I'm new here, so, bear with me. I bought a shell, with nothing in it, nothing.
No insulation, no cupboards, no closets, no kitchen and nothing to go by to rebuild. I have 6 people following my progress and pics to go with them.
Wondering if there are peeps out there interested how I solved all problems as I went along.
Mikey
I enjoy looking at a renovation project. I'd say, post whatever you got. It helps others with their own projects.
If you need help with your own project, there's plenty of other renovation/rebuild threads you could search.
Mikey - It sounds like we're in the same situation, although you're probably ahead of me. My '86 Cadet is gutted too. It's kind of nice to start with a clean slate and design it the way you want.
This Boler came with zero help. No closets, no benches for bed,no kitchen, no pieces of formed wood to help for shapes. The only work done after they gutted it was a new plywood floor. This was definitely ground floor. Oh, and all the rivets were drilled out. I asked if they could shrink wrap it because it was light raining and I had to get 65 miles away to home. Thank goodness the lights were OK to get on the highway.
I'm new here, so, bear with me. I bought a shell, with nothing in it, nothing.
No insulation, no cupboards, no closets, no kitchen and nothing to go by to rebuild. I have 6 people following my progress and pics to go with them.
Wondering if there are peeps out there interested how I solved all problems as I went along.
Mikey
Mike "Boler" in Nove Scotia, I would like to know all Boler owners in N.S. but you and yours especially. I got my last Boler in bad need of shell fixes a few weeks ago to go with my 2 bigger and newer 16 and 19 ft Scamps. My Scamps and I are ready to go all over N.S. and I do hope to hear from you. Please reply ASAP.
Mel Comeau, Annapolis Royal
Your project sounds to be like the one I took on when I bought my 16 ft. Casita. It did come with some but not all of the original fiberglass cabinets but they were laying in a jumbled pile in the middle of the trailer floor. Having sat like that for a numbers of years, the roof had sagged down in the middle which caused the sidewalls to pooch out. I was able to jack it all back up into place (fiberglass is very flexible) and built in supporting bulkheads which carries my new home built cabinetry. I wound up deep sixing all of the original cabinets except for the one overhead cabinet that fits across the back ceiling over the bed/ dinette area.
The one take away from my experience that I can offer is to be mindful of ceiling support as you contemplate replacement of your interior amenities.
My Boler then needed to get off the lawn...so, I got permission to go into my neighbors woods 3 feet. and I built from scratch a deck large enough to accommodate the Boler during the winter. First pic is the start and the second is the finish.
After we moved the Boler onto deck, we decided to buy a blanket for it. So, we bought a Boler specific from OverDrive. It comes with zippered door which matches the Boler and has vents and extra rain cover. It made it easier to work in the weather problem days. Some days at -10 to -20, I had a little heater on.
No need for pics.
The next two pics are the plan that the boss wanted in the end. She saw no reason to rebuild back to the factory state. Imagine my thoughts when this plan came to fruition on paper. Factory pic is first and the mod is the second.
Now, she is parked and covered and legal.....time to start this adventure.
First, empty the Boler.....keep or chuck.
I emptied the trailer and checklisted and determine what to do with it.
3-way fridge-----yuk---bought a apt. fridge. (ac only)
Heater----too rusty and not recommended with propane. (Got a Mr. Buddy,which is safer than a 40 year old heater)
2 burner hot plates----yuk, falling apart, again gas concerns. ( We bought 2 induction burners)
All cushions---yuk, all were extreme mouldy inside ( We bought all the ingredients for new cushions and we have someone doing the serging.
I don't think people want to see the old and new pics.
After everything was out there was a new plywood floor and 2 boxes of "Floor-in-a-Box" by Tarkett. This stuff is cushion flooring. It is 12" wide and the roll is 20' lg.
This pic is the floor which I cleaned and Stained to give protection.
Mikey
Now, she is parked and covered and legal.....time to start this adventure.
First, empty the Boler.....keep or chuck.
I emptied the trailer and checklisted and determine what to do with it.
3-way fridge-----yuk---bought a apt. fridge. (ac only)
Heater----too rusty and not recommended with propane. (Got a Mr. Buddy,which is safer than a 40 year old heater)
2 burner hot plates----yuk, falling apart, again gas concerns. ( We bought 2 induction burners)
All cushions---yuk, all were extreme mouldy inside ( We bought all the ingredients for new cushions and we have someone doing the serging.
I don't think people want to see the old and new pics.
After everything was out there was a new plywood floor and 2 boxes of "Floor-in-a-Box" by Tarkett. This stuff is cushion flooring. It is 12" wide and the roll is 20' lg.
This pic is the floor which I cleaned and Stained to give protection.
Mikey[/QUOTE]
My post went twice, let's continue.
After staining the plywood, I decided that this would be a good time to put down the "Floor-in-a-box". Easy....
The result is in pic 1...
Then, I jacked the roof to a height I got from a boler owner.
Then the next pic is the forms for the closets that match the curve and height needed to hold up the roof. Found holes close to the forms , so I camfered the holes and used countersunk stainless steel screws and fastened the forms.
Howdy,
Tried to edit and repost the info re: the floor plans....
The first pic is the girlfriends wish and the second is the factory plan. A big difference for sure....
Next, Thee roof needs to be supported, so I started there....made the forms made from scratch.....I used newspaper and masking tape to design the curve.
Then, used 2 forms for left closet and the other 2 for the right closet. The rivet holes that were drilled out help with the position.
The pics will show the end result.
I had an email re: insulation. When I got the Boler it was empty of everything including insulation. The "Insulite" was all removed. The only good thing about that is I don't have to do it. I have over 100 pics of this project, but, I'm trying to condense the story. This next pic is two fold, it shows the insulation and the skeleton for the benches. The insulation is "Refectix" from Home Depot. It is 2 sheets of tinfoil with bubblewrap in between. The skeleton is antirot 2X2 and the outer curve is PVC 1X2.
Due to the danger of the old 40 year old power getup.....it was time to rip that all out including the power cord to connect to a campground.
The experts say that the capacitors and resistors are failing left and right and are downright dangerous. So, the first pic was to use masking tape on my dance studio floor and plan every AC and DC spot.
The old power unit and cable are pictured below. The left cable is home made and does not have the proper 30 amp connector on it. The cable on the right is the proper cable with the proper connector on it. The yellow adapter is what you use at a campground and the only have the 15 amp service or only the 15 amp household receptacle.