Preparing a 1991 Scamp 16

[honda03842]

Eddie and Steve,

Thanks for the info. I have a couple of holes to fill, more if I change the cabinet's upper doors.

[honda03842]

Finished the last door today. Now have about a 10% bigger opening and I am now in the process of re-orging the closet, making better places for things, making the space more useful.

I had some trouble re-inserting the hinge screws and tried an old woodworking trick, putting a little soap on the screw threads. It seemed to help.

I am really happy with the Birch plywood doors. The are definitely lghter and more attractive and lighter in weight and color than the previous faux wood.

From inside, I now move outside to install a second plastic fence post under the bumper box for awning storage.

[Carol H]

Norm, do you have an pictures of how you did the bathroom door?

[Steve Hammel]

Looks awesome!!!!

[honda03842]

Carol,

The only door I haven't donr is the bathroom door. We've decided to put it off until we have more time.

My plan is to cut a piece of 1/2 inch birch plywood to size and coat it with multiple coats of urethane to waterproof it.

If we have time before we're off I'll post it.

I went 315 days without being sick one day. A few days after getting home I had a wicked cold for 10 days...go figure...a little behind schedule.

[Steve Hammel]

Look into a roll of real wood veneer. Some of it you can iron on, others you have to glue on with contact cement. It's very reasonable and easy to work with.

[cpaharley2008]

How ironic you getting sick while home! Seems to me something is telling you to get back on the road to stay healthy!!!!

[honda03842]

I just filled in the title when we had an earthquake tremor, shook the house pretty well. First time ever for us that we've felt, 4.9.

This is the bumper box. It was supported by the bumper, one plastic fence post and two right angle brackets. I'm removing the brackets and adding a second plastic fence post.

The first post holds our long sewer hose.

The second post wll hold our clothes line, useful to us because we frequently have bathing suits and towels to dry, and our awning poles.

As to my 'at home illness' I do need to get back on the road, it's a health issue. (Ginny's smiling)

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by honda03842

I just filled in the title when we had an earthquake tremor, shook the house pretty well. First time ever for us that we've felt, 4.9.

LOL you've got to spend more time on the coast Norm - people here tend not to even notice half of them until they get into the mid 5's and low 6's.

[honda03842]

When you've never experienced one, even a little bit is exciting....

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Jim,

What did you do about the holes where the former side hinges mounted?

used some white bath caulk, had to re move and reglue the wood backing strips
and then some white caulk to fill the holes, pushed in with a putty knife and dabbed smooth with wet finger to where just the hole was full.

[honda03842]

I completed adding a second fence post under the Bumper Box.

The first post holds our long sewer hose and our rubber donut.

The second post holds our clothes line and awning poles.

The box to the right of the bumper box is mounted on slides to the bottom of the floor. It slides back under the trailer and rides against the floor held in place by a simple 1/2 turn fastener. This box holds little used items, screws, bolts, ratchet wrench, 3 sets of sockets and drill bits.

[honda03842]

I've learned the little things are important. Each time I get a chance I try to improve trailer storage, not necessarily to make room for more items but for each item to have a place.

Today, a rainy day in NH, I've added a little shelf for the coffee filters over the can of coffee.

I am now in the process of making two holders on the side of the over couch cabinet for each of our Nook e-readers. Formally the Nooks were in the bottom of the over couch cabinet, covered by this or that.

Though sometimes I get crazy looks I believe that successfully long term RVing requires more order than one might have in their stationary home.

[cpaharley2008]

"Though sometimes I get crazy looks I believe that successfully long term RVing requires more order than one might have in their stationary home."
And unlike at home, everything needs to be put back after use, if not, chaos follows quickly.

[honda03842]

I should have said Nook shelves. Ginny and I each have a Nook and in my organization paranoia I added two little selves on the end of our over the couch storage cabinet.

The Nook has gone along way to eliminating the need to carry books. Because we have a single Nook account, any book she buys appears on my Nook. The Nooks allow us to buy books and as well down load books from the state of NH lending system.

The first picture shows the Nooks in place.

The second picture shows one of the Nooks being charged by our solar panel's output via a 12-5 volt regulator. To charge the Nook it gets turned on it's side in it's holder to access the charging port. It turns out that a single charge lasts about a month.

[cpaharley2008]

Norm,
Why are you avoiding Missouri? It appears on your map on the window as the only state not visited/colored in?

[honda03842]

It turns out four of our best RVing friends live in Missouri and we probably go there every other year on our way west or east depending on the direction of our loops of the USA.

It must be a lighting anamoly.

Definitely Missouri has a lot to see and do. Branson alone could occupy a lifetime.

This year we visited 33 states and two provinces.

[honda03842]

Increased and improved tray storage on Overhead Cabinet supports. I doubled the number of trays and mounted them to a birch plywood sandwich.

There's always a need for small stuff storage.

[honda03842]

As you may know we shortened our table to a 'table for two', now making a hinged folding table that can be configured for four and be unfolded to make up the bed.

We decided to make up the bed every night last year because we felt it takes just minutes and provides more daytime useable space. At the same time it provides a more open feeling to the trailer.

Last year we used two pieces of memory foam to top the cushions for sleeping. The memory foam worked but was a little bit of a pain to store. We stored the memory foam under the bottom and back of the couch.

On our trip we met David and Paula. They use self-inflating camping mattress from Alps available in many sizes in stores and Amazon. We purchased two, a 5 foot and a 4 foot.

Amazon.com: ALPS Mountaineering Lightweight Series Self-Inflating Air Pad: Sports & Outdoors

They are interesting because they really provide an adjustable mattress depending on the amount of air. Beyond being self inflating, you can further firm it up by blowing into the valve.

By letting air out while lying on it you can adjust your comfort level.

We store ours behind the back of the front couch. We bought new cushions from Scamp this year and did not attach the top of the couch to the front wall. This allows us to fold the couch forward a little and slip the mattress pads behing them, it only takes seconds.

I should mention that David and Paula bought two 4 foot pads and they store them under the dinette seat chushions.

[honda03842]

I like to have a place for everything and also like to use the space that's not available for traditional storage, mostly due to the curved nature of the Scamp and most fiberglass trailers.

I've installed drawers under the dinette and couch. Because drawers are square and the walls are curved there's always wasted space behind the drawers available for storing rarely accessed items.

Under the couch, behind the drawer I have installed a 4" high wall to contain small items. In my case I use this space for a soldering iron, wire and spare extension cords.

The picture is looking down thru the access hole in the top of the couch. The plastic piece is the plastic framework of this drawer.

I plan to install a similar wall behind the two under dinette drawers.