In over our heads but jumping in anyway

[jvhretiredatcs]

We recently traveled down to Galveston, Tx to purchase a 19ft Scamp Deluxe 5th Wheel. We new it needed work as the seller had labeled it as "not ready to camp in this weekend", he was right. What we saw when we got there vs. what we had once we got her home to Arizona was a world of difference (see the pics). Now as we start what is turning out to be a total remodel, we have now pretty much gutted the inside and are working on stripping the green paint off. Just a note Scamp Deluxes do not seem to do well in wet climates when stored outside. Everything was rusted and a lot of the wood was like a sponge. We found an ant colony, several baby spiders and water under the new flooring. This post will have the pics of what we saw then the following posts will show what we had when we got home and then where we are at so far in the third post.

[jvhretiredatcs]

Here are the pics of what we had once we got home to Arizona.

[jvhretiredatcs]

This is where we are currently at in the tearout. We have a long way to go but once it is done it will look great!

[Mike Magee]

I hope you paid a "fire sale" price for it! Glad you are going to restore it, hopefully it will be better than new when you are done.

[jvhretiredatcs]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

I hope you paid a "fire sale" price for it! Glad you are going to restore it, hopefully it will be better than new when you are done.

Unfortunately not as good of a "fire sale" as we thought we were getting. But when it is done it will be better than we expected. Just going to take a little bit more work than we expected, it is great to be retired and have the time to do it though. We already bought new tires before we even left Galveston. The spare looked brand new but the Discount Tire guy said you know that tire is 21 years old? So we bought 3 tires instead of 2.

[KristiS]

That paint looks good until you see it in person. I thought that would be the extent of the remodel. And maybe change the cushions. We had no idea. Now we get to play. After the bug bomb.

[Iowa Dave]

Once you get your camper on the road, you might want to put the spare
In rotation when you rotate the tires. No reason to let it age out again. Good luck on your project.
Iowa Dave

[NateG]

I bet it will be a bunch of work... I will anxiously await the finished project!

[Jon in AZ]

If I understand correctly, the cabinets fell apart when towing? If so, the odds are high that the axle is bad.

[jvhretiredatcs]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

If I understand correctly, the cabinets fell apart when towing? If so, the odds are high that the axle is bad.

Understood as we have "lost" an axle on a Scamp 5th wheel before, not fun to say the least. It is one of the many things that will be inspected and if needed replaced during our rebuild. A big part of the problem though is the rotted wood that was holding the cabinets to the fiberglass wall. Hard to see in the pictures but the entire brace along the back wall behind the stove and sink was rotted and literally came apart in our hands once we removed the fallen cabinets. Plus the floor was lifted up from newly installed flooring which lifted the front end of the cabinets higher than normal and was missing the side support in the entry way which also helps secure the cabinets to the rig. The worst part is we did not see these things until everything fell apart, it looked really good inside except the paint color and some other minor issues. So we knew that we would have some work to do just didn't know to this extent.

[Mike Magee]

Sounds like you will have to "glass" in some new wood supports (with resin & hardener). Oh well, at least you can customize now.

[jerrybob]

I admire the effort you are putting forth on this project. Good luck.....once complete....I hope you get many years of great camping in your trailer.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by jvhretiredatcs

Understood as we have "lost" an axle on a Scamp 5th wheel before, not fun to say the least…

I had forgotten you were the one with the axle separation from the defective years. I'm sorry this one has turned out to be more than expected. Neglect in a humid climate is the worst- easy to forget in AZ! At least I can say with confidence you've left every trailer you've touched in better condition than when you got it. Best wishes with your renovation.

[jvhretiredatcs]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

Sounds like you will have to "glass" in some new wood supports (with resin & hardener). Oh well, at least you can customize now.

Not familiar with that term of "glass" in some new wood supports (with resin & hardener). Do you or anyone else out there have a link that would show us how to do that or explain how to do that?

Where the rotten wood was taken off was a piece of fiberglass that was folded under the wood and what appeared to be glued to it.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by jvhretiredatcs

Not familiar with that term of "glass" in some new wood supports (with resin & hardener). Do you or anyone else out there have a link that would show us how to do that or explain how to do that?

Where the rotten wood was taken off was a piece of fiberglass that was folded under the wood and what appeared to be glued to it.

I don't have a link. But basically it's just adhering a piece of wood as a mounting point, by using resin & hardener mixed as the adhesive between the wood and the fiberglass body. If you already have good mount points, you might not need an extra piece of wood... not sure what it looks like. Maybe you will just be riveting through the body to attach your cabinets. But if you're wanting to screw your cabinets into place, screwing into a piece of wood that's already adhered to the FG is a good way to do it.

[jvhretiredatcs]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

I don't have a link. But basically it's just adhering a piece of wood as a mounting point, by using resin & hardener mixed as the adhesive between the wood and the fiberglass body. If you already have good mount points, you might not need an extra piece of wood... not sure what it looks like. Maybe you will just be riveting through the body to attach your cabinets. But if you're wanting to screw your cabinets into place, screwing into a piece of wood that's already adhered to the FG is a good way to do it.

Thank you for the explaination, there is a piece of folded over fiberglass that the wood was sitting on, which of course is still there. We were careful not to damage that piece when taking off the rotten wood.

[jvhretiredatcs]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

I had forgotten you were the one with the axle separation from the defective years. I'm sorry this one has turned out to be more than expected. Neglect in a humid climate is the worst- easy to forget in AZ! At least I can say with confidence you've left every trailer you've touched in better condition than when you got it. Best wishes with your renovation.

Thanks Jon, we are at the point of getting the electrical and plumbing all in working order. Yesterday we did a water test and found 3 leaks all at "shark bite" fittings. I guess they work good in a house but not so good in something that bounces around. As for the electrical the previous owner left a few things disconnected and the converter needs to be replaced, but trying to find where exactly it is by a "non" electrical person, us has been difficult so far. We had a mobil mechanic in Galveston tell us it was bad but didn't really show us where it was so as to be able to replace it. So far google searches have not helped us determine what part of the electrical panel it is. In this case it is time to bring it to someone who knows more than us to get these two items fixed correctly. While there we will also have them check out the axle and pack the bearings. The process of stripping the paint off is more elbow grease with sandpaper and time than anything else. Rebuilding the cabinet and stairs with a little bit bigger opening again shouldn't be too difficult, I think.

[computerspook]

Thinking that leaks might be involved along with the storage not including ventelation. I have to keep my 16ft vented (stored outside but used a lot all year long) or the insides get lots and lot and lots of condensation. And condensation is water and will rot the wood.

[jvhretiredatcs]

Originally Posted by computerspook

Thinking that leaks might be involved along with the storage not including ventelation. I have to keep my 16ft vented (stored outside but used a lot all year long) or the insides get lots and lot and lots of condensation. And condensation is water and will rot the wood.

That is possible although the day that we were there in Galveston to pick up the Scamp it was heavy fog, which apparently is normal this time of year there. Also when we did our water test every single "shark bite" fitting that was installed was leaking, yet what I believe to be the original blue fittings did not. It most likely is a combination of multiple things that caused the wood rot but the amount of moisture in Galveston and the lack of use of the Scamp I believe both contributed heavily to it.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by jvhretiredatcs

That is possible although the day that we were there in Galveston to pick up the Scamp it was heavy fog, which apparently is normal this time of year there. Also when we did our water test every single "shark bite" fitting that was installed was leaking, yet what I believe to be the original blue fittings did not. It most likely is a combination of multiple things that caused the wood rot but the amount of moisture in Galveston and the lack of use of the Scamp I believe both contributed heavily to it.

I have found that one reason for the fittings to be leaking is that the pressure reducer from city water was bad for a while. Over time the pressure reducer that you use to hook up to city water will go bad. It is really a pressure regulator and they work by turning on when the pressure is bellow the set value and then off when it reaches the set value. The problem is that these are built pretty cheap and so they wear out and stop turning completely off and will let water leak through and raise the pressure past the rating. And RV plumbing requires the lower value.


So what happens if the pressure goes too high,is the fittings will start leaking, starting with any shark bite ones. Over time fittings which are leaking will wear a channel for the water to flow through and they will keep flowing even when the pressure is correct.



That is another reason that I really don't use "city water". I just fill my tank and use my pump. That way I avoid this problem and at the same time know how much water I have put in the gray water tank.


Of course to be honest 90% of my camping is where city water is not an option anyway. So this is not much of a problem.