Pop-up to vintage standy (real first camp) 6-4-20

[Kim Armstrong]

Following your build. Are you building it at a height you can store it in the garage or will it be kept outdoors when finished? Nice build!!!

[les45]

Following your build. Are you building it at a height you can store it in the garage or will it be kept outdoors when finished? Nice build!!!

No, I'll have to store it outside. I removed the axle and dropped it down on car dollies and dropped the ceiling and floor by 5" in order to keep it in the garage during construction. I may have to wait til I get it outside to install the ceiling fan it is so close.

[swoody126]

would dropping it down on the bare hubs clear ?

no further than you woud have to move it is shouldn't damage anything

sw

[les45]

would dropping it down on the bare hubs clear ?

no further than you woud have to move it is shouldn't damage anything

sw

No, the bare hub would make it taller than it is now on the dollies. That's why I removed the axle. I'll be pulling it out of the garage in the spring or early summer (hopefully) so the weather should be good for doing some outside work if I have to install the fan outside.

[les45]

Completed wiring up the running lights today. When I built the previous project, I ran the running light harness through terminal blocks front and rear to facilitate the initial wiring and to make it easy to make future changes. This concept proved useful in my new project since I only had to take off of the terminal blocks with the new wiring. The old wiring front and rear was so different that I simply rewired both ends. All the clearance lights front and rear were raised up high as they were down low in the bottom shell in the previous project. The running lights at the rear were re-installed in essentially the same locations down low. Surprisingly, the 30 year old original lights are all still working so I decided to keep them for the vintage look.

I have lights!! Front clearance lights were moved up to just below the curved transition from the roof to the front wall.


Rear clearance lights were also moved up high while the running lights and license plate light remained in essentially the same location down low.


The wiring harness comes up through the floor from the tongue and into the terminal block on the right. The harness then exits the terminal block on the left and goes through a 10' conduit down the side wall to the rear terminal block. The front clearance light wiring is then piggybacked off the appropriate lugs on the terminal block.


The main wiring harness from the conduit comes into the rear terminal block on the right and the rear clearance and running light connections are made on the left lugs. Both terminal blocks are easily accessible by removing a screwed in wall panel in the front and a lift out floor panel in the rear under the bed.


Next steps are the rough in of the DC and AC wiring inside the cabin. The old AC and DC power systems are still in place so this work will be primarily running new DC wiring for lights and fan in the roof and relocating the outside AC receptacle. The existing AC receptacles inside remain essentially unchanged.

[les45]

Today I finished up the rough in for the cabin lights and fan. The AC and DC electrical system was built for the previous project and remains the same with just some new DC wiring running to the interior lights and fan and the porch light. The cabin AC system consists of four inside receptacles and one outside receptacle which also remain the same. This work consisted mainly of running a two wire system from the panel board on the floor up to the ceiling and then drilling through the ends of the spars to run the two wires. I chose to splice each of the branches (forward light and fan) rather than run separate pairs. All the splices were soldered connections. For the porch light, I used an old 14 ga extension cord and ran it half way around the perimeter from the panel board to the light near the door. I only have one light in the side walls since they are only 3/4" thick and I didn't want to mess with hiding them. The one light is a reading light over the bed.

The existing AC/DC power panel consists of a small breaker box with four 15 amp AC mini breakers and a computer power supply making 14 amps of 12 volt DC. This is located under the left dinette seat. Note the temporary external AC wiring connection (wire nuts) used to power the system and to test the circuits.


The overhead DC (two lights and fan) was a simple two wire run with 1/4" holes drilled through the ends of the doubled roof joists on one side. The branches to the front light and fan were spliced and soldered. I chose to run one pair like this to avoid drilling additional holes for three separate runs for each circuit.


I need to point out this very handy tool that I found for drilling in tight quarters. My old right angle drill that I'd had for 20 years finally died and I had a hard time finding another one. I found this Dewalt right angle attachment that really works great. I drilled all the spars using this gadget.


The overhead circuit terminated at the rear light. In this pic you can see the terminus and the branch running to the fan.


I ran a separate circuit down the left wall for the reading light over the bed. I tried to stay consistent with a red and black (hot /ground) pairing on all my runs but I ran out of red and used black and white instead. This is just backward from the running lights which use white for ground but polarity is not an issue with a light bulb.


I had my porch light down low on my previous project because of the pop-up nature and I really like that better than having it overhead so I decided to leave it in the same location for the new project. I used an old 14 ga extension cord for the circuit to this light. It just made for an easier and neater installation over running two separate wires over half way around the perimeter.


Next up is the finishing woodwork on the inside. I plan to panel the upper portion of the interior with plain 5 mm primed plywood. I will re-use the existing bead board in the lower cabin areas and add a few pieces of bead board trim on each end near the top. I will build removable shelves on each end and possibly make some storage under the shelves in the area where the running light wiring is located. Also on the larger front shelf will be the bracket that holds the back end of the dinette table. Stay tuned................................

[redbicycle]

I have done that before. I had 7 bundles of wire from running trailer lights so I needed to use red and black electric take on the ends of my runs of rainbow wiring.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Projector]

Great thread and build. Thx for sharing.

[les45]

I decided to keep the bead board trim that I installed in the bottom shell of my previous project. However, I had removed nearly all of it to rebuild the bottom shell for the new retro shape including a complete rebuild of the rear framing and relocation of the door. This required some minor modification of about half of the bead board trim boards and I finally finished that today. I plan to keep the same color scheme also with the walls a light green and the ceiling white. I'll have some natural wood color in the dinette seats and the galley cabinet when they are re-installed later.

This is a view of the rear of the cabin with the queen bed platform. This work included re-wiring and re-installing the AC electrical outlet on the rear wall.


A view of the forward half of the cabin. The hole on the left wall will be covered by the galley cabinet and the two holes in the front corners will be covered with the dinette seats. Note that I rebuilt the bottom of the door when I shortened it by 3" and installed bead board on the interior lower panel. It will get the same green paint when I paint the rest of the interior later.


I made a lumber run to Lowes last week and bought the 5mm Revolution Plywood for trimming out the rest of the interior and exterior. I also plan to use this material for the exterior base for the metal skins and EPDM roof. I used it to make the portable wall panels on my previous project and it is some good stuff.
Next step is trimming out the upper half of the interior with the 5mm ply..........................

[Nodrog]

Hey Les! That's looking really good, the headroom looks good too. Esp. with the foot well. Should feel spacious inside. Will be great to see the trailer with the upper walls skinned! Keep it up, will be nice when done! Later, Nodrog

[les45]

Since my four windows will be fixed, I decided to install air intakes that would bring in fresh air (pulled by the Fantastic Fan) even with the door windows closed. After looking at a lot of options, I decided to use an RV sewer hose hatch door and install one on each corner. The hatch door has a 4" diameter opening. I covered the opening with aluminum screen held in place with a large hose clamp. The hatch doors are installed on each corner in a location that allows air flow through a wiring chase area at the front and rear. At the rear, the air will flow up through openings in the shelf next to the bed. Haven't designed the opening for that one yet but I'm thinking maybe a speaker grill on each end. The front air will flow through a grill on the front of each of the dinette seats.

The work consisted mostly of building a small frame into the side walls. The Kreg Jig and pocket screws were invaluable for this work. I made all four at the same height for symmetry. This is the front right corner.


Rear right corner. AC wire will run to an external receptacle in the small box area to the left of the air intake.


Rear left corner. The black plywood edge is the top of the bed frame and it was the controlling factor in setting the height of the vent frames.


Left front corner. This framing was significantly different from the other three due to its proximity to the electrical system (note the temporary wiring used to test the electrical on previous work).


The sewer hose hatch door is all plastic including the cam lock. I plan to keep an eye on these and may install metal cam locks in the future if they pose any problem. The aluminum screen will keep out the bugs and stuff and is held in place with a simple hose clamp.


This is what they will look like when installed. Note that the two on the right side will be upside down so that the hinges are toward the front. Just a precaution in case they come open during travel and they will tend to stay closed rather than swing out and possibly break off.


All of the doors will be opened when setting up camp and closed and locked when leaving. Note the close proximity of the screw holes to the internal side walls of the hatch. It's only 1/4" which required some fairly tight tolerances with the framing. I basically dry fitted the hatches as I cut and installed the frame pieces.


Next steps: installing interior paneling. I plan to use the same 5 mm Revolution Ply that I used on my previous project for both the interior and exterior panels. The exterior panels will be covered with corrugated metal RV type skins.

[les45]

I had to get a little creative when it came to getting the airflow in the rear area (see my previous post about my ventilation system). The front vents were easy by just adding a simple 4X12 vent under one of the dinette seats (see pic of existing vent in previous post). The only place to bring air through at the rear without it flowing directly on the bed was in the shelf area. I looked at small diffusers in each shelf but that would take away from the shelf area. I decided to make a full length vent that would be incorporated into each shelf. The vent would have to be some sort of screened or perforated metal that could be formed and attached to the back of the shelf. As I walked around Home Depot I came across some leaf guards that were exactly what I was looking for. The pics below show the process of making the built in diffusers.

The rear shelf is a simple 1X8 that will overhang the rear wall by about 1/2". This would provide a 1.5" width for the vent material. The leaf guards are basically perforated sheet metal bent to fit in a gutter. The small lip edge on the leaf guard is already drilled for installation.


The easiest way to cut the metal was with a Dremel tool. I cut it at 2 1/4" to create a 1.5" vent with a turn down of 3/4". This would keep the cut edges away from the tail light wiring.


I used a hammer and a nominal 1X2 to bend the metal to a 1.5" width.


I had to use my smallest Phillips head screwdriver to install the screws that hold the metal to the wood shelf. The small Phillips head fit perfectly through the perforations for straight on driving of the screws. The bottom of the turn down looks a little wavy in the pic but the bent edge that will make contact with the wall is perfectly straight. I bent the turn down material in by hand slightly past 90 degrees so that it wouldn't tend to spring out.


This is the final installation on the right side shelf (left side is identical). The leaf guards were 36" and the shelf lengths are 37.5" so I have a small gap on the end of each shelf near the center that I will plug with a small piece of wood.


Next steps are to finish paneling the interior but I've decided to finish all the shelves before proceeding with the interior paneling. My next update will summarize the shelf construction.

[MatHanz]

Nice work so far! I may have missed it, but what are you going to use to skin it? Aluminum?

[les45]

Nice work so far! I may have missed it, but what are you going to use to skin it? Aluminum?

I'm still trying to locate a source for the skins. I plan to use the standard RV type aluminum corrugated panels with the interlocking edges. There is a source near me just outside Atlanta and another on the west coast. I'm trying to figure the best price comparing shipping to picking it up myself. The metal skins will be on the sides and ends and I plan to use EPDM for the roof. I am currently paneling the inside and outside with the 5 mm Revolution plywood. I used that on the portable wall panels on my last project and it is some good stuff. It's primered on one side and very easy to work.

[les45]

This week I installed all the interior paneling. For the most part, I'm using the 5 mm Revolution plywood. I used it for the panels on my previous project and I really like it. It is well made, primered on one side, and easy to work with and only costs $13 per sheet. All the 5mm ply is fastened with 1/2" staples. I also used a small amount of bead board across the top on each end and installed it with screws so it could be removed for access to the wiring for the high mounted clearance lights.

Front exterior view of completed paneling from outside. The darker paneling on the front wall is actually some of the material I salvaged from my previous project that I am re-using. Since it was painted the same color that I'm using in the new project, I turned the painted side in and the bare primered side is facing out.


Side exterior view. The lighter panels on top are the new ply with the primered side facing in for future interior painting. The framing around the windows is minimal at this time. I fully expect to install additional horizontal framing later when I get the sheet metal and can determine where I will have to staple the sheet metal joints.


Rear exterior view, again using re-cycled (darker) panels for the end walls.


View of the rear interior over the bed area. It's hard to tell from the pic but the existing bead board at the bottom is a light green. All of the interior walls will get the same color of paint and the ceiling will be painted white. The new bead board at the top is installed with screws for easy removal and access to the wiring for the clearance lights.


A closer view of the rear shelves with the diffuser built into the back of the bottom shelf. These will be used for night time bed stuff like books, glasses, flashlights, etc.


Front interior with dinette seats. Again, the new bead board at the top is removable for access to wiring for the clearance lights.


A better view of the dinette seats and the galley cabinet to the left. The white grill in the right seat will be painted black to match the one in the left seat. Also shows the drop floor area which will get matching tile and metal trim later.


Closer view of the front shelving. The piece in the middle is the rear support for the table that will be installed later. Note that the ends of the bottom shelf are hinged and I plan to make storage areas in the space beneath them.


Next up is trimming and painting the interior. You will note the little white dots on the walls in the pics. That is spackling in all the staple holes. I am now to the point that I have to decide on my sheet metal before I can insulate and panel the exterior. Still doing my homework on that one. Stay tuned........