New to me 80's FWC Fleet

[Berts]

$3k is a solid budget to get it done..

I bought a fleet in about that condition this spring and redid the whole thing as a project to sell. I bought for 500, put 2500-3000 into it. I made money selling it (was it worth my time?? thats another question, but work was slow during early covid lock down and I needed something to do so I think it was worth it, was able to turn it around in 2 months).. I didn't have to reskin the roof though.. and didn't do new siding, just painted it)

Good to know, I'm fine with the labor. I like projects like this. I also like the idea of 100% knowing how my camper is put together, where the wires are, etc. I don't like the idea of putting money into something where I will lose out though. These light aluminum campers are hard to find so I would think there is a good market for it. I do plan to use it for a LONG time though. Truck campers have been a pain in my arse but also a fun hobby of sorts. I've only been in the game for a year so trying to figure this all out. Shaving off a couple hundred pounds means I can load up my dirt bike with less worry ha ha. Or bring 4 kayaks with less worry. These FWC's just ride so much nicer than my 89 Jayco 8' sportster, the weight distribution is amazing. Wife isn't sold on this yet. She says "Are you sure we want to do all this work" I LOL's at he at the we.

 

[WillTheThri11]

Start a build thread for sure...looks like a fun project.

I rebuilt my lift panels similar to factory but used a plastic cored aluminum skin panel used in sign making. I really like it that way and personally wouldn't do the conduit lift although it's proven to work pretty well. If you have the fab skills, I say go for as close to stock as possible. Otherwise, I'd copy the what some of the wedge style campers do for roof support. If I could've found the composite material that they use in the new campers now, I would've done that but it proved just about impossible.

I think since you want to extend the cabover and shorten the overall length I'd remove the front wall and push it back. I've considered doing this as well since I have an 8' camper on a 6' bed...curious to see where a 5' overhang was done previously according to Vic.

I wouldn't just fix broken welds, I would add more welds and consider adding braces in some areas to support the torsion in areas that are prone to cracking (this may be a controversial opinion...the frame should flex, yes, but the welds really shouldn't...flexing welds leads to cracking and you don't want that). The older campers didn't have welds on both sides of the joints. I'd go through and back up as many of those as possible.

Good Luck and keep reaching out here, there's a wealth of knowledge here.

 

[Vic Harder]

I think since you want to extend the cabover and shorten the overall length I'd remove the front wall and push it back. I've considered doing this as well since I have an 8' camper on a 6' bed...curious to see where a 5' overhang was done previously according to Vic.

Wish I could remember that too.

 

[Berts]

Start a build thread for sure...looks like a fun project.

I rebuilt my lift panels similar to factory but used a plastic cored aluminum skin panel used in sign making. I really like it that way and personally wouldn't do the conduit lift although it's proven to work pretty well. If you have the fab skills, I say go for as close to stock as possible. Otherwise, I'd copy the what some of the wedge style campers do for roof support. If I could've found the composite material that they use in the new campers now, I would've done that but it proved just about impossible.

I think since you want to extend the cabover and shorten the overall length I'd remove the front wall and push it back. I've considered doing this as well since I have an 8' camper on a 6' bed...curious to see where a 5' overhang was done previously according to Vic.

I wouldn't just fix broken welds, I would add more welds and consider adding braces in some areas to support the torsion in areas that are prone to cracking (this may be a controversial opinion...the frame should flex, yes, but the welds really shouldn't...flexing welds leads to cracking and you don't want that). The older campers didn't have welds on both sides of the joints. I'd go through and back up as many of those as possible.

Good Luck and keep reaching out here, there's a wealth of knowledge here.

The more I think about it the more I think I'm going to keep the overall size of the camper the same. I don't want to lose that 14"-16" of prime real estate inside the camper just so I can close the tailgate. For the bed I'm thinking of building rail off the side of the camper. The overhand over the cab will be the same but I'll have some plywood with maybe some support legs. I can put that on the rails. So essentially when I'm sleeping I'll be sleeping halfway or more lengthwise of the camper if that makes sense. So above the kitchen kinda.

Good to know on the lift panels, I'll see if I can find any of that panel material. Metal would be amazing, never worry about rot would be amazing.

Agreed on the welds and adding some supports.

Thanks for the tips.

I'll start a new thread on the build once I get going. Really trying to figure all this out in my head and paper before I get going.

 

[Wallowa]

Berts...great planning and gutsy project! I removed my tailgate ['05 Tundra AC and '16 Hawk], if for no other reason than the weight aft of the back axle..my Tundra tailgate weighs a ton!

Phil

 

[Living The Dream]

Looks like a great project. Excited to see it come together.

To answer your orginaly question (and you are already headed this way). I wish I had redone the floor pack when I redid everything else. I put so much time and effort into my rebuild, the floorpack would not have added that much more cost or time and would have really made it 100%. So glad to see you are doing that part too.

Don't make it too wide, give yourself some wiggle room so it is not impossible to align when loading and unloading. An inch or two on each side will do you wonders, and you wont miss the slight space.

Great that you have access to technical sewers, that will make your life way way easier.

The insulating the fabric, most folks do just do the vinyl coated polyester but then you can add an arctic linear yourself. Search arctic linear and you will find many that have sewed their own. This gives you a ton of insulation as it make about 2 inch of dead air all the way around.

Go with a diesel heater, everyone is doing it I plan on making the switch soon too.

Find your way over to my build page and videos. Let me know if you have any more questions as you go through it. Should give you a pretty good start on many of your projects. Also, check my sheet in my signature below, lots of links to the different materials you are going to find yourself looking for.