1976 Trillium 1300 Remodel - For Caitlin

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Jim, does this picture accurately depict the sag on the street side or does the camera view accentuate it? You can really see some bow and sag to that side, particularly if the picture tells the tale. Great project and gift for the daughter BTW. Sounds like you raised her right if this is the kind of thing she wants.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf

Jim, does this picture accurately depict the sag on the street side or does the camera view accentuate it? You can really see some bow and sag to that side, particularly if the picture tells the tale. Great project and gift for the daughter BTW. Sounds like you raised her right if this is the kind of thing she wants.

No, it is the wide angle lens, uncorrected, as you suspected that makes it look way worse than it really is. I have now raised the bottom of the upper cabinets in the galley about 5/8" to where they should be. There is still another 5/8" sag in the roof from the front of the upper cabinets, out 5 1/2" to where the roof curves up. Whatever I ende up doing to hold the uppers up, I will extent a support out to support the roof to that curve. I think a piece of 1/4" x 1" steel will be fine. I will paint this support to match with the interior.

[Dave_L]

Good stuff Jim, thanks for taking us along on your adventure! Looking forward to how it all turns out.

[scotty61]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Okay, I have a few things I am pondering, and could really use some input to help me figure out what I should do.

Water System – ...I would also like to add an electric pump to the water inside.

I have thought of mounting one underneath, just behind the axle. I could have brackets installed when I take the frame in for some work to help support it...
...One idea I have along the same line, is to use a submersible 12V pump that drops into the tank, something real small. I could then just use the city water connection to hook this up. I would have to use some kind of weather protected outlet for the power leads. Again, just thinking...

Hi Jim... I haven't read through all the posts yet, however, I thought I would mention the possibility of using a windshield washer fluid pump if you think it would have enough capacity. Lord knows they're extremely reliable and long-lived!

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by scotty61

Hi Jim... I haven't read through all the posts yet, however, I thought I would mention the possibility of using a windshield washer fluid pump if you think it would have enough capacity. Lord knows they're extremely reliable and long-lived!

Not a bad thought, but I just bought one, that is about 1 1/2" in diameter, and 6-8" long. I will be posting some photos of it, once I get it set up.

[Nadine Y.]

in our 1976 13' the water tank was under the floor under the bed/dinette. we replaced it. it is wide and very shallow but an excellent area for it.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Nadine Y.

in our 1976 13' the water tank was under the floor under the bed/dinette. we replaced it. it is wide and very shallow but an excellent area for it.

Adding one between the frame underneath was one of my considerations. I definitely did not want to replace the one taking up space under the curbside dinette seat. The primarily for going this way is that my daughter would very seldom use the tap inside, as she, like us, would be doing the majority of the cooking and cleaning outside, and would be using a large water jug for this use. As well, this will keep things simple. She can use the water jug for pouring out of, or if holed up in the trailer wanting it, can quickly hook up pump to the trailer city water inlet. It also eliminates the need for a gravity fill port.

Trust me, I did WAY too much thinking on this.

[hrose414]

Thank you so much for all your posts, seems like I am doing exactly what you are in the process of doing. I just recently bought a 76 trillium identical to your and had so many questions. Can't wait to see how yours turns out. Nice work!

[Jim Bennett]

Things are moving along....slowly.

The trailer is cleaned and stripped of everything. I have had the roof supports made, and will be installing them, then pulling the body off the frame.

Glass repairs have begun. Once that is done, it will be painted, and all put back together again.....slowly!

We share progress photos as I go.

[jvrayner]

if you do not sell your trailer befor the spring , Please call me and I will come down from Thunder Bay and buy it . Jim Rayner .

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by jvrayner

if you do not sell your trailer befor the spring , Please call me and I will come down from Thunder Bay and buy it . Jim Rayner .

After all the work put into this trailer, it will definitely not be for sale. It is a wedding present for my daughter, Caitlin.

[jvrayner]

Not good on computers , sent to wrong person
Jim rayner

[Jim Bennett]

It has been a while, just about time for an update. The work has continued, albeit quite slowly.

This is a closer shot of the custom bike rack a previous owner had built. It was kinda cool the way they built the arms to extend past the spare tire mount (you can see the whole thing in a photo above). Originally, I was going to fix it and save it, as my daughter wants the capacity to carry bikes, but I decided to instead rebuild just the tire mount, ensuring it was nice and strong, and she can use a tire mounted bike rack when needed.




As though i didn't have enough to do, I decided I would get rid of the belly band, and glass the center band where the two halves came together, and give it a nice smooth look. Here is a shot with the trim removed. On the right, you can see the grunge that was under the trim.



I used a hand grinder to gouge out the center, giving me a place to do the fibreglass repairs, and to remove the clips that were installed on the inside of the joint. I set up my dust collector to suck up most of the huge volume of dust I treated. In dome places between the clips, I ended up grinding right through the thin glass the manufacturer put on when joining the two haves.




I then taped off the edges, and installed a band of fibreglass cloth, for strength, and to give the next coats of fibreglass matt some backing where I ground through.



I then laid two layers of heavy fibreglass matt down (all done with polyester resin). The first was the full width of the joint, and the second about 1/2" narrower. I pulled the tape before the resin set, and trimmed up the edges with a sharp knife. Once this set, I used Bondo Fibreglass Filler, which is a polyester resin filler with fibreglass strands in it, to bring the band roughly to flush. As it started to set firm, I used a sharp 1 1/2" wood chisel, to pare off any high spots, to save lots of sanding later. This worked like a charm, slicing through the near firm resin and fibres like butter.

In this photo, you can see the glassed joint on the right, and the filler added on the left.

After the filler completely set, I sanded it down with a sanding block and 80 grit paper until there were no high spots.



I then used an Interlux epoxy filler, to fill in all the depressions. You can see here I coated the entire band with a thin coat.



I then sanded this smooth with the sanding blocks, and reapplied in the low spots. Wherever there had been a backing clip, there was a good sized divot. As you can see on this photo of it sanded out, there are a few new patches of filler on these low spots. I actually did this process once more.



I looks pretty darn nice now. After priming, I will check once again for little imperfections.

[Clayton]

Looking good Jim. Where did you buy your Fiberglass supplies?

[Jim Bennett]

I also glassed over the access ports for the city water, gravity water fill, grey waste water, and electrical, as the new ones I am installing are a different size, and will be in different locations.

I first ground out the 3 1/2" holes from a thin edge, tapered to flush with the hull about 1 1/2" out from the hole. This was done to accommodate successive layers of glass matt to be built up, covering the hole.





I first glassed a layer of fibreglass cloth on the inside of the hull to act as a backer. Here is a shot of the pieces I used.



Here is a shot for the outside showing the backer in place. I used a light inside to highlight it, as it is quite clear and hard to see.



I then cut out circles of matt for the glassing, with the first the full size of the ground out area, then the next successively smaller. I actually added a fourth layer to build the height up.



Here are photos of the glasswork, before sanding.





I then used the Bondo filler, and Interlux filler on top of that to bring it flush. Here is a shot of a near complete one, just a bit more sanding. These patches I will check again to see if any more spots need a bit of filler, after the primer is on.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Clayton

Looking good Jim. Where did you buy your Fiberglass supplies?

The glass and resin from Industrial Plastics & Paint, and the Bondo filler from Princess Auto.

[Glenn Baglo]

You have been a busy boy.

[Jim Bennett]

Not busy enough though.

[Jim Bennett]

Another thing I have done, is to provide support for the sunken part of the roof on the drivers side. The roof sunk down over an inch, most likely due to snow load over its many winters outside.

Originally, I had thought to bring support down the the lower part of the galley, but as that fibreglass is quite thin, I instead opted to take the support right down to the floor, directly over the frame. I used a two piece system.

I rounded over the edges of a 2x4 so it wouldn't damage the ensolite to use as a temporary roof support, and slowly over a couple days, lifted the roof until it was to where I wanted it.



Here is a photo of the supports in place. I wanted them in before starting to prep for the exterior paint, as I wanted the roof held in its final resting spot while I did that. The tabs you see against the upper cabinets hold the top stable.



And here is a shot of the top end supporting the roof. The steel is 1/4" thick, so will not bend with the minimal weight on it.I am contemplating putting some kind of trim around this top piece, but we'll see.



I used 1/4" bolts through the shell of the galley, with the lower part hidden from sight. This is the view from the inside.



And the view from the outside.

[Jim Bennett]

My daughter and her fiancé (in a typical pose) in the trailer. Caitlin has been doing lots of cleaning of the 39 years of grunge that was allowed to collect.



I cleaned and sprayed the stovetop with a white heat resistant paint. Not sure if I will use it now, as I am planning to do a whole new countertop, and may upgrade the sink and stove.

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