1975 Boler Complete Restoration....my once in a lifetime project! - Page 2 - Fiberglass RV
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Old 11-19-2018, 03:48 PM   #21
Senior Member
 
Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
Hi Bob and Chris,
Thank you and glad to share! I have spent a lot of time on this forum searching for solutions to the vast number of challenges in the restoration of these trailers. I hope sharing my experience will answer someone else's questions
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Old 11-20-2018, 10:02 AM   #22
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
I thought it was now time to start putting my Boler back together but apparently not! I discovered that water was leaking into the trailer through the seam joining the top and bottom half. I also wanted to "waterproof" and protect the underside of the trailer by painting it with truck bed liner. My solution....cut the seam joining the top and bottom, take the trailer off the frame, flip the bottom upside down, do any clean up and repair required for the underside, paint it and put the 2 halves back together with butyl putty in the seam to fill gaps and prevent water entry from the outside. Sounds easy, right?
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Split open Boler 1.jpg   Split open Boler 2.jpg  

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Old 11-20-2018, 10:11 AM   #23
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
When Bolers were originally constructed, strips of plywood were fibreglassed in the floor for reinforcement. Over the years, water seeped into the piece reinforcing the door sill, rotting the plywood. I removed it to be replaced later with a piece of aluminum or stainless steel angle iron to provide strength and stiffness at the sill.
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Wood door sill support.jpg   Wood floor supports.jpg  

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Old 11-20-2018, 10:13 AM   #24
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Name: Rob
Trailer: 1975 Triple E Surfside
Alberta
Posts: 194
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Hi.. Well whatya know I'm up to the same thing here in the west Kootenays. Last year I restored a 73 Boler for my Daughter.. And learned a lot.. It realy pays to add more steel to the frame... because there are week spots. I just finished my second frame for the 79 Scamp I'm working on this year. The Scamp has the floor bump out under the front like I see in your photos. BUT look what else !

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Extra framing ... This is factory too... so that tells me that they had so many problems with the older frames. Where the frame bends up front was bad.. and lots broke on the drivers side. This extra framing solves that. I also do the same for the back of the trailer.. Again a problem with the long frame on the drivers side.. it sags over time .. and the dinette floor has to span that huge open area? I add more steel there to help.
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Now you won't worry about the sagging floor.. and the main frame has help.. only added 50 lbs to the frame.. Better that 50 lbs of plywood.
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Old 11-20-2018, 10:17 AM   #25
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
After cleaning up all of the fiberglass, repairing any areas that looked "dodgy", I painted 2 coats of truck bed liner on the bottom of the trailer. I think it looks great and will hopefully add an extra bit of water protection. Did I mention that I'm only doing this once?!!!
Attached Thumbnails
Truck bed liner 1.jpg   Truck bed liner 2.jpg  

Truck bed liner 3.jpg  
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Old 11-20-2018, 10:23 AM   #26
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
Now time to put it back together! This required a few friends
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Back together 1.jpg   Back together 2.jpg  

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Old 11-20-2018, 10:30 AM   #27
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Name: Rob
Trailer: 1975 Triple E Surfside
Alberta
Posts: 194
Registry
Wow You took it apart ! maybe I should too.. there is NO floor in the scamp... gone.. that's why I got it cheap.. someone wanted to fix the floor and cut most of it out.. and the body was collapsed ... SO I could not tow the Scamp.. It had a ride here on a trailer. same thing with the Boler.. the frame was so bad that that I had to toss it. I built a new frame using old tent trailer pieces.

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The frame weighed 300 ibs as you see it. And got certified in Alberta for licensing. Then under the boler traveled to the Yukon and back no problems.
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Old 11-20-2018, 10:35 AM   #28
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
Top back on and 2 layers of 1/8" butyl putty between the top and bottom to fill the gaps and seal the seam. I used screws to temporarily line up and attach the top and bottom before re-fiberglassing the seam inside.
Attached Thumbnails
Back together.jpg   Butyl putty.jpg  

Buyl putty 1.jpg  
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Old 11-20-2018, 10:39 AM   #29
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
Here's a view of the seam from the inside...
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Inside view of seam 1.jpg   Inside view of seam 2.jpg  

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Old 11-20-2018, 10:41 AM   #30
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Name: Daniel
Trailer: Sold it
Northern VA
Posts: 278
Holy cow! Nice work with the bottom. Hope it keeps you, or anyone else, from having floor issues.

Looking forward to seeing how you work on the rest.
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Old 11-20-2018, 10:42 AM   #31
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Name: Rob
Trailer: 1975 Triple E Surfside
Alberta
Posts: 194
Registry
Great job.. I'm following for sure.. I want to see how you finish the inside.
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Old 11-20-2018, 10:46 AM   #32
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
Last step was to re-fiberglass the seam. I used an 8" wide strip and was very careful to closely adhere it right into the seam, no air bubbles. The quality of the original seam was not great...lots of air bubbles. Pretty happy to get it back together successfully and felt confident that this would not be a source of leaking in the future! It would be awful to do so much work to restore the interior only to find water leaking in!!
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Seam re-fiberglassed 1.jpg   Seam re-fiberglassed 2.jpg  

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Old 11-20-2018, 11:00 AM   #33
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
Hi Rob, Wow, it looks like that frame was in rough shape! Welding is not in my skill set but often wish it was (or maybe not? ). I now have a welder in my circle of friends and I toss around the idea of taking the body off the frame (again) and either have a new frame built or adding further support for the floors (i discovered a large sag in the floor at the rear of the trailer). Not sure if this is over-kill but I have and will put so much time and money into this project that I would be disappointed if a poor frame caused problems down the road. I am much further along than these photos....just taking a while to compose this thread. I'll post my interior design in the near future.
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Old 11-20-2018, 11:03 AM   #34
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for your interest in my project! I'm starting to "smell the barn" as they say with my goal of using this Boler for the first time this summer! Lots more work but way more fun now!!
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Old 11-20-2018, 11:14 AM   #35
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Name: Rob
Trailer: 1975 Triple E Surfside
Alberta
Posts: 194
Registry
You are doing great work.. these trailers are one of the few worth the effort. I use bolts not screws to attach the body to the frame.. And no rivets.. they leak. for the boler I went to BC fasteners and got Stainless Steel #20 machine bolts.. and the snap caps to attach all the cupboards. I have photos on my web blog.

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Here's the Boler finished.. last May. just before making the 12 hour trip home to Edmonton.
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Old 11-20-2018, 11:28 AM   #36
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
What a great restoration Rob! I'll look at the rest of your photos as well.
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Old 11-20-2018, 11:31 AM   #37
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
And I agree....these trailers are worth the effort! So unique and Canadian to boot!! There will be no through-hull fasteners for my Boler (just for water-fill, electrical etc)....stay tuned
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Old 11-20-2018, 01:46 PM   #38
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Name: Rob
Trailer: 1975 Triple E Surfside
Alberta
Posts: 194
Registry
I want to avoid that this time too. I'm thinking of glassing in wood tabs to mount all the stuff. No holes.. I can do it because the interior is bare like yours.
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Old 11-21-2018, 11:53 AM   #39
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
I tried to purchase everything needed for the restoration so I could plan and attach proper backing where needed. I also increased the tire size from 13 to 14" and purchased new rims. Here is some of the "Boler bling"...
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New rim 1.jpg   New rim 2.jpg  

Marker lights.jpg   Maxx Fan.jpg  

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Old 11-21-2018, 11:58 AM   #40
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Name: Shannon
Trailer: 1975 13' Boler
British Columbia
Posts: 229
More "bling"...
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Reading light.jpg   Nova Kool fridge 1.jpg  

Nova Kool fridge 2.jpg  
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