1993 22L Remodel of Myrtle
 

We purchased our 1993 22L several years ago in her all original condition and glory. She's solid and looks great at first glance, but has some squishy spots around three windows. After I convinced DH that camping life is really great (well, not entirely true, but he's a great sport and loves me), we considered selling her and moving up into a larger and lighter trailer, but are so enamored with "Myrtle the Turtle" that we have chosen to invest time and energy into repairing her walls and remodeling her.

So let the journey begin. I spent this past weekend stripping her: removed window treatments, cabinet fronts, bathroom curtains, table, couch, and bunk. Outside of the couch removal, which included some contortion and a giggling fit, it was a smooth process. DH is scratching his head wondering what we've gotten into, but I'm nothing but excited.

I've already received new cushions and fabric for reupholstering, plus additional fabric for curtains and girly touches. This winter will be the hard work of everything in between. The final doll-up is to repaint her to compliment "Ruby" our truck.

What better place to track this journey than here with fellow Hi-Lo fans and experts. I'll post progress as we go along and will be sure to turn to you with questions.

First question I should have asked...there's got to be an easier way to remove that couch. We never could find a release for the drawer glide to aid in its removal. Glad there's no pic of how I had to bend myself around that couch edge to reach the mounting screws in the back.

I've attached before pics. She looks great, but when you see her naked, you'll understand that this is for her own good.



Kathleen

Nice!

I got a kick out of this:
"we considered selling her and moving up into a larger and lighter trailer"

Do Hi-Lo's really weigh that much more than a "conventional" camper of equivalent size (I haven't compared directly, but weight seems to be a secondary concern on every camper I've looked at).

Where's you source the cushion material? What did it cost? Did you have a choice of cushion densities? How did you choose?

Hi Knotty,

I had dug around a lot on the internet considering different cushion options: buy new foam (holy moly expensive) and recover? purchase outdoor cushions to fit? different custom websites? By the time you buy the foam and fabric and time, it was worth finding someone else to do it for me (and I'm pretty handy with a sewing machine).

I turned to RV Furniture RV Cushions Bedding Skylights RV Water Tanks RV Holding Tanks RV Roof Vent RV Escape Hatch RV Range Hood RV Tire Carrier Pleated Shades DayNight Shades RV Sinks RV Jack RV Accessories Camper Accessories. They have a limited fabric selection since it's overstock, but after a couple rounds of sending swatches, we settled on something that we liked. We order a full set of dinette cushions in the higher grade foam, with an additional 10 yards of fabric to reupholster the couch and decorative end caps. The cushions were $313, fabric $97.50. With shipping and tax, $479.39 total. They look great! Can't wait to show her off when it's all in place.

DH can talk more about the trailer weight and towing capacity, but there are certainly lighter trailers out there of the same size. But the trade off of being able to store her in our shop and the shes-so-cool factor outweigh her extra pounds. I'm pretty sure, the extra pounds I carry don't warrant a trade in either.

Hi Knotty,

I did a lot of comparison shopping and considered different options: 1) buy (holy cow) expensive foam and recover the cushions myself; 2) look for comparable outdoor cushions; 3) go the easiest route and search for RV Pro's to do it for me. I went with #3 and found rvandvansurplus on the internet. They have a limited fabric supply and it took a couple rounds of ordering swatches until we found something we both liked. All in all, with great looking cushions and 10 yards of additional fabric to reupholster our couch and decorative end caps, the total came to around $475.

There are trailers of comparable size that do weigh less. However, we thought the shes-so-cool factor outweighed her extra pounds. That's what DH says about me, too.

So.....I would pull all those windows and reseal them. There are a bunch of threads on how to do that and more than a few generic videos on you tube. You need to find out where the leak(s) is coming from. Also- those windows are supposed to be resealed every ten years or so anyway.... (maybe you already are planning on doing this). I found a leak above my kitchen window as it turns out---and it was where the hood range exhaust vented to outside. That piece was not well sealed and the water came in and travelled around the window frame and pooled at the bottom. Your picture reminded me of it. Had I not simply decided to re seal the window I never would have caught it. have fun.

Rick

So Rv & Van Surplus had the foam too? If so, for $475 thats a GREAT deal!

Did they just supply the foam and material, which you then stitched yourself?

"However, we thought the shes-so-cool factor outweighed her extra pounds. That's what DH says about me, too."

Haha - guess he's a keeper then! (And so is the DH! :p )

Thanks Rick. Yea..windows will be coming out and wall panel replaced wherever needed. This past summer - after a gnarly hail storm - DH resealed the entire roof and painted it with sealer. But the windows...yep, coming out. If we are going to do this thing, there's only one way. The right way. DH is very talented and I'm willing to learn. So much to learn.

That big fat nickel covered the complete, finished set of cushions plus the 10 yards of matching fabric. I'll do the couch myself. You provide dimensions and they send you a big box of this-would-have-taken-me-forever.

Wow thats great! DW and I *could* do the sewing ourselves, but really would rather not. At that kind of price we dont have to!

Repairs
 

Welcome to the forum. Many threads on repairs. We have had similar water damage and ended up rebuilding our walls. Every window was taken out and scraped of old butyl tape. The butyl tape was replaced and then Lexel caulk was used on the outside. Plan on a huge quanity of stainless steel screws for replacement. Sounds like you are a good team for these repairs. Glad you didn't go with a light weight trailer. They don't hold up after being slammed down the road. Our repairs were done 6yrs ago and have held up very well.Try to take your old paneling off in big pieces to use for patterns around the window. We are here to answer your questions. Keep us posted. Anything that needs repair on a HiLo can be fixed.

Sam,

Man-o-man, I love this forum. I've added the following items to my project notebook: butyl tape, lexel caulk, and huge qty's of stainless steel nails, templates from old panels, anything is possible

I am so thankful for your generous advice and confirming my optimism to repair and doll-up Myrtle.

Glad you're with us, but you want stainless steel SCREWS, not "nails".

- Jack

[QUOTE=you want stainless steel SCREWS, not "nails".

- Jack[/QUOTE]

Ah...noted and corrected. Feel like I've got a bunch of big e-brothers and e-sisters out there keeping an eye out for L'il Sis trailing along. :p

You DO! We are all learning and hope that we can pass that learning on.

Repairs
 

You are right about taking the couch out. It is a back breaking pain,but doable. Lexel caulk is a premium caulk(about 8.00 a tube). It can be purchased at ACE hardware.Lowes or on line. Start by putting cardboard on all your floors and counter tops. Take pictures of placement of items that you tear out. Six months down the road you won;t remember everything. A multitool will get lots of use on your project. Any wall that you strip down to the fiberglass should be coated with liquid bondo. This will seal up any holes you can't see. Metal inside frame get painted with Rustoleum or a like product. Harbor freight is a good place to get items for your rebuild. That's all I can think of for tips to get you statred.

where did you get the butyl tape that you used on the windows?

Butyl tape can be found on Amazon or any RV supply house.

keystone, As mentioned, butyl tape is avail on amazon as well as Eternabond. I usually buy butyl tape in the 5pack. I also keep a roll of Eternabond for both the Hi Lo and the house, both have come in very handy a few times. Saved a campers vacation because of a leaking skylight. If your re-sealing your windows, you'll need the 5 pack but you'll have left overs for spare AND save money!
Tree

Concerning screws-

When I re-did my windows I bought stainless. I was having a hell of a time on the re-install and kept twisting the heads off them. My trailer guy said he still goes with zinc because the heads breaking off was a known problem with the stainless. So- I bought a box of zinc screws and that seemed to eliminate the problem .

Rick

Rick, I've noticed that stainless steel screws are not as durable as zinc coated steel ones too. As long as you don't need significant torque to set the screws, stainless are fine, but you have to be sensitive to the force needed and be ready to drill a larger pilot hole.

A thought - if the threads and screw diameters are the same, you could insert a galvanized screw to "create" the path, and then replace it with a stainless one.

- Jack

I noticed the same thing Jack. There were a couple of holes I had to make just a little big bigger to get the SS screws in on the windows. In one critical location I re-used steel ones to take more load. I like your idea of zinc coated.

-Leland

FYI stainless screws/bolts/whatever are a harder material than other steels. Same with higher-grade bolts.

Because they’re a harder material, they don’t give much before breaking. Think of the difference between lead and glass/ceramics. Lead will give more easily, and ceramics will just break/shatter.

You have top treat stainless screws more gently. BUT...they’ll retain a sharper thread edge and cutting tip (if you get self tapping). Just remember using any kind of electric/cordless driver that you’ll want to back off the torque a LOT, and finish the drive by hand. Once the screw bottoms out, stop.

I’ve driven zillions of screws over the years - stainless are VERY easy to break, especially with today’s impact drivers.

Moved inside for the restore project
 

This weekend we moved Myrtle inside after a thorough power wash. We are lucky to have a large shop with a door oversized enough to get her inside. However, with the air-conditioner shroud and hanging, garage door opener, it was a real challenge. First off with the shroud, then down with the opener. The width of the ceiling joists were so tight that DH had to force it wider with a wedge. We raised her inch by inch, and wiggled her in, but were shy an inch to raise her completely. We resorted to letting air out of her tires so we could open her all the way up. Ta-dah! She's parked in her winter resort, ready for the full treatment.

Attachment 6388

Attachment 6389

Sorry, have to tilt your head on this one...

Attachment 6390

Update on the our 1993 restore
 

Hi Everyone!
It's been a long time since I've posted, but we have been busy this past year tearing down and rebuilding "Myrtle the Turtle". We aren't quite finished, but we have made tremendous headway and are getting so very close to tying a bow on her.

So far we have:
1. We stripped the wallpaper so we could get to the walls
2. Took out the cabinet faces, table, sofa, bunk, toilet, curtains, bathroom roman shades
3. Removed the windows
4. Cut out all the rotten wood and replaced with new luan paneling
5. Caulked, primed, and painted the walls
6. Reupholstered the jackknife couch, end caps, and other upholstered items
7. Repainted the counter-tops with a faux granite finish
8. Stained and glazed the cabinet fronts
9. Repainted the cabinet hardware and light fixtures
10. Installed new flooring and carpet patches
11. Covered the bathroom roman shades with new fabric
12. Made new curtains - yet to be hung

Still to do:
1. Wrestle with jackknife couch to install - not looking forward to that job (what a bear to take out!)
2. Install the new toilet
3. Scrub and shine her outside
4. Install a new awning

I have tons of photos that I've cherry-picked to share with you. We are hoping to have her debut this fall.

Enjoy the pics!! (haveing a hard time posting pics, so I have attached a pdf of a collage of the following pics:

Starting the reuphostery
Finished Jack Knife Couch
Rebuilding walls
Walls painted a lovely "Greige"
Recovered bathroom roman shades
Faux granite finish
Because they look so good
Cabinet refinishing
A peak at the flooring


There was a lot of work in between with tons of photos showing details of what was torn apart so that we could reassemble. We are so very excited about how Myrtle is dressing up.

Kathleen

I'm not sure if this will work, but here is a link to my album of our step-by-step restoration of Myrtle:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/thEyzJ99KaaS2wpCA

Awesome job.
 

Enjoyed viewing your pictures. We have also done quite a bit of restoration on our 1990 25ft. Classic. I can appreciate the amt. of work you have put in on the project. Keep up the good work. Pretty soon you will be out camping in the HiLo.

Finished hanging the bathroom "wall". I really struggled with how to hang the sliding curtain. Since I covered the wicker with fabric, I was afraid that the wicker inside would eventually sag. I figured it out by using old fashioned drapery hooks that I dug into the wicker. Replaced the slides to handin the original rail. Works great.

Ran into a challenge with blind replacements. Ordered 1" mini blinds and the mounting header and hardware are too wide. Just burned $200. Of course we mounted everything, tossed the boxes in time time for trash pickup so can't return before realizing our screw up. We tried multiple work around with no success. Found another source to reorder micro-mini blinds that will work (oh please!). Lesson learned - mounting brackets and blinds cannot exceed 1 1/8". Ugh.

Please let us know where you found the micro-mini blinds and if they mount under the valances ok. Finding replacements that work has been a problem.

Don't feel bad with drapery/blind problems.
 

I had trouble with the same scenario that you ran into. Ordered from HD and had to return them for a $ loss. Ordered new blinds from another co. Told them repeatedly the size I needed to be able to lower the HiLo. Sent the blinds and they were wrong size header. I had to donate the blinds to the salvation army and send them the donation receit to get it taken off my credit card. Ended up taking the old blinds down and using five or six cans of rattle can paint to do a make over.

Still on the hunt. Asked one company to send the mounting bracket before ordering. Oh brother! What a challenge. Mad ar me for riding the old blinds. I still have the old mounting brackets and next option is to see if new blindss will fit into the old brackets.

Curtain rod
 

A few years ago I was able to get a round curtain rod at Kmart for my original curtains. I remember using the old hardware. Had to order another one in. It got damaged in transit. Finaly got one un damaged. Maybe make some curtains and attach with velcro?

Thanks for the tip!

Fingers crossed. Ordered 1" aluminum blinds made by Hampton Bay. The header measures 1" x 1". Bought a sample blindd to test. Looks like it will work. Then custom ordered through HD to exact width and height. Would have liked to buy cordless, but those headers are bigger. I still have hardware from the original blinds just in case the new ones fit and in case the new hardware is off. If all goes well, I'll send pics. Have to wait about 10 more days. I am NOT a patient person. We want to hang the blinds and curtains before installing the couch, toilet, and bunk. So the inside project has stalled a little.

Meanwhile working on windows seals, ordering new awning, and cleaning off old smeared goop on the outside. Previous owner smeared all kinds of stuff, quite sloppily on Myrtle's shell.

We had removed all the faded decals and want to get her outside as cleaned and polished as possible. Tonight's job is to clean off the old goo. Oh joy!

Good luck with the goo. I had old, stuck-on packing tape that the PO had used to tape down a tarp because the roof was so bad. After it dried, removing the old adhesive was almost like trying to remove something that had permanently bonded to the fiberglass shell. But ... it is nice to have it gone. Hope it goes well for you.

Just thinking out loud
 

Maybe googone and or a heat gun would soften the goop. Maybe scrape off carefuly with a plastic scraper or a heat gun. Someone makes a product for removing silicone. Saw a trailer once where the owner slapped on black roof tar. It was slopped over the sides. DW probably told him to coat the roof and he did it with "some attitude".

Goo Gone did the trick. Took of all the old crud very easily. Thirty minutes made a huge difference in her appearance - from sloppy and grungy to beat and tidy in a flash. Granted, she's still quite plain, but a clean pallet ready for a more refreshing look. Plan to paint her steps, hitch, and wheels and add some decals.

Any thoughts on what decals to use? I’ve found a few sets for random trailers on Amazon (newer ‘swoopy’ designs). For now mine is just running ‘clean’ sides.

Decals
 

I talked to JR Trailer last summer about this topic. They have the ability to make the decals and of course are familiar with the original Hi-Lo decals.

They can also make custom decals from your favorite photo.

Do you have their contact information? I have reached out to what I thought was JR Trailers for a replacement part some time ago, and haven't had any response. I may have the wrong contact information.