My Broken Back 16ft. Casita

[Nor Cal Mike]

Good points all sir. My next step will be to get the floor replaced. No work possible for a couple of days as my daughter is home for a visit.

Mike

[EricAllyn]

We had family from PA for Thanksgiving, and also the kids from around here, so didn't get anything much done, but it was great to have them here. This week hope to get back on it. Today it is supposed to get to 60, so probably more yard work than camper work. Leaves are still coming down.

[Nor Cal Mike]

Eric I am glad you had a great time with your family as did we.

We had a few of rainy days here in NW California over last week. Today was nice, my daughter has gone back home and my wife is off with some friends which leaves me with a free day.

My wife has forbidden me to spend any more money on the trailer until after Christmas. Since we are now both retired (she retired in June) we must moderate our expenditures more than before if we are to maintain our pay as we go retirement philosophy. Our extra cash this month went for an $1,100 Reliance tankless water heater to replace the old Paloma WH that went belly up after 25 years. That means that the new flooring material may have to wait until January. Frustrating.

In the meantime, I have put in four jacking posts in the interior and put quite a of horsepower into them causing the little trailer to be strung tight as a banjo. She is looking pretty straight down the both sides for the most part although the fender boxes are still leaning outward. I may have to live with that unless they decide to move back on their own over time once the walls are permanently fortified with new structural bulkheads. Until the flooring arrives, I will leave her strung up as she is in the hope that she may regain some of her shape memory.

After the jacking, the curvature of the door is pretty darn good. Maybe a little re-bowing on the door will be in order but not much. One problem that did arise is that the door is not plumb on the hinges, fore and aft. The top of the door is cocked too far to the left making for a poor fit in the opening and causing the door latch to be too tight on the strike plate. This can be fixed by redrilling the door to moving it to the rear on the top hinge. I think I will wait until all of the structural work is complete (new floors & bulkheads) and align the door as the very last part of this project.

Mike A

[EricAllyn]

I also waited until the last minute to do the door, since things inside can change. I am waiting for the new Dexter axle to be put on, and then I will probably be able to go camping. I hope to get the carpet up and windows in in the next week, and all the painting finished. I have the flooring -- snap link heavy vinyl -- and I think that will likely be the last thing in.

[Nor Cal Mike]

Eric, You are doing a great Job. That first camping trip will be a huge reward.

I have a favor to ask. Could you post a close pic of your top and bottom Hinges? The reason I ask is that I think mine may be bent. Especially the bottom one. Here are some pictures.


The bottom hinge is severely pinching the seal around the edge of the door. I think I can probably take out some of the offset to make it fit better applying some force on it in my vice.

Here is the top hinge. It looks like the top of the door is shifted too far to the left.


Something just occurred to me. Could the top and bottom hinges might be different and if so, the PO could have reinstalled them in the wrong places? I don't see these hinges being bent by the leverage applied from of a flimsy fiberglass door.

Thanks, Mike A

[k0wtz]

mike

looks like you have things about figured out for 300bux I think you got a bargain for yourself. I wouldn't go crazy with addons. No doubt you get it fixed and ready to tow you can sell it and move up or keep it and love it and the savings you have.

you guys that can do this stuff blow my mind!!


bob

[Nor Cal Mike]

Originally Posted by k0wtz

mike

looks like you have things about figured out for 300bux I think you got a bargain for yourself. I wouldn't go crazy with addons. No doubt you get it fixed and ready to tow you can sell it and move up or keep it and love it and the savings you have.

you guys that can do this stuff blow my mind!!


bob

Thanks Bob, I see this as a local weekender. We live 35 miles inland from the coast and love to spend much of our time along the coast between San Francisco and Seattle. I see little need for air conditioning, big power drawing appliances, etc. If it is comfortable and keeps the rain or dew off of our heads, that is good enough. I think I mentioned that we have been using a little tear drop trailer that I built 10 or 12 years ago so this is a big step up. We came to the decision that we really wanted something that would allow us to sit upright while reading a book and watching the rain outside. You can't do that in a teardrop. Who knows, we may sell this and move up to something better, a bathroom would be nice, but that means purchasing a new tow vehicle as well. We are not ready to do that in the immediate future given the ongoing expense of having one daughter get married last year and the other getting married this year.

[k0wtz]

mike I ran into A-Liners loved them bought one then had big-time back surgery. I thought my lifting days were over so I sold the A-Liner and bought the 13f Scamper. No we want no bathroom just a place to set, cook breakfast we boondock so the local walmart is our campground when traveling!

The A-Liner offers in some areas more than the Scamp we will see this is our first year but so far so good. With the Ford Edge we are at 1/2 our limit on towing but I don't think I want to pull more than the 13f with it.

I think you have the right plan some of us want more some less I respect everyones way of doing things but I guess I am on the cheap side in camping!

good campin

bob

[Nor Cal Mike]

I was looking for a canned ham project when I ran into this fiberglass job on a local Craigslisting. We have some friends who bought a 16 ft scamp last year. Other than that, I had little to no knowledge of fiberglass trailers. Knowing what I know now, I am sold on them.

[Darral T.]

Just as a suggestion, I would get it "towable" and take it and have it weighed! THAT will give you an idea of how to proceed. You may be surprised to see that even stripped, that camper may come out close to the limit of the Subaru's Tow Capacity. Which brings on another question, what IS the actual tow capacity of your vehicle???

Originally Posted by Nor Cal Mike

I was looking for a canned ham project when I ran into this fiberglass job on a local Craigslisting. We have some friends who bought a 16 ft scamp last year. Other than that, I had little to no knowledge of fiberglass trailers. Knowing what I know now, I am sold on them.

[Nor Cal Mike]

The 2010 Subaru Forester tow capacity is 2,400 lbs. Do plan to put the trailer on a scale to see how the weight sums up. Also need to weigh it loaded as it would realistically be on the road.

[EricAllyn]

I have my hinges off still, but they are different, and looking at the pics, I think you are right that they are reversed. PO may have removed them when working on the floor, and then, deciding to sell, didn't worry much about if they were right. My hinges also have a lot of play in them, so I'm going to work on that, taking the pin out and putting a little larger one in, and some washers to take up the wear between. The axle of the 16 during those years was 2000lbs, so if you don't have a lot of water on board, you will likely be fine on weight.
Also, if you want a bathroom, you can still get parts that will fit, either scamp or casista will have something that will work. Also, there are people who are taking the bathrooms out, and will sell the parts for others to use. You likely can make something, there are a couple of threads with tubs and shower curtains, and contained toilets, so there are a lot of options without trading up. Although, fixing, selling, and getting another project is also a possibility.

[Nor Cal Mike]

Thanks for getting back Eric. I took the door off this morning and found that these hinges cannot be reversed due to the pronounced angle of trailer side of the hinge which is required to account for the curvature of the body. The bottom hinge angles outward at the top. The top hinge angles inward on the topside. Reversing them would make the door half of the hinge angle wildly out of kilter. One thing I did find is that my door actually has more curvature the side of the body. This no doubt is due to the fact that I have over jacked the roof which causes the sides to flatten. This effect is the top and bottom of the door to hit home before the center section. I am headed out to shorten my temporary posts by small increments until I have the curve of the sides of the trailer matching that of the doors. I will coin this problem flexible geometry!

Mike

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Nor Cal Mike

One thing I did find is that my door actually has more curvature the side of the body. This no doubt is due to the fact that I have over jacked the roof which causes the sides to flatten. This effect is the top and bottom of the door to hit home before the center section. I am headed out to shorten my temporary posts by small increments until I have the curve of the sides of the trailer matching that of the doors. I will coin this problem flexible geometry!

Mike

Mike, just guessing but possibly the door also took the body movement and reset. You've got the shell raised up but the door isn't under any pressure to change the curve back. You may have to work on that with a jig once the shell is fully attached. I don't think you should do anything to the hinges yet.

[Buggeee]

Sounds like a great plan Mike! Can't believe you found a (basically) free camper. That is so cool. You'll have that thing all straightened out and strong once you get the floor in and some cabinetry. We'll be pulling our little egg with a Subaru too. Seems a lot of people here have those as tow vehicles so I am optimistic. Post some pictures of your progress if you get the chance - its motivating to see these things taking shape. Leave the door for last, then make it conform to the final shape of the body. I just saw EricAllyn do that. Here is a link to his thread with the door stuff at around #104 or so: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...a-81327-8.html

Edit - now I see EricAllyn's posts all over in here before mine! lol. Well there you go, he's been there!! I think I just saw the first page and didn't realize you are already three-deep on your thread here. Have fun!

[Nor Cal Mike]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I appreciate you all for being my sounding board. I figure out a lot of stuff sitting down and writing these posts.

I believe I have hit paydirt. I went out and cut i/2 in. off of my jacking posts. Now the door is fitting pretty nice. Here are the pics.







The door is actually pretty close to the body. Perhaps a little bit of bend at the very bottom will be needed but as suggested, that will come last. I can now close the door, which is what I wanted in the immediate term given the rainy weather we are having here in NW Cali.

Next up, I have to pull the ceiling vent out and redo her with some new putty tape unless you guys have a better suggestion. I think she will be pretty water proof after that.

Mike

[Buggeee]

Fantastic! You must have been grinning from ear to ear when you stepped back to eyeball that door. Wow

[Alex Adams]

Wow! Based on your description and the pictures of the interior, I wasn't expecting the exterior to look so nice!

You certainly got a bargain there!

[Nor Cal Mike]

Originally Posted by Buggeee

Sounds like a great plan Mike! Can't believe you found a (basically) free camper. That is so cool.

Ya I am jazzed at finding this. I was looking at a pretty cool 13 ft. canned ham that was what I would consider a total rebuild. She had a manzanita bush growing up through her rotted floors and out a side window But that is another story..........

I had insomnia one night about two weeks ago so got up about 2:00am and went on Craigslist to kill some time. I spied this trailer on a local listing not too far from home. I immediately sent a reply to the ad expecting that it would be long gone by the morning. I got a reply back the next day saying that they had 80 inquiries about the ad ahead of me and they already had a buyer who would know how to restore her. I replied too bad because I was local and I too had those skills. She said she'd call me if the sale fell through. I had moved on figuring the trailer was gone when a couple of days later the lady called. She said the original buyer backed out because he thought it was too much. Apparently he was spooked by the leaning fender boxes. I said I would be there in an hour and a half. I paid her the $300 bucks that day. You know the rest of the story.

Mike

[Alex Adams]

Yeah, that's pretty much par for the course on these fiberglass trailers. I saw the Boler I bought on E-Bay, called the guy and arranged to see it that Saturday. I went without any cash because the owner implied that he wanted to finish the auction out. I got there, looked at it and the PO said give me money now and it's yours. I immediately hopped into the car and tried to drive to the nearest ATM to make a deposit! It took 20 minutes since the GPS sent me to the street name I wanted for the ATM, in the next town over! But I found the ATM, got the money, put the deposit down and got a signed piece of paper stating I put a deposit and was returning the next weekend with the balance signed by the PO.