Advice repairing caved in Scamp 13 roof

[CindyL]

Well, look at you! It IS a Scamp! Those pix make the job look doable.

CindyL

[Bruce Thomas]

sure does......id get that fur off before trying any glues or resins or it'll just adhere it on better through all the cracks . I'll bet thats not east to do either though while its in pieces.

[Francesca Knowles]

Thanks for the pics, Norm!

Looks like you have most of the pieces, anyway
Will you be taking it off again to clean the elephant skin off?
I wondered if some kind of carefully applied solvent followed by pressure washing might do the trick, and it'd sure be easier to do upside down in the driveway!

Francesca

[Ngrimm]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

Thanks for the pics, Norm!

Looks like you have most of the pieces, anyway
Will you be taking it off again to clean the elephant skin off?
I wondered if some kind of carefully applied solvent followed by pressure washing might do the trick, and it'd sure be easier to do upside down in the driveway!

Francesca

I mostly propped the top up to see if it would return to it's shape with the help of the sun. Not to gross anyone out but the skin comes off a lot like skinning a deer. I pull on it and use a knife wherever it is stuck. My wife says I need to remove the skin from the entire inside so that is what I'll do. Some areas may not conform on their own so I am thinking of glassing in some 1/8" x 2" wide aluminum strips since it could be permanently bent. I wonder it the different heat expansion rate would be a problem though. Perhaps wood is better.

[Francesca Knowles]

Hi Norm

Good question!
You're really thinking this through
Ken over in the Bigfoot Stretching thread might be able to answer the heat expansion question.
He's just as nice as pie- maybe if you asked he'd "drop in" here when he's got a minute to take a look ...

Francesca

[heycurt]

Hi Norm: My project should be ready to work on the interior in the next few weeks. I can tell you how we did some of this. For temporary support I used adjustable poles and 2x4 studs with plywood squares on the end for initial support inside to get some of the cracks to line up in the proper position. Then using two plates inside and out you screw all this together with dry wall screws. Don't make this continuous, just enough to get the cracks back in the orginal position. I used the thin metal plates with rows of holes from the big box store. I screwed the outer plates from outside while my son lined up the inner plate holes to match the position of the outer plate. Then draw the two pieces of metal together with the skin sandwiched between. They are thin and flexible and conform to the curves of the skin. Do the fiberglass repair to the unplated sections first starting and the ends of the cracks working toward the center. Grind back the edges of the cracks a few inches to a tapered thin edge then glass those. Let these reinforced sections cure. Then move the plates and poles to new positions to get more cracks to line up. Glass the new lined up areas and continue till you remove all the last plates and glass those areas. Don't try to glass over the metal plates. Fiberglass is strong enough to do all of the repairs and is grindable to deck a new flat surface without anything else. Good luck with your project. It is do-able just lots of dirty work.

As for anything like the rat fur inside. Remove it and grind off any remaining adhesive all the way down to the fiberglass to get good adhesion for your fiberglass repair inside.

[Francesca Knowles]

HEY!-er- HeyCurt!

I've been racking my brain trying to remember who posted about a cracked Bigfoot earlier this year...and it must have been you I was thinking of.
Aren't you the guy that bought this trailer at FGRV's4sale?


Sounds like you're just the person Norm needs to hear from.
And I'll bet we'd all like to see pictures of your repairs to the roof, if you've got any...

Francesca

[Ngrimm]

Thank you for the suggestions. Not sure if you can tell by the pics but in most cases the fiberglass broke in such a way that it one piece overlaps another. At first I was thinking I could epoxy them together just the way they came apart and use rivets to hold them in place, drill out the rivets and glass over the whole thing. I think what you are saying is I should grind the edges so both are tapered toward the inside of the camper. I suspect your way would be easier in the long run and the seams would be flatter as well. May be a little more difficult to know when the pieces are lined up due to not having the overlap from where it tore apart though. Hmm

[heycurt]

Originally Posted by Ngrimm

Thank you for the suggestions. Not sure if you can tell by the pics but in most cases the fiberglass broke in such a way that it one piece overlaps another. At first I was thinking I could epoxy them together just the way they came apart and use rivets to hold them in place, drill out the rivets and glass over the whole thing. I think what you are saying is I should grind the edges so both are tapered toward the inside of the camper. I suspect your way would be easier in the long run and the seams would be flatter as well. May be a little more difficult to know when the pieces are lined up due to not having the overlap from where it tore apart though. Hmm

If you plate it as suggested the two broken edges will butt up against each other in the same position as they were originally. leave a couple foot gap between each plate along the crack. Grind the top surface toward the crack to form a shallow v like in the fiberglass repair videos you would likely have seen by now. No epoxy, just fiberglass cloth in the shallow v. Then a bandaid of glass on the back. Let cure then sand the top surface to the orginal level. Move plates do again.

[heycurt]

Yes Francesca that's me. It has taken a few months to get the trailer back to Texas from Phoenix an get some momentum going on the project. 24 days in a row of 100+ weather will do that. Plus the trailer is an hour fifteen minutes from home through Dallas trafic. It was kinda scary in that picture. But, fiberglass can be repaired stronger that it was, even originally. It will better than it came from the factory. When finished it will have a redesigned front bedroom area for two tall Texans, a new exterior color scheme, improved lighting, electrical,; and etc.

I have yet to test all the systems in the trailer and will have lots of questions and need plenty of help in return from the forum. Glad to offer help to others as well.

Pictures fairly soon as it starts to look more presentable. Thanks for thinking of me.

[Francesca Knowles]

Hi, Curt

Okay!
But...
We sure like the before-during-and-after pics. Please do take lots so we can appreciate the improvements!

Francesca

[heycurt]

This is dirty messy work. Just be sure to realize the scope of the project before you start. But it is totally capable of being even an improvement over the original; with proper planning and execution.

[Eddie Longest]

Curt is spot on with repair procedures and comments on strength of repair verses the orginal chopped glass panel. Before glassing on the inside after removing the ensolite I use a 4 or 4.5 " grinder with a stiff twisted wire brush to remove the old glue and to scuff up the old glass prior to glassing on the inside. Gloves, long sleeve shirt, stocking cap and full face shield are a must for wire brushing. One more warning if your shirt sleeve happens to get caught in your grinder and wire brush you may need to have a knife handy to remove your shirt.
Eddie

[ken h]

WOW ! That first set of pictures of your trailer are just wild , Never seen one like that before WOW It doesn't look half bad with the roof back in place still you got a handful. Curt has the right idea , screw the roof together in the right spot and fibreglass the seam after you grind and prep , when the glass kicks remove the wood you used to hold them together and then glass that spot ,and so on.

Welcome to my world . Keep the pics coming

Take care

[Ngrimm]

Originally Posted by ken h

WOW ! That first set of pictures of your trailer are just wild , Never seen one like that before WOW It doesn't look half bad with the roof back in place still you got a handful. Curt has the right idea , screw the roof together in the right spot and fibreglass the seam after you grind and prep , when the glass kicks remove the wood you used to hold them together and then glass that spot ,and so on.

Welcome to my world . Keep the pics coming

Take care

All the suggestions and pictures have really helped. I have been trimming the rough edges in preparation for the repairs. I am stuck on one detail. The rear half of the roof between the ridges is pretty wavy from being bent the wrong direction while lying on the floor. That area should be somewhat flat but still curved some from front to rear and side to side. I thought about riveting a sheet of thin plywood to the outside and then layering some fiberglass mat to the inside. to make it keep it's shape. Then I would drill out the rivets. Any thoughts? Thank you. Norm

[ken h]

Hi, Norm
That sounds like it will work just fine. What I did on some of my windows that I filled in is much the same ,the plywood that I screwed on went well past the damaged area that is where it was screwed so that the screw heads were not covered with the glass. A couple of extra screw holes is the least of your problems . Is the other side in good shape you could make a template to get the right shape

Hope this helps

[Ngrimm]

Haven't posted for a while but I have been muddling through. Thanks to all the suggestions made here as well as some google searches and videos I have been making some progress reattaching the roof. As suggested, I used a grinder with a 4" twisted wire wheel to remove the Ensolite from the areas needing repair. Working from the inside I applied small strips of fiberglass between the metal strapping installed to hold the roof in place. Then I removed the straps and glassed over those areas. Working overhead it seemed to work best for me to brush the areas to be repaired with resin and use no larger than 4" x 8" pieces of mat that I had brushed with resin to go over everything again using a paintbrush and a plastic spreader to get the pieces in place. I should mention I roughed up all the dried resin and cleaned with acetone before applying the second coat. I was finally able to move to the outside where I carefully blended the edges of the cracks to the new fiberglass that I had affixed from the inside. Then I cut various widths of fiberglass mat to fill in the gaps. Sure is easier working on a horizontal surface! I didn't want to remove the windows until the top was solid so that's what I plan to do next so that I can glass the areas where the cracks meet the windows. It's been a lot of work but I'm finding that I rather enjoy fiberglassing now.

[Raz]

Greetings Pilgrim! Long time, no see. Glad to hear things are progressing. Now you know we are going to want to see pictures . Raz

[john warren]

bet you can get a replacement roof from scamp. give them a call.

concidering the amount of time effert and material you will use,,, that probably cheaper in the long run

[john warren]

oh,,, since i'm getting a new scamp and have already priced insurance for just this sort of thing,,,, is it insured? if so take it to a repair shop and just say,,,"fix it"