Tote-n-Tarry Lemon Chiffon Rehab

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

I just wanted to show the front and back molded in upper cabs...Some brands have this, some don't, I believe. These are good upper structural additions I think. There's missing doors, I will have to make some. I also want to use European hidden hinges so those rusty external ones won't be in the final either.



Also, this is how the cut went for the initial phase of dinette/banquette rehab-ing (more importantly for now it allows me easier access too)...the front was nipped but not the back molded glass, and the entire fascia will be outfitted with tigerwood. I think I will replace the wood underneath it (only the banquette part has wood, the rest is fiberglass flooring) all too.
You can see how mangle-ated the door frame was; former owners had let the door sag and used cheap foam-tape insulation strips to make it somewhat weather-tight, until the obvious route of removing the door and hinges by brute force and reinforcing it all was probably too onerous a job and they sold it.






My latest project now though, is using those heat-shrink butt connectors for marine 12 V connections...may work, may not work...

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

I was complaining here I couldn't shove an electrical wire fish-rod through the wall cavities, for some reason, but I know there's these cavities in at least the entire roof perimeter and the upper1/3 of the front and back walls and maybe the upper 1/4 of the side walls because I can hear them, see them, and the old wires went through them...then I got to wondering if anyone had used spray foam in these cavities? Wouldn't that be slick? Maybe? Could drill some expansion holes and shoot in some Great Stuff Big Gap, and when it poured out of the holes you'd know you got it, cut that off, fiberglass repair over the holes...maybe use something else on the wall parts without the cavity. Plus the rigid foam would add some lightweight sturdiness. Thoughts?

Also I think I'm going to wait for better weather and spray foam underneath the floor. I was going to use rigid 1" on top, but then the flooring would be limited due to the squishiness of that material. I kind of want to clean and sand it all down and maybe use some neat epoxy finish. This is a picture of a standard RV trailer which has been spray-foamed underneath, avoiding the chassis. Again, another "I saw it on the net, then I thought of it" idea... Thoughts?

[Borrego Dave]

Hi Suz, I couldn't find anything on what type of walls you have, single or double hull. BUT, I will tell you that using an expanding foam in any confined space is tricky. It is very easy to over fill the space and have it bulge or blow it apart . Using the max expantion ones it's wild watching it keep moving. It's a learning curve, it's better to stop spraying and adding more as you need to fill gap. Spray foams do come in different expantion %s. It would be a good insulator though.

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Spray foams do come in different expantion %s.

And even non-expanding for those areas you especially don't want any "swellage". I don't think it has been mentioned but one truck to pulling in new wire is to use the old as the "pull string". If the old fit, the new should too.

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

Both excellent contributions to this puzzle...
I will try to reuse the wire stubbies to pull new wires...as far as the foam I could try an area behind the cabinet with expansion holes, just do a little at a time (you can use WD-40, the youtubers say, to clean the spigot so you can re=use the Great Stuff). I am told that by putting the GS in a bowl of hot water it will come out faster. I would be extremely careful trying to foam in those cavities, but the idea is near irresistible. Then I'd have only a fraction of uninsulated wall to cover with "something". I did find the factory had insulated with teensy amounts of fiberglass batting, but it's up to 1" availlable space so that'd be a lot of insulation factor from the GS.
Thanks

Also, the coating material most people recommend here, can't remember the name but I amazon'ed it and it's really expensive, then I came across a Harbor Freight truck bed coating which gets rave reviews and is much less spendy...they also sell a bio-safe rust remover. My trailer chassis is not bent or broken, just has surface rust. If I did the rust-removal then truck bed coating on it wouldn't that work? Thanks.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Tote-n-Tarry No.2

Both excellent contributions to this puzzle...
I will try to reuse the wire stubbies to pull new wires...as far as the foam I could try an area behind the cabinet with expansion holes, just do a little at a time (you can use WD-40, the youtubers say, to clean the spigot so you can re=use the Great Stuff). I am told that by putting the GS in a bowl of hot water it will come out faster. I would be extremely careful trying to foam in those cavities, but the idea is near irresistible. Then I'd have only a fraction of uninsulated wall to cover with "something". I did find the factory had insulated with teensy amounts of fiberglass batting, but it's up to 1" availlable space so that'd be a lot of insulation factor from the GS.
Thanks

Also, the coating material most people recommend here, can't remember the name but I amazon'ed it and it's really expensive, then I came across a Harbor Freight truck bed coating which gets rave reviews and is much less spendy...they also sell a bio-safe rust remover. My trailer chassis is not bent or broken, just has surface rust. If I did the rust-removal then truck bed coating on it wouldn't that work? Thanks.

As far as the foam, I don't think I would want it to come out any faster, it's fast enough. As long as there is adequite room for it to fill into and over flow to, there shouldn't be a problem. It trims easy. Any wiring would have to finished first and fully working as you will never be able to pull a wire after it's in the foam. The first time I had to use it in a comfined space I made a mockup to see exactly how much or little I was going to need for it to fill.
There are many rust removal systems availible. POR 15 seems to be a good cover coating.

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

Yes, I'll take foaming slower than faster. I think I'll use the small gap filler first.

Today I'm out there, it's a balmy 44F, and playing with my fish rods, old wires...which won't work as fish lines, too short...but I discovered this cavity between the double hull ranges from 1/2" to about 1.5" and I can run wires pretty easily by "meeting in the middle" in the upper kitchen cabinet and lower one too. Wow. Easier than I thought. After I run the wire blunts then I can insulate. In nicer weather we'll insulate underneath.
I wound up buying new door hinges but I got polished stainless steel strap flush hinges for a Burro, I hope these work, if not I'll try again. I think these will lend more door support due to the position of the holes, plus I'll reinforce them on the back with washers, wood, or combo and they'll look amazing. The old aluminum hinges had self-welded to the steel bolts, so once drilled out they looked beat up. By the time I'd put washers over the front and back and so forth...bleigh.
So I have to fiberglass over the old hinge holes, which I would've had to do anyway since they were very enlarged from use making the door sag. Nobody took care of this poor Totey :-( and yet here she is, still intact...kind of amazing. Bodes well for her future.
So, a bit of progress anyway...

[Donna D.]

A Tote N Tarry is double-hulled? New one on me. Hey, I like gaining knowledge.

there have been folks that tried to use expanding foam... with kinda disasterous results. But, it's a new day, new(er) stuff.

Keep us informed...

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

I never dream t this little trailer would top out my garage header so I didn't even bother to measure (no, didn't hit anything). 3-4" too tall. After ruling out deflating tires, it's now under my carport, at least out of the rain (I don't live on lakefront property, just after torrential rains like these I do!) but still in the c-c-c-cold.

[Rick Mooyman]

Get yourself some smaller rims with no tires and wheel it into the garage that way.

Originally Posted by Tote-n-Tarry No.2

I never dream t this little trailer would top out my garage header so I didn't even bother to measure (no, didn't hit anything). 3-4" too tall. After ruling out deflating tires, it's now under my carport, at least out of the rain (I don't live on lakefront property, just after torrential rains like these I do!) but still in the c-c-c-cold.Attachment 79393

[David B.]

Here is a couple of visuals.

Dave & Paula

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

"Don't deflate your tires you'll harm the rims, the tire will unseal!"
LOL---solution: just use bum old little rims! Y'know I even called Les Schwab to see if they sold iddy biddy doll tires or something, and they didn't even think of this. I love it. Hmmm...junk yard phone calls...
Thank you.

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

I had to remove this, sadly, but this shell has been latex painted and will need major strippage later. I photographed it so I can duplicate the art in a stencil later.

Actually it's "Tote n' Tarry"

[Donna D.]

Perfect! Thanks very much. I appreciate the effort, truly

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

Well today I will work to return my charger and panel, hopefully, and get a PD-4045, which will be $145. Thanks Bob Miller! On the learning curve here.

Does anyone know, by the way, if the belly band on this Totie can/should be removed? It's aluminum and different from the other brands a bit, sticks out and serves as a wonderful "cup" to gather rain water around the perimeter, which was globbed with silicon (I removed it with very low setting heat gun then it just came out like an enormous perimeter jelly snake). I'm thinking "there's gotta be a better way"; but if I yank this band out to glass it over ... the whole top won't disassemble will it? That would fall in the "badness" category.

Also has anyone who has made a full-time bed, made a huge drawer under it, like maybe a tray drawer, upon which one could place plastic boxes, or maybe those coated-metal drawers? Otherwise getting under there would be kind of tricky. There's so much possible storage under that bed, the starboard side is for the water tank (I did a weight distribution diagram and that's where some extra mass was needed), the port side is for misc. storage, the center would be perfect for stuff you'd access a lot, clothes/shoes/jackets/blankets etc. I was thinking those really long drawer runners used on cabinet garbage cans would be good.

Has anyone ever extended the closet, maybe 6-8"? Given the full time bed configuration you need access to it but not as much as for the dinette. And has anyone figured they could squeeze their derrière into a toidy in that area? Could you configure a porta-potty to a more permanent state by diverting waste to an above-floor holding tank which had a sewer port like a regular RV? The water tank is back there pressurized with a pump. I know...I should get the thing waterproofed and wired and insulated before thinking of such things...

We did 2 days of sandblasting...first go around was to use Harbor Freight's little spot blaster with Home Depot sand, respirator, goggles, big face cloth, hat, heavy gloves, here we go....ok...waiting...nothing... any moisture in sand, no go...any pebbles, no go. We dried the sand in a big box in the garage (but then kitty found it...why oh why?) then sieved it and it worked great. After that 50lb bag ran out we went to McLendon's and got quartz and the nasty rust and pitted paint that wouldn't budge melted right off the hitch and bumper. That and the fresh weld-ings got some raw-metal gray primer for the time being.

Thanks for any and all input(s)!

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

Shows original hitch situation before welding of a tire "holder", propane tank "T" and "foot" for the lift ... and sand blasting and primer painting. I tried twice with paint remover and rust remover but that stuff wasn't budging until quartz sandblasting.
Still have to figure out how to secure the propane tank but it's got a sturdy "spot" anyway.

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

This shows (more or less)how the bumper was rusty with pitted-paint, now cleaned with quartz sandblasting, and how the cargo container was welded on, which leaves the trailer hitch free. It's all been painted with gray flat rustoleum primer for the time being.

Also, I think I'm just going to glass in the "dip" between the shell and the belly band later when the weather warms up, that way it won't leak and I won't open an uncertain situation as to whether or not the belly band on this brand is structural.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Tote-n-Tarry No.2

Does anyone know, by the way, if the belly band on this Totie can/should be removed? It's aluminum and different from the other brands a bit, sticks out and serves as a wonderful "cup" to gather rain water around the perimeter, which was globbed with silicon (I removed it with very low setting heat gun then it just came out like an enormous perimeter jelly snake). I'm thinking "there's gotta be a better way"; but if I yank this band out to glass it over ... the whole top won't disassemble will it? That would fall in the "badness" category.

Don't know about your build, sorry. I know Scamp (and maybe others) build each part separately. Put the halves together and fiberglass the two together, whether exterior or interior ??

I do know Escape Trailer Industries marries both parts together, and fiberglasses on the interior before the trailer is removed from the mold. Your build ?? Let us know how it works out for you...

[Tote-n-Tarry No.2]

In light of the complex and numerous items to finish, I, as fiberglass-newbie decided to categorize my transformation of shell-to-finished product in terms of systems: 1. Foundational (sand blast/prime frame, weld-on cargo container, put on stabilizer jacks) 2. Electrical (install all, connect all gizmos, test) 3. Gas (install all lines, install stove/heater, test) 4. Plumbing (install lines, pump, tanks, test) 5. "Furnishings" (uninstall test appliances, build cabinets, countertop, bed, table, paint/finish interior etc., reinstall appliances/toilet/sink etc.) 6. Environmental (fan, insulation, CO/propane alarms, heater, interior silicon of all seams for ultimate waterproofing) 7. "Decorations" (Flooring, backsplash, cushions, mattress, storage, etc.) and finally 8. Exterior (sand, bondo, glass, fix windows, tape off and prep for painting, new hubcaps, etc.).

So as to not get overwhelmed I try to stay "on track" and pick away at one system at a time, now it's the electrical. I put in (and by this I mean they're fed between the 2 wall hulls requiring lots of finagling ...) all of the appliance/light/pump wires. I had to, for the second time rewire the trailer lights since now they're sitting up high above the cargo container and they'll be aligned for a 7 prong configuration in case some day brakes might be added, and I got a junction box to put all of those into (yet to do). I bought 7 12V LED on/off toggle switches to control the fridge, pump, all four port/starboard/fore/aft porch lights and undercab string LED lights from a panel under the dinette table and all of these go in-line to the circuit panel which I'll be figuring out next. I installed one 110 plug-in, and next will be the 30A inlet, battery (in box, will install vent as it goes under the banquette area), circuit breakers and 12V DC. I'm researching this and reading a lot.

It's tempting to venture into other things especially as the weather improves and lovely birds start singing again, but the boring fundamentals must be in place first.

I've also been winter camping again in my bigrig Class C, which is not big...it's only 20' but you can camp below freezing and take a hot shower and stay warm. There's an overcab, foldout couch and dinette and the manufacturer actually says it's supposed to sleep 6...well you could I suppose with loads of "ifs". So another project I'm working on is a stow-able stretcher-cot which is 38" wide, with a stowable dense memory foam pad, for another bed which will float above the fold-out couch. Maybe if that turns out I'll include a picture because it could possibly work in a small trailer too.

As an aside story, on my last trip we camped far and wide, saw amazing wildlife and sights in all-but empty campgrounds, and went to a junk yard out in the toolies which advertised lots of RV parts in an RV graveyard. I thought I might find a water tank or ... something. Well the rigs there were usually so big that the water tanks were huge-mon-gous (wow! how many gallons...like maybe 30-40?). Well I never expected it but we had so much fun I just bought a part I may/may not use because I felt obliged to pay admission. If you eggthusiasts ever want validation of your work on your ilk of RV, go see what happens to rotting decaying old conventional RVs. They peel apart like a dried onion, the particle board swells and explodes, the exterior falls off, the framing rots, the floors covered with orange shag cave-in. Then...out in the field are a few shining examples of fiberglass-longevity, old rigs picked clean of engine parts and hot water heaters and such, with absolutely pristine fiberglass exteriors. How can this be? The others look downright scary yet an equally-old fiberglass rig right next to it is intact. The friendly Labrador "Bella" brought pieces of junk for us to play fetch with her...so much for the mean junkyard dog lore.

Anyway, back to running a ground for the trailer lights and installing the junction box. Pictures later. Still looks hideous inside/out but improving.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Tote-n-Tarry No.2

.... Still looks hideous inside/out but improving.

You know what? If it's good for you.. it's ALL good for us. Waiting for more interior pics