Hi. We are lookng at buying at 1980 Scamp. The frame has cracked a couple times and has been repaired, but our welder says the frame is very compromised and needs to be replaced. I really need to know how to remove the shell/flooring from the frame. One person said to remove all the screws and it should pop off. Do I have to gut the trailer to get to all of the screws?
Fri, 07/29/2022 - 09:53
#1
Need new frame for 1980 scamp
... thought you may want to see a recent frame picture from the factory. I'd call Scamp and ask them about it and you can also get the price of a factory made frame.
Thanks for your message. I did call Scamp, and they don't sell replacement frames or tongues. Rats
Yes you will have to remove the cabinets. The screws are about 6" apart along the frame rails and across the upper and lower edge of the drop floor. There are also areas by the door walkway which glass the frame walkway ears to the shell. The screw heads will be covered in paint and resin and you will need an impact driver to remove them or cut them off with a sawsall. You will have to start off with all your floor panels in good shape or the shell could crack. There is a thread on the Molded Fiberglass website where the guy cut the shell off the floor and replaced the frame. My guess the frame replacement alone would be around $3K then another $2-3K to get the trailer back in shape. The metal was thinner on the earlier Scamp frames and more prone to have issues. Unless you want a long term project and don't care about camping I would walk/run away from this one no matter what the selling price is, unless you needed a parts trailer. There aren't may sellable parts on a 80 Scamp trailer. YMMV. FWIW, At one time Scamp did sell bare trailer frames.
Eddie
Hi Eddie. Thanks for your message and advice. Our welder said the steel is quite thin, and I was talking with trailer reno guy from Florida, and I think he was saying the same thing. Scamp claims they have always used the same thickness of metal, but I doubt that.
The price is $4500. I figured we'd be putting another $4,000-$5,000 into it, plus a lot of our own elbow grease. When we are done, we'd have a vintage Scamp 16 for $10K, which could fetch $12-$14K if we sold it. There's a 2016 Scamp 13 for sell in our town for $14,500. It's in mint condition according to the pictures, but I'm it's kind of a price sticker shock. We are trying to arrange an appt to see it next week.
Ken