1977 Pop Up Camper Rebuild

[stomperxj]

Looks great Thom... Nice build. I saw an XJ peeking in the garage in one of the pics too... nice

[TheThom]

Looks great Thom... Nice build. I saw an XJ peeking in the garage in one of the pics too... nice

Thanks for the compliments. Not gonna lie - your teardrop build was one of the things that really opened my mind to the offroad options for my camper. I read the entire build thread on EXPO early last spring when I was brainstorming which direction to go. It's one reason that I still post updates even though some forums (ahem) don't really comment much on them.

[TheThom]

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

The cargo hatch door are made from 1/2" CDX (same as the walls). They have sheet aluminum on the exterior and the edges are covered in 1/2" aluminum channel. I installed 1x2 around the inside opening of the door to make a place to put the seal. then I trimmed the outside of the door opening with 1/2" aluminum angle. The hinges came from Lil Bear teardrop.

Does that all make sense? Let me know if the above doesn't make much sense.

[TheThom]

Got the first cargo door all set up. It looks a little busy, but everything has its function. There are 2 cam latches to seal it shut. There's a black hasp that has 2 functions: 1) lock the cargo doors and 2) you can see in the pics that I installed an eye-loop before I painted it so I could use the hasp to prop the door open. That way it will stay open for loading and unloading. There's also a handle to pull the door open - I didn't want the hasp screws to get all of that torque.



The chain looks plastic because of the flash, but isn't

[Martiangod]

Lot of thought and work in your rebuild. Too bad about the interuption in the bed liner glad all worked out. You could pull it out later with a light sand and a thin recoat, wouldn't tqake much product that way.
Are you using the original canvas, or doing something different?

[TheThom]

....
Are you using the original canvas, or doing something different?

I purchased a replacement canvas from Bear Creek Canvas - wasn't cheap, but the old one was too far gone. Hopefully this one will last 34 years too.

[TheThom]

I've had some time for the camper, but it doesn't really show. I got all the lights attached and am wiring them up. It turns out that the junction box I bought uses randomly assigned colors of wires, so it took a bit to figure out what does what. I'm got the marker lights running, but not the turn/tail lights. I suspect they need a better ground. I wasn't planning on having back up lights originally, but "if you're going to build it, you should build it right...." They fit in OK on the back even though they weren't in my original layout.

Some pics of the lights in place. You can see that I finished up all of the doors as well. (please ignore the piles of boxes to go to recycling)






I'm anxious to get the wring done and start the interior. I have an idea that I think will work well.

[Junkboy999]

One hell of a machine you got there.

[TheThom]

A lot of these rebuilds have various options for the camper steps. I decided to go with these

http://www.etrailer.com/Enclosed-Trailer-Parts/Brophy/SS02.html

I had a little trouble drilling the holes to line up - mostly because I'm not skilled, but in the end they're OK. Hopefully the extra holes (which you won't see close up) didn't do too much to weaken the frame.

Anyway, turned out nice, should be useful. They come off of the bracket that's bolted to the frame and fold down.





I'm still working on the ground for the tail lights. Once that's done, I can start working on the interior [:D]

[rowerwet]

while most of us won't say it, PUP's are a half step above TD's in the camping universe, I was going to build a 6 person TD, but had a 6 person PUP given to me so I'm half way to the dark side now. While your PUP isn't what most of us here are interested in, the build is very interesting, I can't wait to see how your canvas fits, and what the finish weight comes out to.
I also do a lot of build thread reading on Expo (expedition portal) for the same reason, even though I don't ever plan on an off road TV or Camper, I just like to see how people put things together (and usually way better looking than I have time/patience for)

[myoung]

Wonderful rebuild. I've been away for quite a while and enjoy getting back to see such extensive and interesting documentation. Will be back often.

Enjoy the journey!!!

[TheThom]

I've had a little time to work on the camper lately. I've got the bench seats finished off. I decided to use fabric to finish the walls. I found a felt that's made from recycled plastic bottles and is mildew resistant. It's also cheap. In the pics, the chrome circles are LED landscape lights. They will function as accent lights - that way I can have those on in the middle of the night and won't be pitch black for the kids.







Next step is to put the interior side panels up. Then I attach the bed slide outs!

I have to have ankle surgery in the coming months, so I'm trying to push through and get this at least campable before then. I might not finish the interior wiring or the slide out chuck box before this season starts. I was also originally planning to rebuild the roof this year, but it looks like that might wait until next season.

[TheThom]

Got some more done, including a pretty big mental milestone: I got the bed slide outs installed! They fit perfectly and if the measurements hold true, the bed platforms should fit perfectly. Pretty stoked. My goal for the long President's Day weekend was to get to where I am now.

Pics





There is no way to access the under bench storage from inside the camper, so I cut out a small door in case I need to reach/adjust something in the middle of the bench area



Peace out

[TheThom]

I've got the folding shelf/counter built. That ended up being more work than I thought it would for such a simple shelf. Between the facing covered in fabric, tweaking the dimensions, and figuring out the best way to attach the hinges, it took a bit of brainstorming/fiddling. I'm going to stain all of my counter top wood and table at the same time, so there's currently no top on it.

Here it is collapsed



Here it is set up



For the doors, I'm hoping to "borrow" and idea from the conqueror trailers-but I'll see if the upholsterer can use some tan canvas to match the main canvas

[NebraskaTeachr]

Your rebuild is looking awesome. I have an old popup that needs to be rebuilt, and you are giving me inspiration to maybe give it a shot.