1985 Burro ‘Soft’ Shell- Problem or Normal?

[EliseYarnell]

Hi all! My husband and I just purchased a 1985 Burro 13’ and it needs a lot of fiberglass work. We have been watching videos and have seen some wonderful You Can Do It posts on here! Before we really jump into all of the work ourselves- we were told by a marine and tv repair shop that for them to do the fiberglass repair and prime and gel coat it would be $10-20k. Sort of sounds like they don’t want our business but one interesting thing they brought to our attention is that the outer shell on the side where the stove is is “soft” it seems more “flimsy” I guess than the rest of the trailer and we weren’t sure if that’s normal. Could this be normal? Could it be water damage?

The windows are definitely leaky (as we can see sunlight at some gaps) though we can’t smell mildew or mold.
The vent is in pretty bad shape and is original.
The inside is in surprisingly amazing shape.

To prepare for winter and decide if we are fully going to take this project on- My thoughts were going to be: first things first- get the windows and vent water tight. Remove, clean, place new butyl tape and weather striping, repair fiberglass around windows and vent if needed, replace windows and probably a new vent. Replace weather stripping around door.

We live in colorado and are high elevation so we get a lot of snow. Cover her for the winter and hope that in the spring we can complete everything else.

Anyone have any other recommendations? Have we gotten ourselves into a pickle by not realizing the side was ‘soft’?

[mary and bob]

We had a Uhaul camper which is almost identical to a Burro, supposedly made using the Burro molds. The sides of our Uhaul were thin and could be pushed in slightly and they would pop back out, commonly called tin caning. Not sure if your Burro is like that, and that is what they are calling "soft". In comparison, our Casita is built differently and the fiberglass shell is rigid. A Burro owner will have better info for you.

[groys02]

Elise,
Greetings from Iowa.
Like Bob, I had a U-Haul CT-13 for a number of years, but I think the basic construction & layout is pretty much the same as the Burro.
Assuming that's so.........the wall opposite the door, where the stove sits, has a long flat stretch with no bracing between interior skin & exterior skin, and the skins are less than 1/8" thick; so very loose or floppy or flimsy compared to a fiberglass boat exterior skin. Hopefully yours then is just normal, but was just unfamiliar to the marine repair guy.

I didn't have much trouble with snow piling high on our CT, but on the rare occasions when it did, I 'raked' it off with my shop broom. I have read of people putting a temporary brace or two between roof seam & floor on the inside for the winter, as a 'just in case' measure.

It looked in the one photo that showed the roof that there were a bunch of darker patches on the roof, and maybe a slight dip in the roofline to the rear of the vent. Did a tree limb come down on it? If something like that happened, the roof seam could have flexed & cracked---it's just glued together when they're built. I had to 'saw' a groove through the cracked adhesive for several feet on our CT and then epoxy it back together.... a nuisance job but not that hard. And if the 'trim-lock' type cover over the seam has never been replaced, it's probably due.

And when it's time for re-painting, a lot of people just use a marine primer & enamel, and the 'roll and tip' method......I think this is rolling it on with a paint roller, and then smoothing it just a bit with the tips of a 'good' paint brush before the paint 'sets'.
I painted our CT with automotive enamel & HVLP spray equipment, but only because I did auto-body work at the time. To hire it done, it gets real expensive, quickly.

If it's any encouragement, I have a real long-winded repair thread on our CT on this site.....it was rear-ended by a semi that couldn't quite get stopped in time, when the previous owners still had it. It wouldn't be the same as your own repair needs, but................

https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/...t13-66181.html

Best of luck with your Burro,
Gary

[EliseYarnell]

Thank you Gary! I am going to include some more pictures of the roof. I guess that could be a possibility! We will keep an eye out for that. Everywhere there are dark spots is where the po was having a handyman apply resin when the gel would spider. So it definitely could have had something fall on it. We have been wondering about the “wave” in the top as well. Thinking it may have been from snow load. Will check out your thread! Thank you for the insight! Definitely needs new trim lock. It’s crumbling as we speak.

[EliseYarnell]

Here are the pictures of the roof

[groys02]

Elise,
Nice to hear the dark streaks are resin, vs the dreaded silicone. [really a challenge to remove thoroughly enough for anything to stick where it was]

One of the nice things about fiberglass shells is that they flex & bounce back pretty well. Seems like there's 3 stages [to my amateur brain]:
[1] Minor flexing... no damage occurs, or shows.
[2] Substantial flexing... the gelcoat surface layer cracks, but the more 'structural' fiberglass & resin layer is undamaged.
[3] Severe flex... both gelcoat & f/g structure are damaged.

I chose to just prep & paint over areas where there were just 'spider web' cracks in the gelcoat. Meaning that they'll still show some through the new paint, but less so, and only in a 'cosmetic' sense. Sanding them clear out & refilling with new gelcoat or a skim of body filler makes them go away... but it adds a 'lot' more work & expense.
Big difference between staying fit & healthy, and plastic surgery. [the analogy works for me... maybe not for others]

I think old trailers & old cars & old houses should be maintained & kept useful for just as long as it's practical... expecting some wear & tear to show.
Fix it up and use it.

“Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know “why” I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way and some of the roads weren’t paved.”
― Will Rogers

[EliseYarnell]

Love that thank you. Love the analogy!!! Can’t wait to really dig in! And maybe shed some tears. Lol