Scamp Rehab

About 10 months ago I bought a Scamp RV.....

  It was in rough shape.  I would have liked to have bought a new one, but when I came across this 1990, I decided to go this route.  Why?  My wife and I aren't avid campers; yet.....So I hoped that by buying this Scamp and redoing it, I was taking a lot less risk than investing $14,000 in a new one.  I am pretty happy with the results.  I thought I would share my story a bit for others to ponder.

I didn't put marble counter tops and all that stuff in this camper.  It isn't going to win any beauty pageants.  But I did take it down to the frame and completely redo it.  I went old school.  I removed a few of the things I didn't think we would use, or quite frankly just didn't want to invest back into the camper.

What did we remove?  Well I removed the shower/toilet.  I added another seat/storage are in its place.  Was this a good idea?  Not sure.  I know buying all that stuff and reinstalling would have been at least a thousand bucks.  My wife and I usually camp in areas with bathrooms and showers, so I am not to worried about it.  I also plan on buying a portable potty for emergencies, etc.


Boy was it in rough shape.  I had hoped that I could just patch it up.  But I learned quick that about 50-70% of the floor was rotted.  It also had several rotten spots in the fiberglass.  I wasn't sure how to fix this, but I did patch a hole in a fiberglass boat once.  I used fiberglass resin and the fiberglass cloth.  I thought this was the way to go.  I also used fiberglass filler from EVER-COAT.  This stuff worked pretty well.  For the frame I used a rust preventive called, Pore-15.  This stuff is great.  Also pretty toxic.  I painted the shell with Bright side yacht paint.  I seems to work pretty good, but it goes on thin and needs several coats.  I am pretty sure I need to do a few more coats myself.  But its a learning experience.

Well, I am almost done.  and like I said, it took me about 10 months to redo this thing.  You want to do this?  I recommend it! Especially if you are a person who needs to do hands on things to stay sane!!  But it does take some time.


More to come and Pictures to come soon.

What do you need to redo a camper??

 Time is one things.  I am a teacher so having the summer off was a big help.  It allowed me to work everyday on it for awhile.  Also a little wiring experience or a friend that has this type of experience is key.....I will try to list a few things, but you always need stuff.

You are going to really need a "take this thing apart and see what makes it tick attitude."

  If you don't have that, well.........Not sure if this is for you.  If you have that attitude, then:

You need a lot of things to redo a camper. 
You need a circular saw, miter saw, fiberglass tools, paint brushes, sanders.  I used a belt and a palm sander.  You will need razors and a good razor knife.  Caulk guns....scissors, lol.  This sounds silly.  You need lots of stuff!  When it comes time to do the next phase, You tube and sites, such as Fiberglassrv.com are awesome!

I had to cut out the old floor....

 It took some time and patience.  I had to use a grinder with a cutting blade, a metabo, I think it was called.  BE CAREFUL.  This thing will cut anything in a second, including your finger.....I used it to carefully cut the frame away from the old floor.  It was a two day job.  Nasty!!

Applying Evercoat fiberglass filler.  Then you wet sand to get that smooth texture.  There is a learning curve here.  Read directions, watch videos, do some reading and I did some  practice on other places before I moved to the camper.

Did you notice I have the camper in a garage?  

You gotta buy small wheels from a farm and home store and use those to get it into the garage.  This was tricky. I needed other people to help watch and I also had to let air our of the tires.....lol.  I had to back it in and lift the tongue up to squeeze it in.  But it fit.
Well, hopefully you have a huge metal workshop with an awesome heater and A/C unit.  I don't.  I have a great spouse who let me put the scamp into the garage for a whole winter.  Yikes!  It sucked, but I could work all winter with a heater in the garage.  I also painted in the garage.  You wouldn't believe how much dust and crap is in the air.  An enclosed space is needed for painting!  You are also going to have to invest in a respirator.  You gotta have that because fumes are a biggy!

In this picture, I have cut out small pieces of fiberglass to reattach the new floor to the body.  I found that the smaller pieces were easier to work with. I used Bondo brand resin and Evercoat resin.  I went back and forth.  Bondo isn't as great IMO, but it worked.  Evercoat was pricey, so I am hoping it is stronger.  After I was done, the floor was rock solid!

I redid the bed and bench supports.  I also added some fresh fiberglass here.  There was rot.  I guess the windows leaked.....

Here I am painting the inside.  Yes, I took all the carpet out.  It was musty, moldy, and stunk.  I know I am losing insulation and all that.  If you redo a camper, you are welcome to buy all that, cut it, and reinstall it.  I went for sanding the inside down, and painting it with Rustoleum boat paint.  I used white.  I used this instead of Brightside because I found some on sale, and it was cheaper!!! It turned out nice after two to three coats!

I used Bright-side white and a tan color.  I can't remember the name of the tan.  It worked out nice.  I copied the color scheme from another Scamp redo I saw on the internet.  I used a roll and tip method.  Basically use a foam roller and a decent brush to remove bubbles.  Sand between coats and redo.  This takes a few days.  The paint needs time to dry.  There is a temperature factor.  Warmer weather is better!  Look this up online.  I watched a few videos and I might even post them here.  I love You-tube!