1982 Burro Redo - Fiberglass RV
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Old 07-05-2016, 08:46 PM   #1
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Name: Jeanne
Trailer: Burro
North Carolina
Posts: 48
1982 Burro Redo

A few weeks ago I bought an 82 Burro. I have to say that the hunt for the right trailer was pretty fun too.

I had a few days this weekend to get going on my Burro redo.

First up is the structural floor replacement. Squishy at the rear, saggy at the door and in front of the sink. The middle seam on the floor was not fiberglassed, the plywood was delaminating along the seam. The shell was cracked at the bottom where it meets the floor. The top of the floor was fiberglassed expect for the middle seam. The bottom was fiberglassed except for most of the perimeter. Just the bare plywood with a few flecks of fiberglass.

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The floor was wavy even where the wood was sound. I think that the PO skimmed the fiberglassed floor in Liquid Nails before putting vinyl tiles on top. That stuff was everywhere. I think that with the fiberglass and vinyl it didn't have a chance to harden. Easy to scrape off goobs in the middle of the tiles. I had pulled off the vinyl and had sat on the plywood with my hair dryer to scrape the Liquid Nails off of the furniture lip. My pants stuck to the floor

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Yesterday I was frustrated with my progress. I felt like I didn't have the right tools to cut the fiberglass under the furniture. I managed one with a chisel, but that was rough. So I sit down and look at my favorite Burro floor replacement thread. There it is - Oscillating Multi Tool. My most favorite tool ever. Cut underneath the furniture. Cut in tight places. Helped to remove wood and some weird gray semi-soft goop from the wheel wells.

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My Burro has a clean lip and I can start the rebuild.

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I have my tent camping spot in SequoiaNP for the next few days. Been going there for many years. This year I'm doing a little recon for a trailer camping spot for next year.

Jeanne
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Old 07-06-2016, 12:17 AM   #2
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Welcome to FGRV.......wow, you've sure jumped into a reno quickly
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Old 07-06-2016, 07:01 AM   #3
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Welcome, Jeanne!

Good progress on your floor replacement. Thanks for pictures and details. I enjoy seeing how different makes are put together.

We usually stick with unimproved sites everywhere we go. In my experience they're often the nicest- larger and more natural vegetation- as well as less expensive. As long as there's a bathhouse somewhere around, we're happy!

Happy camping!
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Old 07-17-2016, 08:25 PM   #4
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Name: Jeanne
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Sanding and scrubbing

I took the frame to a trailer place to have them fix the bent bumper, bent jack and check out the axle and brakes.

Most of my trailer time this weekend was cleanup of the fiberglass rim. One of those 90% of the work is the prep kind of jobs.

The area under the sink had some black grime that was highly resistant to being removed. The front seam had what seemed to be a mix of silicone and liquid nails.
Most of the rest came clean with a little elbow grease.

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I did get one piece of the new floor cut.

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And as a bonus a dime shook loose. So today I made money!

Jeanne
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Old 07-17-2016, 09:38 PM   #5
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Howdy neighbor, we have a 1999 Burro and we live in California too!
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Old 07-18-2016, 03:41 PM   #6
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Name: Jeanne
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Hello there fellow Californian and Burro owner
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Old 07-31-2016, 08:55 PM   #7
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Name: Jeanne
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I'm putting the floor back in using three pieces. I hope.
Piece 1 is fiberglassed and in place at the front of the trailer.
This weekend piece 2 and I had a go round. Shim all the spots where the floor catches on the rim and hammer it in. Too big. Knock it out. Trim and try again. And again and .... My template looks good but something on that back curve is hanging it up.

At one point I look up and can see light through the frame on the back window. Fortunately ? it won't rain here until the fall so I can wait on that.

Piece 2 still not seated all the way on the drivers side. Sigh.


Came here for a little inspiration.

Thanks to all of you who not only share your expertise but also your frustrations.

Jeanne
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Old 09-25-2016, 07:55 PM   #8
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Name: Jeanne
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It took me about two months doing the weekend warrior thing to get the old floor and and the new one put back in.
I had a couple of extra supports put on the frame, had the old jack removed and the back bumper straightened. I painted it with POR15 which I really liked and their top coat, which I didn't like as much. Hopefully it will durable.
I used polyester resin and mat to water proof the bottom. It's less expensive than epoxy for the large area that I covered. I'm going to use epoxy and cloth to attached the top lip to the new floor for extra strength.
Thanks to Karin for the fiberglassing upside down hint. Cover your working surface, I was using an upside down plastic tub that I covered with a plastic bag and then taped waxed paper on top. Wet the precut mat piece and press into place. I tried both rolling the bubbles out and using a brush. I liked them both, when I didn't want to clean up I used a disposable brush. The mat looks like it's falling apart sometimes but looks good once it's rolled or pressed in place with a brush.
Getting that upside down work done was such a relief. I got the Burro back on the frame and installed a row of bolts in the front and the back.
I had to take a break from that floor so I set up a project area in my garage over a couple of weekends. My kids took their cars to college so now I've got a great space.
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Old 09-25-2016, 08:38 PM   #9
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I started filling holes and fixing a couple of cracks in the fiberglass.
There are a lot of little screw holes through the top where it looks like something was attached to the ceiling. I used a dremel to widen the holes a little and then tried using Bondo glass for these, but it's been so hot here on the weekends 90+ the work time has been too short. The couple of holes that I did fill look pretty good so I'll give that a try again when it's cooler.

I drilled out all of the rivets on the old vent and scraped off all of the silicone. Made a frame out of 1.5" square fiberglass tube to get the height that I needed. Had to shave off some of the ridge to fit it up there. Fiberglassed it on (early this morning when it was cooler) and installed a Maxxfan.

Got me thinking that I don't like the trimloc, but I like the ridge. Since I'm looking at painting I'm thinking that I'll fill it in and smooth it out a bit while leaving the ridge height and paint it. Painting is not on the agenda until spring when I can borrow a big garage.

The roof was saggy in the back. From the fiberglass damage I'm guessing something fell on it. I propped it up and after a couple of weekends in the heat it stays up by itself. If I can get that ceiling clean enough I'm thinking that I'll add some fiberglass to help it keep it's shape. I've tried different things to get the ceiling clean. I think that it's Liquid Nails over contact cement with a little silicone for flavor on the rough fiberglass. So far scraping has been working the best. Might try a cleaner when I get most of it off, right now it's too thick.

I'm working on cleaning the plexiglass windows and tried and have liked Novus plastic cleaner products. That thicker glazing bead on the sliders seems like it will be unlikely to find. It does not seem to really seal the window, I'm going to see if I can find a track that will work. Otherwise I'm just going to clean them and put them back in. I got that sample pack at Pelland and the smaller glazing bead for the fixed windows has a good replacement.
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Old 10-09-2016, 03:05 PM   #10
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Hi Jeannie. I've been reading with interest your work on your Burro. I have a 1980 Burro I bought July 1st and have been working on the frame repairs and floor replacement as time allows and finally reunited the two back together last weekend. I'm now in the process of installing a Maxxfan like you.

I've got everything cleaned up but wondered about the mating flange you glassed in place to mount the fan to. Do you have any particulars? Pictures? I wasn't sure if I was going to need to build a mating flange or if I would be able to mount it to the trailer proper.

Thanks!
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Old 10-09-2016, 10:06 PM   #11
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Name: Jeanne
Trailer: Burro
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I used 1 1/2 square fiberglass rod to make a frame. 45 degree angle corners and epoxied together with west systems 610.
Fiberglass rod
The fan fits great and the knob is up and out of the way.
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Old 10-10-2016, 05:01 AM   #12
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That's a good idea. Thank you for the quick reply!
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:42 PM   #13
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Name: Barbara
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Hello Jeanne D!

are you still working on your '82? If so, have you moved to the "kitchen appliances" yet?

Or thought about solar power ?

b
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:53 PM   #14
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Name: Jeanne
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We have pretty mild weather here so I just keep plugging along every weekend.

Closer picture of the fiberglass square rod that I used to mount the fan. I really like how that turned out.

I pulled all of the windows, popped the fixed plexiglass out and resealed them. The fixed portions have new glazing bead, but I cleaned up and reinstalled the rest. The back window had a pretty pronounced flex to it from the body. It had broken the weld on the frame. I found a U shaped aluminum rod that fit perfectly (how often does that happen) and epoxied it to the frame on the inside to make it solid again. Scrubbed the frames. New screws and butyl tape. Not too bad. Seems to keep rain out, but I haven't had much to test it. Might save up for new windows, but the $$. Ouch.

Patched up, primed and painted the door before reinstalling. Brightsides primer and paint. Did the roll and tip mainly with the roller. Very light touch for the tip. Foam brush for the occasional bubble on the curves. I tried with a few different tipping brushes and could not get it to look good. I had cut out the plywood on the upper hinge mount on the trailer side. The original piece of plywood was not big enough to catch the top screw. I can't see that it was ever screwed solidly into wood. New piece of plywood and some fiberglass patching, I think that it's holding pretty well. The lower hinge I just drilled through the body and tightened lock nuts with fender washers. It's hidden under the seat.

I decided to go with 1/4 galvanized bolts/washers for the floor. I tried lag screws and didn't like them. I had installed 3 stainless elevator bolts and two of them broke when I tightened them. I am not that strong, so there was no way I was using those.
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Old 11-21-2016, 10:03 PM   #15
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Name: Jeanne
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I put a stick on D shaped with flange trimloc weather strip tape on the door. I had installed half of the roll with the flange pointed out, but that didn't fit too well. The hinge side does not have enough clearance for this type to work properly. I did not leak this weekend when it rained, but I'll probably try something else.

I had tried the weatherstrip from the dodge caravan slider door. That looked good, but the door was not going to close.
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Old 11-21-2016, 10:13 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CentralCa View Post
Hello Jeanne D!

are you still working on your '82? If so, have you moved to the "kitchen appliances" yet?

Or thought about solar power ?

b
Hi there!

I'm going all solar. Just a few lights and the fan to power. The battery is moving to the tongue, it was under the seat. I'm not sure if I'll run the wire through the fiberglass or drill into the the new floor.

The kitchen is going to be the old icebox with a new front. The stove was new and I'm cleaning up the sink. I've got a new pump faucet and have gotten rid of the water tank. I had been looking at how Meerkat has the water set up. You just put a 2.5 gallon water jug under the sink and feed in the hose. It looks like one of the ways that they cut weight from their trailers. I've been looking at reusable water jugs that will fit under the sink, but have not decided on one yet.

Jeanne
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Old 11-22-2016, 01:42 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeanne D. in ca View Post
Hi there!

I'm going all solar. Just a few lights and the fan to power. The battery is moving to the tongue, it was under the seat. I'm not sure if I'll run the wire through the fiberglass or drill into the the new floor. Jeanne
Not sure if you mean running the cable inside the shell to the tongue but I'd run the line through the floor and follow the frame to the new battery location. Pretty easy to seal the hole up and have a sanitary install.
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Old 07-01-2017, 11:40 AM   #18
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Name: Jeanne
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Lots of progress, not a lot of posting. I'm taking the Burro on it's maiden voyage next week.

I ended up going with a trim-lok bulb seal on the door
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I had cut out the plywood block on the body side of the upper hinge. Fiberglassed a replacement piece in place and patched up the cut. On the bottom body side I just went through the body and bolted under the seat where it won't show. A much better fit on the door. On the old piece that I cut out it looks like the top screw never was fully screwed into the piece.
A PO had tried to put in bigger screws and broke the hinge.
I'm really glad that I cut out and replaced that piece.
I did have fiberglass damage in a couple of locations, so I'm planning on exterior paint in the future. I painted the door before I rehung it.
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Old 07-01-2017, 03:29 PM   #19
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Name: Jeanne
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For those of us with marginal eyesight an the older L400 lock, there is an eclip under the outside lever that has to be removed if you want to take it off. I lubed it up, got a new key made and it works pretty well.

New floor from the inside after being put back on the frame. Not bolted on yet.

Cleaned up the windows. I replaced the smaller glazing on all of the windows. When I pulled the old glazing off of the front window it exposed some frame corrosion in the driver side bottom corner. There was quite a bit of plant material/dirt stuck in there. I figured at that point that I'd eventually end up getting new windows so I just cleaned them all up, resealed the fixed panes, used the same funky plexiglass and put them all back on. One thing that I wish I had done was to put in an extra of fiberglass at the top of the front and back windows where the two sides come together so that I'd have the same thickness to clamp onto all the way across.

Windows back in. Installed with butyl tape. We had a lot of rain this winter and plenty of opportunity for leak tests. Lots of leaking on all but the door window. I reinstalled the back and one of the sides with two layers of butyl tape. Then made sure that the seam at the bottom was sealed. I tired that creeping crack cure, larger screws and one layer of Boat Life sealant. It took two layers of sealant and now it seems OK.

I think that a non-clamp ring style plexi window (with the locking gasket) seem like a good idea for replacement the front and back. The fiberglass is pretty wavy and it seems like it hard to seal with a clamp ring. That's one of those things that's going to wait until later to make a decision on.
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Old 07-01-2017, 03:44 PM   #20
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Galvanized bolts on the floor. I tried stainless elevator bolts, broke the first one. When the second one broke out of only 5 that I tried I went to something stronger. I am not so burly that I should be able to snap off bolts when tightening them by hand.

I wanted to get rid of the 120v so I patched up the outlet with a piece that I cut out for an access door in the closet.

Inside painted. Plywood with laminate for the counter top.
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