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

[pods8]

Thanks. Need to unpack/organize the garage but then looking forward to getting the upper shell put together, that'll feel like progress.


Mark, went from around 2500mi to about 1100.

 

[bigun]

Did you make the square jacks or buy them. IIRC I read something about the mounting but not where they had came from. Also I read you were embedding flexible conduit in the roof do yourself a favor and run a pull string before you get it all put together, it'll save you from using the words your not supposed to use in polite company
Thank you
Charlie

 

[pods8]

Did you make the square jacks or buy them. IIRC I read something about the mounting but not where they had came from. Also I read you were embedding flexible conduit in the roof do yourself a favor and run a pull string before you get it all put together, it'll save you from using the words your not supposed to use in polite company
Thank you
Charlie


Those are a set of happijacks I picked up. I didn't prepull the string but the conduit is 3/4" and the longest section between boxes is likely 5' so cashing the first set of strings won't be bad, I'll just need to make sure to pull new string in as I pull wires since it'll fill up and then be a pain.

 

[bigun]

Those are a set of happijacks I picked up. I didn't prepull the string but the conduit is 3/4" and the longest section between boxes is likely 5' so cashing the first set of strings won't be bad, I'll just need to make sure to pull new string in as I pull wires since it'll fill up and then be a pain.

I am an electrician by trade, so I always think about the wire pull! Happijacks ok I have seen the name but always figured they were like my old round ones with the tripod feet.
Thanks
Charlie

 

[pods8]

Small progress but looks more substantial visibly, I fitted all the panels together with temporary screws. What'll do from here is undo one panel at a time, put thickened epoxy on the edges and screw it back in place, then the next panel. After I've got the panel edges bonded I'll laminate glass across the joints both in/out like with the bottom. The outside will be easy to do in place, in inside I think I'll pull the roof off and put it on its side or upside down so I'm not working overhead the whole time which would suck.

I need to unbox the epoxy and supplies but temperature is my biggest issue right now. I need min 45F to cure the faster of the two hardeners I have, its not that warm here lately. So I'll pick a day that I have enough time to do it all at once, and hopefully its warmer out, so I can be efficient with firing up the space heaters in the garage to heat it up and keep it heated through the initial cure.

Anyways taking shape again. Have the door/flip up walls to do after wards for panel pieces.

 

[craig333]

Looking like a camper now. I sure hope things cooperate, I'm getting antsy to see this one completed.

 

[pods8]

Due to cold temps I had to figure out a way to heat up the epoxy work to cure, heating the whole garage for long periods wasn't practical. Heat blankets and moving blankets got the job done, however with a caveat. Most of the laminating was across joints with no foam exposed, worked like a charm. On the front I had to do a bit more sanding to make everything transition well and exposed some foam. The first attempt on that gave me some BIG air pockets using the heat blanket and I had to alter the methods. I sanded out the air pockets, preheated the foam, laminated and then laid down a moving blanket before the heat blanket on low with another moving blanket over top to let it set up. Then put the heat blanket on high up against to fully cure the work.

Big bubbles I had to repair:

Sanded out for relamination:

All fixed up:

Outside seams are all done (the surface looks crappy due to plastic sheeting over between the lamination work and heat blanket but its over the peel ply and when that is ripped off a smooth surface is under). I ratcheted it up into the raised position to take some measurements, etc. Tomorrow I'll pull the base out from under, lower it down and then flip it up on its side to work on 1/2 the interior seams (I'll flip it onto the other side for the other half), I don't have enough room for them to be side by side lying down.

 

[ski3pin]

Looking good, glad you're still on the project and I appreciate the updates!

 

[pods8]

What else am I gonna do with a partially finished camper and a truck converted to a flatbed. The march shall continue, regardless of how slow it may be. I really do hope to make a solid push through to fairing/paint though so I can complete the shell.

 

[pods8]

Nothing like a bonehead move to line up some more repair work for yourself. I walked out in the garage and hit the garage door opener so I could pull the camper base out from under, wasn't thinking and forgot there was interference with the raised camper top and the garage door hardware, put a gouge in the top.

But I wrapped up the job and have to top positioned on its side so I can work on half of the seams at a time and not fight gravity, it just barely fits... Sure would be nice to have a large shop/pole barn right about now but you work with what you got.

 

[craig333]

Oops. I'm sure lots of us have a barn on the wish list. Just need to win that lottery. Coming along nice. Ready to hazard a guess as to win you might be ready for a trial run?

 

[pods8]

Anything I've ever guessed or hoped has come and gone so I'll just keep chipping away...

 

[pods8]

I'm curious what thoughts folks have on a muted orange peel surface finish? I'm contemplating coatings again and giving thought to a liner type material. The surface roughness can be muted down but there will definitely still be some. Cons off hand are a more work surface appearance and more prone to hold dirt on the surface (however this is a camper, how fancy does it need to be honestly). Pros are less critical fairing prep work and scratches would blend into the texture. The above is just referencing the surface aspect not the coating itself. Even using an industrial urethane type paint it would be nice to just put it down with a slight texture to it in some regards.

 

[huskyrunnr]

Your build is fascinating! I've made several foam/glass floats for outrigger canoes, same process you've been using, and I've been following your thread with great interest. I only have experience with System Three's two part WR-LPU. Better finish sprayed than brushed. Not sure I could get orange peel with it, but haven't tried since this is part of a watercraft. Their Quick-Fair product works really well to fair up troublesome spots.

In my usual dirtbag way, trying to save money, I did not use their epoxy primer. I unpleasantly discovered that it took forever for the yellow LPU to cover the pink color of the foam. I probably wasted money rather than saved money.

Looking forward to the rest of your build!

ETA: short of dragging the float over rocks, I don't get many scratches. Crosslinked LPU is pretty tough stuff.

 

[pods8]

Your build is fascinating! I've made several foam/glass floats for outrigger canoes, same process you've been using, and I've been following your thread with great interest. I only have experience with System Three's two part WR-LPU. Better finish sprayed than brushed. Not sure I could get orange peel with it, but haven't tried since this is part of a watercraft. Their Quick-Fair product works really well to fair up troublesome spots.

In my usual dirtbag way, trying to save money, I did not use their epoxy primer. I unpleasantly discovered that it took forever for the yellow LPU to cover the pink color of the foam. I probably wasted money rather than saved money.

Looking forward to the rest of your build!

ETA: short of dragging the float over rocks, I don't get many scratches. Crosslinked LPU is pretty tough stuff.


I'd love to hear more on your experiences with the system 3 LPU. It had my interest perked previously but I've heard a lot about it being a bit finicky to lay down. That would be one coating I'd have not issue with spraying at home verse pretty much all the two part stuff which has isocynate.

I was going to experiment with mixing my own fairing compound ~1part cab soil, 3 parts micro ballons, and 1 part resin to see how that worked out. Otherwise I've heard good things on that quick fair.

Their primer is also of interest being a water born two part. I was going to check out some industrial primers of that sort as well.

 

[captainphx]

That is one fantastic build!!

 

[pods8]

Thanks, still chipping away and also cleaning up some loose ends on the FWC Hawk, planning to post that for sale within a week to clear up space.

I should have the top structure complete by this weekend. Still need to circle back and finish out the door frame on the lower part, build the door, and then flip walls. Gotta do the rough fairing work and prime/paint from there. I'm trying to hustle as we got an addition to the family due on April 16 and I'm trying to get as much done now as I can and various family will be visiting in late April/may so I'll put the flip walls to the side if needed to expedite getting ready for paint so I can utilize the extra hands.

 

[pods8]

Hoping to fair out and paint the roof over the next weeks, then work on finishing the door and flip walls to fair and paint the lower half.

Pondering out color schemes. Busted out the tape, here's the two general thoughts, I'm leaning towards wrapping the white. Also here's the two actual color samples (the grey color chip is lighter in person FYI should match the truck/bed decently):

 

[pods8]

Finished off an initial sanding pass, identified some defects to repair that I'm working on.


Also working on the jack brackets some. I thought it perhaps a decent idea to wrap the bottom corner a bit for extra vertical support (overkill) and to give the corner a bit of protection. I'm limited in tooling so I made up a quick jig with some scrap metal conduit I clamped to my bench to create a radius. Its not perfect but I figured I'd bed the brackets with a layer of sikaflex so it should be good enough.

 

[pods8]

Made up a quick a dirty controller with 4 DPDT switches to run the actuators, its crude but works for this stage. Sorry the lighting really sucks at times in the garage. Also here is a quick video to the roof going up on actuators! (Sorry I rotated my phone to get more of the camper in the shot and thought the video would auto rotate to landscape for me, it didn't and I don't know how to fix it. ) http://s532.photobucket.com/user/pods8/media/IMG_0084_zps3ce73603.mp4.html