2bit Thomas' 2nd camper: The Camper Special

[2bits]

My all original, '78 Fully loaded Silverado is also a "Big 10", and when these trucks from the 1970's were given the designation Big 10 or Heavy Half, this meant that is was more than your standard 1/2 ton truck. It wasn't as monstrous as a 3/4 ton, but was right in the middle. You guessed it, a 5/8 ton. Basically a 5 lug truck with better suspension for heavier loads. One of the main reasons these heavier duty trucks were popular was for another designation called the "Camper Special" for back in the day when cabover campers were very popular.

This camper I purchased today was custom built for my model truck, a 73-87 Chevy, and my truck was built for this style camper, so I am naming the camper the "Camper Special".





I picked this little gem up on Craigslist for $150, yeah, $150... a super steal. Nothing wrong with it whatsoever beyond knick knack stuff. I always wanted a teardrop in the bed of a truck and I wanted a middle between camper for when I sell my Teardrop and while I am building a standy. I still will keep this camper for a quick one nighter after the standy is completed. Plus it is a classic!

Now this camper top might look like a camper shell, but it has an interior, sort of like a cabover camper, without the cabover part. It does have a nice feature of being able to remove the area where the bed is, as well as the little shelf area and you can then use the truck as a truck with a camper top on it.

Check out the additional score that I did not expect. The guy said it came with this little custom cabinet that slips in perfectly and has a vintage (?) Coleman gas stove bolted to it!









I plan to refinish the cabinet to match the new interior I will put in. I found some really authentic looking paneling at the box store the other day, so I want to that on the sides and roof as there is some very small water damage, and also want to finish out the lower half as well to give it a "complete" look, but still be sectional.

I had no expectation to sleep sideways, so I had already started plans for a teardrop style orientation but when I was taking photos, I laid out an lo and behold it is 6 foot wide!~



A look at the interior looking toward the door:



Note the 100v power outlet too!


At this point, I did some measuring and discovered that only the middle beam was too low, this meant that I might be able to get far enough in to be able to park under my carport, and it worked! I was REALLY happy about that. I have about three inches clearance which is all I need!



Note the 100v power inlet!



Finally, check out the aluminum finish. It is not painted. I think that is pretty cool, and the whole thing looks awesome. I plan to paint only the white part to match my truck, and leave the aluminum as it is, and I think that will look cool.



Photoshop version

[StandUpGuy]

It looks completely period to the truck. It has a cool look with the little angled element in the back. It is basically doing all that a teardrop does except for the outside galley.

Congratulations on a pretty cool score.

[LDK]

Hey Thomas

Nice lookin camper. My dad had one that looked about like that when I was a kid. He had it on an old 71 chevy pick up back then.

[S. Heisley]

Congratulations on your find, Thomas. It looks like it will be perfect for you. I'll bet Doug Hodder will be drooling over that Coleman, too!

[StandUpGuy]

How did the truck seem to drive with the top on? Did you happen to check your gas mileage with it?

[Deryk the Pirate]

Nice.... I was contemplating goin the pickup truck route with a camper like yours. Enjoy it!

[tonyj]

Now everybody is going to want one!

Congrats on your find.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

You certainly have the skills to bring that thing back to life! Congrats!

[GuyllFyre]

We had a mid 70's Dodge Adventurer pickup, extended cab with the jump seats and the full 8' bed.

We found out that it was a "camper special" the hard way, by buying parts finding out they don't work, and then puzzling it out with the local NAPA guy.
Someone finally had a light bulb go on and was able to get the correct parts as they typically didn't list the "camper special" parts in the parts guides.

It definitely had a much beefier suspension than the regular half ton but used the same smaller bolt pattern on the wheels.

We confused a lot of parts guys with that truck, especially since dad swapped out the seized 360 and put a 318 in it.

[campmaster-k]

Good work !

[aggie79]

Thomas,

Well, the $64,000 question is: Have you reached a decisions as to the destiny of the LT? I don't really want to know, but I've seen some hints in some of your other posts.

Take care,
Tom

[madjack]

...nice score Thomas...real nice ..................................

[Danny]

Nice score Thomas//Wow! 150 bucks..The stove is awesome also. the condition is unreal

[Larry C]

Thomas,
Cool find! It sure brings back memories for me. I had a similar unit just about the same size, except mine didn't have any cabinets, However, I added a slide-in camper unit that had a dinette table, full cushions, tile floor, and cabinets. It also turned into a bed. Also, the entire rear panel of the camper shell itself was removable (including entrance door).
This removable rear panel made it great for loading dirt bikes, etc. It was a great unit for camping, and could quickly be converted back to a truck duty by removing the slide in camper unit.
I wish I had picture I could post. I probably have photographs somewhere. The slide-in unit idea could work well for you if you wanted to do some re-work of the unit you have.
The complete unit was mounted on my 1971 Chevy PU, Fleetside, 350 V8 w/3 on tree. basic truck I bought new for $3000......Sold it 5 years later for $2K. Sold the camper shell and camper insert for what I paid for them.

Man...times have changed, eh?

Larry C

[Larry C]

Thomas...
I forgot to mention.. I had the same Coleman stove I bought new around the same time I had the camper. Great stove, always worked!!

Larry C