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

[Toad]

Great timing, just bought new f350. Been running a 94 f250 with my 1984 keystone and guess what need to do with my camper?
Passenger side does look easy, driver side is the one I'm concerned about. Did you have to take apart the inside first or can I just make sure of where I'm cutting and go for it. Thanks for any advice! 1994.5 diesel will be for sale later this summer!

 

[Colorado CJ]

Thanks everyone. So far it's all been easy going. Now, designing and finishing the interior will be a little fun/challenging.

Toad, The passenger side was easy. For the drivers side, I'd really recommend taking apart the cabinets before you cut, just to give you some room.

What you can do on the drivers side, is to first remove the wood sides on the "step" you'll have to narrow. Be sure to go on the inside and remove the staples that are holding the wiring on the boards first though. You'll then be able to see what all you need to cut down to get your 3" of clearance on that side.

You will definitely have to take the cover off your water storage area since you'll have to push the water tank out of the way when you cut that area. You'll have to make an extension on your water tank cover as it will now be sticking about 2" outside of where it was before in the cabinet.

 

[Colorado CJ]

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!

Yeah, I'm not too fancy , I use whatever seems to work. I am sure there are more suitable adhesives out there for sure.

 

[Colorado CJ]

I got a little more done on the camper today. First, I started by cutting out and removing the cabover wood. It was in pretty bad shape. I'll be replacing it with 3/4" birch ply.



After removing the wood, I seen that it would be easier to replace the front lifting panel while the cabover wood was removed, instead of having to lay up there and work on my stomach/back. So, I went into the camper to see what to do next.

I decided to just gut it totally and start new. So, I spent a couple hours tearing out all the paneling and removing the insulation. I'll be re insulating it with pink core foam. I haven't decided yet on what to replace the paneling with. I'll probably go with some 1/4" beadboard.

So, here's how it looks, totally gutted. Tomorrow, I'll pick up some foam and whatever I decide on paneling it with. I'll run some wires behind everything first so I don't have the rats nest of the stock wiring to worry about.

 

[Colorado CJ]

I decided to start taking the lift panels off, so I made a couple 2x4 braces to hold the roof up while I worked on the panels



As you can see, the lift panels are toast.

After I took off the front lift panel, there was some mildew/mold. Its long dead and cleaned up like new with a little Tilex.



Here are the lift panels after they were removed, along with the old cabover wood. The top lift panels were totally gone, so I have to do a little measuring to see how tall to make them.

I'm not sure yet on what material I'm going to make the new lift panels out of. I thought of some 1/8" fiberglass sheeting, but I'm not sure if it is too flexible. I'll probably just use some birch ply again, if I can find it thin enouugh.



After that, I started working on the couple of holes that were punched into the side of the camper by the previous owner. I started by getting a peening hammer and block and started tapping the siding back into shape. Then after mixing up some polyester resin and cutting some fiberglass mat, I layed up a couple of layers of mat and painted on the polyester to the inside of the aluminum sheeting.



After the fiberglass was cured, I started in on the bondo, building up the area by one thin layer at a time (so I don't get any cracking). It took 3 layers.



That's all I did today. Tomorrow, I'll finish up the bondo work and start sanding the area back into shape. I'll probably build a couple of new lifting panels and rivit them back into the camper as well. Also, if I have enough time, I'll cut and install the new cabover wood.

 

[Buckshot62]

Very nice work so far. I have a 1983 grandby that i will do the same narrowing to . You make it look so easy .I will be following this build for more ideas. Keep up the good work and don't forget we love pics !

 

[Colorado CJ]

Well, this evening, I decided to do a little work on the camper.

I wanted to take care of this mess here.



So, I went and found some decent wood at a great price. I picked up enough to complete the whole interior of the camper, as well as make some new cabinetry out of it. It is Baltic Birch ply with a bead board look to it. $10.00 a sheet marked down from $39.00! The color is actually a light honey color, much lighter than in these photos.



It took an hour or two just to drill out all the rivets from the old lift panel so that I could reuse the piano hinges. With the help of some WD-40, I got the hinges back into shape.

Since the old lift panels were totally broken, I had to do some careful measuring to see what height I needed to make the upper lift panels. Here's the front one starting to get worked on. (excuse the mess, I make a big mess of the shop when I work on things)



And here's a short clip of me riveting the upper panel together.

https://youtu.be/zalFYrWwBV4

Adding the bottom panel to the top panel.



Here is the completed front lift panel. It took approximately 3 hours to build a new one. More than half the time was spent drilling out all the old rivets. One more to go, then I can start installing them



That's it for tonight. I might spend tomorrow evening building the new back lift panel. I might set up my camera and take a time lapse of it, we'll see.

 

[takesiteasy]

Looks great! I like that material for the paneling- good score.

 

[pods8]

Nice look to the new panels.

BTW a friend down in Lakewood has done much of the same stuff (or is midway) with an older grandby. Also replaced the roof sheeting and side liner, PM me if you are wondering any ideas. But you seem to be cruising along just fine.


I do wonder how that bondo on the aluminum will hold up though, you even use bondo on thin/flexy aluminum before?

 

[Colorado CJ]

Thanks guys.

Bondo holds up well if you prep the area. You need a decent backing as well. You don't want to bondo over any holes without a decent fiberglass backing. Also, it helps to bondo a few thin layers, bulding it up, not to bondo all at once. This prevents cracking.

 

[Colorado CJ]

Time for a small update, did a little more work on the camper.

First, I tensioned the spring piano hinges to be able to install the front lifting panel.



I then started by riveting in the top of the panel. Because I am using the same hinges in the same places, I could rivet back into the original holes in the roof. This meant I didn't need to measure or make sure the roof would be aligned with the camper, so it was a quick install. I also tied some fishing line to the center elastic and fished it through the hole in the lift panel. This made it easy to reinstall all the elastic like the original.



The front now lifts up and down extremely easily. All those little springs on the 3 hinges really help with lifting force. They nearly lift the roof by themselves.

I then measured and cut a new cabover wood piece. Since I want this one to last, I coated the new cabover wood with some 2-part polymide epoxy.



While the epoxy was drying, I rebuilt the back lift panel. This one went much faster than the front, completing it in a couple of hours.



After it dried, I brought it into the camper and slid it in place. I then lifted up the edges and applied lots of caulking around the edges before screwing it all in. I then applied some putty tape and installed the trim piece to the outside. I'm going to leave off the plastic insert as I'm going to be painting the outside shortly.





Before I can start installing the inside paneling, I have to run all the wiring and install all the lights I'm going to have on the camper. So, I first decided to replace the old outdated tail lights with some new LED tail lights.

I got a sheet of aluminum and started up my snipper and cut it down to size. I then measured up the lights I am installing and used a jigsaw to cut the cutouts.



I cleaned up the area around the old lights and applied some putty tape



I then screwed the new plate down to the camper and caulked the edges.



Finally I popped in the lights. When I permanently mount the lights after I paint the exterior, I will calk the rubber gaskets in and calk the lights in to make sure the area is 100% sealed.



Quite the difference from the old tail lights.



I then installed an LED light to the top right of the camper. This will serve a dual function of a backup light and will be wired to a switch to turn on inside the camper. An identical light will be put on the left side of the camper. I will be replacing the porch light with a new updated unit



Tomorrow, I'll finish the left side tail lights and get all the wiring done to the back end so that I can install the back paneling and the lift panel.

 

[takesiteasy]

Nice work! Looks great. Thanks for posting your progress. It is fun to follow along.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Not only do you have the tools and shop, but the skills to use them. Excellent work!

 

[billharr]

Really nice job on the lift panels. Thank you for posting, I am enjoying your build.

 

[craig333]

We really should sticky this one!

 

[Lotsapapa]

I am really enjoying watching this build of yours.
You are doing a first rate job on your camper and it is inspiring me to find a clean used FWC and try to do something similar. I'm looking forward to see how you paint the camper.
And I must say, I definitely have a little garage/tool envy watching this.

EM

 

[poriggity]

Great looking build.. love to see that someone has guts to cut up a camper to make it fit!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Wander The West mobile app

 

[wuck]

CCJ - Looking good, nice work!

The cabover wood/bed on my Hawk is sagging an inch or so in the middle, there is some evidence around one corner of some water damage. So, I'm thinking of replacing it (someday . Hard to tell from your pics, I'm wondering if this is done from the outside? If I don't have to rip out the interior, it'll happen sooner rather than later. FWC has been using "Lumber Core" sheeting for quite a while now, I hear originally they were particle board. What material did you use?

 

[Colorado CJ]

Thanks everyone!

CCJ - Looking good, nice work!

The cabover wood/bed on my Hawk is sagging an inch or so in the middle, there is some evidence around one corner of some water damage. So, I'm thinking of replacing it (someday . Hard to tell from your pics, I'm wondering if this is done from the outside? If I don't have to rip out the interior, it'll happen sooner rather than later. FWC has been using "Lumber Core" sheeting for quite a while now, I hear originally they were particle board. What material did you use?

I used 3/4" birch ply for my cabover. What I did to remove it was, first unscrew the screws on the inside lip from the inside, then unscrewed all the screws from underneith and around the outside edge. I then took a sawsall and cut it right down the middle It was easy to remove this way.

On the inside, to install a new board, you have to push back the oak beams that are on each side of the cabover (these give strength to the overhang). To do this, you need to remove a few screws in the top of the paneling (very easy), then pull the paneling slightly away and slide the oak boards back.

The cabover wood is installed from the inside of the camper.

After you cut and coat your new cabover wood, you have to put one side in the correct place, then put pressure against the other side of the camper to slightly flex the top of it. This lets that side of the board fit into its spot.

Finally, before screwing it in, lift all the edges of the board and apply a good caulk liberally to the edges where it meets the aluminum. Then screw down.

Get some putty tape (availavle in any rv store), and stick it to where the the lower trim piece mounts, then mount the trim piece and caulk the edges of it for additional protection.


It seems like it is a big project, but it is really much easier than it looks. The longest time spent was waiting for the epoxy to dry on the cabover wood before I could install it.

 

[Colorado CJ]

I've been busy lately with work, so not much to report on today.

I tapped the rest of the dents out and applied bondo to the areas. I also finished up the tail light mounting and backup light mounting on the drivers side and installed a new porch light.

I think I'll have some time to work on it tomorrow. Hopefully I can get all the lights wired up so that I can insulate and panel the back end. I have to do this before I can install the back lifting panel as it is installed over the inside paneling there.

Anyway, here's how the camper sits now.