Hi Hersh,
Thanks for your kind words and encouragement! And...I feel the same way about fibreglass as you do!! It has lots of great qualities, but it is smelly and irritating to work with!! Yuck!
I'd have to say I chuckled thinking of how many hours I have put into this restoration. I can say if I charged by the hour...NO ONE COULD AFFORD THIS BOLER!!! It would be hundreds of hours from the start to where I am now. As for how many more hours to finish...very likely a few hundred more. For the 3 mm plywood panelling, there will be lots of pattern making, cutting, priming, filling and
painting to get a finished liner. Then onto cabinets which will be constructed from baltic birch plywood of various thicknesses (as thin as possible to keep the
weight down)...not straightforward cabinet making with lots of curves which is so time consuming (for me anyway
). I'll be hiring someone to prep and
paint the outside.
If you look for threads by Robert Johans (1974
Boler Resto. Oops, I did it again... and 1971
Boler Custom renovation—Let the fun begin!) that might give you an idea on the commercial end of restoring these trailers as a business. There are also other small fibreglass trailer companies now such as
Armadillo Trailers in Armstrong, B.C., Happier Campers and
Escape Trailers.
Hope that helps Hersh