1976 Scamp PO attached bunk to shell, advice needed

[Curbfeeler]

Hi folks. I bought my 1976 Scamp 2 years ago 450 miles away, sight-unseen off pictures. Sounds crazy, but at the time it was hard to find a Scamp, and I was tired of missing out on them to locals who walked up to the driveway with a pocketful of cash and hauled them away while I was trying to ask questions to the sellers over email. So I paypal'd the guy $100 to hold it for me, offered that over the asking price, and rolled the dice. More important to me at the time than condition was that it was in Tulsa, and I have a 1st cousin there whom I owed a visit.

Well, fast forward a couple years, and while I love my Scamp to death, I'm now well-acquainted with all its flaws. Most of these have been minor handy-man type things, no problem. But this winter I've decided to face up to the biggest challenge of this camper. A couple frame cracks, a soggy floor, and a shoddy patch by the PO.

I'll attach a few pics. Basically what I need help with is figuring out how this is all "supposed" to look. I'd like to remove the front bunk and the floor over the frame cracks. This should get me a good enough view of the problem area so that I can haul this to a welder to get an opinion about fixing versus building a whole new trailer. Also if I decide to repair in order to just get a couple more years, having the floor up should allow my welder to perform the repair.

In the first 2 pics you can see that the PO went crazy with the screws into a 2x6 on the other side. You can see in the pics taken from below that he also sistered a piece of plywood to the frame. The egg's shell (below the hinges) appears to be screwed into this mess, and also the shell itself is married by a fiberglass patch to the bunk. This makes removing the bunk impossible without cutting this fiberglass link.

My question is... how is the egg's shell "supposed" to attach down there? Also, I've removed the sheet metal screws from the bunk where they screw down into the plywood braces that are attached to the egg. Once this is done is there anything else holding the bunk to the camper? Seems like the vertical walls want to come with the bunk.

Thanks in advance from Des Moines, IA.
Dan

[Curbfeeler]

So I had a good weekend, was able to dig into the Scamp and see what was going on with that patch. A simple cut of the fiberglass and removing several screws were all it took to get that bunk out. I also pulled up the existing pergo and vinyl floor covering so I can try to assess the situation.

It turns out that as I'd suspected the previous owner had put a piece of lumber behind the bunk and using very long screws and a few layers of fiberglass he had married the bunk, upper floor, outer shell, and frame at that spot. The patch was actually holding pretty well, but the trailer is showing signs of frame issues in other spots.

The first two pics I attached show the bunk coming out and the floor left behind. But notice the other two... The closet at the bottom is bowing. The cabinet below the sink is also bowing. Combined with the fact that the door is sagging, I'd say the body of this camper is sagging due to the frame issues.

At least now I know...
Dan

[Curbfeeler]

Oh hey, one question I still have. Does anybody know if this piece of plywood that is sistered to the frame is something the PO added or if it's something that is supposed to be there? I am assuming that the Scamp didn't have anything there originally.

Dan

[Jon in AZ]

Post deleted. Thanks for the correction, Lisa and Eddie. I'm going to have to look at mine more closely now.

[lisantica]

I hope this link works for you, it's of an older Scamp that shows some of the bare wood in those areas.

https://jayes2scamps.shutterfly.com/29

There are 121 photos of his Scamp from winning it on eBay for under $400 to restoring it.

[Eddie Longest]

The plywood piece is put there by Scamp. It makes the transition from the square metal frame ear to the curved shell. The plywood is held to frame ear with screws and the wood is cut to fit the contour of the shell. After the door opening is properly adjusted and aligned glass mat and resin is applied over the wood, shell and metal frame to hold the lower door opening in place.
The failure of this piece of wood can cause door sag. Usually what happens is the wood block rots away and the door frame gets out of whack. The wood block is usually not visible since it is covered with gobs of fiberglass and resin.
A cracked frame will also cause door sag. You should get your frame repaired first then align the door/ frame and glass in the wood block.
Eddie

[Curbfeeler]

Thanks guys. It all makes sense now. I'm going for a frame-off restoration on this one. I will make a separate thread for that once I get started.

[RogerDat]

You will need construction adhesive between new floor and frame. Seals it from water coming through, acts as a gasket and it fills irregularities, and stops squeaks. Easiest way to deal with old screws if they won't come out is grind them off. That fills the hole.


One thing I had a hard time with when putting new floor back in was hitting the frame with new screws. I used a really small drill bit to "find" metal then drilled hole for self tapping screws. PITA but I did not make a template, just some marks on the walls.