1980 Boler 17 resto, roof vents and other

[BennieTheBoler]

Hi all!

Well we’re finally starting to put the Boler back together after ending up stripping it right down to fibreglass. One thing we have done is replace the (poor quality) 14” roof vents with 16 7/8” deck hatches for a sailboat. As an aside, we found that Victory Marine in Vancouver has pretty much everything for a Boler restoration. We’ve been switching everything to stainless steel, and because our Bolers are basically more like boats than RVs, the marine shops are the places to go.

https://victory-products.com/

Anyways, we cut the holes larger in the ceiling and dropped the hatch frames in. We’ll be through-bolting with stainless 10-24 pan head machine screws and using either 3/4” mahogany plywood, aluminum, or if our budget allows, stainless steel as a backing plate on the inside. I’m thinking about making one frame for both hatches with a stringer along the ceiling centre that should add some rigidity to the fibreglass ceiling and to the hatch frames themselves.

Another thing we’ve done is remove the rivets that hold the cabinet brackets to the fibreglass. We’ve instead through bolted with stainless 10-32 machine screws and used PL Premium to bond the bracket and the nuts to the fibreglass. So, they won’t leak!!! The idea is that the screws can be taken out periodically and caulked then threaded back into the nut on the inside, which will be behind the liner and inaccessible. The weight/force of the cabinets will be taken by the PL Premium though, not the screw, which should distribute the forces over more area and help prevent cracking the gelcoat and stressing the fibreglass. I’ll take some photos and share, although in the first photo you can see the PL on the nuts which we used to fasten the fridge vent frame. Doubled up the number of bolts on that frame to get a good seal. Doubled up the bolts on the hatch frames too so now they’re at 3” spacing.

I’ll keep posting as the resto continues. Just started installing new interior foam backed liner today. Fun stuff.

Thoughts, questions, comments always welcome!

[BennieTheBoler]

Progress report. Installing foam backed vinyl insulation in place of the enargite and stick-on vinyl plank flooring. Our boy getting into it!

I can see why enargite was so awesome as it forms to the round shape of the Boler better than the vinyl. Needing to do it in panels and will put upholstery piping in the seams. Good times!

[BennieTheBoler]

Learned pretty quickly that stick on vinyl flooring doesn’t bond to vapour barrier. Ended up taking the vapour barrier off and using waterproof flooring adhesive to bond directly to the plywood floor. Worked like a charm. I pity the person (probably me) who has to lift that vinyl off someday.

Q

[Eric Frye]

Please keep posting so I can "borrow" ideas from you. I have a 1980 B1700 as well and I picked it up as a shell only. All the original cut outs had been glassed back in and the wood floor was gone. It is a blank canvas so I will definitely follow your thread.

Where did you get the foam backed vinyl material?

[BennieTheBoler]

The foam backed vinyl came from JT's outdoor fabrics. The vinyl is essentially what they use in many sailboats. We are using 3M 74 spray adhesive to stick it to the fiberglass. It is difficult to source locally so we've had to spend quite a bit on shipping to get it. Wish we had spent a little more on the viny l flooring, as the stuff we bought is lifting around the edges, even after using additional adhesive to stick it to the wood floor.

[Eric Frye]

Thanks for the information on the vinyl. Sorry to hear about the flooring.

[BrianDawn]

Hello!
We also own a 1980 B1700.We are in Cochrane, near Calgary. We have just begun our restoration journey.We are wondering how the foam backed vinyl from JTs worked out overall? Are you happy with it? Do you have any pictures of the completed project? And what did you cover the joins with?

[BennieTheBoler]

Hi there!

Yeah the foam backed vinyl is a great product. It’s tricky to put in though, especially around the curves up in the corners of the ceiling. We used 3M 80 spray adhesive, which works great as long as you follow the instructions to a T. We haven’t put the seam trim on yet, but will be using 1” x 1/16 aluminum flat bar (which bends easily) with Velcro (not the cheap stuff... think the Velcro used to hang picture frames). Velcro strip on aluminum, then use adhesive to glue Velcro on fibreglass at the seam. Bend the aluminum and stick it on. That’s the plan at least!! We’ve already tried a few options such as fabric piping (too narrow, tricky to make it look good) and vinyl T-moulding (not flexible enough, adhesion to fibreglass not strong
enough). Good luck on your project! We have lots of photos and you can check it out on Instagram at @Benny_the_boler

[BennieTheBoler]

And as far as the foam backed vinyl, one thing learned is that it would probably have been easier to go with narrower strips (24 - 36” wide) but long enough to go from the centre of the ceiling around and down the side to the floor. We tried to do it with as few pieces as possible (larger pieces) in order to limit the number of seams, but a wide piece of vinyl is much harder to work with, and thus, make to look good. So I say more pieces is ok as long as it’s uniform, looks like you had a plan for how the seam pattern will look in the end, and have a plan for how to cover those seams.