Greetings. Back in December I purchased a 75
Boler 13 foot that was completely gutted to prepare for
paint. I loaded up all of the parts and brought it home. It was 30 below that day and I don't have an indoor space for it so I just moved all of the parts into a spare bedroom while I waited for warmer weather. Since then I have been doing inventory, cleaning parts, and generally assessing the situation. I have also read hundreds of posts here and learned a great deal. Many thanks for that.
The frame and shell seem to be sound but the
axle has to be shot simply due to age. The ensolite would be perfectly fine except that a 3rd degree previous owner glued some sort of fabric over the entire interior. That was removed more than two years ago and the adhesive is still quite tacky to the touch. I tried Varsol, alcohol, WD40, Goo Gone, various household cleaners and gasoline with no luck. The only thing that works is a product I bought many years ago called Kleanall. However, I worked for more than an hour to clean a few square inches even with that. I have decided to apply a second layer of foam backed vinyl liner once I have made sure the original is all secure.
This unit has an ice box which cannot be salvaged and I would like to replace it. Vintage Trailer Supply does not ship them internationally so I am looking for one in Canada that is in good shape. I am also looking for a local source for the stock wheels with the required half inch offset.
I am located in Calgary so if any active members have found local or Canadian suppliers for the many items required for a restoration I would very much appreciate any information you would be willing to share. My goal is to get as close to the original as possible in this project. The only reason for the focus on local sources is my budget. I can see that even a do-it-yourself restoration can get very expensive in no time at all. For example, I was lucky enough to snag a brand new, in the box, Bargman
L-400 lock for $150.00 on ebay. I can't do that every week unless the
Boler becomes my primary residence.