84 Fleet - 09 Tacoma - Project

[Living The Dream]

[SIZE=11pt]Hello and welcome to my build page.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]This page covers the complete rebuild of a 1984 Four Wheel Camper - Fleet. I purchased this camper in Fall 2016 and spent the next ~2 years completely rebuilding almost every part. Another member recently suggested a make a table of content to help navigate the many topics I cover so this edit reflects that. Also, since starting the build I have gotten into making videos, you will see a transition from written to video build reports. I hope you enjoy both. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with many questions. I hope more story is both informative to your build, but more importantly, motivational to create something yourself!. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Thanks for following along. - [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Tim - November 2017[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]youtube.tgmorrissey.com[/SIZE]

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Last updated Nov 2017.

[SIZE=11pt]Introduction and before shots - Post 1 (scroll down)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Four Wheel Camper tie down brackets for Tacoma - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 3[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Floorpack support to fit old fleet into new Tacoma - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 3[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Installing Ride rite airbags on Tacoma - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 3[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Mounting Four Wheel camper on Tacoma - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 3[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Installing Roof vent and painting roof - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 4[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]EMT Lifter Panel - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 12[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 31[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 92[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Plumbing propane - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 13[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Tearing down roof - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 18 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Gutting interior -[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Post 20[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 23[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Exterior paint - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 19[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 38[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 48[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Exterior trim - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 49[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 72[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Painting floorpack -[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Post 36[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Interior overhead bed - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 37[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 93[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Porch Light - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 49[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Third brake light - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 49[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Interior flooring - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 50 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Insulation - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 50 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Interior sketches and panels - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 55[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 58[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 59[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 60[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 61[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 73[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Interior carpets - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 73[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Passrough lids - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 56[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], Post 91[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Painting windows - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 66[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Solar install - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 73[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 89[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Rebuilding roof - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 89[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 90[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 99 (lights)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Rebuilding door -[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Post 94[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Sewing pop-up material - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 102[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 147[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Video 1, [/SIZE]Post 158, Video 2 (most important)
[SIZE=11pt]Rebuilding Interior - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 122[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Video 1[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt],[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Post 132[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Video 2[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE]

Actually using the camper
[SIZE=11pt]Above Winter Park Colorado -[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Post 111[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Video[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Poudre Canyon - [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Post 140[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt], [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Video[/SIZE]

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Hello All,

This past Fall I became the proud owner of a Four Wheel Camper - Fleet, ce 1984. I have been wanting a pop up truck camper for a few years now, but always waiting for one reason or another. As a student. new is out of the question, so I was on the hunt for a nice used project. I want a FWC the same reason everyone wants one, their awesome, capable campers that can get to a lot of places. But my main desire is as a base camp for skiing. Front range traffic is a beast and the camper is way to avoid all that. Wife and I drive up at night when everyone else is drinking or whatever, and a quick comfy nap and we get fresh tracks.

This page will act as my build page to document for myself but also hopefully for others. Wander the west has been indispensable as I have been fixing up the FWC. I will continue to rely on this site as my project continues and hope my contribution provides answer to others too.

Maybe this project should be called - Three Fours
Four cylinders
Four wheel drive
Four wheel camper

A bit about me: Tim- PhD student in mechanical engineering/material science. I'm not too much of a motor head but like wrenching and projects. Like I said I really want a FWC for ski base camp but also for adventures all year round. Something that is comfortable the night before heading deeper into the wilderness.

Truck: 2009 Toyota Tacoma, 4 cylinder, 4 wheel drive, base model, access cab. Simple but capable. I love my truck because it is modest but useful. I bike commute so it is not my daily driver, pretty low miles and very well maintained.

Camper: It is the old 7 foot fleet. Stan thinks it should be about a 1984. I picked it up from my new friend, Jose, in Denver not too far from where it was built. It certainly needs some work, but the price was right, far south of $1000. I don't think Jose really knew what he had. Or maybe I was just blinded by how awesome it was and didn't see the imperfections. Either way I was extremely excited to be its new owner.

I picked it up labor day weekend, 2016.
Here is a photo of it on its old owner truck:

And here it is mounted for the first time on the tacoma. Notice the amateur hour single strap to the tailgate bracket. I took it nice and slow to start:

And back at home, really exploring the camper for the first time:

The good:
no major exterior or interior damage
canvas intact
deep cell battery
solar panal
rear lifter panel in good shape
came with two old school jacks
no water damage
new wood at cabover

The bad:
no front lifting panel (old owner was using 2x4)
no roof vent (not sure how no water damage but their wasn't)
very dirty
electrical was a mess
on second through, canvas is a bit tough


I don't know quite how far this project will go. The camper needs to more or less remain on my truck at all times (HOA). Plus all work is done in a parking lot. I am somewhat capable with a wrench but have limited tools. Although work does have access to almost every tool, still not the same. My goal is to get it looking on par with the truck (so just not like a piece of junk) and for it to be comfortable, clean, and generally fun to be in. Warmth in the winter is ultimate goal. But after I got it in the fall there were some inital projects that needed taken care of before anything else.

Here are the before photos:

Made in CO:

Dreaming about the possibilities:

Ill update as regularly as possible. I don't have much time or money for this, but i do enjoy working on the camper almost as much as using it so hopefully it cleans up pretty nice.

An initial thank you too all those that have helped me already, and I hope this is helpful to those that come after.

- Tim

 

[Timothy McGowen]

Congrats. Looking forward to following your progress.

 

[Living The Dream]

One of the first projects I wanted to tackle was securing the camper properly to the truck. The last thing I want to have happen is for this thing to fall off and kill someone. So I went with the real deal and got the special made brackets from four wheel camper. Luckily for me, Chris at Rocky Mountain - FWC has the exact piece I needed, used. Gave me a great deal on the tacoma brackets, plus he let me pick his brain for near an hour on how to fix the camper up. He even helped me out with the roof vent issues.

Thank you Chris! Down the road when it is time to upgrade, ill be sure to get in touch with Chris again.


Tie Down Bracket
A quick can of http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Painter-s-Touch-2X-12-oz-Flat-Black-General-Purpose-Spray-Paint-249127/202246266

and the brackets were looking quite nice.

To remove the bed bolt you need a T-55 which is at any autoparts store. A big breaker bar and I got them free, some claim you need an impact but I managed without. I also used some big metal square washers underneath the bracket to take up space between bed and the brackets. Buck a piece at my local hardware

Floorpack support

Also, the old style Fleets don't fit the new Tacoma 100%. The wings of the camper will rest on the bed rails if not supported. I had some 2X3 lumber lying around that just about perfect fill the void between the camper floor and truck bed.

Plus, I followed FWC advice and used some rubber mat as anti slip. Rubber can be pricey, I found a large mat at Home Depot for ~$30, can't find the link now, sorry. I sliced the rubber up to get the most bang for my buck. In hindsight I would probably just buy two sheets of this rubber and call it a day, but making the wood runners was a fun little warm up project.

Riderite Airbags
Lastly, if the camper is now bolted to the truck, I need the truck to be safe too. Safety first for me. To help the truck handle the weight I went with the Firestone riderite airbags. I have read all the pros and cons of airbags vs. leafsprings, etc. I went with airbags. Got them used off Tacomaworld with 1in raiser blocks and a front lift spacers too. Was able to sell the front lift and the airbags hardly cost me much. This does leave me a little high in the rear, so maybe down the road I can upgrade the front struts too.

Stock:

Remove the bumpstops (didn't need to cut them since I took everything out for spacers later, didn't realize that when I started). If using saw, be careful of your lines (Brake or fuel)

Remove ubolts, use Jack to bend leaf springs up off the axel, spacer block slides right in.

Most things put in place, need to bolt the bracket to the leafspring and the top to the frame.

More or less everything in their, apparently I got frustrated with turning rusty bolts as I don't have a photo of the fished setup. But generally ride rites are easy to install. Just need to bath in PB blaster for a little while. The push to fit air fittings are some of the easiest things to work with. Love that style hose.

I do not have an on board compressor but manual fill with a bike pump and the schrader valves next to the rear licenses plate. I know my leafspring and struts will probably fail on me sooner that later and I will upgrade then. But for now the airbags work great.

Here is a photo of the truck with about 30 lbs of air in each bag and no load. This is my old cap, I sold the cap for more than I bought the camper and more then I bought the cap for 4 years ago. Colorado is a sellers market for all things Tacoma. The cap served me well and I hope to get another down the road when the FWC does not have to be full time on the truck.

With airbags and mounting hardware installed, it was time to get the camper on the truck.

 

[longhorn1]

Congrats. Nice start. There have been a number of posts of the re-building of lift panels. Also, Rocky Mountain FWC and the main FWC might be able to help with some things. Good luck and keep the photos coming. jd

 

[Living The Dream]

Mounting Camper on Truck:

To my HOA's dismay my camper had been siting in carport since I purchased it. I thought it looked pretty nice there. And even offered to buy a cover, but they did not agree. See:http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/11317-storage/

Although I am now pretty happy with having the camper on full time, just means I need to use it more to make it worth it.

Before I put it on I figured I would take the opportunity of having it off the truck to paint and protect the cabover wood. Using rustoleum glossy white (will become a theme) I did a couple quick coats. No pics of the final coat but I was pretty happy in the end. Notice before I did this how there are plenty of screws missing. Not sure whos project this was before hand....

I put new eye bolts and square washers on all four corner. I moved the front eyelets to a more appropriate spot (want your chain to have an angle, not be straight down). Plus these old models only had three eyelets. I added the fourth (under the water tank) but still need to cut a pass through in the base to actaully utilize it. I have been manage just fine for now but keep this on the todo list for when I do a more with the interior.

Here is the hardware I am using to keep the camper secure.

With the new truck suspension, it did not fit in the carport like it did before.

Not to worry, I improvised and went ahead and removed the old vent, I need to be replaced anyways.

Here you can see the new vent in background

That and 5PSI in the tires and she was out no problem.

 

[Living The Dream]

New Vent and Roof Repair:

The new vent, compliments of Chris at RMFWC, fit perfectly. The smoked plastic is perfect. I do not have a fan but will at least run the wires when I redo the roof. Ill test it out this summer and if the heat gets too much, ill put the fantastic in. To mount the new vent I used this product underneath the vent http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FHH7CG6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Flash forward a few months and I have also painted the roof. I figured I would paint that before installing the the solar panels. Plus before I painted I found a few holes up top. In a few places the screws had ripped out. Strange because the camper seemed more or less water tight. I have had it in the rain with no problems. Still I used more of the putty tape and some JB weld on top and it made a very nice seal.

For the paint I again went with the trusty Rustoleum Gloss white. And if you are going to paint the roof, might as well get the sides too. It certainly is a slippery slope. I am going to work my way around over the next many weekend.

The paint brushed on relatively well. It is all about the thin easy coats. I taped off the wood panel as I want to save that. That and five coats and I am really happy with how it turned out. The color scheme will be white and brown. Now just need to find the time for the rest. But this allows me to put a cap on the roof for a bit so I can focus on getting the simple solar panel run.

Will need to get in touch with FWC about new stickers once I am done. In the mean time the propane door will be the lunch box sticker spot.

Next up is the solar panel, and general electrical. Plus I still need to write up my propane system.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Nice... great enthusiasm = fun

 

[rotti]

In addition to your perimeter wood riser I would add rigid foam board to support/insulate the entire floor base.
Easy, cheap, light and adds R value.

Many threads about doing this, here is one:
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/4634-alaskan-sits-low-in-my-truck/

 

[billharr]

Nice job, looking forward to how you finish it out. One item I would correct is the E-bolt you used, see picture below. The eye will open up as it is just bent in shape. I would use a solid ring or weld the ring to keep it from opening. I could not find a solid ring when I did my first install on my old 2002 Hawk, use the style you used and they started to open. I welded mine and they are fine. The new style made from angle are better if you want to go to the work to change them.

 

[Jordan]

Awesome! That's my old camper. Unloaded it about 5 years ago now.
Glad you are going to breath some new life into her. I had many great adventures in that thing!

 

[Living The Dream]

In addition to your perimeter wood riser I would add rigid foam board to support/insulate the entire floor base.
Easy, cheap, light and adds R value.

Many threads about doing this, here is one:
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/4634-alaskan-sits-low-in-my-truck/

Thanks for the great idea. Any spesific product you can suggest? I know I have seen it in the store before and am sure I can figure it out easy enough too.

Awesome! That's my old camper. Unloaded it about 5 years ago now.
Glad you are going to breath some new life into her. I had many great adventures in that thing!

HAHA, YES! I am glad to have it. Any suggestions or info I should look out for. Thanks for passing it on. Jose and Jorge that I bought it from were really cool too.

Nice job, looking forward to how you finish it out. One item I would correct is the E-bolt you used, see picture below. The eye will open up as it is just bent in shape. I would use a solid ring or weld the ring to keep it from opening. I could not find a solid ring when I did my first install on my old 2002 Hawk, use the style you used and they started to open. I welded mine and they are fine. The new style made from angle are better if you want to go to the work to change them.

Thanks for the feedback. I had the solid ebolts in hand before i bought these. I went with the bent ones because the turnbuckles are rated to far below the solid ebolts. And since it is a whole system I figured it is only as strong as the weakest link so the solid was overkill. I don't know, maybe Ill regret it. I plan to keep and eye on them and if I see any bending ill be sure to replace them with the solid ones. I am also hoping that the will bend before any catastrophic failures like ripping out of the wood....

 

[Living The Dream]

Lifter Panel Replacement:

The brute force and 2X4 lifter panel worked moderately okay, but I knew I wanted to something a little easier, better, and less likely to tear the canvas.

I got in touch with FWC and the are happy to sell new composite panels. At $450 it was simple not a smart move to spend more then I bought the camper for one lifter. Plus they are only installed at the factory in California so that wasn't an easy option either.

Luckily WTW is a ridiculously good resource and I saw wvtradbow post showing his lifter made of EMT conduit. http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/10761-this-old-granby-build/page-3.
I think the total cost was less than $30 for me, so it was an obvious choice.

All that was left from the old panel was one piano hinge that I had to drill rivets out to remove. I might use this for my bench down the road, but if anyone is in need of one of these get in touch with me and I can pass it on.

I bent my two pieces of conduit just like wv explains. Except I also added more curves on the bottom of the lower bracket as you can see in the photo.

This allowed me to use simpler brackets to get the pivot at both the bottom and top without sticking into the bed area much more. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=emt+conduit+brackets

Notice the far right screw going into the conduit, it is there to keep the conduit sliding horizontal and the roof become off center of the base.

Protip, the hinge point has to be at the height mid point. Not sure what I was thinking when I started but the extra hole works great for the pins to secure it.

I am supper happy with how the whole thing turned out. It works absolutely great. Only draw back is when collapsed it does take up all the space in the cabover, so the mattress needs to go down on the bench.

I can not thank wvtrad enough for answer my question about his design. You can see my conduit bending skills are a little young still, but considering its the first time I have ever bent pipe it works great. I will not hesitate to use this for the rear panel if that should ever fail.

New Keys:

Just want to add this info quickly incase someone comes across it and finds it useful. My camper did not come with keys but was unlocked. I lucked out and it turns out I had a lock that was under a massive recall. Contacted the company and they sent me new lock cylinder and keys at no cost. Not sure if this was factory equipment or not, but for those who buy old campers and are unsure, might not hurt to look into this. Company: Fastec

http://www.fastecindustrial.com/recall/default.html

Light bulbs:

Another random quick note. Do yourself a favor and switch to LED bulbs. Easiest switch you can make and will reduce you lighting electricity demands to a fraction of the previous. I got these from amazon and am very happy with them. Lights are my only major energy drain (no fridge or forced air) so a full house battery is practically unlimited electricity now.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013JXKW20?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00

 

[Living The Dream]

Propane System:

Another import feature for me was getting the heat going for my ski adventures. My camper had no heater when I got it. After consideirng my options I decided a catalytic was best for me. Would really love a forced air but I like the idea of not relaying on electricity. Plus forced air is considerably more expensive. I went back and forth between a simple Mr. Heater and the wave 3. I like the wave 3 for its supposedly better performance at high altitude. Around Christmas time Amazon was letting wave 3's go for $160 so I jumped on it.

In order to plumb in the line I started checking out the stove as I had not used it yet. I was pleasantly surprised when my 20lb tank went to the regulator no problem, and I even got gas at the stove with no smells elsewhere. So line to the stove was good! However on further inspection I discovered that there was a rubber hose in the hot area of the stove. While I am sure 99% of the time this would be okay, I had visions of grease getting in there and burning the line, resulting in a bad day.

So I swapped out the rubber hose for a straight copper pipe out of the stove box. Plus added a T and a valve to put a second line in for the heater. A simple enough solution except the copper fittings cost did add up to a small amount when it was all done.

This is what it looks like back installed again.

The hose for the heater goes under the cabinet for storage and the heater can sit on the floor or the counter. I will do a more permanent solution once I redo the gallery area.

Now that I was running a heater, although the camper is holier than the pope right now, I still get worried about CO. A 9V monitor is a easy enough solution. I think 9V is best for this so it does not relay on the house battery which I may kill for some reason or another. Packaging claims ill be good for 10 years with this battery.

So far I have been relatively happy with the heater. My 1st night with it was on rabbit ear pass with temps around -15F. The heater did not stand a chance with low temps, a beat up camper, and no oxygen for the catalytic process to make heat.

But my quality sleeping bag keeps things comfortable. More recently, a little more insulation and more modest winter temps, lower altitudes (7000). The heater does really well. 60F right in front of it which is all we need when sleeping.

I will continue to improve insulation to up the efficiencies of the heater, plus I might compliment it with a Mr. Heater down the road as I know my winter popup camping is asking a lot of any system.


This wraps up my catch-up on the progress of my Fleet. So posting will be much slower here on out as that was about 6 months of progress condensed to two days of reporting. But it continues to be a labor of love, now to finish up the exterior and really make the interior shine. Planning on new floors, fabrics, cabinets, headliner, the list grows ever time I use it. - Tim

 

[longhorn1]

Great job. On the newer FWC models FWC has 1x's spaced across the bottom. You might to consider that at some point and then put a rubber mat down in the bed. You might want to re-paint the bottom wood. Then as Rotti mentioned insulate the underside. You could spot adhere Dow blue board (Extruded Polystyrene). Also you can get replacement roof clasps. Keep the photos coming. Jd

Sent from my SM-G900V using Wander The West mobile app

 

[billharr]

Like that you used the EMT lift. Someone is going to take the time and really make the tube lift better than panels. Lots of advantages to the tube lift. Light weight, clean behind, add front window. I wonder if ATC and FWC has worked on them?

 

[Living The Dream]

I believe I ran it by FWC when I was asking about the panel and they said they hadn't seen that before. I think both the panel and the tube probably have advantages and disadvantages.

I will be sure to paint the base when I get a chance. And drop the blue board in too. Thanks for the encouragement all.

 

[Squatch]

Looks like you are doing a great job.

 

[Living The Dream]

New Interior Roof

[SIZE=14.6667px]Back at it with more updates. Thanks all for the previous comments. Now that my first winter of use is almost over I am going to strive to get this thing 100% by next winter season. And of course get some good use out of it this summer too. Ill have a few more ski trips still, unpacking from last use:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]

[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]One thing on my todo list was the interior roof. There were many rips in the headliner which was pretty dirty. Plus I could see the simple fibreglass insulation up there. So I wanted to replace that insulation with rigid board and put in a nice new headliner.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]The old:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]

[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]My brother in law was in town for the weekend so I talked him into lending a hand. I was incredibly surprised by what good shape everything was in. Not one bit of the insulation showed water damage. I was pumped. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]While I have all this down I will run my solar wires, replace the old wire for the lights. And I think I will run one more set of wires for a future fan just incase. But I’ll get much more distracted first![/SIZE]

Roof was in great shape:

And while we are at it might as well check out the floor. I am hunting for some bamboo or laminate on Craigslist for free or cheap. Either way at 21 square feet It will be a cheap job. Anyone have a product suggestion they were happy with?

The old floor came up suspiciously easy.

Again pretty happy with the shape of things. A few holes I would like to fill in, but no rot so I will just fill and sand the floorpack and be ready for me. I also like Slo's idea of decking screws to sure everything up. That is going on the todo list too.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/6364-slos-1990-hawk-buildrefurb/

 

[Living The Dream]

More Paint

[SIZE=14.6667px]Colorado spring weather is all over the place. Previous weekend I could not work outside as was too cold. Next weekend we had perfect painting weather. Again I want to do this right so I stripped and prepped the surface really well. Including taking out window and edging. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Unfortunately I do not have the luxury of a garage to strip the entire thing at once and do a full paint. So I will be working one side at a time. Also, I am brushing it on . I know spray can might work better but I do 5 very thin coats and it works out okay. Reasons for brush over can? I am parked next to others cars. [/SIZE]

I am taping of the old wood color. We are keeping that.

Before:

After a coat or two.

Ill leave the doors and windows on with a few screws between work sessions and seal the entire thing down the road after all painting is done. Still trying to decide if I should paint the window and door trim brown or leave the bare metal. Here is After 5 coats:

[SIZE=14.6667px]Notice every bit of work I do is in my communal car parking lot outside my condo. I am the parking lot mascot. Most people are very encouraging of someone tackling a project and like to see the progress. Others don’t get it. Their lost, I am having a good time.[/SIZE]

 

[Living The Dream]

In for an inch, in for a mile.

[SIZE=14.6667px]If you are going to do something might as well give it everything. I decide to just gut the entire thing. Every project I started I found myself looking at what was one layer lower and how I would love to fix that too. So I figured I would take it to that point! In one weekend I was able to get everything out. Cabinets, panels, insulation, everything. Luckily for me I found no surprises. For 30+ years old the camper is in great shape. Thanks to the inspiration on this site I want to make a complete redo too. I am going to get the new side linear and all. First things will be new side liner and full insulation, side panels, and headliner. Then I will treat it like a shell I will build the cabinetry and everything back out slowly. Optimistic that it won't break the bank or my free time too bad. Luckily for me, A. the camper started really cheap, and B. I love working on it so it can have all my free time. [/SIZE]

It all started by taking out the bench area. That was very simple build. There was some old nasty carpet that had to go. And about 1million stapes that literally took hours to remove, these are my Friday nights.. Some wood filler was helpful to redo everything. Plan is to add screws for strength, then sand the entire floorpack and some primer and paint to keep the wood healthy. Maybe add the thin carpet, I am leaning toward no on that.

Then my attention turn to the cabinets. These things were in tough shape. And honestly not very functional. It had to go.

I haven't even use the water tank yet. Didn't want it to freeze in winter. I am on the fence of putting it back in. I kind of like the idea of simplicity without, but also love the ability to cary so much water easily. That is a question for another day.

Also, can anyone tell me the function of this top tube? Is it a breather for the tank? Overflow?

The sink and stove are free. I plan on reusing these guys. I actaully really like the stove. And sink is adequate. Hopefully Ill add a drop in cutting board down the road. Laser cutter at work will make a great one.

The 120 system is coming out and staying out. I do not have a need for it. Maybe someday Ill kick myself but I highly doubt it. I can just charge my battery if need be. If anyone wants this breaker-box, just ask.

With cabinets out it was time for panels to come out too. I originally hope to reuse these but they were busted by the staples by the time I took them out. I am trying to figure out the best replacement material.

Something like this might work: http://www.homedepot.com/p/32-sq-ft-Williams-Crossfire-MDF-Paneling-96610-106/205716948

Or this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-16-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Plastic-Panel-63003/202090190?MERCH=RECPIPHorizontal1_rr205716948202090190N

If anyone has a suggestion for this please chime in. Also maybe I should go with planks instead? Want to keep weight down.

Anyways, again no water damaged insulation or anything. I am thinking a vapor barrier and rigid insulation. If anyone has a product suggest please pass it along.

It was a long Sunday. At the end I started being concern I bit off more than I should have. But I'm having fun and think I am up for the task.