The Tiki Traveler

[BMAy]

Hello everyone,

I am newly registered, but I have been browsing for quite a while. I have gone threw a lot of plans and build ideas on here, and have settled on what I want.

My original plan was to build a 5x8 teardrop, but after talking with my wife we need something just a bit bigger to accommodate our son. So I am building a standy, with a queen sized bed, a bench/bed for my son. It will have the galley outside like a traditional tear. I recently found an old Jayco 1206 with no canvas but a solid frame. I am using this for the base of my build. There are other parts like the water tank, sink and stove that I will scavenge.



This is a rough drawing of what I plan on it looking like. I will get a final drawing once I have the old camper off the frame and get some proper measurements.



And a drawing of the art for the rear hatch



So far I have a little bit of the demo done, I hope to get some more work done on it by Friday.

[Junkboy999]

Fun art work.

[bc toys]

nice but edon't forget we live on pics

[BMAy]

Demo day! I spent a couple of hours removing the interior. My sister wanted a couple of the cabinets for her old Jayco, so I spent some time removing those. Everything else got the sledge and prybar treatment. Smash, smash, SAH-MASH!

[Oldragbaggers]

Welcome to the forum!!

[BMAy]

I managed to get some time to work on on the trailer this weekend. First step was to finish stripping the camper down to the frame. Now that I have a good look at it I am pleased with how good of shape it was in. There was a a good deal of rust but it was all surface rust. I set too power washing of the frame. After a good hour I got the majority of thirty years of road dirt off.

It was time to look at the brakes. I used the stabilizers to jack the frame up enough to spin the tires free. I tried to actuate the brakes using a ball hitch on a 2x4 and having my step son push down on it. Nothing. I got down and got a good look at the master cylinder and saw that it was seized tight. Got the wheels and hubs off and there were no pads left on the shoes. It must have seized while in the act of braking, and whoever was driving didn't feel the need to stop and fix the problem.



The spindles still looked in good shape, the bearings were not to bad and well greased. But if I have this all apart might as well replace them anyways.

Researching the master cylinder I found out it was an Atwood. And that it is much more cost effective to replace it then rebuild. Also I have not been able to find replacement wheel cylinders, and shoes. So it looks I will be ordering 2 brake assemblies, master cylinder, 2 bearing sets, also while I am at it I am going to replace the push rod and and release handle assembly. I was hoping not to have to spend that much money on the brakes, but it will be nice to have them working good.

Up next Scraping and Painting.

[rebapuck]

Delegate!! Get junior out there scraping and painting.

[BMAy]

Trust my wife with an angle grinder and wire brush? She isn't exactly the most coordinated person.

[Oldragbaggers]

How come men have no problem trusting us gals with kitchen tools; knives, blenders, hot pans, etc. But let us mention a similar tool that just happens to live in the garage and you go all wonky on us. What's up with that????

[BMAy]

Believe me it is not the fact that she is a woman, it is more the fact she is one of the clumsiest persons I know with little respect for anything that has a power cord.

Anyways, sorry it has been a while since I have been on here, but I have been putting a lot of work into the trailer. Scraping and painting is done. What I did on the trailer was; for the inner rails I scraped of the surface rust and painted over it with the Rustolium Paint-Over-Rust. I figured no one is ever going to see it, and I just want to keep the corrosion in check. On the outside rails, bumper, and tongue I took more time sanding. Then I used the paint over rust, two coats of primer, and two coats of semigloss black. It is not a great paint job but but it still turned out pretty good.





I got the brakes done. all the parts went together good and the brakes work great. I know you guys like sharing as much info as possible, but I am no brake expert. There are much better resources out there for info on replacing brakes.

I finally got to move things into the garage where I can get some wood working done. Once it stopped being 90+ F outside I was able to get the floor installed. Now I would like your opinion with what I did with my floor. I know a lot of you guys spend a lot of time sealing the floor with roofing material. When I got the floor off of the original pop up I was surprised to see it was just ply wood with no visible special coating. It was weather worn but still good structurally. My local lumber yard had 3/4" tongue and grove sub-floor that has exterior rated glue and rated for one season of rain exposure. I glued the panels together and screwed them directly to the frame. My plan is to seal the edges when I get the walls on and spray the exposed wood under neath with Thompson's Water Seal every season to keep the water penetration down.