Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[Mary C]

he he he I know I clean off my desk once a year, the house stays pretty clean but not my desk. when he was alive my sweet husband would stay way back outa my reach and say i should clean it up. it took 20 years and finally he gave up! Smart man!!! But I know what you mean to transition to the new year I did it on the Dec.28th when my eyes got so tired and I needed to move around. when I go back and find the info I need I will go down and get the wood up from the barn. I am just too excited to just sit!!!

[bonnie]

From further reading ... "i think my second build was too high, so i destroyed the shell.” ... You girls are so Impulsive !!! You know it’s a simple matter to add on to any foamie trailer ... Foam , being a homogenous material (no grain) ...you can add or cut out what you want , no harm done ... Say you have a too tall trailer , mark around the sides , and take out a “section" all around , dropping the height “X” number of inches ... add “reinforcing strips" , paint ... Done !!! Too narrow , split it down the middle and add a center section in , making it Wider... ( you do have to make the floor wider for that ) ... Easy to make Longer too ... Anything !!! Just consider it as “home re-modeling” where you don’t tear down the house first ...

Ps. you couldn’t do that with wood without a Lot of Trouble ...

I did that with BUB. What do you suggest for reinforcing strips?

[GPW]

Bonnie, for yours , fiberglass tape , for canvas covered trailers , canvas strips ... You did read all this huh ???

[GPW]

Do we need a new thread for modifying existing Foamies’ ? Not only bigger , wider (or smaller ) , but adding slide outs , bathtubs, crystal chandeliers
Or just , how the “chop” a Foamie ... Being an old hot rodder/vanner with some chopping and channeling experience , we positively know , modifying a Foamie would be real EASY !!! .. with Kitchen tools ... Don’t throw that old Foamie away (or destroy it ) Chop it ...

[GPW]

for example ...

[bonnie]

Bonnie, for yours , fiberglass tape , for canvas covered trailers , canvas strips ... You did read all this huh ???

Yup. I've skimmed and re-read since the big finish. I couldn't find what I was looking for, so mixing canvas and fiberglass would be bad? Wonder if gripper would work with fiberglass fabric? I was hoping to get the interior done, or at least part of it, this winter.

[GPW]

The gripper just might work , inside !!! You probably need to clean the area to be painted with a de-greaser as epoxy tends to leave a waxy substance , which resists paint ... Acetone would do ... just don’t let it touch the foam ...

[Wobbly Wheels]

You probably need to clean the area to be painted with a de-greaser as epoxy tends to leave a waxy substance , which resists paint

That's amine blush and it's water soluble.
Warm water and a Scotch Brite pad work like a charm.

How well would the Gripper stick to the epoxy on the transition areas ?

[GPW]

Thanks W2 !!! Good to know !!! More testing ... but we’ve painted over epoxy on planes before ...

[GPW]

Just to mention again , it’s so EASY to add or subtract from a Foamie ... Making any shape or form possible ... I’ve been eyeing my little foamie , thinking if I split it down the middle (floor too ), widened the floor , and added a new center section , it would be Much nicer , more practical for my needs ... Instant LowWider ... 68” wide inside

Alas, a project for after the FoamStream ....

[KCStudly]

Rather than one big slice down the middle, consider doing a staggered joint so that the filler piece interlocks with the existing pieces. It is a little more layout work but makes alignment of the panels much easier because you are working in a plane instead of a line, and the strength of the mend is increased greatly.

Think Tetris, not zipper.

[GPW]

Thanks KC, that’s “interesting” .... but we’ve gotta’ get the FoamStream finished first before i start whacking on the little one ... June 1 is coming quickly now ...

[eaglesdare]

so you know i got my grandauhter a horse for christmas. well i sort of took her over and have been riding her, even got someone to trailer her to the state forest for a 3 hour trail ride (ouch!). but its pretty difficult to hitch a ride around her (for the horse), so i "told" hubby we were getting a truck with some of the money from our refund. i already have a horse trailer out back, just don't have anything i can tow with. i do have to redue the floor inside the trailer though, again once the refund comes in. but it got me to thinking, that if i get a truck, then i can go heavier with my second build! still will do a foamy, but i am thinking of a little bit more wood for framing. i also want to do something like the foamstream. but i won't really have to worry about put in perm a/c, heater, fridge, stuff like that. and i can put in a decent floor (makes me cry that i destroyed the original floor). but whats done is done.
so anyway, that is my news. oh and he would must be obeyed said "i have no problem with you getting a truck".
my taxes are already done, just have to wait til we can submit them and then wait some more for the deposit.

[GPW]

A good truck is a Wonderful thing !!! I’d be lost without my pickup ...

A Horse too ???

[GPW]

Yesterday I came out to the Studio to check on little Django , "the Toad" ... and there were TWO !!! So I went to the Petco and got a couple dozen crickets and let them loose inside ... This morning , no sign of the toad(s) , dug in, in the “habitat” ... (COLD outside ) , so I guess it was a quick meal , and then a long winter’s nap ... but I do hear an occasional chirping , so they didn’t get them all ... Now I have Lucky Crickets in here too ... Place is turning into a Wildlife Conservancy ...


chirp !!!