My '74 project

[Humpty]

Well I've started tearing into my Boler, with a lot of ideas and no particular plan of attack... I started tackling the saggy door today.
When the Boler first arrived, I drilled several holes in the bottom of the door to drain the water. I was shocked at the volume that came out.
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Im going to build an aluminium frame to hold contour and glass it back in, but to do this I had to separate the outer and inner skins. With my dermal and several thin pry bars I accomplished the chore.
I thought I'd share some pics for anyone who has wondered what the inside of one of our doors looks like... after years of water infiltration.
this looks like it could be a much larger undertaking than I'd anticipated, but there's a long cold winter ahead that I need to fill with projects

Humpty
Winnipeg

[David Tilston]

Ummm.... yuck!

Why not use fibreglass inside the door, instead of aluminum. It can be bought in sheets.

At first I thought you were referring to your skin, (dermal) but I think you meant Dremel.

[Donna D.]

Don't know if you have a plan totally in mind, but I'd suggest you check out terrific write up and pictures by Con ... called the Boler Door Fix in the Document Center here: Fiberglass RV - Document Center - BolerDoorFix

[Humpty]

Yes, I meant Dremal. But I'll likely lose many dermal layers during this reno.

I'm not sure what you'd have in mind for using sheet fiberglass, or sheet anything actually? I require building a frame to hold the curve if the door.



Like this one

I'm open to any ideas if you explain the "sheet" to me though

Thanks


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[Nelmes]

Looks like a fun project!!

I saw a boler that made the frame out of wood, it soaked up the water and made the door weigh a ton.

[Humpty]

Originally Posted by Nelmes

Looks like a fun project!!

I saw a boler that made the frame out of wood, it soaked up the water and made the door weigh a ton.

yeah, the entire inside was some kind of parkay/plywood/laminate material. 40 years turned most of it into some kind of compost. the fact that it was solid wood to start with would have made it heavy enough, add to that the moisture and I'm surprized it hadn't torn itself off its hinges.

If I made a new frame out of steel, it probably would end up weighing about the same

[Humpty]

The work continues... I spent a great deal of time bending and shaping, and bending some more
but the frame pieces are done and waiting on my welder to put them together.

While I wait on that, I decided to go ahead and address another issue. Where the hinges attach to the body, seems to be an obvious weak area.

Relying on the fiberglass alone to support the door... a point that takes a lot of tourque must be reinforced. I chose to do this by adhering a 55" x 2" band of 1/8" thick aluminum to the inside surface.


I was able to carefully separate the ensolite from the body so it will be hidden when put back together.


Once the adhesive has cured I'll drill out the holes for the hinge bolts.


I'm using PL9000 Heavy Duty construction adhesive,


it was one that specifically said it bonds to metal and fiberglass. It has a 72 hour cure period so I clamp it together and wait.
Its my hope/expectation that the aluminum flat will spread the twisting force over the entire length of the hinge side, and give a lot more rigidity. At the very least, I have every confidence that it will prevent the hinges from breaking the delicate shell they were attached to.

[Humpty]

... And now to address something that's bothered me since the day I brought this egg home. The wildly mismatched wheel wells. I've not paid much attention to others, but mine appear to have been cut out by someone "eyeballing" now I'm aware some adjustments were considered because the door bottom is lower than the rest of the shell, but that's easily compensated for with a template.


The first photo shows my door side template, against the kitchen side wheel.
The second clearly shows the inconsistency between the two sides. 2-5-8" at the greatest.
You may also be able to see that the radius is nowhere near centred .



Humpty

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[Humpty]

I very recently was lucky enough to pick up an original furnace from a '71. If you've ever wondered what's inside those magic heat makers, I can show you. When I bench tested it, I found it was working but the main burner was "crudded" up with something so began the delicate procedure of opening it up.

ATTACH]86341[/ATTACH]

There was some crispy blockage right inside the main burner



After I cleaned it out, it fired up beautifully, obviously not reassembled yet but here's what a proper pilot flame and main burner lit look like





Humpty

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[Humpty]

Got my door frame back from my welder!

Here's a photo of it clamped to the exterior for reference

And the further reinforcement for the hinges

I'm so looking forward to getting this glassed in and finally having a proper and strong door again.




Humpty

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[Steve_N_Janna]

Glenn, it looks like you're taking your Boler to a whole new level!

IMHO this is part of the beauty of these old glass trailers; they offer a solid original design that - for better or worse, were built to a price point - but are easily improved upon.

I'll enjoy watching where you take this project (and may well steal some of your ideas!).

Steve

[Humpty]

New aluminium frame glued to outer skin

1" XPS foam board attached for moisture proof core

Plywood will be glassed in where the handle attaches.
It's pouring rain today so I'll take that as an opportunity to start fiberglassing the interior skin.



Humpty

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[charlsara]

Nice metal work !


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[Humpty]

Thanks, but I can only take credit for figuring out how to do it and bending the radius... I'm very lucky to have a friend capable of welding aluminum who without his help, the whole thing would likely have been held together with duct tape lol



Humpty

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[Humpty]

Should anyone else rebuild a door this way, I'll share a tip. Fiberglas resin will eat/ burn XPS foam. I laid my first sheet over waxed paper, trimed it after it cured, and will glue it to the frame/ foam before glassing the edges.



Humpty

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[Humpty]

... And now some windows!

Four beautiful new custom made window from Sunviewindustries


Humpty

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[Humpty]

- My apologies for some of the photos being sideways, not sure why they uploaded like that. -



The progress has been slow and steady... but mostly slow
Interior painting of ensolite and cabinets.





Built all new cabinet doors and installed marine "slam latches"





added a nice new roof-top fan and glassed in a curb to keep water out, and raise it to be flush with interior.