1978 FWC New Owner

[Portercassidy]

Hi folks.

I scored a older FWC from a super nice 80 year old guy in Durango. His kids just bought him a brand new Tundra, and he is buying a new camper.

It's older and definitely needs some work, and I need a new project anyway. I will be doing a lot of searching through this forum, to hopefully find some helpful advice for fixing these older campers up.

A little wood work, metal work. The furnance is older and supposedly is a pain in the ass to start, maybe purchase a replacement, etc...

It is super basic, which is what I was looking for anyway. Just a sink and a couple of cabinets, and the old furnace.

I have fixed up a few Wildernest campers, and a Flip-pac. Still have a wildernest camper for my Tacoma, and Tundra.

If anyone can point me to a few threads that would give me any cool info, it would be appreciated.

 

[billharr]

Here are two threads to keep you busy.

Camper builds. Lots of good information.


Ultimate Furnace Thread. You can repair your old heater or fit a new or go to a Wave heater with not motor.

Take lots of pictures we love pictures.

 

[Portercassidy]

Sweet.

Thanks for the threads, I have been reading Living The Dreams build for the last hour or so.

I have also been learning to compress photo files on my iPad, to load them onto the website. Hopefully I get better at that, so I can upload them, or revive my flicker account.

 

[Living The Dream]

Sweet.

Thanks for the threads, I have been reading Living The Dreams build for the last hour or so.

I have also been learning to compress photo files on my iPad, to load them onto the website. Hopefully I get better at that, so I can upload them, or revive my flicker account.

Congrats on the new camper. Glad you are enjoying my build page. Spoiler alert, I'm still not done

Let me know if you have any questions. Check out my videos too, I think you'll enjoy them if you are enjoying the writing. - Tim

 

[Living The Dream]

Make sure you check out Poky's build too.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/12116-new-build-1981-grandby-to-become-a-hawk/

We was always kind enough to stay about two months ahead of me and figure out a lot of the hard parts before I reached them His is pretty much done now. I've seen it in person when it was ~80% and it looks awesome!

And shellback too

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13966-1979-granby/

The three of us are some of the more recent full rebuilds. But of course, we are just following along from many awesome builds before us. The link billharr shared is pretty comprehensive of what I read up on before getting into it. Have fun!!!

 

[Portercassidy]

Your in Colorado too. I have lived in Grand Junction for about 10+ years now.

Looks like Pokey is in Ogden, I grew up in Bountiful, so maybe I will run into you guys along the way.

If you guys have any leads on another side window, let me know. Lol

 

[Portercassidy]

First Things First, Gotta clear out the Garage. I have similar HOA issues, and think it is 2" too wide to be put in my pseudo RV parking.

Deflate Raft, move trailer under wildernest, lower. Push wildernest and trailer into "RV parking".

Somehow get the FWC onto rollers and into the garage.

 

[CougarCouple]

Congrats on the camper. Just saw it the other nite and thought it would make someone a great camper. Have fun with you build, lots of great info here.
Russ

 

[Portercassidy]

The guy was super nice, and was not easy to get a hold of. Wouldn't responded to Texts, and checked his email once every 24 hrs. Gave me a great deal. Doesn't look like he has taken the ad down yet.

 

[PAU in Montana]

Congratulations! I would build yourself a cart to roll it around on. It adds to the time of loading and unloading. Because of lowering to the ground but looking at the toys and room it may help. If you were closer I make you a hell of deal on one I’m not using. By the way is that an Avon raft I see in the picture??

 

[Portercassidy]

Yep I have an Old Avon Pro 16', Also have a sweet 13' Hyside.

The Avon was an accidental Ebay purchase a few years ago. It has been an awesome boat.

 

[shellback]

I have a 79 Grandby and had to narrow the floor pack for my 2016 Chevy. I imagine that's a picture of your truck and camper? What's the width of the floor pack at the rear? My Grandby was 64 inches I think. Narrowed it to about 57 inches. You may want to contact Poky, as he replaced his windows with more modern ones. He may have a window for you.

 

[Portercassidy]

Guessing the "floor pack" is the narrowest section below the door. It is 51 1/2"

Guessing this is more of a Hawk model, but I am not positive.

 

[Portercassidy]

Found a “Cart” in my backyard. Did some organizing, and got the FWC in my garage. It just took most of the day, when I was not reading tons of info off of this site.

Don’t know if you guys noticed. But the Jack Stands I got with this FWC, are super crazy. Take a look, I was too busy shuttling my trucks to take a picture of this thing standing in the air. There is two of them, and you raise them from the side, pretty unstable considering I had to shim them up with a few 2x4’s on either side to accommodate my suspension lift on the Tundra.

 

[Portercassidy]

I feel like someone has been here before, and was not into Turd Brown color either.

 

[Portercassidy]

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

 

[Portercassidy]

The more I look at the camper, It’s in better shape than I first suspected. The furnace was easy to light, and seemed to work, but I am unsure if the fan can be hooked up yet.

The roof is a little rough, but really not that bad. And the interior doesn’t have a funk, just a weird ceiling pattern.

 

[Portercassidy]

Little bit of Wood Rot.

After reading so many amazing builds on this site yesterday, I feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you guys have put in to these old campers.

A labor of love.

 

[Living The Dream]

Those jack stands are terrifying, aren't they! I still use mine, every time I do I swear I am going to buy different ones but then the camper is on the truck and I forget about it again.

I swear someone had a spare window somewhere around here. I can't remember what member or maybe I am making it up.

I know poky was able to put new windows in (with rounded corners) because he put new aluminum siding on. I don't think you can put in new style windows without new siding.

For the window, you could try 5 star RV in Brighton CO. They have massive salvage yard. I believe someone works fulltime just on managing it, you can probably call them, give them dimensions and they can go hunting for one in their sheds.

Glad you are seeing the diamond through the rough!

 

[Living The Dream]

Those jack stands are terrifying, aren't they! I still use mine, every time I do I swear I am going to buy different ones but then the camper is on the truck and I forget about it again.

I swear someone had a spare window somewhere around here. I can't remember what member or maybe I am making it up.

I know poky was able to put new windows in (with rounded corners) because he put new aluminum siding on. I don't think you can put in new style windows without new siding.

For the window, you could try 5 star RV in Brighton CO. They have massive salvage yard. I believe someone works fulltime just on managing it, you can probably call them, give them dimensions and they can go hunting for one in their sheds.

Glad you are seeing the diamond through the rough!