Roy's Boler Blog Archive 2005 posts		Fiberglass Trailer Hats
"Arriving home a diamond in the rough"	Click here to go to them!

I went egg hunting on my annual trip to burning man this year.
Click on this link to seethe 21 eggs I found
The Boler did great this year. I didn't use the awning that slides in the rail on the roof because the winds got so rough last year that is trashed the awning. I modified the poles and connectors of a free standing auto cover and lashed a tarp to it this year. This worked great, held up fine and made less noise.

I did cover the windows that have not been weatherproofed with plastic and sealed off the vent for the fridge to help keep the dust out. (my fridge is electric not gas so that works - I pulled out the drawer above the fridge so there was some air circulation for the coil). As an extra treat I added a baby Webber gas grill outside for cooking this year.

found 13" moon hubcaps online @www.mooneyesusa.com Only $62 including the shipping!


And now the subject of Power...... I need more, want more, is there ever enough?

Seriously, the 75 watt solar pannel on the roof gererates enough for the fridge and some lights but have noticed the battery level drop below 12 volts a few times. Can re-charge with 110 between outings but don't want to have to. A friend gave me some old solar cells that were used to make pannels back in the 70's. Looks like enough to generate another 60 watts. I am making 2 - 2 foot square pannels that I can place on the ground and angle towards the sun where I camp. This should give me a budget of over 700 watt hours a day (fridge uses about 350)! Should be enough to use the inverter/110 system for the micro wave if needed.

Will get them done in time for Burning Man!

Also - Scamp has given me permission to embroider their logo so will be adding them to my hats...

Back from the Fiberglass RV gathering in Bandon Oregon. Glad to say the frist trip was a success. Traveled during the day up there knowing I would have to re-do the wiring for the lights while I was there. Check the photo below of the electrical wires before I fixed it!!!... Still things to do but isn't that the joy of having a trailer??? Found the upholstery fabric and that is next...

ready to leave for Oregon - if it's not packed it's not going ...	this gives you an idea of what I had to deal with! Re-wired the lights in Oregon	Over 100 other fiberglass RV's @ Bandon Oregon (3 other Bolers) Lots of new friends and fun.....

Like they say the best laid plans don't always work... Had to wipe off a section in the back where "whatever" the previous owner had used as a primer for his house paint, started to react to the gelcoat :-(.... Though I had gotten it all. Since it was a hot morning things were setting up pretty fast I was able to sand and feather it out and re-spray that section. Had to go a little heavy there so a couple of runs but since it is gelcoat I should be able to sand those out once it fully cures.

Looking pretty good but some "orange peel" texture. That was to be expected and can be sanded/polished later on. Amazing how much better she looks all one color! The gelcoat I used has a component to make it fully cure in the open air, seem to be working. (never used it before) Only used 1/2 of the 5 gal I purchased.

Got the areas that needed it primed and sanded today.
First time doing this type of work and realize why good body work is so expensive ;-)
Then sanded the whole body so that I can spray the gelcoat tomorrow morning!

sprayed a heavy coat of primer	the sanded smooth

Working on the exterior - masked off the side windows, frame etc, and started sanding the areas that need repair.
Posting these photos so I can get coaching on how best to proceed. I have taken down the gelcoat to the fiberglass and can still see the cracks a little and not sure if I need to go into the glass and re-glass....
Hope not done that and it's a lot of work :-(
The question is will the primer work to keep the cracks from re-appearing in the new gelcoat???
Will call the expert where I purchased the spray gun tomorrow.........

		click here for high resolution close up < < <
cracks in the gelcoat after the frame break	sanded throught the glecoat to the glass		small spyder cracks

I wanted to stay with Gelcoat for the exterior finish of my Boler instead of using auto paint. Not easy but neither is a good auto paint job (why they run a couple of grand$). The problems I saw with Gelcoat were, It is designed to be sprayed into a mould and covered with other products - it does not self level like a paint and needs to be sealed off from the air to fully cure. I had done some small repairs on the interior gelcoat with a gravety feed spray gun and regular gelcoat I purchased from Tap Plastics. After mixing pigments to get the right color and adding a curing agent I was able to mask off the areas - spray - and the sand and polish to blend in after it cured. You have a limited time to spray and clean the gun before the gelcoat starts to cure. This technique would not work for the outside of the whole trailer!

I thought I had found a way to make the job work/easier when I found a spray gun that mixed the catalyst as you sprayed. Well - luckly I called the gun manufacturer with a question and owner of the company answered the phone. He said the spray gun that mixes the catalyst as you spray would not be the right tool for my job. Since I had not used he exchanged it for a different one he makes that should do the job. (cost $100 less too) Unlike other gravety feed guns theirs does not use a needle in the tip making it much easier to clean between batches and uses disposable paper cups to hold the glecoat so you don't have to clean them. I will still need to mix about a quart of gelcoat - spray it -and clean the gun but this should make that a reasonable process. I figure it is going to take about 5 gallons of gelcoat to redo the exterior.

Some of the surface cracks in the original gelcoat from the frame break are shallow and numerous over a large area that wouldn't make sense to gouge out and fill. Thankfully the fiberglass under the Gelcoat is still in good shape. So I am going to sand those areas down and coat with a polyester surface primer "Duratec surface Primer 707-002" before Gelcoating the whole trailer. There are only a couple of cracks big enough to gouge and fill so will do that to those.

To handle the open air curing problem Duratec makes a high gloss additive for their gelcoat that allows it to cure in the open air. The folks at Revchem Plastics where I am buying all this have been great! Amazing customer service - they even mixed the additive and gelcoat to match the color of my Isuzu tow vehicle.

So I have pulled the front and back windows along with the tail and running light covers. Going to leave the side windows in and mask them off since they don't leak. Then I wiped the body down with Transtar Scat degreaser so I can start the sanding and priming.........

pulled front & back windos gelcoat test	shallow surface cracks to sand and prime

framed the side windows with wood so I could mount the shade without going through the body the table is new too...	added a drawer above new tundra fridge	brackets at the bottom of the shades hold them in place when down

Aa new 12 volt Tundra fridge is running completely off the 75 watt solar pannel with enought power to spare for lights, computer, etc.. Mini microwave (energy hog) will most likely be used when on shore power.

installed radio / CD above closet	speakers in seats

& now on to the interior ...

Removed the tape and caulking the seams...	try to textured the caulk to match but not happy with it	So....... Scrub with TSP & spray with primer	Then re-texture the ensulite before painting	New Texture

In the mean time thought I would install new hinges I purchased from Scamp and re-hang the door.
I wanted to try and remove a gap at the bottom that was created when the frame cracked.
I removed and re-shaped the chrome verticle door support* on the front inside (put it in a vise and straightened it)
That did the trick, when I put it back it removed the bulge and the door fit again.

plate inside hing body side	plate inside door	re-position hinges	*door support

Good news!

When I separated the frame from the body the fiberglass went back to original shape!
Should make repairs to where the closet wall had buckled inside easy.

Frame Back from the Powdercoater!

It's beautiful...	and stronger too...	dropped right down into place!
	(really like that the powder coater even did the chain)

My first trip out was just after purchasing her. On the trip to BurningMan the frame broke!
The guy camping next to me was a welder and we were able to borrow a arc welder from one of the metal artists that he use to patch me up enough to get out of the desert and to the Home Depot in Sparks Nevada before the weakest weld broke loose. I purchased some steel, a drill, nuts & bolts and got it patched enough to make it down the Sierras and home. Great thanks to the manager at Home Depot for the use of their power and extension cord.

Want her to last so ordered a new frame from a local welder...

before removing frame	one side of frame damage the other side just as bad	new frame before powdercoating
box contains batteries and inverter for solar system	(repair made in Home Depot parking lot to get it home)	ugly house paint scraped off bottom of body

I have designed a cap for Boler lovers....

	Low profile khaki cotton cap with back trim in the brim and Boler logo on the front. $12.50us
	Boler colors green/whitered/whitegold/whiteall white

and one for the Scamp owners!
	Low profile khaki cotton cap with back trim in the brim and Scamp logo on the front. $12.50us

And since they have asked, here's one for the Burro owners too!
	Since there are detail differences I have created a cap for Burro owners too. Low profile khaki cotton cap with back trim in the brim and Burro logo on the front. $12.50us
New trailer shirts
	Choose your trailers logo ( like the hats above) for this 100% cotton denim, garment washed, long sleeve shirt. Great for summer this light weight (6.50oz) denim shirt has a tuck in tail,button down collar, horn tone buttons, patch pocket and button throught sleeve plackets. available in sizes S-XXL $27.50 Trailer Boler green/white Boler red/white Boler gold/white Boler white/white Scamp Burro Size smallmediumlargeXlargeXXlarge
email - roy@artechweb.com
707 433-8213
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