1984 FWC Hawk Refurbish

[HunterMike]

I decided it was time to upgrade the FlipPac for a Hawk camper. The wife and I looked at purchasing new, but with options we were close to $24k. Ouch. So we started to look for used campers, found a 2011 Hallmark Milner for $18k, still ouch. Finally I found a 1984 Hawk for under $1k. After reading and re-reading posts by SLOF-250, Overland Hadley and others, I decided it was a challenge I was up for, and won't (hopefully) drain the savings account so we can still buy diesel and get out there!!

Drove from Denver to Durango last weekend and picked up this girl from the original owner! Made it halfway home by midnight, so got to test her out. Of course, no power, no propane and it rained most of the way home, but had stopped in time for me to set up and get some rest.



She needs some work, so let's get after it. The front lift panel was fully unattached from upper hinge.



New lift panel on order from FWC, so let's continue
Tear out old flooring, install new.



stay tuned, more to come

 

[steelheadbum]

Nice score buddy...
Buck

The Redneck Mexican
2002 E350 7.3 PSD 4x4 8inch lift pop top conversion....

 

[Vicreo A Legarreta]

:iagree::lurk:

 

[SLO_F-250]

Honored to be mentioned Mike. The setup looks great! I love those older fords. Its going to turn into a great camping rig and good luck on the restore. Ask questions, post picts, and have fun. Looking forward to seeing more! :smiley_drive:

 

[HunterMike]

Here's the plan:

Finish the front lift panel replacement, flooring, existing system test, cleaning and tie down install and then:

1: Add a house based power system. The only power setup it has now is power from vehicle. I want a dual house battery system that charges off solar, no hook up to truck.
I have spent the last few days reading "How to make a cheap isolated dual-battery setup for $50" by Evldave A bit above my head, but I will figure it out.:drool:

2: Replace ice box with 12v fridge. Looking at Engle SR70

3: Add original looking roof rack (the square aluminum type) to carry my custom made 3 place fly rod holder. But, my roof seems different than others, the screws are all covered by a one piece flexible plastic membrane. I have photos sent to FWC so they can determine if it is original, and how to add rack and solar panel.

4: The rear door is sagging, possible replacement if after future use it deems replacing.

5: Get out and enjoy it! :wings:

 

[tanglefoot]

Nice find! I ended up going with an older camper as well but ended up spending several hundred more than you. :bowdown:

I have it set up with a self-sufficient electrical system with no truck connection as well. It's pretty simple to piece together. I've found the most affordable places to get the actual panels are direct from the Chinese merchants on Ebay or from this place:

http://www.solarblvd.com/Solar-Panels-&-Systems-12-Volt-Solar-Panels/c1_269/index.html

Then just connect the panel(s) to an inexpensive charge controller. I'm using a $15 unit from Sunbright, I believe it is, but there are others in that price range. It just has to have more current capacity than the max that the panels can produce. Then just hook the charge controller up to the battery(ies).

I'm really happy with the solar system in the camper that's isolated from the truck. It maintains the battery nicely while parked and even keeps up while camping. I set up the camper very simply (no fridge, no furnace, no stereo/tv, etc) so a single 10W panel and a single RV battery is plenty for me.

Have fun--hope it all comes together how you planned!

Eric

 

[LuckyDan]

I'll bet someone in the past covered it with EPDM a.k.a rubberized roof. It can be bought in sheets, (Rolls) and "glued" down using a latex or neoprene adhesive. It's kinda popular on larger RV's and my old motorhome had it. Usually it's used over a wood substrate, where FWC used a metal roof. The EPDM holds up OK, especially if periodically washed with cleaner, but does not last forever. If it was laid over the screws I wonder what was done to keep the screw heads from wearing back through? The nice thing is holes and tears can be repaired with Eternabond pretty easily. It's nice to see someone giving a home to the older FWC's. They're almost bullet proof. My 87 (89?) Grandby is the same vintage as yours and with a little love and care, certainly less than the usual RV, it will last as long as or longer than your powerstroke.

I wish you well with your newfound camper.

 

[HunterMike]

Here is some pics of the roof. Question: if FWC used metal, can I remove this? Anxiously awaiting response from FWC, sent these pics to the Friday evening.



Tanglefoot: there's always beer in the garage, come on over anytime. Just behind Emich Chevrolet.:smiley_drive:

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Good score...love these pop up campers.

 

[Rot Box]

Cool! Looking forward to updates.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Hi Mike! Thanks for the shout-out.

 

[LuckyDan]

That does not appear to be EPDM like I described in my previous post. Off the top of my head I don't know what it is. Looks more like a coating to me. If you get a definitive answer from FWC I'm curious to know what it is.

 

[HunterMike]

Well, no response today from FWC on the roof, but being Monday, I know my workplace was crazy, so I must assume FWC was no different. Hopefully a response will be coming soon.

The PO(did I mention original owner as well?) did tell me that he occasionally used a product such as Kool Seal White Elastomeric Roof Coating, but the roof screws did come covered from the factory. All he did was apply a fresh coat every several years. I believe he told me he purchased it from Ace Hardware, but his buddy who stored the camper the last year or so said Walmart had the same thing for less.

The roof coating seems to be free floating as well, only really connected at the edges. I just want to know what is under the coating and above the headliner, so I know how to screw the roof rack and solar panel into it.

Also, if anyone has a vintage roof rack, the aluminum square tubing, and would like to send me pictures of it, it would be greatly appreciated. I think I am going to keep the outside as vintage as possible. I am tossing the idea around of painting the brown stripes blue to match the truck, but not sure yet. I also think it is great the original FWC emblems are intact and in almost mint condition.

 

[SLO_F-250]

Mike,
On the underside of your roof where there are wood strips holding up the headliner you will find the aluminum frame. The run front to back lengthwise on the camper. The top roof metal should be screwed to those tubes roughly at 16" o.c. or that is how mine is. The vintage rack simply has a larger hole drilled out on top of the tube so the drill bit can screw a screw down to the aluminum framed. Check out the picts at this part of my thread. If you need some different ones let me know. :snorkel:

 

[HunterMike]

Thanks SLO F-250,

I got the response from FWC on the roof:
"That is the original roof, we use silaprene to seal the screws in the roof. It looks like they put a lot on, but as long as there are now leaks I would not worry about it."

I guess I must be wrong in assuming these were aluminum like the siding, mine feels more like plastic. Must be the layers of elastomeric coatings the PO put on.