Coleman Colorado Rebuild

[yj-hank]

Last fall I picked up a 1986 Coleman Colorado popup camper. I got the little camper for $359.00. I did not have any time last fall to really look the camper over so this last week I pulled it up to the house and set it up. After giving the camper a good looking over I found the following: 1. The canvas is in nice shape. It can use some cleaning but should work well for me. 2.The floor is rotted out. One of the previous owners screwed in a bunch of aluminum angle to try to keep everything together. 3. the bed and slide out frame is in great shape. 4. the bench seats and table are in very good shape. So today I took a couple hours and disassembled the little camper. I hope this week to do some work on the frame. I will be adding a couple extra supports, possibly installing a rear receiver so I could use a bike carrier and doing a spring over swap. I will be adding some larger tires but not huge. This camper will be mostly used here in Michigan and I don't need a lot of upgrades to do what I want here. Here are some pics of the camper and my bronco that will be towing the camper.

Last fall when I got it home.

How it looked this morning.

How it looks now.

Hopefully I will be able to update this thread this week with some progress.

Hank

 

[jscusmcvet]

Cool trailer and very cool Bronco. These little pop ups are perfect for one or two people. Are you going to modify it at all or just rebuild the parts that need it?

John

 

[yj-hank]

Cool trailer and very cool Bronco. These little pop ups are perfect for one or two people. Are you going to modify it at all or just rebuild the parts that need it?

John

I will lift it a few inches and add some interior storage. This camper will likely never see any extreme terrain here in Michigan so it won't require to much modification. Mostly replacing the rotted and damaged parts.

Hank

 

[Lucy FJ55]

Rad. Sweeeeet Bronco. Great little pop up. This should be fun...



I have a '77 Coleman Concord pop up that I have also modified and upgraded to suit our family's needs. Coleman's are great platforms. I'll be watching your progress...



Have a blast!


Cheers, Carlos

 

[yj-hank]

Work has begun on the frame of the camper. I welded some additional supports for the front jacks. I had to straighten the metal where they had bent over time so I added some square tubing to the frame and the welded the jack plate to it. I also performed a spring over lift. I welded in new spring perches and added a set of taller tires. I ended up with 6" of lift over all. I will be adding a rear trailer receiver for items like a bike rack. My local metal supply company had 2" material but not 1 1/4" which is what I will be using. I ordered a two foot section and it will be in tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to get the receiver and the new rear angle welded in tomorrow. I should be able to get the new flooring on Saturday and have that done by Sunday night.

Before the lift.

After the lift.

Some paint on the frame.

Hank

 

[yj-hank]

Well I finished up the work on the frame. I installed a 1 1/4" receiver in the rear and added some additional supports. Frame is painted and ready for the floor.

The floor is cut out and set on the frame. I will bolt it down tonight and get it ready for the new vinyl floor.

Hank

 

[redrider808]

was that for sale east of town on 223?

 

[yj-hank]

was that for sale east of town on 223?

I picked this up in Syracuse New York. The wife and I cruised out last fall and picked it up. When did you see one on 223. I can't seem to find them anywhere.

Hank

 

[redrider808]

last fall at the farm on the south side of the road that the house sets close to the road . has the fruit stand .

 

[yj-hank]

Some more progress on the camper. I need to have it done soon because we are taking it camping in two weeks.

It was necessary to strip the walls down to the aluminum skin and rebuild them. It is all 3/4" plywood and 3/4" foam board.

Got the new vinyl flooring installed and the walls test fitted.

More has been done but I need to snap some more pics.

Hank

 

[pyrate]

Did you get it completed?

 

[bigstick]

more pictures!!!

 

[yj-hank]

I forgot to keep this thread going. Thanks for the reminder.

New plywood installed.

Picked up some cheap flooring from Lowes. Not fancy but for $30.00 it works fine. I had to strip the aluminum sides of all the foam and framing due to water damage. I cut all new framing and put new insulation in.

Hank

 

[yj-hank]

Made some heavy duty corner guards and scrapped the stock soft dented aluminum ones.

Picked up some bathroom wall board for the interior walls. Inexpensive and very easy to keep clean.

Hank

 

[yj-hank]

Most of the camper reassembled. Painted the exterior Rust-Oleum gray. I added a piece of diamond plate aluminum to the front lower edge to help keep the rock dents and chips to a minimum.

Hooked up to the bronco ready for its first trip.

I will have to see if I have some more pics somewhere. If not I will grab some in the spring. I want to give the canvas a good cleaning and re-waterproof the canvas too. I picked up a 3" memory foam twin pad and used it on the small fold down bed/bench. It was very comfortable. This is a great little camper and a fun project. I sold the bronco and picked up a 2013 10th anniversary Jeep Rubicon Unlimited. As nice as the bronco was it did not fit my needs. I am looking forward to get some good use of the the camper next spring when we head up north for trout fishing.

Hank