1977 Pop Up Camper Rebuild

[zjrog]

Nice work... Following here too.

[TheThom]

Making a little progress.

I got the floor flipped back over and screwed in with ~100 Self-tapping 1.5" metal screws. Before I had flipped is over, I drilled countersink holes along the frame using a chalk line. Out of of 101 screws 5 or 6 missed - not too terrible. It went really fast already having the holes countersunk.

Then I filled the holes and sanded.

After that I cut and laid out the "footprint" pieces where the bench seats and cabinets will be.



I marked the location and then moved them to stain. I got some warning from guys on the teardrop site that the stain might come out splotchy but it was OK on a test piece. Came out a bit splotchy, but once cabinets and benches are in, it won't be so bad. (BTW, the camera makes it look worse than it does with the naked eye)



I kind of looks funny because I only stained the floor in the living space of the camper


That square piece in the middle is there to support the base of my removable pedestal table.

The floor of all the storage areas is going to be covered with more roll on bed-liner (Grizzly Grip). I really liked the way it worked on the under surface.

Next step is to screw down those footprint pieces and then apply varathane floor finish to the whole floor (lots of coats) to seal it. Decided to go this way instead of CPES for a few reasons. The biggest reason is that CPES takes so long to dry and for the interior of the camper, I think an oil based floor finish should be enough.

Peace out

Thom

[Black_ZJ]

Looking very good!

[DonBeasley]

Keep the pictures coming!!!!!!!!

[TheThom]

Well, I was officially talked into using CPES on the floor as well which means I've been watching paint dry. That gave me some time to update my sketchup figures. I got the wheels and tongue all proportioned. The only things that aren't accurate are that I don't have the lights, propane tanks or license plate holders on it yet.


This is the view from the rear passenger side.


Front Driver's side view


View looking down into box. The rear bench storage will be accessible from the long narrow hatches at the rear.

The front cabinet by the door will be accessible from the hatch next to the door. That's where I plan to store my chuck box.

The front low cabinet will hold my Camp Chef Explorer stove and serve as a step up into that bed.

The far cabinet will have the battery, switches, (you can see the little rectangular panel), fuses, etc as well as a place to store pillows, towels, bedding, lanterns, etc - pretty much all of the things I wouldn't want getting dirty.

I've got a double propane tank mount welded to the tongue (sits just between the water cans).

I sourced out metal siding. I decided to order flat aluminum and roll on bed-liner. I fell like that will give it the gear hauler/PUP look rather than the entry level RV. There's a local heating place that also cuts and bends metal. I'm looking at ~$300ish which is a lot, but about what I expected to get new, custom cut/bent sheet aluminum to cover the sides with.

I'm still mulling over colors. It's between gray and olive drab. I should mention that the new canvas is tan. Votes?

I'm deploying for the summer in a few weeks so I'm trying to acquire as many parts as possible before I go.

Peace out

Thom

[SLO_F-250]

TheTom,

Looks like you got a great little project here! I was debating on doing something very similar bofore I went pop-up Truck Camper. My plan was to get an older pop up trailer since they are all over the place. Add a set of 1/2ton junk yard leaf springs and shackles to it for a lift and some bigger meats. That way it would be more dirt worthy. The rest would be pretty much what you are up to.

Anyways, Im excited to see a pop-up restore on here. Keep up the great work! Subscribed!
Paul

[TheThom]

Thanks for the nice words

[TheThom]

So, even though I'm a while away from needing it, I ended up getting some aluminum for the sides. I was looking around and a local place was able to do it with <24hr turnaround. I didn't want to lose the good quote and rapport I had with the guy that worked there. Good tip: if you need aluminum cut/bent, go to a heating place. There was a local company that makes their own duct work.

Please excuse the grainy cell phone pics. This is the panel for the door in the front storage compartment





I'm pretty impressed with the work they did. I got siding for all 4 sides and for each of the doors (1 main door and 3 storage compartment doors) cut and bent to fit the dimensions I need for $300. Expensive, but the quality should make it worth it. There's no way I could've duplicated the quality they showed.

[Black_ZJ]

$300 is a very good price and I will keep these ideas in my head for my project.

[TheThom]

I enlisted an assistant to help me choose a paint color. We're looking through some samples sent by Monstaliner (sorry the pic is a bit blurry).