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

[LuckyDan]

I hope this is one that gets saved in the "Builds" thread. I'd hate to see it lost in the sea of FWC threads.

 

[longhorn1]

Awesome job. Now comes the fun part. Enjoy your trips. jd

 

[mitch h]

Nice job. I bet you will enjoy this fall camping. Mitch

 

[Bill D]

It does look very good. What an awesome personal connection you are going to have with this unit once you start using it.
I like how you have the cooler set up. Easy enough to remove and make one extra seat if needed.

 

[takesiteasy]

Super nice! Good job. Looking forward to seeing some trip reports now.

 

[billharr]

I hope this is one that gets saved in the "Builds" thread. I'd hate to see it lost in the sea of FWC threads.

I agree and send a PM to MarkBC who controls the build thread.

 

[Colorado CJ]

Thanks everyone!

I took out the camper this weekend to see how it works.

My Dad, brother in law and nephew came along and we did some disc golfing, camping and exploring. First, we hit a disc golf course in the mountains. It was fun, but the course wasn't as good as some of the other mountain courses I've played.

Here's Dad trying to make a tough putt.

Disc Golf and Camp 1 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

After disc golfing, we headed out to some forest service roads and tried to find a camping spot.

This one should work

Disc Golf and Camp 5 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

Disc Golf and Camp 7 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

Disc Golf and Camp 4 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

Disc Golf and Camp 6 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

It rained pretty good over night and I'm happy to report the camper is water tight!

The next day, we had some pancakes and bacon cooked on the stove in the camper (sure beats cooking over a backpacking stove!). Then we headed out for some exploring. We drove a total of 60 miles of dirt looking for some more camping locations for future use. Seen some moose and deer and found this thing to climb.

Disc Golf and Camp 2 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

It had some decent views. Looking north/east.

Disc Golf and Camp 3 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr


For the first outing, the camper did great! There are a few things I need to address to make it better though. I need to buy a 2" base layer of foam for the overcab bed as the 3" memory foam is too soft and you end up hitting the plywood on certain parts of your body. I also had to slightly alter the way the seat back was attached as it popped off when driving rough roads (completed that yesterday). I also need to make a couple of small shelves to mount behind the bench seat and above the cooking area so that there is more storage space for small every day items.

Lastly, I need to finish the cabinet doors and drawers (I'll be doing that today).

 

[takesiteasy]

The camper looks great in its natural habitat! Thanks for the report.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Andrew, looks great! Beautiful country as well.

I noticed your steps. Rubbermaid makes a folding two step plastic version with a large foot. I found them at an Ace Hardware for $30. No bar at the top to trip on.

Edit: Walmart has them for $20.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/20575632?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227014962860&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=t&wl3=40343843192&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=51494186287&veh=sem

 

[Qcamper]

Hey Andrew, I am just down the road a ways from you. Evergreen. Your build came out GREAT!!!!
I have a FWC that I am about to replace the lift panels on. Thanks so much for documenting it here. Could you tell me
Hi great post!!!!
If you had trouble with 1/4 inch panels? The research that I have done everyone uses 1/4 inch wood. It seems the originals are 1/8 inch. I saw that FWC new composite panels look like they have a routed edge to account for the thickness difference where the hinges go.
I may consider doing aluminum panels instead of wood. I might even try to track down some sort of composite or plastic to make the panels. I just think it makes more sense than the wood.

 

[kmcintyre]

Awesome job. I did something similar but not to the extent you did. Mine was mostly interior although I painted the exterior wood but not the alum. I like the wood siding on the inside and that's the one thing I'd still like to do as mine has that white "plastic" coating that is peeling in a few spots. Oh well...

 

[Qcamper]

Colorado CJ,
Can you tell me if the 1/4 inch plywood was too thick? The originals are 1/8 inch. Just curious if the hinges were able to fold without difficulty due to the wood thickness/
Thanks,
Q

 

[Abbiennormal]

Thank you for taking us along on your rebuild. Your pictures and details are fantastic and as a newbie, it give me comfort to see others have tackled this task. I inherited a 1985 Grandby and have made slight modifications but now after reading your post, I am going to strip it down and redo the cabover bed and full interior too. So thanks again!