1983 Niewiadow n126e full rebuild - Fiberglass RV
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Old 11-19-2020, 03:16 PM   #1
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Name: Valentine
Trailer: Niewiadow
Kyiv
Posts: 33
1983 Niewiadow n126e full rebuild

Hey,

I'm from Ukraine, so please forgive me for my English beforehand. I have my own fiberglass caravan rebuild story and I believe this community is a right place to share it. For now I have done about 70% of planned and here I will post the process step by step as I have documented it pretty thoroughly.

Here is how it looked when I bought it.


Unfortunately I have no photos from inside so I'll start from this.
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Old 11-21-2020, 11:04 AM   #2
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Ontario
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Looks like a good project ... and your English is good too!
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Old 11-21-2020, 11:47 AM   #3
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Trailer: Scamp 16 ft Side Dinette
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Good to see you have a VW van. We have had 5 or 6 over the years. and still would, except they went to the front engine (Eurovan) which spoiled the driver's space inside.
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Old 11-21-2020, 12:09 PM   #4
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Welcome! I love the Cadets (as they're known over here), and I'll look forward to your posts.

Your written English seems better than many native speakers, based on seven years of reading posts on this forum!
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Old 11-21-2020, 01:04 PM   #5
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Trailer: Predom Prespol (N126N) Captain
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Captain

Good luck with the renovations. We renovated a 1989 Captain N126 and it turned out well. The captain is now with a new owner as we decided we wanted a bathroom.

We replaced the vinyl floor (including one corner of the plywood) and the knitted polyester liner but kept the original curtains and cushions and covers. We also replaced the vinyl strip on the exterior aluminum channels. We had to buy it in UK because they don't sell the right size here. After an incident with a garage door, we had to replace the roof hatch. We got a new one shipped from Poland. Trim is gray, not brown but who is looking. .......

The stove top and sink are the original ones. The little submersible pump still worked so nothing changed for the plumbing. We had the original add-a- room complete with all the crazy aluminum pipes. We also re-installed the surge brake system that a previous owner removed and stored. We never had the hammocks that went over the dinette.

We added some electrical outlets and a TV mounting bracket and an aluminum Venetian blind over the stove (for safety - we didn't like a cloth curtain over a stove).

We pulled out windows and resealed them with butyl caulking. We used the same rubber gaskets and windows.

One thing I wish we had done when the liner was ripped out was to replace the screws under the exterior aluminum channels with stainless steel ones. The old screws were rusting out and turned out to be a source of minor leaks.

If I was feeling rich, I would have painted it. That's for the current owner😁
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Old 11-23-2020, 10:36 AM   #6
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Name: Valentine
Trailer: Niewiadow
Kyiv
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Thank you all for your warm welcome!

Unfortunately I hadn't started to post my progress here from the beginning so now I have to post work results done nearly a year ago. But still I believe my experience could be useful for others who decide to rebuild their trailer.

Let's start.

The trailer was completely disassembled, sandpapered and painted. Gelcoat was all covered with cracks and fissures, so it was a necessity. I hired a person who did it for me.





When I was waiting for my trailer to be painted I managed to buy all the new and additional lights. I've decided to change rear lights, reflectors and add top lights in order to increase visibility on the road at night.







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Old 12-02-2020, 11:50 AM   #7
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Name: Valentine
Trailer: Niewiadow
Kyiv
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I have portable gas fridge that is usually stays in the awning but I wanted to have compressor fridge inside the trailer as well but was thinking between 12v fridge and 220v fridge+inverter.

After founding this video I've decided to use standard 220v fridge.

https://youtu.be/lQ48BgvJIJw

The guy is a bit tiresome but very scrupulous. So as a result I've bought small
220v fridge with A++ consumption and pure sine inverter for it.

By the way the fridge is 45watt but starting current more then 10 times bigger. So I had to buy 500 watt inverter with 1 kilowatt peak power. The one with 600 watt peak hadn't started the compressor. Inverter bought on Ali.
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Old 12-02-2020, 12:04 PM   #8
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Name: Valentine
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Then I got my trailer back. Painted

I've put new hinges on and installed the door. You can see before\after as the inside of the door was not painted.
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Old 12-05-2020, 10:27 PM   #9
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Name: Barry
Trailer: Taurus Cadet - N126
Smithers
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Keep it coming Cadet Rebuild

Hi there:

I am rebuilding a 1985 Cadet N126-d unit myself through the Covid lockdown. A million decisions and new challenges for a first time Caravan/RV'r. Thank you for your story. We have lots to learn from your experience.

About to receive a bunch of parts from the Netherlands via
www.PredomOnderdelen.nl . Roy V has been very helpful.

Good luck and looking forward to more posts.

Regards,

Barry Watson
Smithers, BC
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Old 12-07-2020, 03:09 PM   #10
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Name: Valentine
Trailer: Niewiadow
Kyiv
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Tried to clean and polish aluminum windows' moldings, it is pretty difficult but with the right tools it is possible

As I planned to hide all lights' wires under the upholstery I needed to install all lights on their places beforehand. The same with moldings fasteners etc. So outer tasks should go before inner ones.
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Old 12-07-2020, 03:17 PM   #11
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Name: Valentine
Trailer: Niewiadow
Kyiv
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I've decided to use stainless steel screws and bolts all over the trailer.

Bolts for the number plate were fiberglassed from the inside and have blind nuts with threadlocker glue from the outside.
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Old 12-07-2020, 03:21 PM   #12
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Name: Valentine
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Tried on windows' moldings and grips. New upper lights installed.
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Old 12-07-2020, 03:29 PM   #13
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Name: Valentine
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It starded to look nice from the outside
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Old 12-09-2020, 08:30 AM   #14
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But from the inside.. Many wooden parts were destroyed by the water leaks for 30 years.
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Old 12-09-2020, 08:35 AM   #15
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Name: Valentine
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So in order to prevent that in future I'm using polyurethane sealant everywhere. That's how I lead lights' wires inside.
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Old 12-09-2020, 09:43 AM   #16
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Name: Valentine
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I had not too much time on searching for some specific rear lights so I bought some I found in the nearest store. They have two white rear lights that I don't need on my trailer so I decided to use red LED lamps there. Worked well.
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Old 12-09-2020, 09:56 AM   #17
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It's looking good and you're making lots of progress. Probably not a good term to use on a fibreglass trailer forum but ... I better get "cracking" with my 1986 Cadet.
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Old 12-09-2020, 02:17 PM   #18
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Name: Valentine
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Side hatch.
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Old 04-29-2021, 02:13 AM   #19
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Name: Valentine
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Wire work. Protect everything which would be under the floor.
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Old 04-29-2021, 02:51 AM   #20
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Name: Valentine
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35 years old wires needed some attantion.
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