"The Dashowend"

[Dashowend]

Hi all!! New to the Boler and fiberglass RV family! I finally found my little Boler trailer, a long time dream of mine since I can remember. Rescued from the backyard of a deceased couple who have owned it since day one, sold to me by their son who is dealing with their estate. I was so excited when I was notified about the trailer after posting an add on Facebook looking for a fixer. Waited only 2 days and found her and was love at first sight! 1979 13ft Boler made by Vanguard here in B.C, She was in terrible shape inside and grubby on the outside but $800.00 and bucket of soapy water and elbow grease, she cleaned up real nice!! The inside was a complete gut all except for the insulation which I am going to try to clean up with tilex and water. I have read different things from different posts about that and before I rip it out I will see how it cleans up. Anyway there is a lot to do to resurrect her and it is an ambitious project by a guy who is not a carpenter or electrician, but I can't wait to get going and do this!! Will do my best to keep up to date with my project. We named her "The Dashowend" our last name is Howe and we are proud owners of 2 miniature daschunds which we adore and who love to camp, so we thought we would change up the spelling of daschund and incorporate our name and that's what we came up with! So when she is ready to go we can "dash" away with her and the dogs and and begin our many adventures together! I'm so excited!!!

[Roy in TO]

Congrats!
Very unique name! I like it.

[Dashowend]

Thanks! If I can figure out how to post some pics I took on my phone ( and I set up this account with my iPhone and am using it at the moment ) then you all will get a better idea of what I am working with! I tried to post a pic but it didn't work. Anyway, I will figure it out I'm sure, thanks again

[Ian G.]

Excellent congratulations and welcome.
Let your adventures begin.

[Donna D.]

to FiberglassRV Cal. We're glad you're here.

I love stories like yours. You're so excited, I got excited reading your post!

Sorry I can't help with posting pictures with your phone, but you can bet I'll be watching for you to post them!

[Dashowend]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

to FiberglassRV Cal. We're glad you're here.

I love stories like yours. You're so excited, I got excited reading your post!

Sorry I can't help with posting pictures with your phone, but you can bet I'll be watching for you to post them!

Thank you so much, and I will do my best to get some pics up and keep you up to date with my progress... Finding time is what is hard, but it will get done !!!!

[Dashowend]

Originally Posted by Ian G.

Excellent congratulations and welcome.
Let your adventures begin.

Thank you Ian !! I can't wait to have it done and go camping, it's a project and will take time!!

[Pam Garlow]

Welcome, Cal! You'll have a great time rehabbing and even better time camping! I love your weiner dogs too.

[Lil M.]

Welcome Cal!
I used a cleaner from the dollar store called "LA's Totally Awesome" on the elephant hide in my Scamp. It's rather pungent, so open the windows for good ventilation. I sprayed it on, used a plastic bristle scrub brush to do the Karate Kid wax-on-wax-off method of scrubbing, then wiped clean with a cloth dunked in a bucket of water and wrung out. That seemed to do the trick removing a sticky residue and any that coated the 28-year-old ensolite.
There's lots of help here on the forum so don't be afraid to ask questions.

[Dashowend]

Originally Posted by Pam Garlow

Welcome, Cal! You'll have a great time rehabbing and even better time camping! I love your weiner dogs too.

Thanks Pam!

[Dashowend]

Originally Posted by Lil M.

Welcome Cal!
I used a cleaner from the dollar store called "LA's Totally Awesome" on the elephant hide in my Scamp. It's rather pungent, so open the windows for good ventilation. I sprayed it on, used a plastic bristle scrub brush to do the Karate Kid wax-on-wax-off method of scrubbing, then wiped clean with a cloth dunked in a bucket of water and wrung out. That seemed to do the trick removing a sticky residue and any that coated the 28-year-old ensolite.
There's lots of help here on the forum so don't be afraid to ask questions.

Thanks for the advice. It's still quite cold here on the north coast of bc in kitimat, tried a section of cleaning with tilex and water a rag and a brush, but found it is too cold for the interior to dry and it is a lot of work to clean this material! The water soaks right through the foam and stays wet in this weather. I have a heater and a fan in there at the moment but will have to wait till the weather warms up I think before I tackle it again. I am seriously considering just ripping this stuff out, it's terrible! Why couldn't a person use foam backed carpeting in its place? Someone else used car interior carpet in his and it worked great! May have to consider this, any thoughts??

[Donna D.]

I'd do everything I could to preserve the ensolite. That foam is providing you with insulation. Car carpet is typically stiff. It may work on flat surfaces, but a PITA when you get into the compound corners around the ceiling of an egg. There are other/better solutions, if you must remove the ensolite. But, is the expense and time to replace it worth the effort? Or would you rather use some elbow grease and then (maybe) paint it. I'm into timesavers because I'd rather be camping than repairing! YMMV

[Dashowend]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I'd do everything I could to preserve the ensolite. That foam is providing you with insulation. Car carpet is typically stiff. It may work on flat surfaces, but a PITA when you get into the compound corners around the ceiling of an egg. There are other/better solutions, if you must remove the ensolite. But, is the expense and time to replace it worth the effort? Or would you rather use some elbow grease and then (maybe) paint it. I'm into timesavers because I'd rather be camping than repairing! YMMV

I hear you,and agree. I am going to try and save the ensolite with some elbow grease and will have to paint..... I was able to see that it had been painted already once by the previous owners. I guess I will just have to wait till it warms up a bit here and find something else to do with the trailer in the meantime. I may clean up the fridge, stove and furnace which are all working but have some rust on the surfaces and are quite dirty. Will try a few products that were recommended to remove rust and will paint some things that will improve the looks. The other big job will be to remove the shell from the frame so I can sandblast the frame and paint it. Also will take a real good look at the floor under side and deal with any minor issues there, it actually looks pretty good. Thanks for you helpful input!

[Dashowend]

Hello everyone! Haven't really done anything new to my project since my last post, except for cleaning the original awning, which cleaned up real well! The weather hear has just been too cold and have also been extremely busy to get working on it. I'm hoping this weekend I can clean up the fridge, stove and furnace at least. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend! Blessings!!!!!!