Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[GPW]

Norm , the worse that can happen is I’ll draw some ants ... As with Eagles experience , ants do seem drawn to trailers ... I had an ant problem in my old wooden TD ... I WILL try that !!!
Tart , Great find !!!! Likely Dacron , which was a fabric we discussed some many pages back ...

[chartle]

HI,
I got a bunch of sails that were put to garbage..its very thick and slick canevas, do you guy's think it could be used to re-do a roof? what kind of adhesive would you use with it?

I'm not sure if you can glue it. Its the slick part makes me concerned.

Its probably treated to keep it from getting water logged. If water can't soak in neither will glue.

[GPW]

Chart, I’m Sure there's something to glue those sails on with ... something Foam compatible ... If not they’s make great awnings .... Very Thrifty !!!

[chartle]

Chart, I’m Sure there's something to glue those sails on with ... something Foam compatible ... If not they’s make great awnings .... Very Thrifty !!!

Its probably some sort of plastic coating like PVC. Anything that would work with PVC would dissolve the foam.

I can only imagine something like maybe contact cement and a lot of pain.

[Wobbly Wheels]

tartosuc, those sails should indeed be Dacron (nylon). Epoxy will work and won't hurt the styrofoam but it will kick 'thrifty' in the backside....

I agree with the testing idea - it might take quite a bit to wet them out since the weave is usually so tight on a main.

[tartosuc]

From what i could see the sails are waterproof and will not absorb any type of glue so my thinking is that i will need someking of contact cement to be able to "glue it". on my trailer the top is not styrofoam but wood so i'm not worried about hurting foam with the glue i will use.

it too cold to do testing outside, i will cut pices of sails to test with different type of glues/epoxy/contact cement.

keep sugegstion coming, i have no knowledge in gluing stuff.

i'll try to get info in a boat shop

[eaglesdare]

omg, i would think molasses would attract those ants. ick.

in my case i am just glad they only tried coming up on the tripod and electric cord. taking care of that was easy, put water bowls around tripod legs and remove the electric cord. so glad they did not start using the tires. now that would have been a problem.

those sails look pretty cool, but seems to be a technical thing. so i will leave that one alone.

[GPW]

OK, Got some Molasses , going to try it .... hope someone wasn’t just having me on ... We’ll see if it attracts any wildlife ...

[chartle]

OK, Got some Molasses , going to try it .... hope someone wasn’t just having me on ... We’ll see if it attracts any wildlife ...

I may work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses#Industrial

Molasses is acidic so it would be like using Navel Jelly.

[GPW]

Naval Jelly , but my navel’s not rusted ... I will try it in a few minutes ... be back ...

[GPW]

Had to happen sooner or later ... we’ve run out of words ... Everybody knows what to do , so lets get down to building !!!

[pete42]

I didn't run out of words what I did was I ran into a flu-bug big old bug was he came 3 weeks ago and I'm still cleaning up the mess he left.

ps: I now own part of kimbler-clark...........

[GPW]

Pete , hope you’re feeling Better now !!!

Just a few more words on the subject ... I’m always amazed at the interest I get from non-trailer folks ( trailer Muggles) about Foamies ... Yesterday I ran into a gentleman who owns a Huge shutter Factory here... and his first words were questions about Foamie trailers ... Here’s a guy that could easily afford a big A MH , but is fascinated by the idea of a Thrifty Alternative ... and the ultimate practicality of such constructions ...
All I have to do here is mention the K word (Katrina) and everybody instantly understands my motives ... and No one has had anything negative to say about it at all ...

I swear if "I was 20 years younger" , I’d start a small company to make Foamie EVAC trailers ... I already have a list of people who have offered to buy mine ... Talk about creating jobs ...

[bonnie]

We are waiting on the bolt report.

Still planning and dreaming. Collecting parts and saving to have the trailer built.

[GPW]

B’, Still soaking ... The YT video said a couple days , so I’m giving it a fair test ... those bolts are pretty NASTY corroded ... If this works it’ll be a miracle ...
And if it actually does work , I may try it on those rusted springs and other large parts ... Ideally if it works on the other parts ,then they can be saved with a good coat of Rustoleum ... all the bolts , have to go .... can’t save any of that , just have to get them off ... still may have to resort to the grinder ...