Keystone Rebuild - Narrow Floor Pack, Redo Interior, Paint Exterior

[Colorado CJ]

Hello everyone.

Last week, I bought an '86 FWC Keystone for $675.00. It has some issues, but for the money, I thought it was a decent deal. In this thread I'll document my full rebuild to include narrowing the floor pack for modern trucks, rebuilding the interior, replacing the over cab wood, building new lift panels and repainting the exterior.

Here's what I'm starting with.





I started in on the build today. First, I though I'd start with narrowing the floor pack so that it can fit in newer model trucks. This camper had a floor pack that was 64" wide. Most modern trucks have a tailgate opening of 60", so the camper won't fit newer trucks.

I'll be narrowing down the camper floor pack to 58"

First, I needed to unscrew the trim pieces, then pull all the staples out of the wood.



I'm narrowing it down 3" on each side. So I had to cut out the aluminum frame, and shorten the bottom section 3", then weld back the vertical aluminum frame piece in the new location. I also cut down the outer skin 3"

Before pic.



After pic.



Next, I scribed a line 3" in on the floor and bottom of the floor pack. I then used a circular saw and sawzall to cut it out.



I measured up the parts I cut out and added 3" to the horizotal piece and made a new side. I am using gorilla glue and countersink screws to construct the new sides.



A little grunting and wiggling and hammering and it fit right in. I used gorrila glue on all wood to wood joints (the original only relied on long staples). Here's how it looks now, just need to clean up and reinstall the trim work.



On the inside



I'll finish up rebuilding the drivers side tomorrow. It should go a little faster now that I have a plan on how to do it.

The whole interior will then be gutted, new flooring installed and the paneling painted. I then need to build new lifting panels and replace the over cab bed area. I'll probably redo the interior totally and will be repainting the outside.

Lots of work left! I am having fun though. I really like rebuilding/building things so this is right up my alley. I'll post again once I'm further along.

 

[W6USA]

Wow, what an ambitious project! And it seems you are moving right along. You really scored on that camper, it looks very well taken care of and not beat up at all.

Thanks for posting so we can follow along!

Scott

 

[Bill D]

Yup, pretty cool project. It would be fun to butcher and rebuild an older FWC. Looks like you have a great foundation to start with. It should be a pretty cool project when complete and we'll all be jealous that you have such a cool, customized rig for such an affordable price.

 

[longhorn1]

Great start. Good luck and looking forward to seeing more pictures.

 

[takesiteasy]

Nice work! Looking forward to the rest of your project.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Looks like you have a good start, and good bones to work with. Have fun, I will enjoy seeing your progress.

 

[Colorado CJ]

Thanks guys.

Not much to to post today. The driver's side is built differently than the passenger's side, so I had to first remove the stove, sink, propane storage are and most of the cabinetry to see what I had to work with.

Its a mess.




Once that was done, I removed the plywood off the side of the floor pack.



Then I scribed a line 3" in on all the wood I had to cut away, as well as the front piece of the aluminum frame. Got my circular saw and sawzall out and went to work. It was a little harder cutting this side out as I had to cut upside down because of the way this side was put together. Nothing like a face full of sawdust at the end of a day



Anyway, that is all I got done today. Tomorrow I'll be installing the new plywood, cleaning up and reinstalling the trim pieces and probably replacing the cabover wood.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

"Nothing like a face full of sawdust at the end of a day "

Be thankful you weren't doing overhead welding. Nothing is more fun than a piece of hot slag down your shirt...

 

[Colorado CJ]

"Nothing like a face full of sawdust at the end of a day "
Be thankful you weren't doing overhead welding. Nothing is more fun than a piece of hot slag down your shirt...

Haa Haa Been there and done that, have the pock marks still on my chest to prove it. I can't stand welding overhead, especially in confined areas.

 

[PaulT]

Yeah, but there's nothing like a molten puddle of steel over head to concentrate the mind and coordinate the hands.

Paul

 

[ntsqd]

Worse is when you shifted position under the truck exposing a sock and that one ball of slag finds it's way into the opening at the top of your high-topped work boots.....


Must admit that I expected a more esoteric or wooden boat oriented adhesive than Gorilla Glue!

You're braver than I, that's for sure. I've done wood work, but it's far from my forte.

 

[Colorado CJ]

Worse is when you shifted position under the truck exposing a sock and that one ball of slag finds it's way into the opening at the top of your high-topped work boots.....


Must admit that I expected a more esoteric or wooden boat oriented adhesive than Gorilla Glue!

You're braver than I, that's for sure. I've done wood work, but it's far from my forte.

Gorrila Glue is a waterproof Polyurethane and makes and extremely strong, waterproof bond. I really like it for anything that is going to see weather and lots of jostling. For cabinetry/furniture, I use good old regular wood glue.

I'm not afraid of doing any type of work really. I have a very well set up shop with all the tools needed, a full weld shop as well as a full wood working shop. I even have a CNC mill and lathe if I need to make custom parts.

I own my own business and use these tools regularly to build/repair equipment. I'm the type of guy who'd rather build something than buy it already made. It is usually both cheaper in the long run, and I really enjoy doing it .

This camper will be going on my new (to me) F350 that I recently did a full engine rebuild on. (if you are interested, my full engine rebuild can be found here: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1019305 )

This was how my truck looked a couple months ago, needless to say, I don't mind getting a little dirty

 

[Colorado CJ]

I finished up redoing the plumbing and wiring on the drivers side, then I installed new plywood.





Now that the frame is narrowed to fit in my truck, I'll be starting on redoing the interior. After that is finished, I'll repair the drivers side aluminum (the previous owner said the camper slid off the jack and had the side punctured), then repaint the outside.

 

[Bill D]

It's fun to watch a project fly along. You are making great progress. I'd still be marking my first cut .

It will be interesting to see if your finishing skills equal your construction skills.

Awesome work so far!

 

[Colorado CJ]

It's fun to watch a project fly along. You are making great progress. I'd still be marking my first cut .

It will be interesting to see if your finishing skills equal your construction skills.

Awesome work so far!

Thanks!

As far as my finishing skills, I admit, I am no boat builder or fine cabinet maker. I WILL be doing a full rebuild on the interior though. At this point I don't know what floor plan I want to go with exactly. I'm debating on having a fold down side bench, or making that area into a side dinette.

This is my first camper, so I really have no idea what the ideal floor plan/cabinet setup would be.

I wish there was a place (or thread) with links to all the builds/remodels done to these. I've found a few on my own, but it would be nice to have one place to look at all of them.

 

[Bill D]

My guess is you will have no issues building your interior.

Seeing you are basically starting with a shell. I suggest you look at rnks shell build.
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/9774-rnks-hawk-shell-build/

I like how it is simple, yet versatile.


If you want to go all out, look at Bill Harr's build.
http://bill-veronica.blogspot.ca/p/buil.html

There is no perfect floor plan, everything you add comes with compromise (space/weight).

You will be mounting your FWC on an F350, so weight is not an issue. Space saving is going to be the big thing.
If you want to keep everything in the camper at all times lean towards Bill's build
If you want to travel light and carry a few totes, lean towards rnks build.

 

[billharr]

Just read your engine build thread, great job. I have not done that in years. AdvRider is a great site. Looking forward to your camper coming together.


Bill Harr
old Flattrack Racer.

 

[ntsqd]

FWIW I wasn't critiquing the use of Gorilla Glue, just commenting that so often the obvious is eschewed for the esoteric. The "it's wood and outside, therefore we must use a marine wood glue" mentality. And lest anyone think I'm poking fun at them, I'm not. I'm actually poking fun at me!

 

[Bill D]

eschewed

Gesundheit.

 

[craig333]

458 views. I think more than a few are wondering if they could attempt the same. I'm still debating if I want to add another vent! Fun to watch the build even if I'll never try anything like that myself.