We are streetrodders and former owners of a 13 foot
Scamp. My husband didn't want to attach huge mirrors to our '33 Plymouth Coupe, so reluctantly we
sold the
Scamp and bought a (dirty word)
tent trailer. After traveling with several friends with Bolers, Scamps, Lil
Bigfoot and ALWAYS being the last one to get their camp set up, we decided to go back to a little
fiberglass. It helped making that decision to discover removeable McKesh mirrors that don't mark up the sides of the car.
Late this summer we found a 1987 Lil
Bigfoot in BC and proceeded to buy it. We knew it had some problems, but the price was right and we are very capable of redoing. So--our odessy began.
The major problems were a mushy floor; a bad
axle spindle from spinning a wheel bearing and my husband wanted electric
brakes, which meant replacing the
axle. The door did not fit properly and someone had put their shoulder into it to close it, breaking the window and damaging the door itself. A new one was over $600.
There was a lot of water staining in the front kitchen corner. Friends had "re-papered" right over their old wall material using craft felt and that is what we had planned to do also.
After getting the trailer home, we pulled all the lower cabinets out to redo the floor and really got a closer look. The wood was still wet and pretty much rotten. Then we decided it would be easier to recover the walls if the upper cabinets were also removed. Hmmm! It was not only water stained but REALLY moldy.
At one time the walls had been a dark blue, which we could not even imagine. It must have been like a cave, and the previous owners had covered the stains with cellophane and painted it.
S0---- I pulled on one corner of the wall covering and before we knew it the walls were bare except for the foam insulation.
We measured and ordered the new
axle, went to work sanding and repairing the
fiberglass exterior, welded extra floor joists to the frame, even added bracing all the way out to the door threshold. Put new plywood floor down and re-glassed all the way around the new wood. My husband totally rebuilt the door using new RV skin material and replaced the window and painted the door. Looks like new. That's where we are at at the moment.
Next phase: PAINT! Then put the
windows back in and start on the interior. We bought new vinyl for the floor. We've found a source for the same type of wall covering (just waiting for color samples) and we have decided to reface all of the cabinets with formica, put in a new counter top and replace the stove top with a new two burner. The
refrigerator works fine, so we will just put a new panel in the door to match the cabinets.
One thing we are not sure of is A/C. Most of our friends have put small household A/C units in the rear
windows, but we had thought about a Coleman Polar Cub unit. They weigh almost 100 lbs and we aren't sure if this will be a problem. Also the
fiberglass isn't as thick as 'normal' trailers and we're not sure about this. Has anyone put one of these units in their trailer?
We are adding three new flourescent
lights, stereo and some shelving over the end of the bed. Add pleated shades, and we found a cute little fold down table to go in the center of the bunk area. I will reupholster the seat cushions and depending on how it sleeps we may replace the bed cushions with a custom made innerspring mattress (we did this in our old Scamp).
So--once again our "little" project has turned into a major overhaul, but when it gets done it should be a little dream.
Please see my other Post for "Pictures of Total Makeover"
Bonnie and Roger Miller, Ephrata, WA
1975 Trillium 
Trillium in hybernation
Hotrodders Unite!
Linear Mode
