Bill's FWC Hawk build.

[billharr]

3-21-2014

Between TP and Dr appointments have not spend enough time on the camper. I am getting things buttoned up. have everything wired up 12v and 110v with GFI.

FWC monitor panel


Monitor showing battery full.


Put door up as one panel and then marked where I
wanted the cut. Helped to keep it square and match grain.


After the cut, large door folds all the way down.


Smaller door lays on seat. 30" wide opening.


Last door for the day, What does it hide?

Blue sea fuse box behind the door.
Not sure if I want to use magnetic latch, or
a matching slam latch.


Starting to look like a camper. note trim around the fridge.


I like how the cabinet has come out. Note the drawer fronts, trim and doors still need to have
poly-urethane put on. Just received the white birch iron on trim tape. Tomorrow I will put tape on edges of the drawers and doors. Put on the poly and then start on the corner cabinet next to the dinette.


You will see there are 7 surface screws where I could not get inside to put in screws. Camp-able now just need finish work. Hoping for a shake down trip to Pinnacles NP on the 31st.

 

[takesiteasy]

Nice work, Bill. Looks great!

 

[SunMan]

Very, very nice Bill. Impressive work.

 

[mitch h]

Nice job Bill

 

[Timothy McGowen]

I wish I was that handy with tools. Great job Bill.

 

[billharr]

3-24-2014

Built and installed the corner cabinet. Looked around and it was time to unload the tools from the camper. Fells good to have the camper ready to load and go camping. But wait Veronica says we have to have curtains. I guess we are not quite ready to camp. Veronica and the neighbor got the curtains made today so tomorrow I put them up and then we are ready to camp.

Edit: for you wood workers out there. All of the cabinets made without the use of a table saw, wife won't let me near it. Straight edge and skill saw for everything.

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Absolutely beautiful Bill. Great Job.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Nice job Bill.Yes those table saws can be like owning a "great white shark".
Every time I use my power tools I have a picture in my mind of your injury. At least that keeps me somewhat cautious.
Have fun in the new camper.You can be very proud of the work.
I would think the FWC company feels fortunate that you don't build campers to compete with them.
Frank

 

[Captm]

Really liking your build! After reading about your injuries I put the guard back on my table saw. It's a bit of pain in the rear to use but better safe than sorry.
Cheers

 

[billharr]

Small things. While the curtains are being finished I worked on two of the small things that needed to be done. Moved the front eye bolts on the pickup bed back 12 inches. The new Hawk has a different location for the tie downs than the old 2002 Hawk. Next I mounted levels on the front and side of the camper. Last time I leveled to the propane fridge, this time I leveled to the front bed.

Level side to side.


Level front to back.


Front level I can see from the cab.


Front and side levels.


Small thing but the levels make it easy to set up camp. Forecast looks like rain next week, so I might build one more cabinet inside be for our shake down trip.

 

[pvstoy]

Good thinking, make it easy for you. On my older '83 Toy I had the levels inside the cab.

 

[takesiteasy]

I have those same levels- right outside the driver's door. I've learned from experience how many of the yellow plastic wheel blocks it takes to center the bubbles. Definitely makes leveling the truck easy. The color in the tube disappears after a bit if exposed to the sun. The one under the cabover is still green, the one on the side is now clear.

 

[billharr]

Build last cabinet for rear corner yesterday. Took a quick picture before it comes apart for trim tape and poly urethane. Watching poly dry now so I posted the pictures up. Install tomorrow.

 

[craig333]

Trim tape? I don't even know what that is. I'll make sure to hide the cabinet I built so no one sees it during the rally tour.

 

[billharr]

Trim tape? I don't even know what that is. I'll make sure to hide the cabinet I built so no one sees it during the rally tour.

I call it trim tape it is wood veneer with hot melt glue on the back. Great stuff, hot iron, roll tight and magic.

Makes this

Looks like this

 

[idahoron]

I don't know if I speak for others but your skills at building are light years beyond what I can do. Your awesome!

 

[Flyfisher]

Bill - I put the levels inside the cab of the truck so that I can see them while I move the truck to find the best place in the campsite. Works quite nicely.

 

[billharr]

IT IS DONE


Got the back cabinet installed. Had to move the FWC overhead cabinet forward to make room in the back corner. I like how it came out. Put two doors on the cabinet. Top door opens and has two shelfs, lower shelf in the top is sized to fit my coffee pot. Bottom door opens to one large space so tall items, like a roll of paper towels or big bottles will fit. I bought an extra 2'x4' birch plywood so the grain on the doors would match.

Passenger side of the camper in picture below. Showing dinette, new front cabinet, new rear cabinet and FWC cabinet moved forward. If the bed is pulled back I use the FWC cabinet as a stand to hold my radio.



Top door open on new back cabinet.


Bottom door open, wire is for blue sea 12v plug on order.
The wood and black stripe over the rear door is velcro for the curtain.

Except for two curtains the camper is done (not my job). As soon as they are finished I will post a photo montage of my build on Youtube with a link. This camper was build for how the wife and I like to camp, after 5 years with the old Hawk we knew what we wanted. We like the side dinette with storage under the seat. We also knew we wanted more storage than we had on the 2002 Hawk. I tried to maximize the storage with 18" deep drawers, and one large open space under the sink with doors that fold down for access. Two lower drawers in place of the doors that FWC uses. We went with a smaller DC fridge to keep storage above it. The two passenger side cabinets finish the added storage. Not counting the storage over the water tank and batteries (will use for hoses and tools) I have 16.5 cubit feet of closed storage in the camper, way more than we had before.

This has been a fun winter project, except for the problem with the table saw. Would I do it again YES, I love building things. Many of the ideas I used came from WTWhttp://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/forum/4-four-wheel-camper-discussions/ a great resource for FWC camper information. The idea for two lower drawers were stolen from Ski3pin's camper build. I wish I had his wood working skills might not have had the table saw problem. Next post will be a report of our shake down trip to Pinnacles NP.

 

[Otis]

Bill-
Really nicely done! Appreciate your enthusiasm and your willingness to share -
Enjoy!! As I'm sure you will!

 

[longhorn1]

Bill,

An amazing job. When it comes to mechanical and construction know how, I have none. I have always been impressed with thing that others have done and especially since being on this site, I enjoy getting home and browsing. Job well done.

John