SLO's 1990 Hawk Build/Refurb

[SLO_F-250]

I've been running the SB70 for a while now, with the stock battery (79ah) and a 120 watt solar setup and love it. The fridge runs incredibly well, and super efficient. It does tend to vibrate so ensure you mount it nicely and buffer it a bit if possible. It makes ice on level 3! What more could you ask for (more room I guess - but it's fine for the 2 of us).

Looks great.


Glad to hear you like your fridge! I can't wait to really get out and test mine, but it held at 38* all weekend no problem! Thanks for the compliment!

 

[SLO_F-250]

Well the marathon weekend is over. It was fun, but tiring. Glad to have this camper project wrapped up for the most part. From here on out it will be lots of trips and little things. YEEHAA!!

I started out filling in the space between the counter and the back wall. Infilled the window and had some old scraps from the original camper to make it finish out nicely.... Turned out pretty good. I just need to get some matching hinges and handle for the storage door.

I will store the cutting board & stove right in that little spot.

Dual Batteries now all wired up. I rewired the main camper power so it does not go outside anymore. I didnt like seeing the wires hanging out. 10ga Main Power to Fuse Box, 10ga to Solar, 10Ga to fridge.... Looking good!

Main, Fridge, and Solar all go up to the cabinet through the two storage areas at the front end.

Here is how I hid the wires coming down from the roof/ solar panel. The canvas I got at a local sail making shop. $5 for a roll of scrap that matched. I have canvas for days now! Works great!!

Shot of all the electronic vitals with the cabinet on.

New Hunter Digital Thermostat. haha

USB Charger and standard 12V car charger hooked up with swtiches.

Overall shots of the inside all cleaned up and back together. Man I really like the counter tops!

Here is my stove hookup line. I was hoping it would have enough pressure stemming the line of the main one, but no dice. Looks like I will have to run another line unregulated and then have the main one regulated. For now though Ill just use my refilled green tanks. That project will have to wait for another day.

 

[SLO_F-250]

A few more Misc things inside.....

My Maglight mounted to the back wall. Very versatile "tool" haha

Few hooks on the lift panel. They come in handy!

Storage space under the cabinet nice and organized. I built the back shelves for the plastic plates, cup holder, and the tea pot is now hanging. MUCH less clanking around now.

The new fridge. VERY NICE! It works great!

I also added the locking water fill thing on the exterior. I hated the other one. Leaked all over the exterior when filling it up. Terrible design.

And Lastly I got some time to mess with the truck a bit. I added a tailgate lip protector a buddy gave me off his new Chevy. Found some tail light grills on craigslist. Ya ya, Im not really that into the bolt on stuff but got them for nothing so figured I would throw them on for now. I also sprayed the rear bumper with the rustoleum bed liner rattle can style to match the front. Looks good, Sanded/scuffed the chrome all up. 2 Coats of etching primer, sanded again, and then 2 coats of the liner. Holds up pretty well.

While the paint coats were drying I was also fabbing up an additional light bar for the bumper. Finally got the lights sitting in my garage on the truck again!

WHEW! Lots of work. Now I'm 11 days out till departure for UTAH!!!!!!!!!!!! Time to get the rig DIRTY!!!!

 

[SLO_F-250]

Well after this last 9 day trip the SW Utah I have to say all the mods I have done to the camper have been AWESOME!!!!! Everything worked great and I LOVE the new Engle Fridge. I have some minor things hear and there that I will get to but overall the big part of the project is done. The main thing I should have done is add another USB charger station and 12v charger station. On this last trip my camper was working overtime with all the go pro's camera equipment and cell phones charging. Guess that's what happens when you are the support vehicle for 5 guys mountain biking their brains out! haha I also would like to put a permanently mounted inverter in there. Not sure how expensive they are but am going to have to do some research.

Ill post more on my future plans/mods for the camper but for now how about a few picts from the trip and the last few mods I made.

I am still figuring out the bike rack situation and decided to scrap my swingout setup for now. Luckily my Thule Rack is able to bend down and get out of the way of my tailgate which allows me to have a step ladder. I found the traxion tailgate ladder online for about $40 and thought it would work great. Well lets just say it did. Make my setup nice and slick and I have just enough room to fit it in between the camper and tailgate. What do yall think?

Next I found a guy on WTW who was selling his Dometic Catalina 2500 awning. He gave me a killer deal and happened to be in St. George Utah where I was headed through on my trip. So I picked it up and field installed it on the mesa in Utah. Works Great!!!

Here are a few shots from my trip. Ill get a trip report started up when I get more pictures from the rest of the guys on the trip....

Camp First night on the road. Left SB/Ventura late and stopped off and camped in the desert about 30 miles outside Barstow.

Headed out in the morning. Had to play a little. I was dieing to get the rig in 4x4 and test it out a bit. Pulled out of the sandy washes with all that weight no problem. Bummer I didn't get better pictures.

Shot of Camp up on Gooseberry Mesa. Lots of bikes, tools, guys, and fun! You can see the new awning setup in the background.

This was my life for 9 days.... Oh I want to go back! HAHA

Cheers!

 

[ski3pin]

<snip>
This was my life for 9 days.... Oh I want to go back!
<snip>

 

[highz]

Way cool. Look forward to the trip report!

 

[SLO_F-250]

Thanks Guys! Still working on getting pictures together for a trip report. Was a rough week back in the office. Just gotta find someone who will pay me to go explore and ride my bike! haha

Shot from the first night at Gooseberry Mesa. Setting up Camp.

 

[SLO_F-250]

I figured I would post up another little mod I did this weekend. The bench seat back part always falls over or moves when driving around. Might have something to do with the fact I always stuff that area full of bedding and clothes! haha I added some eye hooks in each corner of the camper wall and then a small wire loop to each side of the seat. Then used small bungees to keep the bench in place. That bad boy is not going anywhere now!!!

Still working on getting pictures from my Utah Trip. Here is one from the camp near Guacamole Trail head outside Hurricane.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Holiday!!

 

[SLO_F-250]

Well guys, sitting here watching it rain for the 3rd day straight, and guess what. I have a dang leak in the front part of the roof. Looks like I know what the next phase of the project will be! :smilies27

Can anyone give me a link for where to buy replacement roofing screws? They are about #8 metal screws with little rubber gaskets similar to metal building screws. Thanks!

As always... PICTS ARE GOOD!

 

[BSS]

Interesting that engel fridge is the exact same as the norcold dc0040

Great photos, thanks for sharing those

 

[BSS]

Also, if you have a fastenal store in your town they have those screws.

 

[SLO_F-250]

Interesting that engel fridge is the exact same as the norcold dc0040

Great photos, thanks for sharing those

Also, if you have a fastenal store in your town they have those screws.


Thanks the compliments and info on the screws! Cheers

 

[SLO_F-250]

Well I was able to get a little time to tinker on the camper Sunday. First up was run the unregulated line up to my stove line. I'm glad I got this one done.

Picture of where I added the line near the tank.

Attached tot he valve. Gotta run back to the hardware store for one more fitting to wrap up the line going to the heater. Always missing ONE PIECE! DANG! haha :sombrero:

Next up: I never really like the threshold at the door. I thought it was a tripping hazzad which I have constantly tripped on myself. So I shaped a peice of wood with a 45* cut on it to make a better transition. Threw a little rattle can rhino liner on it and whallaa.. Here it is. Im pretty happy with this little mod.

Another angle.

And as always, one good parting shot to remind me to go use the rig/camper!
Happy Holidays everyone.

 

[ski3pin]

And as always, one good parting shot to remind me to go use the rig/camper!
Happy Holidays everyone.

 

[nature]

Thanks for this thread. It's really going to help me. I have a ~1997 FWC which fits the standard bed toyota tacoma ('06). For some reason I think it's called the "scout". It's just the camper with pull out bed and nothing more. Popper hinges need to be replaced but otherwise it's in great shape. I've owned it for 12 years. more on that later....

 

[SLO_F-250]

Hey guys, Been a while since I have been on here and updated the thread. I have been keeping track of most everything on Expedition Portal. Here is the link:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/80314-SLO-s-FWC-Hawk-Refurb-Build

There are TONS more mods, picts, etc etc. Might be work the look for some. Hope all is well and here are a few picts to get the interest going...





Thanks!
SLO

 

[nevadamerica]

Well, I was lucky enough to get about a 1/2 day off Friday and made good progress on Saturday. It's coming back together. Lots new wiring! The new fridge looks and works great! It was 38* in no time after turning it on. I'm interested to see if I hear the sound of the compressor once everything is back together.

Is your watt/voltage/amp meter only wired to give you a reading of what the solar is feeding to your batteries? Do you have a way of reading what your batteries' levels are? Do you have a wiring diagram that you have worked up already? I'm asking because I've just installed solar 90% of the way. Need to find a better route for the wires on roof, and looking to re-evaluate my cabinet space, as well as my passenger-side seating/storage, and your thread is solid and getting plenty of ideas. My charge controller doesn't read voltage of batteries, only %. It also shows amperage the panel is inputting, as long as the battery isn't full, if that makes sense. Im looking to install a multimeter (looking at Powerwerx, very similar). Wondering if I should install line side, or load side of battery. Meh, thoughts anyone?
Also, as far as wiring, I also don't like any wires hanging outside, do you have any photos of where you accessed and relocated your original camper wiring?
Keep up the good work and thanks!