check on that for you. I'm not sure if it ever really got off the ground so to speak.
Here is a close up of it... I just zoomed in on an existing photo. I'll take a better photo of it when I get a chance.

It's really just a C shaped piece of flexible plastic that is screwed to a wall. It will hold cans very snugly (spray paint, WD40 etc), I'm confident it would hold them on a gravel forest road without even letting them slip down within the bracket. It's a really cool idea.
However, the Tundra cans are a tiny bit larger than the standard cans, I haven't measured but perhaps 1/32"-1/16" larger in diameter. So the bracket will hold it snugly and won't let it come out, but the Tundra can will slide down within the bracket. I put a few layers of electrical tape on the can keep it from dropping to low onto the countertop.

[Darrin S]

Real Men use "Thread Injectors"

[GMike A]

Does that make your Thread go faster like Nitro?

[Darrin S]

No, on my hammock forum they say men do not use sewing machines, they use Thread injectors!

[GMike A]

Whew that one flew over my head the first time but I got it now. My grandpa was a shoemaker and upholsterer back in the 40s so I should have caught that. He could sew better than a lot of women. (no offense ladies).