Hi, I'm Liz, may be buying a '75 Honey boler tomorrow

[Liz in PDX]

Hi - I'm Liz, from Portland OR and I'm so glad to have found this resource!
I am taking a second look at a '75 Honey boler tomorrow.
I'm curious about assessing the condition of the fiberglass itself - is it possible to tell by visually inspecting if it's brittle? There aren't any critical cracks, some spider cracks, no dimple above the driver's side wheel as might indicate frame compromise -- but, a friend had a look and noted that the fiberglass appeared whitish and thought that might indicate that UV exposure had caused brittleness.

update because I learned a new thing - so if this honey is original then it's gel coat and needs cleaned and polished...
It's a brownish color, which appears to be the original color of the Honey boler.

Anyone have any other insights on assessing/purchasing to share here?
Much appreciated!

P.S. I have just now read Ian G.'s awesome guide to buying a boler...

[Jon in AZ]

Chalkiness caused by UV degradation of the gel coat is cosmetic, so nothing to be concerned about. Surface spider cracks in the gel coat, same.

What you want to look carefully for are stress cracks that go all the way through the fiberglass. They are most likely to happen at the corners of windows, doors, and other shell openings.

[kootenaigirl]

Its also really nice to get the original gel coat as there are a lot of poor paint jobs out there.
Do you have the check list -
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/buy-sell.html

[WaltP]

The check list from kootenai girl should help a lot.
Also look for the date stamp on the tires. Even if they look good, if they are more than 5 years old they should be replaced. I also recommend lubing the wheel bearings right away, good insurance.
Lastly and most important, get her out for a short shakedown trip and quickly discover how much fun you're in for.

Walt

[Liz in PDX]

Thank you for the helpful information! Yes, I found the checklist.
Cheers,
Liz

[Denece]

Well? Well? How was it?

Are you One of Us?


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[Monte W]

Hi Liz, Are you in?

[Liz in PDX]

Hi all - to answer your questions about the boler Honey:

You know how you meet someone and at first BAM! total infatuation!
And it goes like this;

"OMG - you're wonderful!"
"No, YOU'RE wonderful!!!"

Then a couple of dates later ... it's evident....you're simply. not. a match.
It'll never work. It was over before it began.
You're sad about what could of been, but oh so glad you paid attention to those red flags in spite of that powerful attraction.

That's how it was with me and Honey....I had to break it off.
Too much work for way too much money (some unsuspecting Portlander is in for a fleecing).

Thanks to this forum I was not that Portlander. Thanks to this forum I discovered she needed a new frame straightaway. And a new floor. If I had a garage and a shop I'd be all over this like...bees on honey.

But alas, this gal needs a more road-ready, more camping ready egg.

Also thanks to this forum there is another waiting in the wings.
Not a boler, but I'm okay with that.
Oh for the love of the rebound....

And did I mention it was time to replace my vehicle, so I'm shopping for one that can be my safe and trusty tow vehicle too?

Because I'll be taking a road trip to get this one...

Thanks for asking!
And stay tuned....

[WaltP]

Smart girl, smart decision. Now we're all on the edge of our hitches, waiting to see what you come up with as a much better deal.

Walt

[Denece]

Sounds like you made a wise decision. We lucked out and right after returning home from seeing " the wrong one", found " the Keeper" right here on the forum! Two long car drives in one day, but if we hadn't we would have missed our Compact II

Enjoy the hunt!


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