Work In Progress - '75 Boler 13

[Randy D.]

I managed to put the original plexiglass and rubber seal back in the other day, as well as the name plates. The front seal was good but in the back one I found a tear that will leak. I am going to order replacement rubber from Scamp for both and redo the job. I will put the lockstrip on the outside at that time too.

[Randy D.]

I installed the driver's side window and the cupboard/range hood as well. I replaced the 3/4 plywood strips in the window frame and used new (slightly larger) stainless steel screws and neoprene washers. For the cupboard I used stainless bolts, neoprene washers and nylock nuts (as well as butyl tape). The other window needs some cleaning before I can install it. I also put new nylon screen in the frames. I will pop those in as soon as I have the windows in nice and tight.

[Greg H]

Looking good!

[Donna D.]

I second Greg's comment!

[Randy D.]

Donna and Greg. Thanks to both of you. I put in another day on it today but didn't take pictures. More to follow.

[Randy D.]

I installed the passenger side window recently and also put some flooring down. I chose the wrong product (peel and stick "planks") and may have to replace it very soon. It works well on the solid lower floor but not well at all under the table where the floor is not so flat.

[Greg H]

Originally Posted by Randy D.

I installed the passenger side window recently and also put some flooring down. I chose the wrong product (peel and stick "planks") and may have to replace it very soon. It works well on the solid lower floor but not well at all under the table where the floor is not so flat.

Is it really peel and stick? or is it floating? I was thinking of buseing foating since I have a bunch leftover from redoing the house, but I don't know if it eill work because it sort of holds itself down by it's weight.

[Randy D.]

The 'cutouts' in the benches and closet are from one of the previous owners who had a cd player and speakers installed. I am going to square the speaker cutouts and cover them with access doors of the same material as the cupboards etc. For the closet cutout I have a novel idea for a courtesy light in the doorway. I put the back benches in as well as the main cabinet. To install the wrought iron cabinet support I had to raise the roof more than a quarter of an inch. The original cooktop is all cleaned up and painted. Tomorrow I am replacing the propane line with type K tubing. I happened upon a local RV shop (Affordable RV on Centre Avenue for you Calgarians) and the owner has offerred to cut the tubing for me and flare the ends to save me the cost of buying a flaring tool. I have some heavy reinforced half inch hose that I am going to run the copper through for protection.

[Randy D.]

Installed new interior lights and a wiring pipe from the upper to lower cabinet (10 dollar shower rod) and tested the wiring. I had a motion detecting photo sensitive battery powered led light that I bought at Princess Auto for my garden that I chopped for the courtesy light at the door. Still have some work to do on it but I think it will work out. The cover is a piece of plastic from a light fixture.

[Robert Johans]

Randy,
Great work... I begin my own Boler project tomorrow. Tear down, et al.

Did you remove the ensolite wall covering or did you just repaint it? Mine's not good enough to keep. Any tips on removing it?

[Randy D.]

Greg
It is really peel and stick vinyl and it doesn't stick very well. I would recommend considering the floating approach. I bought two boxes of this stuff at Home Depot last year thinking it would be okay. I only used one box so I have the option of changing my approach. Once I glue some trim (quarter round) to the lower floor edges I think it will be fine. The upper floor under the table will have to be redone. Daniel G. recently posted his floating floor idea using masonite. I think I will give that a go. Thanks Daniel.

Originally Posted by Greg H

Is it really peel and stick? or is it floating? I was thinking of buseing foating since I have a bunch leftover from redoing the house, but I don't know if it eill work because it sort of holds itself down by it's weight.

[Randy D.]

Thanks Robert.
My trailer was completely stripped except for the ensolite which was in pretty nasty shape although none was missing. It had adheasive everywhere because a previous owner had glued carpet to the entire interior. It had been removed when I bought the trailer but the adheasive took me days more to remove. Another previous owner had cut the ensolite in many places for reasons unknown. I cleaned like crazy and then caulked all the seems and cuts, primed with Kilz and then put on two coats of Behr interior semi gloss pure white. I was almost convinced that I could not salvage the ensolite but the thought of getting it off the shell made me forge ahead. I am very pleased with the result. If you look back in this thread there are pictures of what mine looked like. If yours is not a lot worse you should try to save it.

Originally Posted by Robert Johans

Randy,
Great work... I begin my own Boler project tomorrow. Tear down, et al.

Did you remove the ensolite wall covering or did you just repaint it? Mine's not good enough to keep. Any tips on removing it?

[Randy D.]

I decided to take out the old copper propane line and inspect it. Good thing too, it was badly pitted in the areas exposed to stones etc. The only areas with any protection (rubber water hose) were the run from the regulator to the shell and a short piece at the entry hole to the trailer. I decided to replace the regulator and pigtail as well since they are original. While looking for a regulator I made a new friend. Neil Bottomley, the owner of Affordable RV here in Calgary sold me a regulator, pigtail, battery box, set of 4 slightly used screw jacks and a couple of other things. He also cut my copper and flared it for me. I had him slip it through a length of reinforced high pressure sprayer hose I had from a tree fertilizing unit. He is one of those guys who provides great service even for customers that are not in the market for a new rig.

[Randy D.]

I leak tested the connections and took the cooktop for a test drive.

[Randy D.]

I received my order from Scamp. It included new window rubber and lockstrip, fixtures to fill the holes in the side of the Boler, door trim, hand pump, curtain rod brackets etc. First I popped the windows out and replaced the rubber, this time the lockstrip is on the outside where it belongs. I read that the reason it is on the outside is to prevent air pressure from pushing the window into the trailer. The lockstrip side tightens under pressure while pressure on the non-lockstrip side can result in the seal releasing.

[Randy D.]

Here are shots of the new water filler, city water inlet, power cord port and sink drain. Still have to trim the butyl from around the eges of everything. I also used a piece of checkerplate too spread the load of the spare tire U bolt even though the fiberglass seems surprisingly strong.

[pbraunton]

good job, i love how it is coming along, .......

under your power cord port, is the power cord wired directly into a breaker box?, or is there a male plug under the cover????

thanks

[james kent]

There have been some inquiries in the past as to how to fix up an old stove top. Yours looks great! What did you clean and paint that 35 year old thing with? Thanks for all the pictures.

[Randy D.]

Thanks Paul.
So far there is absolutely nothing behind the port. I was concentrating on getting the holes sealed up so that I will be ready for the road. I have not thought much about AC to this point. The original set up was a cord with a male connector and the trailer end wired directly into the box in the front of the cabinet which was also grounded to the frame. I don't know how I am going to deal with it yet. Same with water. My water tank is badly broken and although I have new water filler hose I probably won't be replacing the tank until sometime in the future. Money is running out.

Originally Posted by pbraunton

good job, i love how it is coming along, .......

under your power cord port, is the power cord wired directly into a breaker box?, or is there a male plug under the cover????

thanks

[Randy D.]

My stove looked pretty bad when I bought the trailer and I thought it might be a waste of time. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of it but the box was very badly rusted, the top too but being stainless steel it was easier to clean up. I sanded the box by hand and with a detail sander to get the worst of the rust off and painted it with gray rust paint. There were no areas where the rust had eaten through or weakened the structure of the box. I worked on the top with fine steel wool and although it looks pretty good the finish is noticeably worn in some places. The bulkhead where the gas line connects was in nice condition except that the flare fitting had cracked (that is why they make them with a much thicker wall now) and the burners cleaned up with steel wool too. Perhaps I was just lucky to get one that was still serviceable.

Originally Posted by james kent

There have been some inquiries in the past as to how to fix up an old stove top. Yours looks great! What did you clean and paint that 35 year old thing with? Thanks for all the pictures.