POD: Homebuilt foam core fiberglass skin pop-up camper build thread

Varnishing a table right now the wife requested I build and then starting back on it. First thing I need to do is repaint the grey part of the top half to white, the grey when hit by full CO sun was getting quite hot to the touch (much more than I would have expected) and the nose of the camper near the front of the garage had a couple delamination bubbles occur (the previous house was a north facing garage so it didn't every get full sun streaming in). I masked the grey off in white paper and shoved the nose out further to get some of the white roof in the sun and that didn't get nearly as hot nor have issues. So I need to inject some epoxy into the delamination zones to rebond those then I will repaint in white. The full white top will then get set outside while I work on the lower half to give me some room and also it'll give it some trial by fire in lots of sun exposure. Its not full 100+F summer but yesterday was 70 and quite sunny so we'll see what temps/sun the spring brings. The delamination was quite unnerving but in realizing the temperature difference between white and grey I've calmed some. Time to find out for real and if it is okay then get this dang shell done, otherwise if it fails cut losses and move on so the family has a camper one way or another.
 
I sure hope its not serious. With all the effort and time you have into it to find a serious problem would be distressing.
 
I've processed the failure potential, I just want to get the white part out in the sun sooner than later so I can see what ultimately happens (IE stop wasting time finishing off the door and painting the bottom half and pursue another camper option if needed or rally hard since it still works). I spent more time/money than I did on the camper on my WA house only to still be $100k under water when we moved due to the market falling and having to negotiate a settlement/cut a check, life moved on and I survived.

Regardless I am extremely interested in having a camper going this year one way or another, #3 is turning 2 in April and its time to leave infant land behind and start embracing the cool area we moved to.
 
pods8 said:
............................................... and start embracing the cool area we moved to.
Click to expand...
:)

Glad to see you back on this project and best of luck with it. Hope this fix survives the sun test and you can move forward.
 
Thanks. Definitely been a saga as I've had to adapt to how much life changes when a few kids show up!
 
pods8 said:
I've processed the failure potential... life moved on and I survived....
Click to expand...
Sounds like the best attitude: Life happens, not always according to plan, sometimes in unpredictable ways. :)
 
Got that other project wrapped up and sanded down/repainted the grey sides of the top half white over the weekend. I miss the two tone look but hopefully this will hold up. I'll move it out of the garage later today I think and see what the sun has to say about it. Bonus I'll have unobstructed access to the bottom half to finish off the door frame and move onto fairing/painting that (assuming the top doesn't self destruct in the sun).

img_115324_0_773a48e51105b51c594f04eadafd230e.jpg
 
There were lots of life shuffles with the move and extra kid, etc. took a toll on elective activities. That is easing some as #3 is turning 2. Honestly a major issue at the other house was lack of a good spot to move the roof to as well.

I moved the roof out tonight and shoved the camper back in so assuming the color does the trick with the sun I plan to get on it.
 
Had a couple high 70s sunny days and the roof handled it fine, getting more reassurances...

Anyways glued the door jamb in and I'm working on shaping the door frame a bit more and will give it a thin glass layer. Door catches need a bit of massaging still and the flip walls need to be cleaned up a bit (last glass layer was just rough trimmed previously). Main other thing I'm trying to iron out is to punch the penetrations for the water drain/sink drain/AC power and DC power. Then its moving onto fairing/painting the exterior.

Polling for opinions/ideas on a couple things. First off the AC power in, I was thinking of putting that in that wood blocking midway up the jack bracket below (I believe that is what I put it there for...), not completely ideal being below (but a bit to the side) of the water fill. However AC really is just to juice up the batteries at home and I can just unplug it if I need to add water if I want to be extra safe. Anyone see any issue before things get cut? My other wonder is any simplistic ideas for punching the DC wires out the front of the camper (close to the front window) without spending $50 on a marine bulkhead fitting? The cab should shield much of the driving forces but want to play it safe. I was thinking maybe make provisions for a mounting plate to mount some wire glands to (should allow other options too).

img_115869_0_256a247513790037699b4f44dcf16cef.jpg


img_115869_2_210ab3cb906cdbad876d7576820ab3e2.jpg
 
A wire gland should be fine. If you use a 2 conductor cable a single gland is all you need. For sealing the inside edges after cutting the hole some 45/45 biaxial tape with lay nice and flat and is a lot easier to deal with than than trying to fit regular cloth in the hole. I probably can give you some scrap material to use, I'm in Boulder.
 
Yeah I was planning to glass up the holes thus the desire to cut them now. I've got misc scraps but uni an biaxial cloth on hand, thanks for the offer though!
 
Thanks, getting spooled up again we'll see where it goes...

Door frame is done shaping, going to give it a thin glass layer over top for wear resistance. Drilled the 4 holes noted above last night, no turning back!. Should have the glass work done on the door frame and holes this weekend which would make the lower half ready to start fairing out. I think I'm going to actually flip the whole thing upside down to fair and paint it so I'm not trying to deal with the bottom and cabover from below, should have some bodies over next weekend to get that accomplished.

I need to do some more fit/finish work on the door pieces and flip walls which will be filler work around the various steps in getting the main body ready for the paint coat.
 
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