Truck cap/Camper cap build

[RJ Howell]

You'll be pleasantly surprised how everything strengthens up once it's canvassed. I canvassed the insides flat and then ran an 8" wide strip of canvas along the inside corners to tie the sides together after assembly. Assemble the parts quickly if you canvas the insides first: the sides and top will warp if covered on only one side and are left to dry for a couple days.

Thank you! You have no idea how much this means!

My re-thought was not to pre-canvas the interior. Mainly do to dealing with Gorilla glue and spillage/foaming on pre-finished material. Then the thought of reinforcing the joints with a strip of canvas first kinda made sense to me. It was a Light-bulb moment of the boat building I helped with. Doing the chines first.

Again, thank you for you advise!

[Pmullen503]

Doing the corners first will work if you are careful about your overlaps but the canvas will shrink a bit as it dries leaving bubbles along the edges. Especially for the inside corners.

I think it's easier to get a better looking edge if you butt the two pieces neatly and cover that joint with another strip of canvas. You can sand the edge of that strip when it's dry to make it neater. You can't really blend it completely however. I did that along the center of the roof on mine. As always, fewer joints is better.

[RJ Howell]

Doing the corners first will work if you are careful about your overlaps but the canvas will shrink a bit as it dries leaving bubbles along the edges. Especially for the inside corners.

I think it's easier to get a better looking edge if you butt the two pieces neatly and cover that joint with another strip of canvas. You can sand the edge of that strip when it's dry to make it neater. You can't really blend it completely however. I did that along the center of the roof on mine. As always, fewer joints is better.

Thank you for the advise!
I've read about the canvas shrinking and read about sizing it first. Wet/dry it a few times?? And I can still expect shrinkage??

I probably will go with corners first.. It's just driven into my head from assisting in boat builds. Heck, I can always repeat it over the interior wrap, aye?

[Pmullen503]

Just make sure the canvas is tucked well into the inside corners before it dries. The outside corners will pull themselves tight if you get a little shrinkage. The source of canvas may make a difference. I did not preshrink the canvas and didn't have a problem. YMMV.

[RJ Howell]

Todays progress lead to ever more decisions..

Being a carpenter, adding wood was not on the menu, yet for me so easy to do. It will get sealed anyway.. hopefully.. as I have read..

Curvature of the truck bed added another element and I needed to adjust a bit. Using some of my BCD plywood on hand, it was easy to chase the curve. I do like this better.


I have lowered the cap as far as I hoped for, never did think I could match the cab curve on the front.. and am happy with the result (so far).


I also like the stress on the wall added by curving along the truck bed. Thinking now of doing the same along the roofline on the wall. This is interesting to me. The basic curve I'm dong to the roof adds stress/strength, Then a slight curve to the sidewall would add additional. I think without adding 'undo' stress and hopefully added strength to the roof.

Folks, I have no clue how this will work out! I'm guessing and using what I know, against what I don't..
Please, add where you can! I could use some advise and knowledge of any part of this build..

Thank you to all the have participated. Hope more will, before I make a major mistake...

[RJ Howell]

Today's quest is to extend the front interior panel to the new width and attach it. That brings me to re-inforcing the interior seams while it's easy to get in there and work them.

My local HD still has gallon cans of Glidden Gripper and I'll pick up a few cans today. I want to try using the bedsheet material on the interior, so I hope to re-inforce those seams with that. I really want to see just how strong the bedsheet makes it.

Thought is 6" wide strips. Wide enough??
Also, can I re-coat and apply over 'days' afterward? Is there a time factor for coating over?

[RJ Howell]

Patch piece adding to the front wall and dry fit. Had to check the roof again now that I expanded the front a couple inches.. Man was that close! Yet it works!
Sometimes it's just good to be lucky!



Roof curve is fairly mild, yet still like it. Didn't take much weight to hold it down.



Front panel in and glued up. Back to watching glue dry.. shame it's so early in the day



Off to HD to get the Gripper and some more Gorilla Glue. I might have enough, but don't wish to run out in the middle of glue-up's..

[Postal_Dave]

Looking good

[RJ Howell]

Well, HD lied.. 1- 1gallon can left.. I called around.. No Joy.

What is the consensus on PPG Gripper?

[RJ Howell]

Okay, I.S. corners are done. Didn't like using this stuff straight at all. I should have sampled a couple pieces.. We shall see how it comes out..

I found it difficult to get the material (in my case bedsheet) 'wet'. I got it there, but what a PITA..

I did up a sample (ya, now I get smart.. ) and setup a I.S. corner without being glued up (couple screws to hold it in place) and did a 50/50 mix with water. This time I applied (wet) the cloth first and applied to the sample. Top coating afterwards (yet this time I can feel the cloth is 'wet'). Now that was easy to do! I'll wait till tomorrow morning to test it without top coating.

Now watching paint dry.. At least it's later in the day!

[RJ Howell]

Major debate, in my mind, of attempting a bow in the roof side to side. Not seeing how I can do this without adding a spar (or two). Really don't wish to that..

What I see right now is I can easily flex the roof, even with my front to rear bow/curve. I'm probably over thinking this, since I have yet to see how much the covering will stiffen it up. Each section I have curved/bowed has made such a dramatic difference in the integrity of the foam without covering it yet.

We'll see where this goes. Hey, I have time to think now that I'm just watching paint dry...

[GPW]

“ since I have yet to see how much the covering will stiffen it up. “ … a LOT !!!

[RJ Howell]

Little over 12hrs of dry-time on my re-inforcement strips (and samples). Best for me was the 50/50 mix. Almost a solid foam peal back on the cloth, all the other samples were spotted foam. I only pull back half (or less) to let the remainder dry longer and see if there's any difference.

The 90 degree piece (not glued) I did the 50/50 mix and wet the cloth vs. the foam and applied. That sample amazed me as too how strong it made the corner! Took quite a bit of force to break the bond. My confidence level in this just went up a 'few' notches!

I guess now I have to go buy some TB2 and do another test with that... From what I have read so far the PPG Gripper is a No Go??

I have the front shelf and nose to fit and glue-up today, so plenty of time to experiment some more.

50/50 mix GC



Full strength GC



Since I can get any more GC (checked all my local stores now), this may be an exercise in futility..

[ghcoe]

I find the 50/50 mix to work fine. It wets the fabric better and flows across the foam better. I usually apply the glue to the surface of the foam then to the canvas, making sure I wet the canvas entirely, then apply another coat of glue over the surface of the foam. I find that the first coat will be slightly tacky after a few minutes and will hold the second coat of glue well allowing a bit more glue thickness to push the canvas into. In most cases this also seems to act like a contact glue when the two pieces come together.

With that being said. Gluing interior canvas I find that the easiest way for me is to use the 50/50 mix and tacks or pins to hold the canvas in place. You will have to figure out what works for you for the lay up. I have used a couple techniques to help apply the canvas. Usually I will roll it up and work in sections at a time. Just make sure the canvas is slightly bigger than the wall you are working on, big enough to allow for shrinkage but not too big that it is hard to work with. Glue the wall up to about 1"-2" from the wall edges, use the pins to hold the canvas in place. Coat the canvas with TBII past the wall edge, but do not glue to the wall within the 1"-2" edge, you just want to size the canvas for now in that area. Now let the canvas/glue dry. This will allow the canvas to shrink as much as it will need to for the wall. Once the glue is dry you can now take a straight edge and push the canvas you sized around the edges up to the corner, I use a scrap piece of flashing for this. Using a box cutter I cut the canvas right along the corner edge. Then I pull back the canvas along the edges where I did not glue. Using a 1" paint brush I apply full strength glue up to the edges and push the canvas into the glue. Doing this allows the canvas to fully shrink, but by not gluing right up to the edge it allows you to compensate for the wall cuts. Once I get all the walls finished I then apply Dap Latex Caulk along the wall corners to fix any oops.

Your project is looking good!

[RJ Howell]

I find the 50/50 mix to work fine. It wets the fabric better and flows across the foam better. I usually apply the glue to the surface of the foam then to the canvas, making sure I wet the canvas entirely, then apply another coat of glue over the surface of the foam. I find that the first coat will be slightly tacky after a few minutes and will hold the second coat of glue well allowing a bit more glue thickness to push the canvas into. In most cases this also seems to act like a contact glue when the two pieces come together.

With that being said. Gluing interior canvas I find that the easiest way for me is to use the 50/50 mix and tacks or pins to hold the canvas in place. You will have to figure out what works for you for the lay up. I have used a couple techniques to help apply the canvas. Usually I will roll it up and work in sections at a time. Just make sure the canvas is slightly bigger than the wall you are working on, big enough to allow for shrinkage but not too big that it is hard to work with. Glue the wall up to about 1"-2" from the wall edges, use the pins to hold the canvas in place. Coat the canvas with TBII past the wall edge, but do not glue to the wall within the 1"-2" edge, you just want to size the canvas for now in that area. Now let the canvas/glue dry. This will allow the canvas to shrink as much as it will need to for the wall. Once the glue is dry you can now take a straight edge and push the canvas you sized around the edges up to the corner, I use a scrap piece of flashing for this. Using a box cutter I cut the canvas right along the corner edge. Then I pull back the canvas along the edges where I did not glue. Using a 1" paint brush I apply full strength glue up to the edges and push the canvas into the glue. Doing this allows the canvas to fully shrink, but by not gluing right up to the edge it allows you to compensate for the wall cuts. Once I get all the walls finished I then apply Dap Latex Caulk along the wall corners to fix any oops.

Your project is looking good!

Lot's of great info there! Thank You!

Love the thought of not glueing into the edge and leaving it till after any sizing happens!