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03-03-2013, 12:08 PM
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#81
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Senior Member
Name: kenny
Trailer: 93 "Lil" Bigfoot 13.5'
Utah
Posts: 519
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Slav
My sisters banding strips are painted on. They will scratch easily even with a finger nail. being sanded off, to repaint the Egg.
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03-03-2013, 01:57 PM
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#82
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenny Strong
Slav
My sisters banding strips are painted on. They will scratch easily even with a finger nail. being sanded off, to repaint the Egg.
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That is interesting, Kenny. More inconsistency in how these were made...it was a good workout and the top half left some glue residue that will still need sanding.
Slav
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03-23-2013, 12:09 AM
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#83
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Junior Member
Name: Colleen
Trailer: Boler
Idaho
Posts: 26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slavandheather
It took a bit of time (not that we were in a hurry, and well done work always takes a bit longer), but we now have the new frame! I have to say that the guys at Mann's Welding did an outstanding job on fabrication. If anyone in the greater Seattle area would like a new frame or modifications, these guys are truly masters and I'd take my business to them again.
After picking the frame up a week ago, Tim Mann (the owner) recommended Bull Dog Powder Coating. It was close so I drove straight there to get an estimate. The price was reasonable and I left the frame to receive two coats of black semi-shiny powder. Many colors and finishes are available, but I wanted the visible parts of the frame to go with the black in the wheels. And if there are ever any nicks that develop, it should be easier to touch up with paint. I must say it looks amazing and we're super happy with the whole outcome!
Here are a couple pics, and I'll talk more about some of the features/modifications in the next couple days.
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Looks like they did a great job! Would you be willing to share what it cost? I'm in Seattle and definitely need some frame work done if not a whole new frame.....
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03-23-2013, 03:33 PM
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#84
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Fiberglass Work
It's been a while since the last post so I better show an update. Progress has been slower but little by little the Boler will get done! I got my hands wet and sticky doing fiberglassing. It went from fun to a bit frustrating to really fun again. The first time I mixed the resin with the hardener I didn't put as much hardener as the instructions called for - thinking it would give me more time to slather it on - but all that did was took two days to dry instead of a few hours! Lesson learned...
Anybody doing this for the first time, make sure you wear a respirator that handles organic fumes and have fresh air coming in. Also, using two sets of Nitrile gloves was handy since they get sticky pretty fast.
Here is a pic of the before of the front left frame rail cut-out (I used a grinder to grind a depression on the edges to handle the fiberglass mat):
And the fix (that still needs smoothing):
And the right frame rail cut-out with all kinds of holes:
The first resin-soaked mat I tried here slid off and didn't want to stay nice and flat, so I used some foam-cor wrapped with wax paper (won't stick to the wet resin) to hold things in place and make the surface nice and straight:
And after drying and removing the board:
Lots of holes of various sizes underneath that needed work. Big ones like the one pictured below just got the mat treatment. Small bolt holes just got plugged with wax paper-lined duct tape from the bottom and resin was poured in from the top.
And all nice and dry - not worrying too much about it looking pretty as this will be coated with Herculiner (truck-bed protector):
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03-23-2013, 04:16 PM
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#85
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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More Fiberglassing!
So, remember I had to cut out an opening on the inside for part of the frame to fit (since the frame is good and straight now and I didn't anticipate this making a tight fit here):
I built a "frame" from underneath with wax paper covered foam-cor and then laid down well-basted fiberglass mat in several layers, then put another board on the front to make things stay nice and tight and straight:
After drying overnight, things look quite good and feel very strong:
With the lights turned off and a light underneath you can see the new form really well:
And from underneath:
Now I better get to smoothing these and prepare things for Bondo work underneath. I'm so ready to get the egg on the frame it is driving me nutty!
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03-24-2013, 10:05 PM
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#86
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Senior Member
Name: kenny
Trailer: 93 "Lil" Bigfoot 13.5'
Utah
Posts: 519
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Slav
When one fills holes with resin alone, it is prone to fracturing; when filling holes I remove the surface area around the hole (with a sand paper loaded grinding tool), on about a 30 angle, so that there is an exposed fiberglass area of about 3/8th of an inch all the way around the hole. I put a backer piece with mat, on the back side, that is l/2"or more larger than the hole, held in place, with what ever.??? I then cut mat to the approximate size to fit the hole several layers thick and then enough to cover the relived area on the face, put a solid piece over the top of it. the inside and outside pieces can even be screwed together. then a bit of scrap, pushed into the screw holes, when removed. these holes are enlarged then a piece of mat is layered in place. perhaps the existing resin can be sanded out half way on the outside covered on the inside, fitted with pieces on the outside. or see how it goes. a sharp vertical hole with with no area to spread the mat out onto is not safe. I like the way you fixed the other holes!
Later Kenny
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03-25-2013, 12:26 AM
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#87
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenny Strong
Slav
When one fills holes with resin alone, it is prone to fracturing; when filling holes I remove the surface area around the hole (with a sand paper loaded grinding tool), on about a 30 angle, so that there is an exposed fiberglass area of about 3/8th of an inch all the way around the hole. I put a backer piece with mat, on the back side, that is l/2"or more larger than the hole, held in place, with what ever.??? I then cut mat to the approximate size to fit the hole several layers thick and then enough to cover the relived area on the face, put a solid piece over the top of it. the inside and outside pieces can even be screwed together. then a bit of scrap, pushed into the screw holes, when removed. these holes are enlarged then a piece of mat is layered in place. perhaps the existing resin can be sanded out half way on the outside covered on the inside, fitted with pieces on the outside. or see how it goes. a sharp vertical hole with with no area to spread the mat out onto is not safe. I like the way you fixed the other holes!
Later Kenny
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Thanks Kenny for the suggestions! I have used mat with all the holes except the 1/8th to 1/4th wide ones (about 10 of them) that the previous owner made to screw down the sub-floor. You think those will hold? I hope so...
Slav
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04-09-2013, 10:36 PM
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#88
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Some Fix Updates
Here I'm going to show some of the before and after pics of the front and back sections that I had to cut out and then patch with new fiberglass and Bondo. I think it all turned out quite nice...even if it was more work than I initially anticipated. When I look at it now it feels good, especially knowing I never did this type of "handyman" work before!
Alright, here is the first cutout that had new glass put in, and note the crushed hole on the left (I've shown this pic before in an earlier post):
And here it is all nicely smoothed and fixed up with Bondo:
A detail of the nasty hole on the left:
I first tried to get fiberglass mat to stick from the front but it just made a mess and didn't have enough surface to stick to, so I ended up applying several layers from the inside of the trailer and that made a really super solid new corner for me and got finished off with Bondo:
Many sticky gloves later, got to work on the right front section...the before:
And nicely finished off:
In the back I had one frame rail opening to fix up (which was also a smaller opening than the other...go figure). I needed to cut a chunk out on one side and build up about a half inch of fiberglass on the left. Here is the first "raw" pic (yumm, if this stuff only smelled and tasted like honey!):
And the completed, satisfactory, I think:
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04-09-2013, 10:55 PM
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#89
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Senior Member
Trailer: Home Built
Posts: 185
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Excellent work here
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04-09-2013, 11:12 PM
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#90
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Herculiner here we go!
Wow, this stuff was a workout! After seemingly weeks of prep work to fix up the various holes, cracks, dings, chips and any other suspect looking stuff on the underside and around the bottom edges, it was finally time to slather on the tar-like goodness to the bottom of this here beautiful egg!
Just a reminder that our Boler's floor is part of the mold of the whole bottom half, not glassed in as in older models and not reinforced with wood. So, it was as smooth underside as on the outside...likewise basted with the same gelcoat. In order to get it ready for Herculiner I had to scruff it up with 100 grit sandpaper. Once all was fixed up and sanded, I wiped it all down carefully with acetone.
With the research I've done, I ended up settling on Herculiner due to good results others have had, relative easy of application by hand, and availability at a local auto parts store. It still wasn't that cheap at close to $100 for a gallon kit (only comes in a kit with rollers, etc.).
Here it is, and I should mention that after two coats I still have close to one-third of the can left, well ok, maybe only one-fourth!
Wearing a respirator, double Nitrile gloves, goggles and Tyvek disposable full-body suit is a must. This stuff stinks horribly, like gasoline, being xylene based. Garage door open, fan running, all suited up, here we go!
This stuff requires two coats for a good and strong coating, and the first needs to be no longer tacky before the 2nd goes on...but must be done within 24 hours.
Here is a nice pic of the job...looks tasty in my opinion! Looking through one of the wheel-wells:
The first coat application took two hours, then I had about 4 hours before things were just dry enough, and the second coat took three hours. When all was done I felt like I could have used a cane to walk over to a massage parlor...! With 2 to 2.5 feet of clearance under the rig, this gave me a beating. But it looks stunning now...so I ain't complaining!
Here is one looking at the front rail opening:
And just a closer look at the texture...oh yeah, this stuff needs to be stirred well a few times per coat to keep the rubber chunks in suspension. Glad I had a stirrer for the drill with this one!
Since the body is sitting on two 4x4 posts, I still need to move those and baste those sections...then we'll put it down on the frame, permanently I hope, and get on with the rest of the renovation!
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04-10-2013, 01:27 PM
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#91
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Senior Member
Name: Luis
Trailer: Boler 1300 79'
Alberta
Posts: 115
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excellent job SLav
One question I have for you is, why?
If the underside of your egg (like mine) is nice smooth FG, why go with all this effort and cost to cover the underside with this product?
Protection from stones/ chips? what was your reasoning here?
It looks great, a job well done.
Thanks,
Luis
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04-10-2013, 01:45 PM
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#92
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Quote:
Originally Posted by D White
Excellent work here
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Dave, thanks! Your examples and help were super valuable while doing this!
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04-10-2013, 01:58 PM
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#93
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Luis
One question I have for you is, why?
If the underside of your egg (like mine) is nice smooth FG, why go with all this effort and cost to cover the underside with this product?
Protection from stones/ chips? what was your reasoning here?
It looks great, a job well done.
Thanks,
Luis
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Luis, thanks! As for the why, yes, protection from stones mostly. There were quite a few chips in the sections underneath - some quite bad - that were in the line of fire from stones thrown by (most likely) the pulling vehicle. These were on the front and in all exposed sections underneath. I plan to put this stuff on the front too (bottom half of the below-the-belly-band section as it is riddled with hundreds of chips from stones).
We do go off pavement quite a bit, so that should help there as well.
I was also concerned about the fiberglass getting thinner where it was sitting on the frame rails (I have pics of that in one of my previous posts on this thread).
And I guess another reason is, yeah, it looks good! I know, I may be crazy...
Slav
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04-17-2013, 07:06 PM
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#94
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Commercial Member
Trailer: 1988 Scamp 13 ft and 1982 Perris Pacer 13 ft
Posts: 822
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slavandheather
Luis, thanks! As for the why, yes, protection from stones mostly. There were quite a few chips in the sections underneath - some quite bad - that were in the line of fire from stones thrown by (most likely) the pulling vehicle. These were on the front and in all exposed sections underneath. I plan to put this stuff on the front too (bottom half of the below-the-belly-band section as it is riddled with hundreds of chips from stones).
We do go off pavement quite a bit, so that should help there as well.
I was also concerned about the fiberglass getting thinner where it was sitting on the frame rails (I have pics of that in one of my previous posts on this thread).
And I guess another reason is, yeah, it looks good! I know, I may be crazy...
Slav
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Atta boy!
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05-06-2013, 01:49 PM
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#95
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Senior Member
Name: Luis
Trailer: Boler 1300 79'
Alberta
Posts: 115
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Herculiner/ paint boundary
Slav, where will you stop the Herculiner lining and where does your normal paint start? at the bottom of the FG "divide", or are you lining some of the outside bottoms as well?
I know you mentioned the front under belly section. How do you plan to finish the lining? (first paint and then apply Herculiner I assume...
I read you preared the underside bondo with 100 grit sanding paper, and cleaned with acetone before applying the liner. I guess Ill follow suit. Get a walking cane ready for me too.
Cheers,
L
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05-06-2013, 03:18 PM
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#96
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Luis
Slav, where will you stop the Herculiner lining and where does your normal paint start? at the bottom of the FG "divide", or are you lining some of the outside bottoms as well?
I know you mentioned the front under belly section. How do you plan to finish the lining? (first paint and then apply Herculiner I assume...
I read you preared the underside bondo with 100 grit sanding paper, and cleaned with acetone before applying the liner. I guess Ill follow suit. Get a walking cane ready for me too.
Cheers,
L
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Luis,
I applied the Herculiner to the entire underside surfaces, which included that underside "lip" at the edges and stopped just as the curvature turns upward. At first I thought of going about 3 inches up but after thinking about it, figured there was no sense and it wouldn't look nice.
For the under-belly-band front, I'm going to mark off the section for the Herculiner and come with the paint just over that border and then apply Herculiner. Figure there is no point to paint the whole surface that will be under Herculiner because it will have to be sanded/scratched up so the Herc grips well.
As for the application, you got it, but if it is helpful, here was my procedure:
-Clean underside with water and rags, let dry.
-Scuff up the entire surface with 100 grit (the scratch pad included with Herculiner was not effective), wipe down with acetone to get rid of particles (use Acetone resistant gloves over Nitrile, organic respirator).
-Fix underside with FG/Bondo, then scratch up with 100 grit, clean everything with acetone as above.
-Mask off border with painter's tape.
-Wear Tyvek body suit (it was quite black after 2nd coat was done), two sets of Nitrile gloves (first one taped to suit to avoid skin contact with Herculinier, second for easy change), eye protection, organic vapor respirator.
-Mix Herculiner with drill-attached mixer.
-Pour into metal paint tray. Before every refill of Herculiner, mix with drill, keep can closed as moisture in air cures it.
-Apply first coat with provided roller (paintbrush in tight spots, dab so particles stick, do not drag), give it a few hours to dry so it is not tacky, but less than 24 hours. You'll notice that a lot of your FG shows after first coat; don't worry, it won't after 2nd coat.
-Apply 2nd coat with NEW roller/brush.
-Enjoy the beautiful underside!
By the way, this left me with a quart of Herculiner from the gallon, that I transferred to a clean metal quart can for later use (for the front).
If you need more of those rollers (for the front, etc), I got them here for $2.99 each.
Slav
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05-06-2013, 10:24 PM
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#97
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Boler resting on Frame
After the push to get the underside fixed and coated with Herculiner I needed a break...which seems to have lasted a few weeks. Over this weekend it was finally time to lower the body very carefully from its resting place on 4x4s and cinder blocks back onto that shiny frame.
Did that hard work of modifications pay off? Yes! We carefully lowered the body little by little onto the frame and the fit is perfect. All the cutouts allowed the frame proper fit. With this, I no longer need to lift it off the frame! Time to move to other things...
Here it is on the frame:
The front, plenty of breathing space for the frame (in previous posts I've shown the tight fit):
And one from the back:
Now I'm ready to start fixing the floor on the inside. As I've mentioned before, we have weird wheel wells that I need to modify so the tires don't wreck them even though it seems like there should be no problem. If in a couple years there is an issue, it will be a lot more work then than now.
And need to build up the holes/cut-outs that were patched from the outside with FG mat on the inside. Then will clean the floor and treat it to make it nice before laying down the plywood sub-floor. Stay tuned!
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05-07-2013, 07:46 PM
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#98
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Senior Member
Trailer: 1988 16 ft Scamp Deluxe
Posts: 25,711
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slavandheather
Stay tuned!
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We will
__________________
Donna D.
Ten Forward - 2014 Escape 5.0 TA
Double Yolk - 1988 16' Scamp Deluxe
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05-28-2013, 10:34 PM
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#99
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Working on the Inside
After getting the underside patched up and coated with Herculiner, it was time to get all of those holes and frame-rail cut-outs fixed up from the inside. On average the holes were one inch in diameter, so I packed them with resin saturated FG mat and the top piece of mat was bigger to nicely close everything off.
Here is a pic of a couple of the finished holes:
And here are examples of the reinforced frame-rail openings:
Some of the original fiberglass around the above rail forms was paper thin so I went ahead and added a couple layers of mat and all is good and solid. Really makes me wonder how these Boler bodies were made with such a huge variation in thickness of the FG.
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05-28-2013, 10:49 PM
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#100
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Senior Member
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
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Wheel Well Cutting Fun!
So, this was quite a workout...both physically and mentally! Remember I mentioned in a past post that the wheel wells on our Boler were whacky. And since there were gouged out tire troughs in the fiberglass underneath from the old tires that I had already fixed, I didn't want to have this happen again. It would be triple the work to do it later.
Here is a reminder of our wheel wells:
Using a multi-speed oscillating power tool, the slope was cut out...this was a good workout! Tight access in places, curves, and variable thickness of the FG (1/2 inch thick in places!)...broken cutter, smoke, a few fancy words thrown in for good measure. But I pressed on:
Time for a glass of wine...or two!
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