Full build - Reconstructing a 1981 Grandby into a custom Hawk!

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Poky,not sure how I came across this fantastic build/post but I have enjoyed viewing it from the first post.
You are one great craftsman. Your work shows a lot of talent. Your work looks just like it came from the factory.I am sure there are a lot of special tricks to some of the different steps it takes to make a camper like this.
Thanks again for all the time you put into the posts.
Frank

 

[shellback]

Wow, what a wealth of info! I just picked up a 1979 Grandby. This thread will be invaluable to me. Thanks for taking the time to document your build.

 

[PokyBro]

Poky,

Awesome rebuild, I built my first camper from scratch and I think it might have been less work because I didn't have to deconstruct it first. Glad the superstrut tiedowns worked for you, mine are still going strong, Enjoy UT.

-BillM

Bill thanks for checking out the thread, and do want to thank you again for sharing your super strut idea. I really like it, as it gives some extra adjustability to get the mounting just right for a good angle with the turnbuckles, fore and aft. My camper hasn't moved a stitch since I loaded it up in October.

Poky,not sure how I came across this fantastic build/post but I have enjoyed viewing it from the first post.
You are one great craftsman. Your work shows a lot of talent. Your work looks just like it came from the factory.I am sure there are a lot of special tricks to some of the different steps it takes to make a camper like this.
Thanks again for all the time you put into the posts.
Frank

Frank, thanks to you as well for your interest and comments. As we all appreciate hearing from others, such as yourself, it makes it fun to share the work we do on the campers and rigs, and the places we go! I've enjoyed your comments and posts elsewhere as well.



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[PokyBro]

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted anything, so a brief catch up for now. It has been a whirl wind since December 2nd, when I was called by my boss, and HR to be terminated from my job, effective December 15th. And then rehired shortly after, but requiring moving to Ogden, Utah, and doing the same job (sales), but in a new territory, and all new customers. And in a more populated area, and WOW, it's a different mentality of drivers here, everyone's in a big hurry! I just shake my head sometimes, but I'm adjusting.

And the old '99 F250, loaded with enough furniture, and belongings to just get by initially, made the trek over from Colorado. I pulled a 5x8 trailer as well, but even the combination of loaded camper, and trailer was hardly noticeable with the 7.3 Powerstroke. I averaged 14 mpg on the first fill up, driving 70-75 mph, and the second was about 16 mpg. Without the trailer I'm getting about 17 mpg, at the same 70-75 mph, so happy about that.

My son begged to have a look at the build after I got over to Utah, saying "pop it up Dad, I want to see." He gets in looks over everything quietly for a few minutes, flipping on lights, opening the side liner windows, and then says "this isn't too bad! I might just have to borrow it sometime." What do you think, should I let him? Well, if it's for my little grand daughters and brand new grandson, I just might cave.

I haven't been camping yet, unless you count the camp cot and sleeping bag I used for several weeks in the rental house, before I got a new bed. It's great to still be employed, and soon things will settle down into a routine, and I can get back to work finishing the inside build. Only problem, all my tools are still back in Colorado, until I go back over to get them.

Oh yea, and guess what I found here in Ogden? A candy store for a guy restoring/ building a camper! That's what. Check it out!



It's just good to see things in your hands, vs ordering online, and hoping you got the right stuff. This store is better than what I've seen at places like Camping World, and such. Kind of like going back to the stock room, vs the parts counter. This is going to be fun! All the little things I'm going to be needing. Stay tuned!!!


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[Living The Dream]

Go Poky Go! Glad the move is on a positive swing!

 

[Boonie]

Poky,
I remember from your elk hunt travel post, you mentioned that you had lived in Utah once upon a time, so I am hoping the adjustment is eased by that fact.
Boonie

 

[shellback]

Pokey, Reading your build on the fabric sides, I didn't see any mention of you using the old ones as a pattern. I do know you raised the roof, but is there a reason you didn't use the finished length of your old ones as a pattern? Or did you use the old ones and then find out you had to shorten it a bit? Another question on the windows. It looked like you sewed the top and sides of the screen, made the windows and privacy curtain, then fastened it in place. Did you then move the bottom of the 3 pieces to the outside of the liner to sew it? Thanks, Ron

 

[PokyBro]

Poky,
I remember from your elk hunt travel post, you mentioned that you had lived in Utah once upon a time, so I am hoping the adjustment is eased by that fact.
Boonie

Boonie, you've got that right. 35 years ago, just out of college, I worked at Ogden Bay Waterfowl Refuge, as a wildlife worker, seasonal job. Cool stuff I did for part of the time, like banding Canadian Geese, which entailed using airboats (like in the everglades), and charge the geese on the water. During certain times of the year, they are molting (losing feathers, and catch fly), so we'd almost run them over, but I took turns up front, and you'd reach in and grab them just as you caught up, and hand them to another guy behind you on deck, to put them in a cage, and take them back to shore for banding and data gathering. Great fun!

After that, I worked at Mantua Fish Hatchery, which is about 30 minutes from Ogden, where at the time we raised Bear Lake Cutthroat trout from eggs to catchable, and returned them to Bear Lake, which spans over the border between Utah and Idaho.
It's kind of interesting finding myself back in the area after all this time, and possibly where I'll finish my working career.

If you remember when we were comparing notes of when our campers were built, 1981, that is the year I left college and began working at the waterfowl refuge. 1981! Wow, what a coincidence. Somebody, (maybe previous owner) was buying my camper, enjoying it, and I was just starting to work full time. And now it's my turn to enjoy it!

Pokey, Reading your build on the fabric sides, I didn't see any mention of you using the old ones as a pattern. I do know you raised the roof, but is there a reason you didn't use the finished length of your old ones as a pattern? Or did you use the old ones and then find out you had to shorten it a bit? Another question on the windows. It looked like you sewed the top and sides of the screen, made the windows and privacy curtain, then fastened it in place. Did you then move the bottom of the 3 pieces to the outside of the liner to sew it? Thanks, Ron

Ron, I didn't use the old liner for reference, because it was thrashed, and because it was assembled differently, with only one seam in the back. I wanted my new one to be as close to what the new factory ones look like as possible. Frankly, I think when you're making two windows on each side, and all the ways you have to move the fabric to sew the pieces together, it's much easier to do it with a ten foot panel, than 40 feet. I could have used the old fabric to get the measurement circumference, and sort of tried, but didn't feel I was going to be completely accurate that way either. If I do another one some day, I'll use the measurement from the camper body circumference, and not the roof. The fabric will stretch enough for the roof. Mine is working out fine, but does have a little more puckering than I'd hoped for. Hopefully that info will help you.

On your second question, once the screen material was sewn in place with the Velcro inside, leaving the bottom unseen, I placed the velcro'd clear vinyl, and privacy vinyl in place hooked to the inside, and had about 3/4" coming out to the outside, with screen material wrapping around both the clear vinyl, and the privacy vinyl, and then sewing all the bottom pieces together. It really helps to have pictures, and see one in person. I spent a lot of time just studying how it appeared to be assembled, then drew up plans as to how the sequence of each piece would go together. I think my posting walked through that pretty well, but perhaps sometime, I might go back, and just make a thread on the vinyl side liner construction process, start to finish.

.


These are pics I took when I considered redoing the Windows like the original. I took them apart to see how they were stitched and assembled.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/12116-new-build-1981-grandby-to-become-a-hawk/page-13

If I copied this right, look at at entry #121, and maybe a few before it, and several after, and this should give you a visual reference. Good luck!

Poky


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[shellback]

Thanks Poky! I think I got it now. The bottom is the last to be sewn. You have a small vertical slit on each side to pass the bottom of the 3 pieces through to the outside of the material. You then folded the screening in and over the clear plastic and privacy curtain, and sewed the 3 pieces to the side panel. It looks like you have one raw seam on the side panel at the bottom. The purpose of the glued piece is to seal up the corner where the fabric passes outside. I like how you designed it so water running down the side is shed to the outside of the panel. On my side panels, the screen, clear window, and privacy panel are all sewn to the inside of the side curtain. I have a friend in NC that has a number of commercial sewing machines. He is giving me one, but they have 3 phase motors. I just had a new 110v motor sent to him for conversion. I pick it up at the end of the month, then get busy.
You did a fantastic job on your rebuild! I hope I can do half as well.

 

[PokyBro]

Well, today marks one year since I joined WTW, and began my build thread, an anniversary of sorts, and I thought I'd do a little catch up.

First I'd like to thank all who have checked in on this thread, and I'm hopeful there have been helpful tips from my trial and error with each step of my build. I'm glad I chose to document it, because it's a bit of a journal for me, and a reference if I end up redoing anything down the road. Many have commented that it is helping with their build, and that certainly is a compliment, and satisfying on my part. So, again thanks for checking in!

Over the winter I haven't added really anything to the build, as I made a move from Colorado to Utah in January to remain employed, and keep some income coming in, and to retain insurance benefits, which is pretty nice these days. My new rental residence has a garage and I just brought my table saw over, so soon, I'll start working on the inside cabinetry, various enclosures, and seating/ sleeping arrangements.

I managed to fit one urban camping trip in. I went to Henderson, Nevada and stayed in the camper for three nights while working on preparing my family's estate home for sale. The house was not in a good enough state to sleep in. The first night there, it rained and rained, and in the morning I was pleased to not find leakage anywhere. The camper has been on my pickup all winter, and has withstood snow and rain in Utah as well, so glad I got everything sealed properly. I'm going to do a second sealing job this summer to build up areas that shrank when drying, just for good measure, then it should be good for a few years I hope.

I've gathered up a few things that will go with the further building process. My father worked at an RV repair place years ago, and when cleaning out the garage we came across an Atwood Hydroflame heater, that will be replacing my current one if it works properly. The reason why is because my current one is a pilot flame model, and rated at 12,000 BTUs, the replacement is a DSI (Direct Spark Ignition), is rated at 16,000 BTUs, and fits exactly like the current heater. A good find, and no cost!



I also have the fabric I'll be using for my cushions. I liked the woven in design and colors, and they should match up nicely.



And lastly, here's a collapsable ladder I picked up that will come in handy when access to the roof is needed, like tying down a canoe possibly, or clearing that winter white stuff if necessary. I will need to cut of about 5 inches off its length, and then it will fit along the passenger side window area inside.



That's it for now!

 

[Living The Dream]

Hey Poky. Glad to hear you are doing well. I have one quick questions for you.

For the sideliner, you mention you wish you had used the camper body circumference rather than the roof circumference. And you think the material will stretch to fit the roof.

Can you elaborate on why you think the lower circumference is the right one to use? I made a pattern/mockup of window with your guidance, it is looking great. I will be getting to the sewing in two more weeks after some travel is done.

Best - Tim

 

[Boonie]

Hey Tim,

I'm sure Poky will confirm, but on my build the roof is actually 1/2" wider than the body making the circumference on the roof greater. I assume this allows the aluminum trim attached to the top to fit over the body easier and provide a better weather seal.

Boonie

 

[PokyBro]

Tim and Boonie,

My reasoning about fitting the side liner more to the circumference of the camper body, vs the roof, is mainly to get a tighter fit that prevents the side liner material from "puckering" for lack of a better term. If the side liner is loose on the roof, as mine was, when you put the trim ring around the camper body, you'll end up fighting the material from bunching up, sort of like a very tight belt, on too big a pair of jeans, on a skinny kid, if that gives you an exaggerated visual. Perhaps slightly loose around the camper body would be best, to allow for shrinkage of the material over time.
The main reason I would make it tighter the next time is to get a smoother, tight fitting look. Mine was probably 1- 1 1/2" too long, which isn't bad, it worked out fine, maybe I'm just picky.

When installing, I marked one inch at the top of the liner, and matched that one inch mark to the top of the tube on the roof edge, and then folded it over so the roof sheeting lays down over top like a shingle.

Hope that helps Tim, and congrats on getting to the sideliner stage on your camper, wishing you lots of luck. Just take your time and it'll turn out great!

Poky

 

[PokyBro]

I found the opportunity this weekend to do a couple of additions to my build. It's been awhile because I don't have access to all my tools since moving to Utah, as I mainly just moved me, not my whole household.

I decided to tackle the installation of lift spring struts. I ordered them from eBay, "Strut-your-stuff", for $39.99 per pair. I ordered 36", 40 lb struts for both front and rear. I also purchased offset brackets from the same source.

I installed 10mm ball posts on the body, front and rear, awhile back, so this mainly involved just installing the brackets on the roof, and connecting the struts.



I began by attaching the strut upside down to the ball post on the body, and then raising the roof, holding the offset bracket up to about where it would go, and marked the location. I dropped the roof back down to make sure there was plenty of room for the struts to compress. Then I went ahead and attached the brackets on the roof, and was able to use one existing hole. I chose to purchase brackets with three fastener holes for strength.

 

[PokyBro]

I repeated the same process on the front after making sure the rear of the roof would fold down properly still after adding the struts, which it did.



Suffice it to say, I was mighty pleased with the way it turned out. During my build I actually weighed my complete roof, along with the extra things I added, so I know it weighs a little over 100 lbs. with two 40 lb struts on each end, it seems perfect to me. It requires a fraction of the force to start to raise the roof, and then stops right up into place. To drop the roof, I have to pull down just slightly.

Why did I wait so long to do this? Silly me!

 

[PokyBro]

I also decided to use 1 1/2" attachment screws, here's why.

If you look at the roof frame, you can see there is a one inch tube, butted up to a two inch tube. I wanted to screw through both, vs just a 3/4" screw that would get only one thickness on the outside tube as shown in the additional example. This should provide considerable strength, times three for each bracket.




The second project I completed was to stain and finish the slide out board for the bed, and the side boards it rests on.

 

[PokyBro]

The finished color matched up pretty nicely, if I do say so myself.



That's about it for now. I'm planning out the galley side cabinetry now, and hope to get going on that soon, as well as installing the Isotherm CR 130 12 volt fridge.

I found a source for purchasing my bed and seat cushion foam in Las Vegas, called Galaxy Foams, that I'll be checking out when I'm down there seeing family, and then I can get my bed cushions made up. My brother does upholstery, so I might cave and let him help me on that.

 

[Living The Dream]

Looks great Poky. Nice to see some more progress, motivating for me to get back in the garage too. Now I really want to do struts too.

I'll be on the road soon enough! - Tim

 

[PokyBro]

For the 4th of July weekend I did a little work on the rig, and made it out camping as well.

I ordered and installed Bilstein 5100s to replace a mismatched set of shocks on my pickup. The front had Monroe Reflex, and I couldn't identify the rears. So, a new matched set made sense to me. My pickup started out for me just to be something to play in when I can. Then came the camper, so now I'm fixing both up over time.

The Bilsteins made a very notable difference in handling characteristics. They are slightly stiffer on the ride and over bumps, but in a good way. Going around curves in the canyon is now a firm feel, and less swaying or leaning. On dirt roads with minor washboard the wheels stay on the ground and don't bounce, at least not at lower speeds. I'm really happy with the Bilsteins and recommend them highly.

I purchased a new mattress pad from Galaxy Foams and Upholstery in Las Vegas, NV, but unfortunately its a tad too firm. I will be changing that out before I do the cover, plus it's a little too thick as well. Should have been more careful with the purchase, but overall its not too expensive to replace. Still slept well nonetheless.

I've pulled all my temporary galley fixtures out, in preparation for building the real deal galley, so for now, I'm back to just a shell.

Just the same, as stated above, I got out for a short camping trip in Colorado for the holiday weekend. Man I can't get over how easy it is to go from fishing, drive up the NF road five minutes, find a spot for the night, park as level as you can, pop the top, roll out the bag, and ready for bed, all in another five minutes. It's awesome!

Here's some photos of the trip.

 

[PokyBro]