Introducing Dolly Roger

[JackandJanet]

Thanks, Rick. I'd certainly seen that stuff but didn't know what it was called. I think you've made an excellent choice and, the way you describe how you're going to fasten down the edges of the rubber roof sounds great to me.

I think you're going to have a great trailer!

- Jack

 

[sam-HILO]

Getting metal trim

We had to replace some metal trim on our Classic HiLo. DH just searched under metal extrusions/trim. Hopefully you can find a matching profile. Your HiLo will be in great shape with a new roof.

 

[nmalozzi]

Hey thanks, I forgot to mention that I found a place local that sells the trim. Awesome mom-n-pop metal shop. Super nice folks. Even let me drive off with everything without paying. They were cash only and I only had cards. Dropped off payment a few hours later. They rock!

 

[Treeclimber]

Hummm... That corner bead is also made in white plastic. It can be heated with a hair dryer to form it to unique shapes. Will keep it in mind when I re-do my roof.
Tree

 

[nmalozzi]

Hummm... That corner bead is also made in white plastic. It can be heated with a hair dryer to form it to unique shapes. Will keep it in mind when I re-do my roof.
Tree

Yea, I knew the plastic stuff existed too but they didn't have it at my local Home Depot. So I just bought what was there. The galvanized bends pretty easy on it's own. You just need to use some tin snips to cut out and spots that buckle within in the bend. Super easy.

 

[nmalozzi]

Well, it's been a few weeks of no progress and then a bunch this weekend. Flew back to the east coast to surprise my mom for mother's day, and actually had snow the weekend prior to that. So I literally couldn't do anything until this past Friday.

In addition to snow, we had a pretty serious hail storm mixed in there. Thankfully, I already had the rubber roof installed, and had a tarp & an RV cover on Dolly. I hadn't had a chance to attach all the roof trim/molding. So I put the tarp/cover on for peace of mind. Sure glad I did it. We had some hail nearly billiard ball sized. Thankfully, the coverings did a pretty good job protecting everything. With only a few dents in the front metal siding (can be seen in the photos at the link below). My RV cover was shredded though. Might be able to repair it, we'll see. I consider myself lucky though. Our cars were fine since the hail wasn't as bad near the offices we both work at. My neighbors cars lost windshields/sunroofs and are dented pretty bad. We had some minor damage to the house, but only cosmetic.

Anyway, back to the point. I spent the weekend seam taping EVERYTHING and affixing the trim/molding. I also removed an old radio antenna from the front of the camper and fabricated a nice cover for the hole it left. I also removed the front awning so I could paint the front of the camper, and went ahead and did just that. Lastly, I added some aluminum reinforcements and flat angle brackets to the bottom side of the awning to stiffen it up some. It too got painted to match the rest of the nice new white front. I managed to keep the HiLo logo in tact, and I'm going to go over it and touch it up with black paint once the white is dry. I have some nice new gas pistons to install when I put the awning back on so it's easier to use. I really like how well the front took the paint. So I'll likely paint the entire exterior at some point this summer. At that point I plan to make the blue stripe a bit taller, and maybe run a nice black stripe on top and bottom of the blue stripe to really make it pop.

Our first trip is June 7th. So I probably won't get to the exterior paint until after that trip. The next few weeks need to be devoted to getting the interior back in order.

Here's that album again, with more progress pics (and a video!) added:
HiLo

 

[Garry-HILO]

Well, it's been a few weeks of no progress and then a bunch this weekend. Flew back to the east coast to surprise my mom for mother's day, and actually had snow the weekend prior to that. So I literally couldn't do anything until this past Friday.

In addition to snow, we had a pretty serious hail storm mixed in there. Thankfully, I already had the rubber roof installed, and had a tarp & an RV cover on Dolly. I hadn't had a chance to attach all the roof trim/molding. So I put the tarp/cover on for peace of mind. Sure glad I did it. We had some hail nearly billiard ball sized. Thankfully, the coverings did a pretty good job protecting everything. With only a few dents in the front metal siding (can be seen in the photos at the link below). My RV cover was shredded though. Might be able to repair it, we'll see. I consider myself lucky though. Our cars were fine since the hail wasn't as bad near the offices we both work at. My neighbors cars lost windshields/sunroofs and are dented pretty bad. We had some minor damage to the house, but only cosmetic.

Anyway, back to the point. I spent the weekend seam taping EVERYTHING and affixing the trim/molding. I also removed an old radio antenna from the front of the camper and fabricated a nice cover for the hole it left. I also removed the front awning so I could paint the front of the camper, and went ahead and did just that. Lastly, I added some aluminum reinforcements and flat angle brackets to the bottom side of the awning to stiffen it up some. It too got painted to match the rest of the nice new white front. I managed to keep the HiLo logo in tact, and I'm going to go over it and touch it up with black paint once the white is dry. I have some nice new gas pistons to install when I put the awning back on so it's easier to use. I really like how well the front took the paint. So I'll likely paint the entire exterior at some point this summer. At that point I plan to make the blue stripe a bit taller, and maybe run a nice black stripe on top and bottom of the blue stripe to really make it pop.

Our first trip is June 7th. So I probably won't get to the exterior paint until after that trip. The next few weeks need to be devoted to getting the interior back in order.

Here's that album again, with more progress pics (and a video!) added:
HiLo

Great work Nick. You've taken a diamond in the rough and made a beautiful gem out of it.

 

[nmalozzi]

Great work Nick. You've taken a diamond in the rough and made a beautiful gem out of it.

Thanks! More to come as I attack the interior.

 

[maestro123]

excellent nick keep it up dawg!

 

[Shea-HILO]

Hey nick.
Love the rig. I just posted my roof replacement project.
I also live in Colorado (aurora)
I got an entire metal roof already seamed and rolled for delivery, diamond plate for the front and a new sheet for the back. To do all the exterior front to back. About $550, but yours is shorter. I also got all the new exterior screws (by the pound, lol) caulking for the trim, dicor for the roof. They had about 10 different kinds of trim. For my wrap around corners I used my old ones. New rubber stuff to cover screws by the roll. Goo stuff too put behind the trim, again by the roll. Way cheap.
"The Metal Company". 303-423-4425. 5509 Harlan St. Denver.
I'm also trying to get this thing done by this weekend for summer rolling. I've had to resort to caking world for some little parts but I'm close....

Shea.

 

[Shea-HILO]

I'm sure you agree, all the rain, hail, snow has made the last 3 weeks tough for our projects. Lol

 

[nmalozzi]

Hey nick.
Love the rig. I just posted my roof replacement project.
I also live in Colorado (aurora)
I got an entire metal roof already seamed and rolled for delivery, diamond plate for the front and a new sheet for the back. To do all the exterior front to back. About $550, but yours is shorter. I also got all the new exterior screws (by the pound, lol) caulking for the trim, dicor for the roof. They had about 10 different kinds of trim. For my wrap around corners I used my old ones. New rubber stuff to cover screws by the roll. Goo stuff too put behind the trim, again by the roll. Way cheap.
"The Metal Company". 303-423-4425. 5509 Harlan St. Denver.
I'm also trying to get this thing done by this weekend for summer rolling. I've had to resort to caking world for some little parts but I'm close....

Shea.

The Metal Company is where I got all my trim. I'd have bought the rubber roof, Dicor, and Butyl Tape from them too... but I had already ordered all of that on Amazon by the time I found the place. The folks at The Metal Company are super nice, and I'm sure I'll be back to buy stuff from them again. The only downside is they aren't open on nights or weekends. So I have to plan ahead if I need anything from them. FYI: Ketelsen Campers stocks trim too. A more limited selection, but I was short one piece on Saturday. I tried Camper World first since they normally stock more parts, and they pretty much thought I was crazy to even ask. Drove over to Ketelsen, and a nice lady went out to the warehouse with my iPhone (I had a picture of what I needed) and pulled a piece for me. Saved the day. Literally.

I've lost track of how much I'm into this from a cost perspective, but I'm likely deeper in the hole than you. That said, I had to buy all the new steel cross members, all new plywood, and I've already bought everything I need for new lights/fan etc in the ceiling. Sounds like you've mostly been working on the outside. I literally removed everything that was overhead.

Excited to redo the interior this weekend. While I feel great having completed the roof, it has little to no "wow" factor to anyone besides me. Can't wait to see my wife's reaction when she steps into it for the first time after I'm done.

June 7 is just around the corner, gotta be ready for our reservation at Steamboat Lake!

 

[Shea-HILO]

Sounds great.
I was hoping to be out this weekend. Have to see how today goes.
We have two trips planned that are in need of more people if your interested. I have an unclaimed reserved site for grand lake 4th of July. (Reserved a year in advance). It's been offered to a few friends but no official commitment yet.
The other trip is to Dinosaur national park. The only site we could reserve was a group site and we don't have enough people to fulfill the site requirements yet.
Shea

 

[maestro123]

boy nick how I feel that wow factor here to. LOL only I care about it. which is all good. I know what I have done and did and accomplished I guess that's all that matters. is what I think wow is lol keep up the good work.

 

[nmalozzi]

Whew. 3 days of hard work, but we're now starting to get into that "Wow factor". The Mrs is starting to see the vision and get excited. So here's what I got into:

- Pulled up not 1, but 2 layers of nasty/smelly carpet.

- Removed the toilet. We are seasoned tent campers, if there aren't facilities nearby we know how to dig a hole. So the toilet was just taking up space.

- Removed the awkward tall cabinet that was next to the toilet. We wanted more counter space, and a previous owner butchered the inside of the cabinet when running new wiring. So it was almost useless for storage.

- Removed all the poorly routed drains/plumbing. A previous owner removed the grey water tank and for some reason zig zagged the drain all the way across the width of the camper and back. It was pretty much held together with duct taped and hose clamps, it leaked, and drained poorly because the pitch changed 3 times. So I removed it all and will simplify it so it's easier to maintain, and drains properly.

- Relocated the fuse and on/off electrical boxes. Again a previous owner haphazardly just screwed these to the floor inside the cabinet I removed.

- Removed all the countertops. The counters cracked/warped/split when the water from the roof leaked onto them.

- Layed a new faux wood laminate floor.

- Built a new custom cabinet base to occupy the space created when I removed the toilet/tall cabinet. The plan here is to just make a simple open shelving unit. Just need to cut some wood for said shelves.

- Cut and installed new counter tops. They are just sitting in place in the photos. I'll screw them into the cabinets tonight when I install the sink.


So things are moving along. My wife will be out of town for most of this week. So I plan to work on it at night, as opposed to just sitting alone on the couch. All the new/old cabinets will be getting a coat of white paint as well as the walls. I'm going to cut new cabinet doors since the old ones are all warped and cracked from the water leak. I'm planning to stain them with a grey stain. So everything will have a black/white/grey color scheme. It'll have a slightly contemporary rustic look to it. I know most don't care about that sort of thing, but I have an Bachelor's in Fine Arts (Graphic/Web Design). So that kinda thing matters to me, haha. Still need to build the new bed/couch frame, but I have a plan in my head and the lumber to do it.

Happy with the progress so far, but I feel like I'm a half day or so behind where I want to be. I've got 9 days to wrap this up before our first trip, and I still need to just do the normal "camper" check on the water system/tires/electrical/etc. It's gonna be a push, but I think I can make it.

I added some photos from this weekend to the album:

HiLo

 

[JackandJanet]

What an epic collection of work! It's hard to wait to see the finished result! You have every right to be proud of what you've accomplished.

- Jack

 

[Garry-HILO]

Whew. 3 days of hard work, but we're now starting to get into that "Wow factor". The Mrs is starting to see the vision and get excited. So here's what I got into:

- Pulled up not 1, but 2 layers of nasty/smelly carpet.

- Removed the toilet. We are seasoned tent campers, if there aren't facilities nearby we know how to dig a hole. So the toilet was just taking up space.

- Removed the awkward tall cabinet that was next to the toilet. We wanted more counter space, and a previous owner butchered the inside of the cabinet when running new wiring. So it was almost useless for storage.

- Removed all the poorly routed drains/plumbing. A previous owner removed the grey water tank and for some reason zig zagged the drain all the way across the width of the camper and back. It was pretty much held together with duct taped and hose clamps, it leaked, and drained poorly because the pitch changed 3 times. So I removed it all and will simplify it so it's easier to maintain, and drains properly.

- Relocated the fuse and on/off electrical boxes. Again a previous owner haphazardly just screwed these to the floor inside the cabinet I removed.

- Removed all the countertops. The counters cracked/warped/split when the water from the roof leaked onto them.

- Layed a new faux wood laminate floor.

- Built a new custom cabinet base to occupy the space created when I removed the toilet/tall cabinet. The plan here is to just make a simple open shelving unit. Just need to cut some wood for said shelves.

- Cut and installed new counter tops. They are just sitting in place in the photos. I'll screw them into the cabinets tonight when I install the sink.


So things are moving along. My wife will be out of town for most of this week. So I plan to work on it at night, as opposed to just sitting alone on the couch. All the new/old cabinets will be getting a coat of white paint as well as the walls. I'm going to cut new cabinet doors since the old ones are all warped and cracked from the water leak. I'm planning to stain them with a grey stain. So everything will have a black/white/grey color scheme. It'll have a slightly contemporary rustic look to it. I know most don't care about that sort of thing, but I have an Bachelor's in Fine Arts (Graphic/Web Design). So that kinda thing matters to me, haha. Still need to build the new bed/couch frame, but I have a plan in my head and the lumber to do it.

Happy with the progress so far, but I feel like I'm a half day or so behind where I want to be. I've got 9 days to wrap this up before our first trip, and I still need to just do the normal "camper" check on the water system/tires/electrical/etc. It's gonna be a push, but I think I can make it.

I added some photos from this weekend to the album:

HiLo

Looking better all the time! Anxious to see the finished product.

 

[hilltool]

We went out for a week before Memorial day by the Mississippi River in Wisconsin and one day I finally made a list of the all the little things I needed to that I keep forgetting about especially if they happened near the end of the last season. I had 12 items. I was whining a bit about it until I saw your pictures. I am both humbled and ashamed. WOW. Stay with the vision.

Rick

 

[nmalozzi]

Looking better all the time! Anxious to see the finished product.

Thanks! I can't wait either!

We went out for a week before Memorial day by the Mississippi River in Wisconsin and one day I finally made a list of the all the little things I needed to that I keep forgetting about especially if they happened near the end of the last season. I had 12 items. I was whining a bit about it until I saw your pictures. I am both humbled and ashamed. WOW. Stay with the vision.

Rick

Thanks Rick. Don't feel ashamed. I'd have never taken all this on if the roof didn't leak this winter. Sure we are doing a ton of things we've talked about doing, but I was planning to take this all on slowly in stages over the years. The water damage sort of forced my hand though. It's a lot of work, but we decided it's the devil we knew. Buying another camper would have likely cost even more, and we'd be risking the same thing. It helps that we got a good deal on it when we purchased it. Makes spending the money on it now a tad easier to swallow.

What an epic collection of work! It's hard to wait to see the finished result! You have every right to be proud of what you've accomplished.

- Jack

Thanks Jack! I'm quite proud indeed. Can't wait to show off the finished product!

 

[nmalozzi]

I made it happen! Sorry for the big gap in progress here, but I really couldn't stop and post. I've sort of lost track of all the work I've done, but the important news is I got her road/camping worthy in time for our first trip. She's a bit rough around the edges, but usable. Mostly just some paint and finishing work to do. So let me try to recap what I did since we last spoke:

- Finished attaching the new countertops.
- Installed/plumbed the new sink.
- Removed the useless water heater (It wasn't functioning properly, and we really don't care about hot water. We did care about the storage space it was taking up).
- Removed the remaining wiring associated with the water heater, as well as some other wiring that the previous owner just disconnected and left in the walls/cabinets.
- Ran all new wiring to the Fantastic Fan.
- Ran all new wiring to 4 new LED lights in the ceiling. I have them split onto 2 different switches for the front and back of the camper. MAN they are bright!
- Installed a new USB/cigarette lighter outlet so we could charge our iPhones (we're nerds).
- Relocated the pump switch to under the new outlet (it was previously under one of the seats. Which I always found to be a pain to get to).
- My pregnant wife cut and installed the ceiling insulation because she's amazing.
- Installed new ceiling.
- Cut/sanded/stained new cabinet doors and installed them (the original ones fell victim to the water leak and expanded/split).
- Stained the new shelf.
- Built a new futon/bed setup (wow is it an improvement in comfort over what was there!)
- Seal taped all four edges of the new roof (because I'm obsessive compulsive).
- Installed new opener/pistons on the front awning.
- Loaded all of our gear and went camping!

We spent 5 nights camping and everything worked wonderfully, and I feel pretty good. Sure there are a few small things to tidy up (mostly a nice coat of paint on the interior), but all and all it was a fantastic trip. This is all gut feel here, but the top seems lighter due to the new roof construction as the lift motor seems to pop it up with a bit more ease than last season. That said, I think the new bed and thicker countertops have added to overall weight as felt through my butt dyno in our tow vehicle (v8 4runner). We were already considering trading my car in on a truck for towing, and I think this trip sold us on that. We certainly didn't have any issues with the 4runner, but we'd like to keep that rig around for awhile. So it's probably not a good thing to keep stressing it that much. All systems worked perfectly and we weren't hooked up to anything. Battery lasted the entire time, we literally ran out of water on the last morning, and we never even tapped the second propane tank despite running the fridge on propane the entire time. I think with a solar panel and some supplemental water we could make 7days easily. Which has kinda always been my completely random goal. Nights got down to the low 40s and we didn't even fire up the heater. Last season we would have, but I think the insulated ceiling (the old ceiling had none) REALLY helps. It stays warmer at night and cooler during the day.

Anyway, I'm going to pick away at these last few items slowly. So these updates will likely slow down. In the mean time here is the album again. I've added some more progress photos, and even some photos from camp at Steamboat Lake:

HiLo