Restoring a 68 Siesta Pop-up and getting it to fit a newer style truck.

[68 Siesta]

It had also been "re-wired" a number of times. We just tore out all the old wiring and re wired everything once the paneling was off.

 

[68 Siesta]

I think we replaced more wood on the upper portion than we left. My brother thought it would be a good idea to put all the rotted wood in a box and ship it to the seller. I laughed because we couldn't find a box big enough even if we wanted to!

 

[68 Siesta]

Sent my brother to the store for paneling and stain. He came back with cherry colored stain. I was skeptical at first. But I came around when we tried a test sample of the stain on the lower portion and learned the stain would adhere to the contact paper and we could paint everything to match. The lower portion is completely solid so we won't be redoing any paneling there - only staining to match.

 

[68 Siesta]

 

[68 Siesta]

 

[68 Siesta]

The interior walls were dripping wet and soft. But the roof was solid. Still haven't figured that out. The roof will be stained to match the cherry paneling.

 

[Manfred65]

Hi Guys,

looks like a lot of work but it seems you will do a great job!

 

[DrJ]

Love this project!
Keep up the good work and the pictures.
Most people have never seen a siesta and can’t appreciate how neat they are.
Who else has a hard sized pop up camper?

 

[68 Siesta]

Got some painting done last weekend.

 

[68 Siesta]

 

[97grandby]

Making some more progress

 

[97grandby]

 

[97grandby]

 

[97grandby]

 

[68 Siesta]

Progress has been slow, but sure. It's coming together very well. Last weekend I found a serious problem that I can't believe I had missed. The lift system is operated by a series of cables and pulleys. The pulley brackets on the floor had been bent and had actually pulled up the floor on the front passenger side about an inch and a half. The previous owner discovered it and his fix was to run a bunch of grabber screws in so it didn't pull up anymore. I had to take the front wall mostly off, add a 3/4" sheet of plywood under the camper, and use bolts to cinch it all back to its proper place.

 

[68 Siesta]

You will see how far down the bench portion lowered by looking at this paint job.

 

[68 Siesta]

Here's the new flooring we installed. I love the look.

 

[DrJ]

This is my favorite restoration of all time. Keep up the good work!

 

[68 Siesta]

Got the front panel reinstalled yesterday. Added aluminum flat stock so the screws had something very solid to hold onto. The screws added by the previous owner just pulled through the aluminum siding and looked odd.

 

[68 Siesta]

The water tank saga. It was a leaker! Leaked from three different places. I tried every epoxy that lowes or Home Depot sells. Finally took it to a plastic welder and had him repair it. He charged $50. I spent more than that on various epoxies.