Vintage Inspired travel Trailer

[RBB]

Hello Tnttt community!
The time has come to get this build out of my head and out into the world!

Over the last 6 months, I have been dreaming, and scheming and designing a Travel Trailer for our family!
I have been camping since I was weeks old, and luckily, my wife and son are now both hooked! We have been avid tent campers but the time has come to upgrade!

I have a goal of getting this thing built in time for my 40th birthday.
The year of my 40th, I'm aiming for 40 day and 40 nights camping! (I feel like there may be a movie reference missing here!)

From day 1 build has a few criteria:

Queen or larger fixed main bed.
Sleep 2 adults + 2 kids comfortably
Full standing height
Budget: $10,000 USD
Complete by Jan 2025.
3.5 season capable. (We try to winter camp a few times a year, no bugs!)
No inside cooking space.
Under 5000lbs
Fit on old 1971 Skamper frame.

The foundation for the build is an old 1971 Skamper Pop Up that has been in the family, since 1971!

Lake Powel, July 1999

skamper1999sm.PNG (535.02 KiB) Viewed 2997 times

Stay tuned as I chronical our adventures with this build here on tnttt as well as YouTube! (Channel details to follow!)

[RBB]

The Donor

So, since the inception of this project, the plan was to use the chassis from a 1971 Skamper Pop Up Camper.
The camper was last used roughly 20 years ago... and since its last use... it has been parked behind the barn.

Parking Place for 20 years

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Needless to say, it has seen better days! It sat here for so long, it sank into the mud.

Recovery in progress

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It took some digging and convincing to get this free from the mud!

There was a fleeting moment where the plan shifted from rebuild to refurb...
Then we tried to open it up...

Salvage

skamper day 0 - popup.PNG (1021.75 KiB) Viewed 2994 times

(To Be Continued!)

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The Donor (part 2)

There was no way now this was going to be a refurb...

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We barely needed a hammer to rip this all apart!

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The floor on the other hand... that took some work, and some thinking outside the box!

Skamper Day 0 - floor off.jpg (237.99 KiB) Viewed 2993 times

Luckily, my family supports the project! Today, my dad was helping with the demolition. He never said it, but I got the feeling there were some mixed emotions here.
On one hand; This was a wedding present from his favorite Aunt/Uncle, and our family has many memories of using this camper as I was growing up! I even remember helping my parents replace the canvas some time in the mid 90's!
On the other hand; his son (that's me!) wanted to preserve a family tradition and start new traditions with his new and growing family... and I want to do it TOGETHER with my dad!
There were certainly some emotions at play that day!

[RBB]

DONOR - Part 3

It was a long day, but in the end, we liberated the frame from the rot, and had a foundation to build upon!

Skamper Day 0 - power wash.jpg (250.96 KiB) Viewed 2992 times

Stay tuned! More progress to come!

[RBB]

The PLAN

Now that we confirmed the frame was "ok" to use... it was time to get serious about a plan!
It was a long winter waiting for things to thaw enough to liberate the frame, so I had plenty of time to dream up different plans and sketches.
Some were great, some... we "mis-calculated"...

Concepts v1-v3.PNG (389.18 KiB) Viewed 2984 times

By the time I got to VERSION 4, I had a layout that was practical, now I just needed to settle on a "shape".

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I really like the look of the old CalCrafts, Scotties and Shasta's and such... so the large radius back end was the direction I was headed!
I was playing with the design in SketchUp one day, and that's when I FOUND it! I found a way i could make the profile work for head room, AND overall length!

V4 outline.PNG (388.25 KiB) Viewed 2984 times

(To be continued...)

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The Plan - Part 2
After much deliberation, and trial and error, A plan was coming together.

V4 Reveal.PNG (238.8 KiB) Viewed 2974 times

This layout had storage, sleeping for 4, a pull out kitchen, and should be light enough to meet my goal!

It was time to make a mockup... so I bought the cheapest panels of ply I could get from Menards, and built a mockup in the garage!
This mock up was actually really helpful! I laid out the beds and walls and it was quickly apparent that it was going to be cozier then we thought!

Mock 1 - from front.jpg (181.31 KiB) Viewed 2974 times

Mock 2 - from rear.jpg (184.05 KiB) Viewed 2974 times

[RBB]

The Pilgrimage

Forth of July weekend, 2023
It's HOT! And I'm getting antsy... I want to keep progressing on the build, but the frame is still up at the family property, 3 hours away...

I've got a free Sunday, so it is time to make the pilgrimage. Roughly 3 hours from home base, is a mecca that any TNTTT DIY'er should visit at least once in their build... all they over in White Pidgeon, Michigan, a hop skip and a jump from the RV museum of course I am talking of Botrangers! This is a RV Surplus "store" full of bits and bobs for any and all RV builders. There are doors, windows, panels, switches, sinks, lights, cameras, ovens, jacks, fabrics, mattresses, toilets, fans, fasteners, frames, you name it, they have it! I planed on a 4 hour visit... the first hour I just walked though the aisles, the different buildings... awestruck... speechless! Why does this have to be so far away! If you are familiar with the Habitat for humanity RE-STORE, this is the RE-STORE for RVs!

Anyway... once I finally centered myself, and got to task, I ended up finding a set of 6 matching windows ($40 each), a door ($150), an emergency exit window ($52), and a set of luggage doors ($90), all for well under what I was expecting/budgeting!

The Haul (plus some other goodies!)

The haul.PNG (946.11 KiB) Viewed 2973 times

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The Puzzle

Turns out making the mock up had a second advantage! Now that I had the profile I wanted, and the windows, doors and luggage doors, I could finalize my design.
Using the Plywood templates, I was able to layout all the windows and doors and find a final design that suited the floorplan.

puzzle a (Small).PNG (673.47 KiB) Viewed 2965 times

After tinkering for a while, I finally had a layout that worked, and looked good too!

Puzzle b.PNG (604.8 KiB) Viewed 2965 times

With the scraps I had from the plywood mockup, I threw together some storage carts to hold the windows and doors until it was time to use them.

puzzle c.PNG (756.1 KiB) Viewed 2965 times

[pchast]

Great find!

[KCStudly]

Entertaining so far, and well written. I'll be watching.

[RBB]

Sanity Check

Spent some time out in the garage today working on some design elements. I have been back and forth a few times on just how thick the walls need to be. I am trying to design to my windows... and... it's not as easy as I thought.

Testing wall thickness

wall thickness side example.PNG (956.33 KiB) Viewed 2676 times

I have a full post on this adventure here: https://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75800

The quick summary, looks like I am planning on 2" thick walls!

What it could look like!

Window tests cropped.JPG (48.74 KiB) Viewed 2676 times

[Bezoar]

Looking forward to seeing your build! I'm just going camping for the first time in my 4 person standie. There aren't that many of us on this forum!

[RBB]

...in my 4 person standie. There aren't that many of us on this forum!

"Standie!"

I Like it!

[ScottM]

Nice, I look forward to following the progress.

[RBB]

Good As NEW!

Had a chance to work on the frame over the weekend. Managed to fully clean, grind, and sandblast the old frame. Luckily all the rust was surface rust, and it cleaned up pretty well.

Once the frame was clean, I wiped the whole thing down with alcohol and then painted it.

Before and After

Frame Before and After.JPG (78.48 KiB) Viewed 2585 times

I used POR15 on the frame.

POR15 is NOT cheap ($60/Qt), but in my opinion, WORTH EVERY PENNY! I was really happy with how well it coated and how easy it was to apply.

I managed to get 2 coats on the frame with ONE QUART. Once the POR15 dried to tacky (approx 2hrs as suggested on their site) I applied 2 coats of rattle can Black Implement paint. (1 can each coat)
This is the spray paint I used for the "Top Coat": https://www.acehardware.com/departments/paint-and-supplies/spray-paint/general-purpose/17072

For the springs, I applied 3 coats of Engine Paint. (Found this as a recommendation online somewhere...)
Here is the paint I used for this: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/paint-and-supplies/spray-paint/hobby-spray-paint/1498161
For the axel, I applied one coat of POR15 then one coat of Engine Paint, just because...

Axel and Springs

Axel and Springs.JPG (28.68 KiB) Viewed 2585 times

We also worked on the suspension. The 50 year old shackles and bushings were well past their prime and seized up, so we broke all that loose and rebuilt that.
Finally, just for fun, we weighed the frame. Turns out the 1971 Skamper FRAME weights almost exactly 150lbs!

150lbs

150lbs.JPG (75.71 KiB) Viewed 2585 times

Frame: 150lbs
Axel: 25lbs
Springs: 12.5lbs each (2)
Wheels: 25lbs each (3)
That puts my total weight so far at: 275lbs My goal is Under 3000lbs loaded, so it looks like I have a good base!

It is going to be a few weeks before I get back to the frame, in the mean time, I need to make some key design decisions, mainly... FLOOR.
We have a few boxes of TEAK hardwood floor that we could use. I am worried about weight with this option... it is nearly 250lbs for the floor if we use the teak hardwood.
The other option is commercial grade linoleum tiles... I like the black and white checkered look... this costs more (as the teak is FREE) but it weights less!

Open to suggestions!

Cheers!