Boler 13' frame removal in progress

[Roy in TO]

Cat,
I know that Jean-L has replaced part if not all of his floor in his boler American. They were built very similar to your Love Bug. I've sent him an email asking him if will post how he did his in this thread. That is if what he did applies to your situation.

My guess is that you are going to have to drop your frame. I'm not sure how much you are going to have to take out to do that. Scamps also have wood floors so that might be worth a search. If I were to do mine, I would make 4 braces that would support the body by the belly band at the sides by each corner. Jack the trailer up by the frame, place the braces, remove the bolts and screws that hold the body to the frame, then drop the frame and remove it. (I composed this post while Robert was posting his. Just a different point of view, both will work. Keep in mind that the curbside fiberglass is slanted down.)

I would then replace the floor. I'm not sure if I would use plywood or not. If so, I would be tempted to go for marine plywood. I've also seen engineered panels that are fiberglass on both sides with a honey comb lattice in the middle. They were used on the Oxygen. It appears that 3M owns the company now, but here is some info.
http://www.nida-core.com/pdfs/rigidtech.pdf
They would be my first choice, depending on price and availability.

[glamourpets]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

Not the early bolers Derek.

It indeed seems there is a lot of variability. Perhaps it varied by where the boler was manufactured too. In any case, my boler had none of the sloppy weld issues I have seen in pictures. It also appears to have been reinforced in the spots where the cracking seems to have been an issue. The axle was also bolted on rather than welded. Perhaps someone did work along the way, but it all looks original to me. Its good news as it means I can remove the rust, paint, and bolt on a new axle and I'm good to go.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by glamourpets

The axle was also bolted on rather than welded.

Bonus!
Is there anything identifying the axle?

[glamourpets]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

Is there anything identifying the axle?

There is a rivited on id plate mounted on the axle. Its been coated over, so it will take some effort to read it.

[Cat futrell]

"The Love Bug, on the other hand, has only resin-coated plywood as its floor, spanning the entire frame, with the shell sides glassed -- top and bottom -- to the wood surface along the perimeter. My 1973 LB resto required a complete floor replacement. This meant cutting all of the old wood away from the FG, then prepping the edges for new wood and glass."

Robert,
Did you replace the floor just as you found it or did you do something to give it more structural integrity?

[glamourpets]

Originally Posted by glamourpets

There is a rivited on id plate mounted on the axle. Its been coated over, so it will take some effort to read it.

Sadly, I dont think I will be able to read this plate. There was too many layers of stuff on it, and it appears that the id information was painted on. Oh well.

Derek

[Robert Johans]

Cathy,
I recommend that you use good quality 3/4" plywood to replace your floor. I like Birch "Euro-ply" which features 7 to 9 plies for a lot of integrity.

Then, (in my opinion) for best water resistance and durability, the bottom face (the exterior side exposed to the road) should be coated with a layer of FG and resin, with lots of attention (resin!) paid to the end-grain edges.

Then, after the shell walls have been re-glassed to your new floor (top and bottom) at the perimeter, the top/interior face should also get a coat of resin.

[sheephills]

Great advise of how to redo the floor Robert. i would like to replace it as well but do i really have to drop the frame and everything.

[Robert Johans]

I wouldn't know how to coat the entire road-exposed floor surface without first separating the floor from the frame. Actually, you would need most protection in those areas directly between the frame and floor, as this is most vulnerable to vibration and retention of moisture.

[Thinh]

...The following picture shows you my rusty bolts which held the shell with frame of 1300Trillium 1980. I borke all of them, disconnect wire, cut gas line(after propane tank dismantled)...

[Colleeno]

You could try finding the bolt through the wood with a magnet or stud finder. Then you could drill through the wood to get to it

[Markz]

How many bolts are there and where to find them in a boler.

[k corbin]

Heads up people, remember to check the dates on postings. That is a 7 year old thread that was started in 2012 and quit being active in 2013. I suspect that frame project was completed many years ago.