1975 CareFree (On life support)

[David Morgan]

Originally Posted by Carol H

If you have PDF that you wish to add to the Document Centre for others to find in the future just go to the home page click on the Document Centre tag and then click add.... that should do it .... I think

any way to link to them in this post?

[Carol H]

yes did you up load them already?

Once uploaded just copy the URL of the page they are on and then use the little World Icon with the paper clip above to link them into a post here.

[Dudley]

Hi Dave
Yes the Ventura's had tacky wood paneling in them, I originally painted mine white inside then gutted it and put in 5/16" knotty pine. Would be a nice interior for yours as well due to the flat walls.
my rebuild

[David Morgan]

Originally Posted by Dudley

Hi Dave
Yes the Ventura's had tacky wood paneling in them, I originally painted mine white inside then gutted it and put in 5/16" knotty pine. Would be a nice interior for yours as well due to the flat walls.
my rebuild

I looked at you're pictures that is very nice! Cabin on wheels!

I think for my build here were going to go with something more vanilla, but I am considering a few options.

I am also very interested in the White Knight Felx you painted on. How does it look now after a couple years? This thing has so many cracks and breaks, the PO's fixin was not water tight at all. So who knows where all the leaks might be. I have to peel off the old work and do it from the inside, for sure. But it would be a good insurance policy I think.

Thanks for all the info!

[Dudley]

the White Knight flex seemed like a good idea and has held up will as far as a sealant goes, the down side is that it is a pain to keep clean. Last year I painted over it with white polyurethane paint and that has really helped. No cracks have come through the flex after 3 years and the stuff is paintable but you do get a rough finish as the stuff is very thick when you apply it and does not flow out at all.

[David Morgan]

Originally Posted by Dudley

the White Knight flex seemed like a good idea and has held up will as far as a sealant goes, the down side is that it is a pain to keep clean. Last year I painted over it with white polyurethane paint and that has really helped. No cracks have come through the flex after 3 years and the stuff is paintable but you do get a rough finish as the stuff is very thick when you apply it and does not flow out at all.

Soooo....... is this "White Knight" product a Canadian only club? That seams to be the only place I can find it! Doh! You Canadians always have the best stuff! First it was Maple Syrup, Then robotic manipulator arms on the ISS. Now its roof rubber? What next "Health Care"? LOL! Just kidding...

[Dudley]

looks like its been replaced with
Gardner 4.75-Gal. Sta Kool 7-Year Ultra White Elastomeric Roof Coating-SK-7705 at The Home Depot

and yes we do enjoy some things that are only "Canadian eh"!

[David Morgan]

Originally Posted by Dudley

looks like its been replaced with
Gardner 4.75-Gal. Sta Kool 7-Year Ultra White Elastomeric Roof Coating-SK-7705 at The Home Depot

and yes we do enjoy some things that are only "Canadian eh"!

Ahh, I was wondering about that! Thank you for the research. I think I have decided for sure I am going to go that route on the top at least.

[David Morgan]

Started the tear out Friday night. This thing had hundreds of water leaks.

Few more hours of striping, prying, yankin, whackin, bleeding & tossing. And I can start putting stuff back in!!

[Gina D.]

You have an opportunity now! Since you have nothing but nice bare exposed hull...can you try to seal some of the leaks in the glass from the INSIDE? Would save on some cosmetic repairs outside..

I am not a glass doing kinda gal..don't know if that would work or not.

[David Morgan]

Originally Posted by Gina D.

You have an opportunity now! Since you have nothing but nice bare exposed hull...can you try to seal some of the leaks in the glass from the INSIDE? Would save on some cosmetic repairs outside..

Absolutely. Repairs to fiberglass is always best from the inside. Laminating over gel coat is very weak to begin with. So you have to do a lot of tapering. And as you indicate a lot more cosmetic work.

Working on the inside will give a much better working surface for building you're laminations on, as well as allowing you to make the repair much thicker than the original hull, to reinforce the area. On really nasty repairs, I like to do the build up from inside, when its nice and cured, I will gouge out and taper the outside. And fill in with "Bondo Hair" and when the level is just right, I apply "pre waxed" gelcoat. And then wet sand to fair.

Originally Posted by Gina D.

I am not a glass doing kinda gal..don't know if that would work or not.

The glasswork is my favorite part! I am no pro by any means, just a few books videos, and a few repair jobs under the belt. It's fun! With even the most basic of tooling, you can make just about anything! Highly recommend it as a craft!

[Night Sailor]

Should be a fun project. These jobs are easier when you gut them and start over. As much as I hate the itchy scratchies, fiberglass is a wonderful material. Easy to patch, fair and repair. A good repair will last almost forever.

[David Morgan]

Originally Posted by Night Sailor

Should be a fun project. These jobs are easier when you gut them and start over. As much as I hate the itchy scratchies, fiberglass is a wonderful material. Easy to patch, fair and repair. A good repair will last almost forever.

My dad worked with fiberglass for 35 years. So I am pretty use the the "itchy scratchies" at least, built up an immunity I guess. It is really a wonderful building material!

[David Morgan]

So in hours, hours, and more hours of research. I have dug up some information on this Manufacturer:

Carefree Design Enterprises Limited
Operated in Trail BC
The CEO at some point was a Don Ewing

Basically nothing more than was on the door. I even called The City of Trail, and they couldn't tell me anything either!

This is an enigma... Found a few old posts where someone sold a few. But that's it!

[David Morgan]

First of probably many, cans of Bondo Kitty Hair. Fantastic stuff for building up! I managed to laminate 3 yards of fabric and one full can of resin on the inside to shore up the damaged areas.
There is a lot of repair work. I found a series of 3 holes and 2 cracks in the roof that were missed in the previous owners repair. When I pulled open the ceiling there was actually standing water in between. Noting like wet fiberglass insulation!

[David Morgan]

The two halves of this rig are not glassed together, not even glued. There is about 1/4" of overlap, and the belly band screwed through and into the wood inside. This lasted 40 years so its not the worst design. But since I have it all open, I am welding the seam. The movement has caused most of the screws to back out and leak. So welding the seam should make it a lot stronger I am hoping.

Since its getting all new and modern appliances, I am moving the water heater to over the axle and away from the exhaust away from the main door. Also the new furnace will have the small outside flange, so I filled in both of the holes. I have not cleaned up and worked the outside of the repairs yet. But they are water tight for now!

[Gina D.]

you have come a long way in a short period of time! I STILL haven't finished mine after 2+ years of owning and using it!

[David Morgan]

Might be wishful thinking, or downright lunacy. But I am shooting for a Mid July usability date, this restoration has a purpose. I just hope I can get her there in time!

[David Morgan]

I wanted clarify something on the glass work I am doing. Since this trailer has wood panel interior walls I am not concerned with matching the thickness of the original fiberglass shell. On the contrary I am intentionally adding thickness as the walls are too thin, and exhibit signs of being structurally deficient. On the outside, I will taper back the original material around the holes, in a V like grove and fill them in with laminations, this will provide a very strong repair.

Where the major cracks are in the roof and upper wall, I am building up laminations on the inside, with the belief that there is no structural strength to the original glass in that area. The original wall materials are only left for cosmetics, and the filling in on the outside is for cosmetic reasons, the strength of the wall/roof will be from the new glass laminations on the inside, which can be really thick because I don't have to worry about the unevenness and ripples telegraphing through a headliner or carpet.

In other words I would not use this method on a single hull (Scamp/Boler) style trailer. You would need to be a lot more careful about tapering and thickness matching.

Hope I am making sense, I inhaled a lot of fumes this weekend, and am likely to be a little loopy for a while!

[David Morgan]

Finally got to spend some time working on the project. I am starting to put stuff back in .