1993 Scamp 16' repair and remodel

[TheWanderers]

I re-mounted the refrigerator last night and installed some new molding around the face of the frig. I also finished trimming out the re-sealed roof vent. We used Velcro to attach the trim around the vent so it'll be easy to service later if required. (no pictures of that minor job) We're at a point where we are assessing what should be done next. There are lots of holes that need patching and the weather has been pretty nice so I'm thinking that maybe we should break out the fiberglass patching kit and hit those next...

[TheWanderers]

New roll of butyl arrived on Fridday so we resealed the kitchen window Saturday morning. Easy peasy with butyl tape. That finishes the window that we know are leaking and it's time to start patching some holes. Bwahahahah!

[TheWanderers]

Dear Fiberglassrv Friends, after three trips totaling 7 nights and a lot of thoughtful consideration we have decided to sell our Ziggy. This camper is just too small for us. We have worked so hard to get this scamp ready to camp we know someone will really enjoy it.

1991 16' Scamp $8,750
Layout 4
Thetford Curve Portable Toilet
Shower (currently disconnected)
New Water Pump
Side Mount A/C
New Sliding Rear Window
New Sheet Vinyl Flooring
New Kitchen Faucet
New Smart Charger
New Spare Tire and Cover
Apartment Style Refrigerator
Magic Chef 3 burner propane stove with oven
Selling because it is too small for us. Read our ad here. PM for more info or questions.

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi Laura and Bill!

Just finished reading your posts since early May. The two of you have done amazing things with Ziggy! I wish I had 1/2 of your ingenuity.

Ziggy will be a great Scamp for someone.

Any plans on your next RV? Fiberglass? Other?

Take care,

Dean

[TheWanderers]

Hi Dean!
Since Bill is so tall we are looking at taller campers of which there aren't many. We have considered Lil Snoozy and Parkliner but would like to gain some living space. Boy the prices on everything are so high! And as you know it's a challenge to get anything here in the USA. As nice as an Escape would be if I had to pay all the important and delivery fees I would just as well buy an Airstream in Ohio. We've been shopping and will continue. Fiberglass is definitely the way to go and we are pretty in love with that whole concept. So if we can find one that fits that we can afford we will definitely prefer that. If we win the lotto - it will be an Oliver!

Thanks for your note!

Laura (not Bill)

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi Laura and Bill,

The Egg Campers (brand) offer quite a bit of interior height. They are all electric, which may or may not be a deal breaker.

Take care,

Dean

[TheWanderers]

Hi Dean!
Thanks for your note. Yes an Egg Camper would be great. All electric doesn't bother us at all. The problem is they are not in production anymore and you can't get one. Bill talked to the owner of the company before we bought Ziggy. We would like to buy the company and keep making them but alas no lotto winnings YET . If you come across one for sale please do let us know. Escape, BigFoot, Oliver, Egg Camper would work for us.

Hope you are out camping and having a blast!

[TheWanderers]

See pic of interior A/C on its new slide mount. The back end of the unit slides just outside the camper as it would be for a window mount. Bill built very good support and it works very well. Cools the camper down quickly, is quiet and even looks nice inside. I'm impressed with how well this words and best of all the condensation stays outside where it belongs.

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi Laura and Bill,

Wow, Ziggy is all that plus tax and a bag of chips!!! You guys have done an amazing job.

See ya,

Dean

[emij]

You have done an amazing job!! Hope you find another egg that is the best fit!

[TheWanderers]

Thanks Emily,
We are definitely on an Egg Hunt , please keep your eyes peeled for us
It will take a while because as you know it's hard to get your hands on them but we are hunting!

Laura (not Bill)

[TheWanderers]

Well, this afternoon, in the heat of the day, I pulled the can of Bondo Short Strand Fiberglass patching material out and jumped in with both feet! I've been calling them "bullet holes" because there were 14 different holes in the shell from various improvements that we've made that needed patching.

However, to be fair, the holes were different sizes that ranged from shotgun sized to 22 caliber and were on both sides and the back. Let me explain...

When we began our remodel, first thing I did was pull the residential light fixture that was over the refrigerator/stove area because it was mostly made of glass and had already shed one of the glass panels during the ride home from Michigan. Well,...that was enough of that and I pulled the entire fixture, capped and taped the wiring and used duct tape to seal the holes through the shell. We have since installed three puck lights under that kitchen cabinet that work just fine for the few times that we've felt we needed that area lighted.

On the back of the camper, it looked like we had been escapees from a shotgun wedding because there were two massive hole where the spare tire had been hanging on the shell. We installed the spare tire carrier that fits into the hitch receiver on the bumper but that left two huge holes that I covered with, you guessed it, duct tape. They were about 1" across and there was some damage to the shell where they had been stressed from the weight of the tire bouncing along as the camper traveled down the road.

Also, near the back, on the right corner of the shell was the fresh water fill point for the internal fresh water tank, That we no longer have, that had been removed, leaving the mount hole that was almost 2" across as well as the three mounting screw holes from the plastic inlet. GONE! Maybe the exit side of a 30.06 deer rifle slug...

Lastly, there were five holes under the kitchen sink from the electrical breaker box as well as the electrical outlet that fed the water heater that went directly through the shell. Those holes were about the caliber of a 9mm handgun.

I think you can see that we looked every bit like someone that had escaped from a B movie drug smuggler camp and could only guess how many FBI agents were on the lookout for us!

So, I broke out the Bondo and the hand sander; after a light sanding to create a margin around each of the holes, I mixed my patch material and started filling each area/hole with a little of the patch. The can recommended multiple layers for most effective coverage so that was my plan.

It worked like a charm and after patching and sanding (I hate sanding) and patching and sanding (did I mention that I HATE sanding) those holes are his-tor-ree! The patching material is a forest green color so there are some rather awkward markings on Ziggy just now but the mess is cleaned up and I'm planning of finishing the patch job with some glazing material to smooth out the final pin holes/divots.

All things considered, I did great. (Yup, y'all can cheer now, here, if'n you want to...it looks fantastic.) We are water tight and ready for camping!

Sorry, no pictures because this job is boring! And messy, so I wasn't touching my camera while I was wearing rubber gloves and a face mask. But, I'm feeling pretty good about this...thinking about a little while paint to touch up those dark patched areas, but it's awesome!

[TheWanderers]

Well, after a few weeks of advertising and showing a few times as well as months of shopping, we realized that we can't find anything we want to afford better than Ziggy. So,...we're keeping him. I've pulled the Craigslist ad and notified the moderators here to move our advertisement to the archives.

And so, we've made a list of modifications that will change our little Scamp, significantly. We're going to completely remove the shower fixers and plumbing, remove the LP stove and refrigerator and convert that space into a combination bed extension/storage. We'll be adding a Yeti cooler to our kit for food storage that will most probably live in the back of the Jeep during our camping adventures and are considering several other space/storage mods to enable Ziggy to serve our needs better and eliminate the "rubik's race" of shuffling totes to get to different parts of our gear.

This means I'll be patching the holes in the shell where the stove/fridge cabinet is mounted and building a custom bench frame to be mounted to the floor on that side of the cabin. Oh, also, we're entertaining a custom paint job but are undecided if we'll have it painted professionally or if'n we'll paint it ourselves. All the research has been completed on that part of the project and we only need to decide based on the economics of the job.

Gettin' crazy around here, again!

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi Laura and Bill!

Cool beans! We are excited to hear that you will be keeping Ziggy and modifying him to be the perfect adventure-mobile for you. Hey, does this mean that the LBL Rally is still on your calendar or will work schedule(s) interfere?

Take care,

Dean

[TheWanderers]

Stove and fridge have already been removed. I put those bad boys in the basement and will prolly be selling them later. I've drilled out the pop rivets with Laura's help and we were working on removing the cabinet but a rain storm intervened and we've been put on hold for the rest of the evening.

Dean; hard to tell about the LBL Rally because that so far away on the calendar. We have a new rule that any trips will not be made if the weather forecast shows rain and we will only be patronizing parks with better than average bath/shower facilities (we hope). What are the facilities like at the LBL locations? I realize that there are more than a few campgrounds there and that we most likely would not be in the same group if we reserved now because of the lateness of schedules, however, camping in October should be some of the best times in Kentucky! Sweet days and cool nights by the fire, howling at the moon! Whooohooo!

I have a lot of fiberglass patching to do between now and then. Best git buzy!

[dbdbgriggs]

Another scamper on here, redbaron55 has done a mod similar to what you are thinking, with full length beds. He did a beautiful job, worth a peek! In fact I had you two confused!!

PS, what fridge and stove do you have, might be interested!
Thanks
Doug Griggs
83 Scamp 16
"Trash Panda"


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[TheWanderers]

Fridge is a standard tiny POS and I'm keeping it for in the basement but the stove is 3 burner Dometic I think. It's a little rough and we've never lite it but there are old matches under the cover that prove evidence that someone at least tried to light it at one time. That's in the basement for now.

Bill was wrong the stove is not a Dometic, it is a Magic Chef, 3 burners. Look like the stove top has been used but I swear that oven looks new. Bill will post a picture of the stove later.

[Sheryl M]

Well I'm also glad to see you changed your mind and kept it. I've been watching your thread to see what else you plan to modify. I was especially interested in the awning you installed.

[TheWanderers]

Hi SherylM, Thanks for your note! The awning is a Shady Boy and we are so pleased with it. It is super shady and super sturdy! It has survived a tornado warning and several terrific and long downpours. It is very lightweight so not weighing our camper down. Really a neat thing.

Since we are keeping Ziggy the mods will keep coming. We can't make Bill any smaller and we can't make Ziggy any bigger so the rearranging will be interesting.

Laura

[Sheryl M]

I've forgotten what model ziggy is, but you need one like ours, which is a one of a kind custom deluxe model. It's a 1994, and looks a lot like a Casita Libery in layout. It's got two twin 'bunks' in the back that run back to front (80" long on each side)... you can slide a board in between the two bunks and turn the bed area into a king size bed. From the back, looking forward, all the kitchen is on the left side - sink and 3 burner stove. The porta potty room is up front on the left side, with a closet on the right side (before the door and at the door). We leave the bunks made up as beds (and removed the table) -- so if we have to eat inside, we get creative.