1977 Pop Up Camper Rebuild

[SLO_F-250]

TheTom,

Looks like you got a great little project here! I was debating on doing something very similar bofore I went pop-up Truck Camper. My plan was to get an older pop up trailer since they are all over the place. Add a set of 1/2ton junk yard leaf springs and shackles to it for a lift and some bigger meats. That way it would be more dirt worthy. The rest would be pretty much what you are up to.

Anyways, Im excited to see a pop-up restore on here. Keep up the great work! Subscribed! :ylsmoke:
Paul

 

[TheThom]

Thanks for the nice words

 

[TheThom]

So, even though I'm a while away from needing it, I ended up getting some aluminum for the sides. I was looking around and a local place was able to do it with <24hr turnaround. I didn't want to lose the good quote and rapport I had with the guy that worked there. Good tip: if you need aluminum cut/bent, go to a heating place. There was a local company that makes their own duct work.

Please excuse the grainy cell phone pics. This is the panel for the door in the front storage compartment

I'm pretty impressed with the work they did. I got siding for all 4 sides and for each of the doors (1 main door and 3 storage compartment doors) cut and bent to fit the dimensions I need for $300. Expensive, but the quality should make it worth it. There's no way I could've duplicated the quality they showed.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

$300 is a very good price and I will keep these ideas in my head for my project.

 

[TheThom]

Gratuitous child pic

I enlisted an assistant to help me choose a paint color. We're looking through some samples sent by Monstaliner (sorry the pic is a bit blurry).

 

[TheThom]

Now that the CPES has fully cured (slow process), I glued/screwed down the "footprint" for the outline of the cabinets and bench seats. Everything in the middle will get several coats of Varathane Floor finish. Everything outside of it will be coverd /w roll-on bedliner. NOTE I sanded the epoxy before installing so the glue could hold - that's why it looks so scuffed

NOTE #2 Please ignore my horribly messy garage

 

[TheThom]

So, a little progress.

I painted the floor of all of the storage areas with roll on bed-liner. It's a mix of colors just because I had some leftover black from the underside.

Then I coated the remaining showing wood (the actual floor of the camper) with Varatheane floor polyurethane. All they had at the local store was gloss, which is OK.

Here's a close up of the bed-liner - I don't love the color, but it'll be in a dark storage area, so the black probably wouldn't have worked.

I bought some plastic grommets/bushings for the holes where the cables pass through the wood floor. The only local thing I could find was plastic, which will probably wear down over time. But I suppose it'll be better than having metal bushings wear on the cable.

Here's a pic:

I get excited picturing where everything will go - so I labeled a pic with what will go where. Keep in mind that both sides of the bench storage will be accessible with a fairly big door. The chuck box slot will also have a large door. I'm planning on making a custom box that will hold all of my dishes/pots/pans/utensils/etc.

 

[Mark Harley]

Nice! Keep us posted.

 

[TheThom]

This morning I installed the base of my new table. I'm using a Sequoia Table Leg and Base System.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/product/sequoia-table-leg-base-system/10306

Here it is with the leg/base together

Here it is taken collapsed down

There's also a black cap that covers to opening in the base when it's not in use. I obviously don't have the table top installed yet, but it seems really sturdy! I screwed it to the base using #12, 1.5" wood screws which seem to hold it well.

This will likely be my last build update for a few months. Have a great summer!

 

[Funrover]

Pretty sweet so far, I am gong to watch this one!

 

[TheThom]

Almost back.....

I'm back... kind of. I'm on the island of Guam. I've been on a ship for the last three months.

I've had some camping experiences this summer....

I had the pleasure of staying in military cots w/ mosquito nets at a school in Indonesia



I also had the pleasure of trying out some portable toilets and shower tents.




The good news about being crammed on a ship with hours of endless time? I was able to put some quality time in sketchup!

I narrowed the color choice to two- both options have a tan roof. I'm committed to a tan canvas and tan water cans:

1) Green



or 2) Black



I'm pretty sure that I like the black better. It will also be about a million times easier to touch up. If the roof is tan it should keep it from getting too hot.

I also had a lot of time to work on the sketch-up the interior drawing as well.



I should get home in about a week and, after lots of family time, I can't wait to get back to work on the camper!

 

[Mark Harley]

Nice , Thanks for the update.
Safe travels and keep us posted when you get back to the states.
I vote black too!

 

[DonBeasley]

I vote green. Tan and green just say "outdoors".

A looong time ago when we "weren't" bombing Thailand, I lived on Guam. Nice place for short visit!!!

Stay safe and send pictures when you get back to work on it.

 

[jet noise]

My vote it's for green too. That dark colored floor will tie in better with the color scheme and mil spec parts like Gerry cans will complete it.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lucy FJ55]

Howdy Thom! Great to see you've been designing/thinking/scheming about your pop-up build while working overseas! Can't wait to see your updates eventually.

Cheers, Carlos.