1988 Funmaker for FREE!!!

[mikew-HILO]

Sorry, I didn't mean to be misleading, but I'm not giving it away for FREE - - I got it really cheep and plan to use it myself for many years to come.

This one was purchased new and moved once to a scenic spot on a private fish pond down in South Alabama where it sat for the next 20 years. Eventually, pine needles and tree sap ate holes in the roof in several places and the entire upper-half of the camper rotted away. It was given to me for the price of hauling it away.

It took about six months of hobby-time and around $2000 for me to gut it, rebuild it, and modernized it to make it roadworthy. Major upgrades include LED lighting, expanded shower stall, new vanity, re-locate toilet and roof vent pipe, new walls, ceiling, and flooring.

I included a few teaser photos here - but I posted the extended narrative and photos on facebook at

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.1510293657887.58183.1850754420&l=13777b3c6e

Let me know if you have any trouble with the above link.

 

[vannooch-HILO]

Nice job Mike!

 

[JackandJanet]

I'll second that! Your link to the other pictures works fine Mike. What a beautiful job! Glad to have someone with your skills in the forum.

- Jack

 

[JMDoering]

Mike,

Really enjoyed your Facebook photos and captions. Some of your modifications are pretty innovative and very creative. You've done a fine job with this old gem.

You should have been in the design department at Hi-Lo! As, for the most part, your repairs make this trailer much more user-friendly than the original set-up.

One question, how did you fix the roof problem (the thousands of pin-hole leaks)?

BIG THANKS FOR SHARING!
Jim

 

[sam-HILO]

Restored 1988 HiLo

Awesome job on the HILo remodel!! Can I sign you up to work on my 90 HiLo.? Just a crazy wild thought that cav117 might like to have this free trailer. A great gift for someone serving in the military. Does anybody second the motion? That way he could relax without having to do repairs to his newly purchased 88. God bless you for offering this for free.

 

[bluewindsue]

How did you re-work the glides and the wood part inbetween glides

 

[JMDoering]

Hi Sam,

"It was given to me for the price of hauling it away."

Although the post title reads like its a freeby, I don't think Mike is giving this gem away. The way I read this is that he got the trailer for free. I'm betting he will enjoy this trailer for many years to come!

Mike, which is it?

Jim

 

[Jeff H-HILO]

Fantastic job, Mike-this 1988 looks brand new! The pictures on Facebook show lots of great work. Thanks for sharing the details of this project!

Jeff

 

[mikew-HILO]

First I had to clean the tree sap off the whole roof with a wire brush and a scraper followed by a thorough cleaning with a 50% clorox solution to get it down to the bare metal.

In the two worst places, I installed pieces of aluminum flashing over the existing roof. After cutting/fitting, I glued them down with exterior (sun rated) silicone sealer and fastened them with #6 sheet metal screws at 2" intervals around the edges.

I then applied two coats of elastomeric roof sealant. As a side note, the sealant was a white base that would accept pigment; so, I had it tinted a khaki color just a shade darker than the rest of the camper that looks great compared to the original "tin roof".

Still, there were leaks around the end caps. I removed the trim and trim strips and applied a generous shot of silicone sealant before replacing the trim strips and installing new trim.

I used FRP waterproof sheeting to replace the interior roof panels. I lined the re-built end cap interior cabinetry with heavy gauge plastic sheeting, and used the same plastic behind the new wall panels.

Any leaks that do develop should be confined to the exterior walls. I ripped out the old, wet, moldy, rotted, felt layer leaving nothing but the insulation and the fiberglass siding. Hopefully, if the walls do get wet, they should be able to dry quickly.

I re-built the lower band/seal using 20-year pressure treated lumber in place of the original plywood. I also left off the aluminum flashing/cover that ran along the bottom edge of the band so that any water that accumulated behind the walls could escape.

'Sorry if this is more info than you asked for.

 

[mikew-HILO]

How did you re-work the glides and the wood part inbetween glides

There was another post that I found quite helpful... Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum > Maintenance and repair > Hydraulic lift system > repairing bottom glides of top half

'Nothing to it... except that before you start, you need to raise it up to its full height, disconnect all four lift cables, jack-up the upper half another 6 inches or so, insert 4x4's at the four corners and lower the top half down onto the 4x4's so you can have room to work.

I used 20-year pressure treated lumber to replace the original plywood used in the bands. A 2x2 will do along the sides. There's a little extra spacing at the ends, so I backed a 2x2 with a 1x2 to make up the extra width. This came pretty darn close to the dimensions of the original band.

You didn't ask, but at this point I also installed my seal... the flexible material that fills the gap between the side rail and the bottom half of the trailer. I cut 6" strips of rubber-backed indoor-outdoor carpet, folded them over and tacked them down to the band. To complete the installation I used inside corner moulding over the back edge of the carpet next to the wall panels.

I had to replace all five of my glide blocks. I measured from the corner of the bottom section to the rails, then attached the new blocks at the same position on the upper section band after allowing for front/rear overhang.

I intentionally left off the aluminum flashing/cover that ran along the bottom edge of the band. It's barely noticeable and saved me a whole lot of trouble.

The real trick is trying to line everything up when you try to put the top and bottom halves back together. I puzzled over this one a long time before coming up with a simple solution that worked great for me:

1. First remove the guide rails.
2. Reattach the lift cables.
3. Wedge some 1x2's between the side gap of the lower and upper halves to keep from breaking your newly installed guide blocks.
4. Lower the top half down so it's resting on the lift cables.
5. Remove the 1x2's.
6. For each guide rail, thread it into the glide block and re-attach one of the screws in the next-to-the-top screw hole where it was originally removed. Don't worry about alignment at this point.
7. After all rails are in place, go back around and continue to re-attach the rails using the original screw holes from where it was removed. If you did your measureing correctly, this should force the upper/lower trailer halves back together again and into alignment.
8. Finally, go back around and jack-up the upper trailer half about two inches at each guide rail to expose the top-most screw hold that needs to be replaced.

'Like I said... nothing to it.

 

[vannooch-HILO]

Again, nice job.
Luckily the previous owner had the seal replaced on mine a few years ago, so I didn't have to pop the top for glide replacement.
I'm going to get into some interior renovation sometime here, she has some interior ceiling water damage. It doesn't leak and hasn't since the previous owner bought it used, but I just don't like to look at it, soooo........
I'll have to bust out my tool belt and have at it.

 

[dirtfan]

Mike, how were the cupboards fastened to the walls, I do see where there are screws along the top but don't see where they fastened along the bottom.

Thanks

 

[sam-HILO]

HiLo repair

Just looked at your face book pictures..I will print out your guide replacement instructions for future reference. My Hi Lo cabinents wood work looked a little tired/worn. I cleaned them with a multipurpose cleaner. When dry I applied minwax stain/early american. The next day I applied Scotts liquid gold. Probably could use rub on polyurethane high gloss. Haven't been ambitious to touch them up again. I think they get dried out due to extremes in temperature.

 

[mikew-HILO]

*how were the cupboards fastened to the wall*

The cabinets have a false bottom loosely stapled into place. Beneath the false bottom there is a 1x1 inch strip along the back edge attached directly to the wall. The real real cabinet bottom is attached to this strip from underneath. To dress it up, I glued a length of cove moulding along the joint between the wall and the cabinet. Inside, I reattached the false bottom loosely with staples in case I needed to access the wiring hidden underneath.

 

[mikew-HILO]

*I applied Scotts liquid gold*

My cabinet doors were badly dried-out and looked terrible. I used lemon oil on them and they look great, but they are now much darker than the *fake* wood used throughout the rest of the camper. I'm OK with that.

There is a trim-strip along the top edge of the bottom-half walls. It originally was laminated with the same fake wood. Instead of polyurethane, I removed them, covered them with a wide strip of clear packaging tape, then reattached them making sure the tape was wrapped all the way around and tucked underneath. It was an easy fix and they look great.

I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do with the walls and other flat surfaces. The fake wood laminate has deteriorated badly. I cleaned off most of the loose powdery stuff with steel wool and 409. For now, that'll do. Let me know how your polyurethane works out. I've been considering the same thing.

 

[sam-HILO]

Polyurethane

I haven't used wipe on polyurethane in the HiLo. Recently hubby sanded out all the wooden handrails at church and stained them with Minwax Early American stain. Then he applied three coats of the gloss rub on polyurethane. This is the first time he used the rub on polyurethane. Very easy to apply and it gave the wood a pleasing shine,not a glaring bright one. Defeniately would use again. Follow the directions for great results.

 

[AplusMM]

Outstanding job! If only I had the time, money and energy to do that... but as for a free camper kinda makes me think of the old adage that says there's no such thing as a free puppy - LOL!

 

[MooseMan-HILO]

Hi Mike - you didn't happen to take pictures of the dis-assembly? I'm trying to learn the substructure (walls and ceiling) since I have rotted cabinet mounts and am worried that I'm going to need to rebuild behind the walls.

Thanks!

 

[mikew-HILO]

'Sorry, no before/after photos. Looking back I should have documented the renovation process but it just didn't occur to me at the time. My guess is that if you have rotted cabinet mounts, the damage you don't see is much worse that you think. You might patch it up, but in the end, the walls/roof will probably need to be stripped-down and rebuilt.

 

[joniblny27]

**I made hinged frames and mounted the old divider fabric in them so I could open them out when I wanted. This photo shows the screens in their storage position, folded flat against the exterior walls**

Hi Mike

Your trailer looks great!! Thanks for sharing all your hard work. I really like your bathroom dividers modification [as shown in some photos in your Facebook link]. We have an older 1978 Model 2277B with a bathroom area similar to yours and have been trying to come up with a good idea for our bathroom dividers - ours came with white plastic [broken] mini-blinds. We did not like the mini-blinds idea at all and immediately took them down. But now what to replace them with?? Then I saw your fantastic reno and we think that would work great for us too! However, would it be possible to get a few more details on the design? What did you make the frames with? What type of hinge for the wall mount? How do they stay flat against the wall for travel? etc, etc. Thank you for any and all information you can provide [along with the photos, if possible] we would be VERY greatful!!

Joan & Chris