'77 Boler -- total newbies

[Sam and Jess]

So here are some photos of our progress. They are posted on our blog, but I thought I would drop a few here as well.



No more couch.



No more kitchen.



No more dining table/bed.



Water tank is out and will be thrown away.



New set of wheels, I hope the backspacing works.

We will hopefully get more done this weekend, maybe even get the body off the frame. We will see.

Jess did most of the hard work. I just sat back and watched.

-Sam

[Nor_Cal_Todd]

Originally Posted by Raya L.

I think their Boler might have been the "corn" yellow variation when new. Gotta love those late 70s crazy Boler colors

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Can you imagine what one of these looked like rolling off the factory floor, Bright Orange and shiny? Shoot, Amy, your Clementine is subtle in comparison

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SIGN ME UP for these colored Bolers. Love 'em.

[Sam and Jess]

This week's progress is less about dramatic changes, and more about planning. Amazing how things slow down when the demolition is over

Cleaning seam tape and caulking the gaps has been frustrating (in case anyone could possibly stand to look at yet another seam photo, we have some on the Flickr page linked in our signature).

A chunk of our time is being eaten up by the hunt for a tow vehicle of our own -- time to part with our little hatchback.

No hurries though, as we still need to save up for the Boler's new axle and get the shell off the frame to repair a newly discovered crack and apply POR.

And the giant ceiling hole (15"x22") is on our radar. We had planned to patch 8" of the rectangle and install a freebie 14x14 Elixir vent in the remaining space. But, with still a whole inch of width to fudge, that sounded like a leak magnet. Odds are, we'll fiberglass the whole hole, then cut a new, more precise one in our preferred location once we're ready to invest in a quality vent fan. Nothing like learning to fiberglass on a great big highly structural ceiling hole (kidding, we'll practice somewhere else first, but tips are welcome!)

[Raya]

Heh, doesn't old adhesive make you want to scream?

I have had good luck with a couple of things (that I don't see in your "tried that" line-up).

One is denatured alcohol, and the other is 3M adhesive remover (quite a champ! And smells good)



I just finished removing some of the residue of 33-year-old contact cement from fiberglass (beneath Ensolite), and I swear, I was about to rent a jackhammer! I tried denatured alcohol, acetone, 3M adhesive remover, sanding, scraping, heat, lacquer thinner.... you name it. In the end I had success with a two-part attack: First I applied 3M adhesive remover and scrubbed with a Scotch-Brite pad. That left a sort of soft overall goo layer. Then I came back with denatured alcohol and a rag. That did the trick. Finally!

But I would give the 3M stuff a try on its own (since you are on the top of the Ensolite). If nothing else, it has many uses for other things.

Raya

[Lee Senn]

Sam and Jess You guys are doing a really great job on your little Boler!! In the last set of photos, page 2, 4 down in the middle captioned the stove is out. I don't know if you noticed but the stove top looks a lot like R2D2 and I swear it is smirking at you (you need to do something about that). Lee and Norma

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Lee Senn

I don't know if you noticed but the stove top looks a lot like R2D2 and I swear it is smirking at you (

I agree it is smirking at you, (cropped from original picture below)


Perhaps you meant C3PO rather than R2D2


Personally, I thought it looked a lot more like 790 from the TV show Lexx

[Sam and Jess]

I'm so glad I'm not the only dork seeing faces in that stove!

Thanks for the product tips Raya, though I think I need to just move on. All the raised surfaces scraped off, and I've cleaned away any sort of tacky feeling on the residue, it's just ugly discoloration that's left. I'd definitely give the 3M stuff a try if I were trying to restore the ensolite without painting. It amazes me how clean the walls got with the Tilex scrubbing, but I still can't handle the dingy off-white color that's left behind.

-- Jess

[Roy in TO]

Dork?
Try these for the adhesive:
Goo Gone Cleaners |
Goof Off - Removes the Tough Stuff

[Raya]

They actually did have "Goo Gone" on their list of failed cleaners.

One note I wanted to mention is that denatured alcohol is not quite the same as the "drug store" alcohol you have in your "fail" line-up. I believe denatured alcohol is the equivalent of "meths"/methylated spirit.

The Canola oil gave me a giggle

(And I know you are no longer interested in getting the stain off, but I'm just adding this for future desperate adhesive searchers.)

Raya

[Sam and Jess]

Well it has been awhile since any work has been done to our little Boler, but we have scheduled a summer vacation in Custer State Park in July, soooo... Time to get to work. We ordered a new axle from Paul Neumeister. He has been fantastic to work with. The shipping from Canada is a little steep, but not terrible. We also ordered a door hinge fix kit (probably won't fix the door completely, but a good place to start).

I ordered some leveling jacks, which I plan to weld to the back bumper prior to repainting the frame. They seem real simple Stabilizer Jack - 1,000 lbs Domar Trailer Jack TJ01RT

I also ordered some other things, most notably a 22 foot 7 pin molded trailer harness. It was not cheap as 7 pin connectors go, but I figured it would be easier and more reliable if I cold simply run the wires straight to the light, brakes, etc... I think it should work okay.

I don't know if Jessica mentioned it, but we got a tow vehicle, a 2005 VW Touareg V8 which has a 7700 lbs towing rating. I think it will pull the Boler just fine. I made a critical error by buying one with out a trailer hitch installed, so I had to install it in the driveway. Not a big deal, but had to remove the tail lights and rear bumper to get it on. Well, as soon as some of this snow melts, we should have more updates. We are super excited to get out on the road this summer!

[Vickie B.]

Hi Sam and Jess!

Glad to hear from you, as I feel like we are "neighbors"! Maybe we'll bump into each other sometime--there are some nice places around there to camp. Enjoyed Melvern Lake (40 mins. from Topeka) last year with Richard and Reitha Clark (also great KC campers!)

You are doing a great job---

Vickie

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Sam and Jess

I ordered some leveling jacks, which I plan to weld to the back bumper prior to repainting the frame. They seem real simple Stabilizer Jack - 1,000 lbs Domar Trailer Jack TJ01RT

Scamp just bolts the stab jacks on the rear bumper. Might be something to consider as it seems these types of jacks are the ones most commonly bent out of shape and needing replacement.

[Sam and Jess]

Vickie: Thanks for the encouragement. We need it. Thanks for the tip on Melvern Lake. I will check it out.

Donna: I am debating on bolts or welding. I guess it depends on if I mount them on the rear bumper area or under the "body". I haven't decided yet.

Well the UPS guy is gonna be angry with us. (Not much different from his normal attitude, apparently no one told him he would be carrying boxes all day when he applied for his job.) Oh well. We just ordered a ton of stuff, from air conditioners to fabric for seats, vents, electrical parts, axle, tires.... the list goes on and on. Now we just need some nice weather to get to work.

[Sam and Jess]

So several delivery persons have made some drops at our house. Here are some of the things I am excited about.


I found this little gem on line. It is a cd/dvd/ipod/amfm reciever with multiple speaker outs (so the kids can watch movies inside while mommy and papa enjoy some music out side). I think the only thing it won't do is serve as an antenna for television. Pretty pumped about this one until I turned it over....


Sheesh. Fortunately, most everything is labeled for what it does. When you tackle it one wire at a time, it looks pretty manageable.


We went with the Norcold two way fridge. Jess wavered for about a week, so I finally pulled the trigger when she was at work one day.


POR 15 for all the under body frame work.


Here is the tongue storage box. You can see why I picked up the POR15 in this picture. The box is big enough to hold the battery and a propane tank (if we ever decide to install gas). The box is aluminum and only weighs about 25lbs.

More to come later....

[Vickie B.]

LOVE seeing what you're up to!

[CliveAlive]

I've seen that black diamond plate around in a couple of places. I like it. I was wondering what I could use it for !!

[Borden]

item with the labeled plugs? Really like the front box, looks like you went all out. Should have a real gem when done

[Sam and Jess]

Originally Posted by Borden

item with the labeled plugs? Really like the front box, looks like you went all out. Should have a real gem when done

The item with all the plugs is simply the back of the DVD player. All we have right now is a vision, I am hopeful we can execute.

--Sam

<--- Jess is going to hate that.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by CliveAlive

I've seen that black diamond plate around in a couple of places. I like it. I was wondering what I could use it for !!

Diamond plate is available in just about any color. Cool!!!

[Sam and Jess]

Here are some more of our future plans, still in boxes.


Max Fan, with remote!


Battery powered reading lights.


Believe it or not, these are two California king 4 inch thick memory foam mattress toppers. These will be the replacement material for our cushions. (Any thing left over will be made into dog beds for our mutts.)


Flor tiles, basically carpet squares. Ask Jess about her design, she is the artist.


Television and articulating wall mount. The TV was a little larger than what I wanted, but it was on sale and it only weighs about 10lbs. I am planning on mounting it at the top of the full length cabinet. The TV is the exact width of the cabinet and with the articulating mount, we can angle it towards the kids, us or we can leave it flat so we can all enjoy it. (Mind you our intentions are not to go camping so we can watch television, but on longer trips it will be a nice feature.)


These are our speakers. The ones on the top are the indoor speakers. The Sony's on the bottom are waterproof so I will be mounting them somewhere on the outside of the trailer so we can listen to music (quietly) while enjoying the outdoors and cooking and what not. (I am a little nervous about these holding up against the elements, but they are made to go on boats, so... we will see.)


Annnnd her is our fabric for the cushions. Jess ordered this bolt, has about 13 yards. I think she got it for $10. She is pretty proud of that. I am interested to see how they turn out. From a distance it looks purple. Our daughter will love it.

That is all for now. We are still waiting on warmer weather. I got a note from Paul Neumeister the other day and he said our axle is still being built. I had our new tires mounted on our wheels yesterday. They are much bigger than I was expecting. I am not sure if they will fit, and won't be able to find out until I get the new axle mounted. *fingers crossed*

--Sam