Insulating 1982 Perris Pacer (Scamp clone)

[Misfit_Mama]

Hi! Let me preface this by saying I have never owned a travel trailer before. I recently bought a 1982 Perris Pacer off of Craigslist that I have lovingly named Penelope. So if I refer to it as her or Penelope, you understand. She is in decent condition for a 30 year old trailer, but most things in her are original and nothing has been updated in the last 10 years, at least.

The carpet on her walls is disgusting, looking at it makes me twitchy and I have to pull it down ASAP. I have a 9 month old daughter and I just can't stand the thought of her sleeping in that thing with that musty old carpet still intact. I have no idea what I am doing or where to even start when it comes to insulating her. We're going on our first trip in two weeks so I need to think fast.

I live in the mojave desert so I really need some sort of insulation against the extremely varying temps. I've looked at Ensolite Ensolite IUO Peel and Stick, 14 sq ft - RAAMaudio Inc. but I don't know if it's paintable or what. I saw someone post about paint on insulation, but couldn't find anymore about it.

Tips, tricks, advice? Anything would be appreciated! Thanks

Penelope as she looked the day I brought her home.

[HappyFamily]

Hi Melanie! We're brand new to the forum as well; we looked at your little Perris Pacer on Sunday the 19th but decided it would be too small for us. She sure is pretty though! I'm so glad we passed on everything we saw that Sunday as our trailer was listed for sale that very evening.

Hopefully we'll run into you camping really soon; we can't make Agua Caliente but maybe at Lake Casitas, or maybe we'll just spot you around (your Penelope will be hard to miss). We'll be at Yucaipa Regional this weekend for a shakedown and then have reservations coming up for Doheny State Beach and Hurkey Creek Park.

Congratulations!

[Misfit_Mama]

Ha, that's awesome. I love her, so I am glad you passed and found something more fitting. We camp mostly around the high desert, but I'm hoping now that we have a trailer we can make more beach runs. I'm super excited for it.

[HappyFamily]

We've never camped in the high desert, well, I guess Joshua Tree and Calico are high desert, but other than that we really haven't. We've done lots of beach camping, mountain camping, etc. mostly in So Cal but also up the coast to Oregon, also at the Grand Canyon and Zion. All with pop-up trailers though, not an egg. We started when my youngest was just two; how fun it will be for your daughter to grow up camping!

[ceilityme]

Check out this site. They've redone a pacer and it's pretty amazing.

1982 Perris Pacer - TEP Fiberglass Camper Restoration

[WildBirder]

to the forum, all the posting newbies included

I think the ensolite link you posted doesn't have a coating, like vinyl. You could look into "marine carpet" aka around here as "rat fur". It is what scamp installs in their trailers. From what I've read here and online it's a synthetic, easy to clean and mold/mildew resistant. Thus the use in boats. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Mark

[Donna D.]

Melanie, the biggest problem is the corner areas. You'll need to use something bendable and that won't pucker or you'll end up with a whole bunch of wrinkles. I can understand how you feel about disgusting carpeting, but since it's on the walls it's not like it's all worn out from being walked on and dirt truly ground in. Have you considered renting a steam carpet cleaner and giving it a thorough clean job (don't soak the carpet!) and giving it a chance to freshen up. I know that's what I'd do before I'd tackle pulling it all out and replacing. Not only because I'm cheap, but I'm more interested in camping than fixing what might not need fixin'.

YMMV

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by ceilityme

Check out this site. They've redone a pacer and it's pretty amazing.

1982 Perris Pacer - TEP Fiberglass Camper Restoration

Robert Johans, of the Egg Plant fame, is a member of FiberglassRV and we've all been privey to his wonderful work. Nice stuff!

[alan H]

I live in so calif....Thousand oaks to be exact....our 1981 perris pacer has a vinyl insulated material....Mine was rather ugly when we purchased our trailer....We scrubbed it down and then painted it (not the easest paint job) with all of the little crevices it was like painting an english muffin.....however it came out pretty good and really provides a great insulation factor....as we have camped in the desert as well as some cold nights at the beach

I believe this was the orginal mat'l