Advice repairing caved in Scamp 13 roof

[Ngrimm]

Hello. Just bought a 73 Scamp 13 with the whole roof sitting inside caused by too much snow. I have done some fiberglass work over the years but nothing quite this extensive. The roof is somewhat intact and but mostly it broke along the top edge of the windows. I pulled it three miles to a friends property and will hall it home on a trailer today. I am really excited about getting started on this after seeing what you have done to restore yours. I am weighing the options for repairing the roof first and I don't think the floor is too bad since the fiberglass walls don't seem to have sagged much if at all. Would it be feasible to remove the entire upper half of the body above the metal band so I can flip it upside down to work from the inside having gravity on my side? Another idea I had was bending conduit to support the top and try to work from the bottom. Any of you fiberglass guys have ideas? Junking it is not an option Thank you. Norm

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Ngrimm

Hello. Just bought a 73 Scamp 13 with the whole roof sitting inside caused by too much snow. I have done some fiberglass work over the years but nothing quite this extensive. The roof is somewhat intact and but mostly it broke along the top edge of the windows. I pulled it three miles to a friends property and will hall it home on a trailer today. I am really excited about getting started on this after seeing what you have done to restore yours. I am weighing the options for repairing the roof first and I don't think the floor is too bad since the fiberglass walls don't seem to have sagged much if at all. Would it be feasible to remove the entire upper half of the body above the metal band so I can flip it upside down to work from the inside having gravity on my side? Another idea I had was bending conduit to support the top and try to work from the bottom. Any of you fiberglass guys have ideas? Junking it is not an option Thank you. Norm

Welcome. If possible a few pictures would be useful. Lots of knowledgeable folks here and i am sure seeing what you are up against would bring lots of good ideas. Raz

[Francesca Knowles]

Yes!
I second Raz's request for pictures!
This will be a fascinating project to follow...

Best of luck to you, Norm

Francesca

[Ed Harris]

There was a trailer on here that used Conduit on the outside to create sort of a "Roll Cage" looking contraption that both protected the trailer and helped hold the roof up.
If I am not mistaken it was also painted outside to look like a little shed or house including flower boxes under the windows.

I will try to find it.

Pictures are a must before commenting directly on something like this for obvious reasons I think?

What I want to know is why you bought this with the roof caved in and are only asking about it now?

Sounds like an adventure!

Ed

[Ed Harris]

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/a...8&d=1224176724

[Ed Harris]

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/a...1&d=1140276811

These 2 sort of give you the idea?

The problem sounds like you will need to get the roof back up first then worry about supporting it.

[Ngrimm]

OK, you asked for it Like a lot of things it looks worse than it really is. Like I mentioned, the roof is in one piece although it is somewhat folded inside out. I'm starting to think it may be easier to cut the roof in two so I can lift the front and rear separately. All I have done is drilled out the rivets that fastened the cupboard above the sink to the roof so I could remove the cupboard. I figured I should leave the window frames intact until the roof is reattached. I planned to do most of the fiberglass work from the inside but I haven't done it overhead before so I don't know what that will be like. I am open to suggestions as to how to hold the seams together while I fiberglass them. Thank you. Norm

[Francesca Knowles]

Hi, Norm

Allow me to be the first to say...
That has got to be the CRACKED-EST egg in Christendom.
I presume you've named it Humpty Dumpty...

Calling All the King's Horses, and All the King's Men!

Best of luck to you...

Francesca

[Raz]

WOW. And I thought I had a project. My first thought was to see if Scamp would sell you an upper shell assuming the molds haven't changed. Repairing the original and maintaining the shape will be quite the challenge. Raz

[Donna D.]

This is a prime example of how wrong people can be when they say "Don't worry about the snow load on the roof."

I think I'd put the roof back on in small sections. Easier to handle, more like a puzzle and lighter in weight so the engineering to hold the piece in place would be simplier. Easy for me to say, I've never done it.

This will be a great thread to follow.

Best of luck Norm, wishing you MUCH success

[Alf S.]

Hi: Ngrimm... That's not bad... but pretty grim. I've heard of Grimms Fairy Tales before!!! You could say you've got your work cut out for you.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[CindyL]

Wow! I know nothing about this, but Ed's frame suggestion and research looks like a solution here.

I will enjoy following your attempts. Maybe looking at the thread of the guy who is making his camper longer would be helpful. He cut it in half, added fiberglass to make it 42 " longer, and is in the process of putting it back together. He is past the fiberglass and into the systems.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...oot-44623.html


Good luck!

CindyL

[Eddie Longest]

Norm
I contacted Scamp several years ago and they said they would sell a half shell but the problem is getting it home. BTY where is Medford? If you go with a half shell then you could then install new windows. My concern was if the molds were the same size.
Now option two. You can hold the pieces together with pop rivets and heavy plastic strips or metal strips with a release agent attached to the opposite side you want to glass first. Once your first glass sets up you can drill out the rivets and remove the strapping and re-glass over the rivet holes and start with your structual glassing. They do make a resin gel for overhead and vertical work.
Good luck
Eddie

[Bruce Thomas]

if you have all the pieces and can postion them one at a time and glue in place, it'll be fixable i think.....i'd lay the glass inside once its shaped and do a lighter finish , fill etc to the outer .
that half shell sounds like a good idea too.

[Ngrimm]

Thank you for the replies and the kind words of encouragement. Also thank you for the link to stretching the Bigfoot. His accomplishment makes this look like child's play. The floor and understructure on my Scamp look surprisingly good so I think I would rather be doing the fiberglass work than what some others have had to do. Probably just me though since I like to see a visible dramatic improvement. I like the idea about riveting and gluing it back together first possibly in somewhat smaller chunks. Can I assume you meant that I should glue it using fiberglass resin (after removing all traces of wax and mold release)? Thank you. Norm

[Francesca Knowles]

Hi, Norm

It occurs to me that you might be able to temporarily support the roof from underneath by using flexible fiberglass poles like tents come with these days. They're surprisingly strong, can be cut/built to length, and are flexible enough to follow the curve of the trailer. And heaven knows there're lots of them around! You probably have some already, but if you don't, every thrift store has ratty old tents for a few bucks- and sometimes just the poles for even fewer bucks!

Francesca

[cpaharley2008]

I vote for a pop up section, first of it's kind on a Scamp, may be easier to connect imperfect sections with canvass.

[CindyL]

If you follow Jim's suggestion (cpaharley2008), you might have one of these:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ond-47452.html and sillylilly59's Trailer :: gemima

CindyL

[Deb&Sam D.]

That is an awfully challenging project you have taken on. My approach on the repair would be hook up with somebody who has the top half assembly ready to go and just swop it out. Your match might just be out there. For example, there was an ad posted here on 5-16-11 in the Classified Section (parts: buy/sell/trade) for BOLER SHELLS.
Good luck on your reno !

Deb

[Ngrimm]

I decided to see if I could lift the roof up in one piece. So far so good but a long way to go. I think removing the elephant skin may be as difficult as fixing the fiberglass.