1977 Pop Up Camper Rebuild

[KCStudly]

Welcome home!

[Martinup]

Hi Thom:

Nice progress . . . a lot of work to redo. My wife and I rented one for three weeks. The whole pop up style has a lot of interesting hardware features that make them roomy comfortable trailers. Are you redoing the lift up stove top / sink counter? Besides the well constructed slide out beds that whole lift mechanism is pretty ingeeous and works well. I've heard to be sure not to continue to crank to far past the maximums . . . closed or open. That can really buger up the works. You wouldn't want to have to go in there to try and repair that stuff. I am sure after demolishing it you know what I mean.

I started with a 1984 colemean version and saved some of the parts. What I didn't want fetched a few bucks in scrap. You also mentioned you ordered new canvass? Did you mean you ordered it already sewn to to replace the origonal trailer size. The sewing of that alone would be a lot of work.

Cheers,


Martin

[campmaster-k]

Great build lots of great pics. Keep up the good work

[TheThom]

I've been ordering and sourcing parts this week, so not a ton of progress. I found cam latches for the storage areas on ebay and ordered some galley hinges from Lil Bear teardrop for the storage areas.

I got all 4 walls constructed and in place





I rattle canned my Jerry can mounts and spare tire mounts. Here they are mocked up into place





Now I'm constructing the framework for the inside bench seats and cabinets. Once those are done, I'll install the siding. Then I'll wire it up and finish up the inside!

[TheThom]

So, I've been working on the camper. I've been making the cabinets. It's been slow going because I'm probably over building and over-complexifying (is that a word?). I tell myself that it's just a camper and when they make these in the factory they don't put nearly the strength in it. But then I picture a couple of little boys jumping around in there like it's a jungle gym and I use a bigger board, or add some more screws.

Here's the dining booth/fold down bed/storage area. You can see that I tried to tie it together. The bench frame screws three of the four walls together.



I was happy with the way the corner joints turned out



Here's a shot of the cabinets. The lower portion will actually have a swing up portion that will make it twice as tall as it is currently. that 1x4 on the floor is a piece of scrap wood that I was too lazy to move.





This short, super bulky cabinet is dual functioned: it was custom fitted to store my Camp Chef Explorer two burner stove. It will also serve as a step up into the bunk. that 28" ledge is a little tough for my 5'2" wife to climb into.



I have one last cabinet. That's the one will store my chuck box. I'm going to try and tie the cabinet frame into custom fit the drawer slide outs, so that one's going to take some thinking and sketching before I get going on it

I've been sourcing more parts. I liked the first aid kit that somebody on ExPo had mounted (here's to you Mark Harley). I looked on ebay and I found this gem. My bid was $1.05 and I won it (plus $10 shipping). Either way, pretty sweet find. I'll mount it inside to protect it from the elements.



I also bought a solar panel, charge controller and most of my roof rack components. Also I bought door hinges for the door and storage areas from http://www.lilbear.teardrops.net/ and I was able to find corner trim that matched the original from http://www.vintagecampers.com/. Both sources had great customer service. My credit card bill is pretty painful, but I think I've got most of the major supplies.

[dotsun]

Wow that's a lot of framing, it's looking great!

[TheThom]

Got some good work done lately. I went over (almost) all of the exterior wood seams with marine 5200 adhesive - the same stuff I used on the fenders.



Then I did something a little different, that I hope works. I took some adhesive self-sealing window tape and put it over the top edge and corners of the walls. This will seal off any screw holes from the trim. I'll still use a ton of silicone sealing with trim too. It's probably overkill, but the whole thing weighs less than 5lbs so it's worth a try.



Then I hit what in my head has been a major milestone. I got the aluminum side panels put on!! I'm pretty stoked! I was also pleased. I got the panels cut and bent last April. Several months before I even had the wall panels cut. That being said, there was one panel that was about 1/8" off and took some finagling to get in place. Otherwise they all fit perfectly. Every once in a while the ball bounces your way. Here's some pics. There's a little bit of marking because of some condensation, but that'll be covered well by primer/Monstaliner. The front panel is actually a textured aluminum, because the guys who sold me the metal didn't have enough of the smooth in stock. I'm putting it in front because that's what's likely to catch rocks.







Next comes trimming the siding and then paint!

[TheThom]

I had a little time off work, so I've been working on the camper.

I've been trimming the storage compartment doors. I'm very pleased with the way they are turning out. Trim and finishing details are NOT my strength. Sorry the pics are kind of blurry

Here's one of the doors that leads to the under bench storage. There are identical doors on either side



Here's a close up. I still need to glue and screw the trim down. The top hinges came from Lil Bear teardrop and the rest of the trim is just aluminum stock from the local hardware stores



Then I had a reckoning: I got the lift system hooked up and had a buddy come over and put the lid on to test for fit. I had made a couple of deviations in my trim measurements. I was VERY nervous. I took the roof off last November and it had been sitting against the wall of my garage since then.

It fit like a glove! Hooray math!

Again, some blurry pics







This sucker is a beast. I'm 6' even and the roof comes to my shoulder when collapsed. But the only change in height comes from the lift in the frame. The walls and roof are the same height.

Then I cranked it up just a little bit to confirm that it worked. I can't lift it all the way due to the beam across my garage ceiling Again, sorry the pics are blurry.





I'm stoked! I have a little more trim to cut. Then I can attach it all. After that comes paint. I already have the black Monstaliner on order and it's in transit.

Thanks for looking

Peace out

[PKCSPT]

I admire all of you who have the ability to do such great work. Leaves me speechless

[pete42]

I will say that's one sweet build redo what ever you want to call it, nice job and lots of forthought went into it and it shows.

pete

[TheThom]

I haven't had much time to work on the camper. We got a new addition just before Thanksgiving. Gratuitous kid shots.....



That has obviously cut into the garage time.

I got the exterior all trimmed out. The stuff that looks like bird poop is excess adhesive. In order to be a miser, I had to apply is with a putty knife rather than through the caulk gun. It was messy but effective.



This is a shot of the cam latches that will secure all of the cargo doors (2 under the bench seats and one in the front that will house my chuck box).



Here's a shot of the main door latch



I primed it with Magnapoxy epoxy primer from Monstaliner (RANDOM SIDE NOTE: pet peeve: primer is a noun. Prime is the verb. You don't "primer" things, you prime them). What doesn't show is the HOURS I spent cleaning it with MEK substitute to get the oil (and excess adhesive) off the sheet metal. That wasn't very enjoyable



I hope to paint it with the black Monstaliner bedliner by the end of the week.

Thanks for looking

[bc toys]

congrats on having a new baby hope your wife is getting along ok Nice build now you will have 2 great kids to enjoy it with

[TheThom]

Well, I got the paint on it, but whole process was kind of frustrating. The first coat of Monstaliner went on fine. The second coat (the one that provides the texture) was more touchy, which is to be expected. But at about 60% of the way through the second coat I had to take an emergency 2 hour break (not to divulge too much on an internet forum, but it involved an ER visit for the wife - everybody's going to be OK though). When I got back I had the decision of leaving it as is and buying more bedliner with the hope that I could blend it in weeks from now, or to stay up late and try to get it done that night. I chose that night and it was probably the wrong decision. The last part of it has lots of chunks of dried paint. I tried to pick them out when I could, but I finished around midnight and my resolve was fading.

Anyway, it'll work, but parts of it won't look nearly as good as a pro would've done. Also, I shouldn't have tried to paint over the hinges (obvious now) because it will just make the paint peel and chip. Also, I didn't allow enough clearance when the doors swing shut to allow for the thickness of bedliner, so it'll probably rub off in some areas. I'm VERY glad I chose to go with black rather than OD green because I know I'll need touch-ups over time.

Here's the side with the camper door and 2 storage doors



Close up of the door. The teardrop hurricane hinges seem to be a good choice: easy to paint and those hinges won't peel, just the door hinges. Here's a close up of the teardrop hinge over the under bench storage area.



The back



Here's the front. It's part with the worst finish



Here's a close up of the driver's side panel, which is where I started running into trouble. You can see the lumps pretty well in this one.




I really debated just posting the pics of the areas that turned out better (as I know some people do), but I figured that I learned from reading people's threads and I hope someone can learn from this one as well.

[TheThom]

I got the water cans, license plate holder, and spare tire carrier mounted to the back of the camper. If anybody has any old Jeep spare tire covers they are will to donate, please feel free. Also, the water cans are mounted sideways to allow access after the bunkends are out - someone always asks.

Sorry, boxes are still strewn about the floor from when I painted it





I mounted the other two water cans on the front of the camper. I also put the propane tanks back on their mount





I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. I bought them a long time ago and I'm glad they look OK. I had to pre-drill all of the holes, and use them to plan out my stud locations a few months ago.

Next I need to install tail lights, marker lights and Quick Fist clamps

Peace out

Thom

[aggie79]

Thom,
I really like how your build is turning out. Obviously a lot of time and thought went into your design. Someday, if you could please, I'd like to see some more details about how you trimmed and framed out your cargo hatch doors.
Take care,
Tom