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Tue Aug 11, 2020 5:13 pm

I went with a 12v/110v 2-way trucker fridge. It has a low draw and it's an actual compressor refrigerator rather than a heat pump-type like a 3-way. Refrigerators with compressors cool more efficiently and aren't affected by ambient temperature like heat-pump units.

I went back to a manual pump sink faucet as the electric pump was loud and used more water.

Mine has the original flooring, but could use a new subfloor. I refinished the interior wood and reassembled and reupholstered the furniture (foam padding instead of springs and marine vinyl instead of cloth fabric). I reupholstered in cloth at first, but right after completion my young son pointed out the folly of fabric upholstery (with some grape juice).

peecee69 wrote: I have a 1968 Eriba Puck shell. What's the first piece of the puzzle to be reinstalled?

Flooring?
Wall Electrical?
Poptop canvas?

Items I've ruled out:
Insulation
Headliner
Sideliner (interior walls)
Plumbing
Cabinetry

I don't plan to put it back to stock, because I want to actually use it, so I'm looking to do the following:

3-way refrigerator
Modern electrical with dual batteries and solar panels for boondocking
Electric water pump
Relocated LP tank to outside

Any help, advice, or information any of you fine people would have to offer is greatly appreciated!

Thu Aug 20, 2020 2:12 pm

Daddybus wrote: I went with a 12v/110v 2-way trucker fridge. It has a low draw and it's an actual compressor refrigerator rather than a heat pump-type like a 3-way. Refrigerators with compressors cool more efficiently and aren't affected by ambient temperature like heat-pump units.

Thank you for that information on the 2-way. After looking at the options, that will probably be the way I go. Thank you!

Daddybus wrote:
I went back to a manual pump sink faucet as the electric pump was loud and used more water.

I tested the 12v pump I just got, and it's pretty quiet. I figure if I mount it with some rubber dampers, it will be even more quiet. Fingers crossed.

Daddybus wrote:
Mine has the original flooring, but could use a new subfloor. I refinished the interior wood and reassembled and reupholstered the furniture (foam padding instead of springs and marine vinyl instead of cloth fabric). I reupholstered in cloth at first, but right after completion my young son pointed out the folly of fabric upholstery (with some grape juice).

LOL. Oh my.

So, is there any way I can get you to take some pictures of where your trailer harness enters the interior of the Puck? I'm hesitant to cut a hole in the floor or the skin without knowing how it was originally done.

I figure I have the following entry points:

- 1 for main wiring harness - no idea where to bring this in
- 1 for LP gas connector - I think the LP gas connector is on the front driver's side just above the rock guard.
- 1 for shore power - I'm planning on this connection to be just in front of the driver's side wheel well.
- 1 for water filler - I think this is on the front passenger side right above the rock guard, probably about mirrored from the LP gas connector.

Does that sound right?

Thu Aug 20, 2020 11:14 pm

Electrical entry point is a wire mess-covered opening in front of Left passenger side wheel well. The electrical is under the bench (blue top deep cycle battery & charging wizard shown)

Water inlet with marine cap

Fabric

Marine vinyl

Propane tank

Fri Jan 29, 2021 10:48 am

I am new to the forum and appreciate this resource so much! I will be restoring a 1970 Eriba Puck over the coming months. Needs new sub floor, window seals, and lots of TLC for the cabinets and general decor (currently has a sparkly butterfly fabric liner!).

You can follow along on my Instagram page - @camperhabit - if you’re so inclined.

Here she is!

Sat Jan 30, 2021 4:36 am

camperhabit, beautiful. Don't forget to update here occasionally for those without instagram. Great tips and supplies here also. :wink:

camperhabit wrote: I am new to the forum and appreciate this resource so much! I will be restoring a 1970 Eriba Puck over the coming months. Needs new sub floor, window seals, and lots of TLC for the cabinets and general decor (currently has a sparkly butterfly fabric liner!).

You can follow along on my Instagram page - @camperhabit - if you’re so inclined.

Here she is!

Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:20 am

I sure will! Right now I'm knee-deep in the demo phase, but I'm sure I'll have some questions to ask the group down the road, and will certainly share the big milestones.

I've restored two fiberglass campers in recent years ('96 Scamp and '71 K-Line) but this is my first foray into Eriba territory. I think I'm most anxious about replacing the window seals and installing new headliner material, but will cross those bridges in due time.

In the meantime, one item that would be helpful from the group is some details on the original tables, if anyone has a moment to share some photos and/or measurements? We bought this one with the table missing, so I'm hoping to create something from scratch.

Wed Feb 03, 2021 11:24 am

Here's where demo is so far.

Excited to pull up the floors to start treating the frame. Pleasantly surprised at how manageable the rust is below the windows. Big sigh of relief.

I am putting in an order of window seals, door seals, and exterior trim inserts (sticking with the original red) through Eribasar in Germany. Restoration is pricey!!! As is shipping during a pandemic. Oh well, these are non-negotiables.

https://www.eribasar.de/kontakt/
I will reiterate for those who haven't combed through the 93 pages like I have - he speaks English and is great to work with!

In my quest to find another supplier of window seals for a lower price, I discovered Kool Classics out of the UK. They were quick to respond to my inquiry, and do in fact supply Eriba window seals, but for a model this old (1970) he actually referred me back to Eribasar as the best source.

Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:22 am

Does anyone have a source for the interior furniture moulding? I've looked at Eribasar.de and emailed him, but haven't had any luck.

Tue Jun 01, 2021 8:41 am

I'm considering importing an early 70's model puck to the states from Europe. The seller says it doesn't have a title - they evidently don't require them for this small a camper where it's coming from. It would be sold on a bill of sale. Have any of you imported this way from Europe - and if so, how did you get your Puck titled once here in the states?

Also - any importing pitfalls I should watch out for? This would be shipped in a container (versus roll on / roll off).

Thanks in advance for the help!

Fri Jun 18, 2021 7:15 am

Update: We managed to find a more local option for a Puck and have now joined the family! Thanks Jerry for reaching out! We love the beginning of this new adventure.

Fri Jun 18, 2021 7:22 am

nynone4 wrote: Update: We managed to find a more local option for a Puck and have now joined the family! Thanks Jerry for reaching out! We love the beginning of this new adventure.

Nice Puck! More pictures! Does it need any work (of course it does! lol), or are you just going with what it is for now and do more over the winter. Enjoy it!

Fri Jun 18, 2021 11:04 am

peecee69 wrote:
Nice Puck! More pictures! Does it need any work (of course it does! lol), or are you just going with what it is for now and do more over the winter. Enjoy it!

Thankyou! I'll post more pics as I can. We bought the puck from fellow samba member "Roger rabbit" (more pics of when he had it back on page 17 of this thread). He saw my post about importing one from Europe and reached out to me to tell me he was closer and had been considering selling his. Easy decision - especially considering this one was imported to the states new and already has all of the "Federal" wiring that won't need converted. It appears to be pretty original and complete, and also came with an original tent in fantastic condition! The previous owners have been great folks to work with.

It will need some work - but it's solid and will be a fun project. It's already got new replacement tires, and I've ordered replacement window and door rubber, as well as a key for the lock that was missing.

My wife has been cleaning it furiously the last few evenings (it's been sitting in a pole barn for some years). Hoping to be able to get it out a few times yet this summer. Right now we're just enjoying "playing camper" in the evenings after work.

Fri Jun 18, 2021 11:23 am

nynone4 wrote: My wife has been cleaning it furiously the last few evenings (it's been sitting in a pole barn for some years). Hoping to be able to get it out a few times yet this summer. Right now we're just enjoying "playing camper" in the evenings after work.

"Playing camper" is incredibly important. See if you can live out of your camper for a day or two, without retrieving any items from your home. Pay close attention to what you need (even something as small as a can opener) and keep a record of those items. If you need to (and can afford it), buy those items and keep them in the Puck. Silly things like binder clips will often be overlooked, but can serve a number of uses when at a show or "normal" camping.

Fri Jun 18, 2021 1:26 pm

peecee69 wrote:

"Playing camper" is incredibly important. See if you can live out of your camper for a day or two, without retrieving any items from your home. Pay close attention to what you need (even something as small as a can opener) and keep a record of those items. If you need to (and can afford it), buy those items and keep them in the Puck. Silly things like binder clips will often be overlooked, but can serve a number of uses when at a show or "normal" camping.

Great tips! Thanks. We did something similar with the Rialta we had - camping in the driveway first to do just those things. It's amazing what you come up with that you don't think of until you're actually camping.

Question for the group as a whole as well:
Our pop top doesn't appear to have a seal around the base of the fiberglass "cap." It looks like some of them here have a seal - and I think I read that someone here actually used a westfalia seal for the pop top. If so - what model westie seal should I order?

Fri Jun 25, 2021 3:35 pm

Managed to find a seal that fits perfectly on the pop top of the ‘71. Someone on one of the Eriba Facebook groups had posted some time back that a 64-67 bus pop top seal worked for these, so I took a chance and ordered from Wolfsburg west. Works perfectly and had about a foot extra!

The part number:

The seal profile. It’s a bit like the bottom seal on a garage door:

Installing the seal (just pushes on). I might glue it on later… but for now it has a nice tight friction fit when pushed all the way on.

Installed:

Closed up:

Initial impression is that this will seal well - but it makes the latches a bit tight on the initial “pull down.” I’m sure this will lessen as it’s been closed for a bit. Pleased with the results!

Mon Jul 05, 2021 2:37 pm

I realize this forum is for Pucks, but we just finished a '68 Eriba Troll, and since they are very similar and use most of the same parts, I figured I'd post it up here. The Troll is just a bigger version of the Puck. Maybe some of the work we documented will be helpful to someone else.

We've been on the lookout for a Puck for a few years, but when this Troll came up locally, we decided to buy it.

Here is how we got it. It was in neglected condition, but overall very solid and very complete. It was brought from Germany to Canada in the early '70's, but spent the majority of it's life sitting in a backyard as a sort of 'man cave' for drinking beer and playing cards. It was never registered, but may have been camped in a bit in those first few years.

After giving it a thorough cleaning, we were able to see just what we were up against. The left rear window seal had shrunk and caused a major leak, which rotted out a small section of floor. In order to properly splice in a new section, I had to cut the hole a lot bigger so the joint would be on the frame rails and properly supported.

This is what the floor is made out of. A sheet of 1/8" plywood on the bottom and top, sandwiching a 1" sheet of styrofoam, with some thin wood ribs for support every 6" or so to keep the foam from crushing.

I made a new patch exactly the same way, installed it, and sealed the joints to keep it water tight.

Mon Jul 05, 2021 3:06 pm

Next up was to take care of the body. All the upper, middle, and bottom aluminum trum was removed and set aside. Although it looked decent from 10' away, the paint was cracked really bad. It looked like a dried up desert lake bed.

We decided we would strip and polish it, to give it an Airstream type look. It took a lot of trial and error with different brands of stripper, and different lengths of time leaving it applied. I think It was the fifth brand I tried that worked by far the best on this particular paint. It came in a spray can (like spray paint) called Sure Seal by Dominion. I would spray an area, let it sit for about an hour, then scrape off what I could with a plastic scraper. This would get about 90% of the old paint off, and a second round of stripper would usually take off what was left. Some areas needed a third coat. Once it was down to just random specs of old paint, a good wipe with acetone and a rag cleaned the surface perfectly. It was a lot of hours. I stopped counting, but for sure it was well over 100 to strip it.

Next was time for polish. After a lot of research, I settled on using NuShine Aluminum Polish. There are a bunch of different grades of this polish, so I wasn't sure exactly which ones I would need. I emailed NuShine to ask, and they got back right away asking for photos. They phoned me to go over some things, and recommend the IIF9 with a rotary polisher at 2000rpm, and finishing with IIC to bring a deeper shine.
Aircraft Spruce carries NuShine, and a 1lb container is around $100. I ended up needing 2 cans of the IIF9, although a Puck would probably be ok with 1 can. I was blown away with how well it worked, taking it from raw, dull aluminum, to a mirror finish. Again, I didn't count the hours, but it was a lot!

While this was getting sorted out, I took the trailer to someone to have the roof dealt with. There wasn't any damage or cracking, but the gelcoat was mostly worn off. It was primed and allowed to settle / cure for about 4 weeks, and then taken back for paint. I went with a gloss white, and it turned out amazing!

Mon Jul 05, 2021 3:27 pm

Once the polishing was done, it was time to reassemble the exterior bits. We placed a huge order from EribaSar in Germany. He was really great to deal with, and knew exactly how much of each kind of seal / trim we would need. He put together a package, and was also able to source some other bits we needed like an exterior door handle, an interior light fixture, and this amazing original, mint condition seat cover set for the rear bed.

Here are the literally hundreds of linear feet of trim that need to be installed.

Installing the iconic red trim was a lot of work, and took some figuring out to see which profile was supposed to go where. It was quite painstaking work. The top uses a single backing piece of red, and once the trim is screwed in, there's another red piece to cover the screws. Then middle and bottle trims use 3 pieces of red rubber. I'd say in all, I spent 50 hours on red trim. So a Puck might be half of that time. I would recommend doing it on a warm day in the sunshine so the rubber is soft and flexible. A few of the days I worked on it were fairly cold, and it took 2 or 3 times longer to get the same amount accomplished as I did on the warm days. My finger tips were absolutely raw and my hands were cramped for a week after, but the end result was well worth it.

Mon Jul 05, 2021 3:42 pm

Window seals were also a lot of work. The Troll has 3 of the tilt-out windows, which use 3 separate seal pieces, along with the aluminum trim to hold it all together. There wasn't really any good write-ups we could find about how to do them, so it took some figuring out to finally get them in. I regret not taking more pictures of that process, because it would definitely be helpful to someone else.
The fixed windows were pretty easy. Very similar to the VW rope-in windows. They uses a white lock strip to hold them tight, and it was definitely worth spending the $25 for the proper lock strip tool.
Two of the tilting windows had been replaced with plexiglass at some point in time, so we had to have new 5mm tempered glass cut to fit. There are 4 holes that have to be drilled into them for the hinges and latches, and the glass shop took several attempts to make them properly.

The pop top canvas was ordered from Matt's Soft Tops in the UK. He was great to deal with, and the canvas looks great. I know the Puck canvas attaches differently than the Troll canvas, but here are a few shots of fitting it.

Mon Jul 05, 2021 4:15 pm

The interior was in really great shape. Other than needing a deep cleaning from years of neglect, there wasn't much broken or missing. All of the cabinets cleaned up nicely with an oil and vinegar solution, which brought back a lot of the original shine of the stain. My wife made new curtains and front seat covers, and the non-original fridge door was painted to match the rest of the orange theme.

Like I said, everything was pretty much complete when we got this Troll. Even down to the curtain tie backs, coat hooks, and stove knobs. Most vintage trailers seem to be missing so many parts, they end up being gutted and the owners toss in some laminate flooring, white Ikea cabinets, and a tile backsplash to make it 'modern'. It drives me nuts.

Here are a few shots of the finished exterior:

It's a lot bigger than the Puck. I think it's 16' long from tongue to tail lights. The bed in the back is almost king sized, and the front bed is exactly the same size as a Bay Westy bed. The whole thing is still only 1,900 lbs. so although we can't tow it with the Bus, the Tiguan pulls it easily. And just like the Puck, it is still easy to move around the campground or driveway by hand.

Obviously, there was a lot more work that went into this Eriba than I can document here, but hopefully it inspires someone else to get going on their trailer. It took about 7 months from start to finish. Not full time of course, but there were lots of evenings and weekends spent plugging away at it. Maybe 500-600 hours total. A lot of that time was learning experience, so if I were to do it again, I could cut down that time quite a bit. Not that I necessarily want to. But we are still on the hunt for the perfect Puck, so who knows? Maybe I will be doing all of this again sometime.