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

pods8

Explorer
I know this would all be temporary, but time does fly …

It sure does...

Yeah for the moment I'm gonna rock as is. I need to focus on getting a bit more done on the build and also get things ready to load/go all over the home front. But if the build continues to drag out too long I'll likely do up something. I'd like to make a solid push this winter to wrap up the shell/paint it/and get the windows and all installed to have a usable shell. I can build out the interior from there and downsize the fleet.
 

pods8

Explorer
So there was a good amount to deal with over the last months and the camper project has now moved along with the family to Colorado. I knocked out the underside of the roof lamination before we left as I was concerned it would get damaged otherwise. The roof was laid over top of the camper after it was loaded into the moving truck and an easy 1000lb was stacked on top of it and also had me crawling over it to load/unload stuff stacked on it. This is just in its single panel state, the side walls aren’t attached yet to it, it survived the move just fine and has eased any structural concerns I might have had about it.

Working on getting life/garage settled here but hoping to get some solid work done on wrapping up the shell over the winter now that I finally got the bear of that last BIG roof lamination done that I was procrastinating over.

Pictures off the wife's camera of how this unique move went down... :p

This is the offloading, it went in reverse of this process. I built a cradle around the camper to attach jacks to in multiple locations depending on which way we decided to load it, in the truck I rested it on some flat 2x4s so I could get a pry bar under neath the slip moving dolleys back under to roll it to the back of the truck. Poke the back out and get the first set of jacks on.
IMG_2457.JPG


Then run the jacks down to lift the camper off the rear set of dolleys, lift up the jacks to then slip the dolleys under the jacks and then lift the camper back up. Then carefully push the camper back to expose the front set of offset jack mounts.
IMG_2462.JPG


Repeat the dolley shuffling process to get them under the front jacks and then push the contraption backwards to clear the truck and lower it down.
IMG_2463.JPG


Once lowered down we pushed it into the garage and I used jack stands/floor jack to work it all the way back down to just resting on the moving dolleys.
IMG_2464.JPG
 
Good to hear you guys made it over there in one piece! I was wondering how things faired on the trip.

Now get back to work! :coffeedrink:
 

Greg

Observer
StyroSpray 1000

http://www.industrialpolymers.com/category/product-list/styrospray-product-list/

Pods8,

Saw this coating product mentioned in the teardrop trailer forum under the Foamies section and thought of your project. Apparently the primary benefits versus fiberglass and epoxy are the speed of application and that the product gives a smooth hard coat. It is polyurea that can be sprayed, rolled or painted designed to be applied over foam. The video in the upper right talks about making a 14ft tall fake foam bottle of vodka for outdoor advertising. The whole point was that the bottle could have been done with foam, covered with fiberglass and epoxy but not with a two week deadline. This StyroSpray coating allowed it to be made in two weeks.

Has a price of 2gal for $119.06. Spec says 2200psi tensile strength and a hardness of 65 Shore D. Checking on the hardness measurement said a golf ball has a hardness of about 60 Shore D, if I got that comparison correct.

Anyway the videos are interesting.

Didn't realize you were leaving south Everett. Good luck with your move to Denver
 

Hoosier 45

Adventurer
Pods,

Have you read anything about fiberglassing over extruded polystyrene having delamination issues (bubbles) caused from off-gassing? What is the projected lifespan of a foam core fiberglassed skin?

Thanks, I hope to follow in your footsteps in the near future.

Martin
 

pods8

Explorer
I've seen references in the surf board building world but never got anything too concrete. My confusion on their statements is XPS is a closed cell structure so it shouldn't be permeating out. I've seen references that its where damage has occurred (denting and such) to rupture the cells and then the exposed gas can now expand when heated up (surfboard in a hot car), but that doesn't entirely make sense because if its strong enough to delaminate fiberglass I'd think it strong enough to burst the XPS cells.

I sorta lean towards the issue being folks try to build surfboards very light so they're going to have thin skins and minimal resin. I heavily rough up the surface of the foam before laminating so it gives alot of surface area to key into, I don't think board builders would do that due to it taking a bit more resin. So if you've got a lower strength bond and something that is flexing a lot while being ridden and also softened by the heat of the sun I can see things delaminating but I don't know if it has to do with the gas used in manufacturing the XPS.

I can't say anything for sure though, those are just my thoughts. No idea what the projected lifespan is between the XPS and fiberglass. The fiberglass itself will depend more on UV protection.
 

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