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Old 08-13-2018, 10:36 AM   #41
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Name: Norm
Trailer: Surfside... // Bigfoot
Alberta
Posts: 9
surfside rebuild ?front dinette

Hello Peterh ,, Judy & I also have a 1981 surfside, In pretty good
shape , we think !! At least the door didn`t fall off !! We installed
a Fantastic 3 speed reversible fan but would also like to reinforce
the roof .. NONE of these earlier fiberglass trailers were ever intended
to have anything like that in the roof ,let alone an A/C unit.. Ours and
others never even had electricity up there... I was wondering what you meant by using PVC pipe to reinforce your roof ??

We did move the battery from under the front bench /bed out onto the front tongue in a locked box. We also are in the process of removing the front bench/bed and building in a front dinette that also can drop the table down to make a bed.. The porta-potty we plan to store
under the seat just to the right of the door.. We bought that in 2010
when we bought the trailer but has never ben used !!

We are also changing the front coupler as it is not adjustable .

That is really nice work your doing on your unit

many thanks

norm wright

81 surfside 14 ft
84 bigfoot 17 ft
milk river , alberta
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Old 08-14-2018, 02:01 AM   #42
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Hi Norm,

There are a number of ways to support a fiberglass trailer roof. The thing many people forget when they add roof supports is those supports transfer the stress on the roof to the sides of the trailer, so you have to support the sides, too. I don't know your trailer layout, but that's something you should consider, too.

Our roof was badly deformed by a snow load on the roof. To fix it we spent weeks jacking the roof up from the inside by 1/4 inch (6mm) or so at a time, then using high-heat hot air guns (think hair driers on steroids) to heat the resin in the walls and and ceiling of our trailer to soften the resin. When the resin cooled, that part of the trailer structure took a slightly new shape. This process was repeated over and over again as we worked from the front to the back of the trailer multiple times until everything was as it needed to be.

From there, I created fiberglass formers from 1" thin-walled PVC pipes cut in half on a table saw and fiberglassed lengths to the ceiling with two layers of fiberglass cloth. The PVC pipe is non-structural; it's only there as a form over which the fiberglass cloth forms a sturdy "U" shaped structural rafter. (Pics attached.)

Because we took the floor-to-ceiling cabinets that supported the sides of our trailer on the street side at the front of the kitchenette and just aft of the door out, we also needed to add formers to support the sides of our trailer. Those we built out of pine boards fiberglassed to the shell. (more pictures)

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions.

--Peter
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Old 08-14-2018, 02:10 AM   #43
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In addition to our industrial hair-drier-like heat guns, we also used this stripped down hair drier formerly used by the Giant in Jack and the Bean Stalk.
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Old 08-30-2018, 03:32 PM   #44
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Front dinette almost done now!

Long past time I wrote another post!

Our 1976 Surfside refit has moved forward quite a bit since my last post, when we'd just finished the kitchen counter & backsplash. Lynne and I have completed a number of steps since then, the most thrilling of which are: 1) THE FLOOR IS IN! and 2) THE FRONT DINETTE IS ALMOST DONE!

The floor story is pretty simple. We installed a light gray "floating" cork laminate floor. Not much to that part of the story other than I made a nice-looking oak threshold/transition piece that's dovetailed into and level with the floor for the doorway.

The front dinette, on the other hand, is a much bigger thing. First, the dinette table and center console is unique.

The table is made out of two layers of 1/2" oak plywood with the exposed raw edges of the plywood filled, rounded and stained to match the stained birch plywood, IronPly underlayment, and oak trimmed console that holds the table up.

The table is the most unique part of the dinette. It, like many trailer tables, folds in half to create a smaller table that allows for easy access to the dinette. Our fold-up creates an attractive rounded tray table shape that's perfect for morning coffee or lounging in the dinette chairs to read.

The really cool thing about the dining table is one of the two layers of plywood that make up the "tray table" extends 3 inches beyond the underlying fixed portion of the dining table. When the tray table is folded out along its four inset sewing machine table hinges to convert the tray into a more conventional dining table, the 3" extension swings underneath the fixed portion of the dining table to support the weight of the tray-table extension without sagging.

The console's design has a couple innovations built into it. Like the dinette table, the street & curb sides of the console are made of layers of 1/2" plywood (this time in stained birch) with exposed edges, but with a slot in the layers that the dining table slides into. Underneath the slot for the table the plywood is three layers thick instead of just two, and hiding behind the facia with two sets of USB charging plugs over the table is a sturdy brace the back-top edge of the table butts up against to support its weight. The table is firmly attached by two screws that bolt the table to this brace.

Underneath the table the console has slots for books and magazines and a space to store shoes and hiking boots. The backside of the shoe storage area is lined with wipeable vinyl upholstery fabric.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the seating. The seats are not simple block foam but sprung upholstery-style, like an easy chair and with the same back-to-seat angle of an easy chair. The aim for the seating was to make it very comfy to sit in for hours at a time on a rainy day.

The dinette seating has a secret, too: The backs of the seats tilt forward to expose storage compartments. The curb and front seat back compartments are just large enough to store a couple books, some magazines, or a laptop computer or tablet. The street-side seat back tilts forward to expose a cloth laundry hamper. (We still have to make the hamper part.)

That's the update for now!
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Old 08-30-2018, 03:48 PM   #45
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Name: jim
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Very nice woodworking, the table looks great...
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Old 08-30-2018, 04:04 PM   #46
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Nice work.
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Old 08-30-2018, 06:01 PM   #47
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Great job... you guys are obviously very talented
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Old 08-30-2018, 11:03 PM   #48
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Thanks. I will I did lot with our Scamp 5er, too, so this isn't my first FGRV project. This is our second trailer project, and it hasn't been an easy one. I'm thankful it's finally coming together.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...oft-28336.html
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Old 06-11-2019, 10:06 AM   #49
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I just went back and reread this post. Are there any new updates?
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Previously Owned: Trillium 4500, Scamp 19', Bigfoot 17', Boler 17', Bonair Oxygen, Hymer Touring GT, Scamp 13 Deluxe, Casita 16.
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Old 06-12-2019, 12:17 AM   #50
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Hi Steve, There's been some progress but, shortly after my last post, I badly injured my right shoulder and needed surgery. I'll be out of action until late this year. --P
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Old 06-12-2019, 04:46 AM   #51
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What? Are you going to use physical limitations as an excuse LOL! Get well soon!
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Previously Owned: Trillium 4500, Scamp 19', Bigfoot 17', Boler 17', Bonair Oxygen, Hymer Touring GT, Scamp 13 Deluxe, Casita 16.
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