Build - Fiberglass & Foam Truck Camper

[underkill]

I learned a valuable lesson about the epoxy gloss I used on the counter and table. It forms bubbles easily, so I should have sealed the wood with something else before pouring it on.

Whatever. I'm just going to set that aside until I'm not mad at it and go glue the corner cabinet in place.

While Jason was out getting some supplies for another task, I was working on the water tank. Since we're technically using a water bladder instead of a hard tank I had some concerns about it moving around and getting punctured. I found a leftover rug in the garage to steal to fix that problem! The ends will fold over the edges of the tank to protect it from any edges I may have missed. Cat for scale...

Jason and I have been putting off this part for a while: more fiberglass. I wanted to be done with it so bad, but we still needed the bed slide out and the water tank false floor.

The floor is marine plywood and the bed slide is lightweight balsa. The bed slide is going to be cut to suit after it cures out in the sun.

Jason is running the wiring from the electrical enclosure on one side, through the water tank area, and up along the wall on the other side of the camper. To be able to locate his pipes, we had to figure out how to route the water fill for the tank. This lead to disaster #2. I special ordered some “flexible” piping in exactly the diameter I needed from Mcmaster-Carr. It was terrible. Not flexible in any way at all. Probably stiffer than actual PVC pipe… and the fittings didn’t even fit inside it. >:/ I got the heat gun out and got the fittings to work. Then I was test fitting one section of it and realized that the pipe hit the bolt that holds the shell tie down on. So I had to heat that up and bash it with a hammer. It was still never going to work… What annoys me the most is that I bought 5′ of this pipe for $25 because it was going to be exactly what I needed… but they tacked on another $25 for shipping… Which is ridiculous. They also don’t give you a shipping quote until after you place your order. So not only do I have an overly expensive piece of pipe, but I can’t actually use it. >:/ Back to Home Depot… MEH

 

[lqdchkn]

Mcmaster-Carr.

Lol yeah they are not the best at end user stuff. They typically deal more with business at a level like Grainger. I feel your pain. I've kept wrong stuff from them just cause by the time you deal with it it's less hassle if there's a chance i could possibly use it for anything else int he future.

 

[underkill]

The bed slide is getting two layers of fiberglass instead of just one since it will be supporting the full load of two people. Figure it couldn't hurt and we have a ton of fiberglass left.

After our trip to Home Depot we finally got the right type of tubing for the water fill! I had to lubricate the fitting ends with chapstick, but I got it all fit up! Still waiting on the final connector for the 1-1/4″ hose barb to 1-1/2″ ID fitting on the shell.

Here's the floor liner installed

Jason got the wiring for the fridge run on the right side.

Here's the wiring to the switch panel and the heater thermostat

Jason had fun with this.... not.

This little panel is pretty nice for an Amazon prime day steal!

We can reach the thermostat while lying in bed.

 

[luthj]

Yeah, its hard sourcing stuff sight unseen. Though I think there is probably a bit of a difference between flexible pipe and flexible hose.

 

[luthj]

You may consider putting a small pushbutton switch to either dim, or disable those switch lights (there are some small PWM dimmer modules on the web). I find that those bright lights can be a pain at night. Alternatively a bit of velcro and black-out fabric does a good job.

 

[underkill]

You may consider putting a small pushbutton switch to either dim, or disable those switch lights (there are some small PWM dimmer modules on the web). I find that those bright lights can be a pain at night. Alternatively a bit of velcro and black-out fabric does a good job.

You're 1000% right with this...and it's something we never got around to doing. We forget it's mildly irritating until we're going to sleep for the night and then forget about it immediately the next morning. I usually end up throwing a jacket over the switches and calling it a night.

 

[Jo_Duval]

I usually end up throwing a jacket over the switches and calling it a night.

That’s what we also do.

For the heater you should love it ! In our van we used it this winter in -27C and brought the van up to 26C on high.

 

[UHAULER]

For Sale already ?

 

[lqdchkn]

For Sale already ?

 

[UHAULER]

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/custom-ultralight-camper-seattle.207830/

 

[blinkerfluid]

Yea, we're working on some major life changes so we thought we'd try to sell the camper. We actually built the camper last summer, so we've had the chance to use it for the past year.

Don't worry though, we're still going to finish the build thread. Sorry for the slow down, we've had a bit of traveling lately; it's coming though.

 

[underkill]

ok guys! back from vacation! sorry for the delay!

After the issues with the bubbling on the epoxy countertops, I finally found the motivation to sand out all the ridges left from the popped bubbled and pour another layer of epoxy. Definitely learned my lesson to seal the wood surface before pouring. It's also neat because you can pop any bubbles that form with a propane torch. Which is fun AND functional!

I guess two layers of gloss do look pretty good!

While waiting for the countertops to dry (4-5 hours before dust won't stick to it anymore...don't do this outside!) I prepped and painted the floor for the dinette that covers the water tank.

painted and drying in the sun

I went to Lowe's and got the fitting I needed to attach the drain hose to the tank.

Jason made it back from work and wired up the fan in the roof. Eventually the wiring will be hidden by a sleeve in the canvas.

Started working on the latches and pulls for the cabinet doors. Since they're flush mounted, I wanted something obvious to pull on, but smooth so I didn't get impaled by it. The smooth black pulls look nice on the white paint. I also found some matching locks to keep the cabinet doors closed securely while driving.

The split doors are just set in place for now. Maybe tomorrow we can get those installed.

It’s been a while since I said anything about our refrigerator. It’s awesome. Jason wired up a dedicated plug for it in his panel. However, it’s also quite a bit wider than the part of the camper that goes out over the bedsides. Our plan was to make mounting brackets attached to the shell and tie the cooler in place. If that proves insufficient, we can make a little tray to support one end like a small shelf with brackets. The first step in this process was to make the brackets to hold the tie downs. I cut and sanded them a while ago, but I’m using recycled teak handrails from our boat. The hard wood should hold screws pretty well. I was going to varnish, but since I lack patience and attention to detail, I covered them in a layer of the same epoxy we’ve been using for fiberglass. Should be ready to install tomorrow!

 

[underkill]

Today I decided I was going to work on the cabinets and other interior fittings. First up was pretty easy. I drilled the hole for the drain line going to the sink that I have yet to install. The Countertops should be fully cured by this weekend, so hopefully we can get those installed soon! The drain tank is super solid with the tie downs I made!

I'll trim the drain hose to suit once the sink is installed on the countertop.

The hinges were a pain to get aligned, but I've gathered that's common for hinges. We used leftover chunks of mahogany for the spacers, so I had to drill pilot holes just to get the screws to go in. Total overkill, but it'd never going to pull out!

Had to fab up some painter's tape pulls so I have a way to open the doors until I install the real pulls on there. Lessons learned...

Current galley status!

Lots of room for storage under the sink still.

Looking pretty usable!

The final product! (for today!)

Finally finished up the tubing so we can fill the water tank from the outside.

Floor is in!

 

[underkill]

One of my "must haves" for this camper build was the ability to have a normal drip coffee pot. I found the perfect spot for my power inverter and ordered one that I thought would fit, but it wasn't going to work.. so I had to send it back and wait for my new one. I even chose my new pot because of the low amp usage and metal carafe instead of glass so it would be more durable. Hopefully by this weekend I can install the inverter.

For lighting in the camper I ordered 2 rolls of flexible LED strips.

Peel and stick!

I did the perimeter and down the middle with 2 rolls. It's peel and stick, but seems to be holding pretty well. It'll probably fall down around the corners eventually. (update after a year of use: still in place, but still a little loose in the corners. Good use of $10 or whatever these things were on Amazon!)

Not super bright during the day

They're getting brighter as it gets darker outside. A very cool hue, almost purple.

It's actually pretty bright inside. The photos make it look more purple than it is in person.

The only other thing I did tonight was to add a support beam under the seats. Apparently I've been eating too many nachos this summer!

 

[underkill]

My goal today was to finish up the water tank and plumbing. I spent a solid 15 minutes throwing things around in the shed looking for this 3' section of clear flexible tubing. Finally found it.

Water supply system is complete!

The carpet that I put in the floor to protect the water bladder is going to work awesome. Everything fits nice and snug in there. Time to install the floor! I did add a support piece along the forward bulkhead to have something for the floor panel to sit on.

The galley cabinets are mostly done except for the one underneath the sink. That’s going to tilt out, but we forgot when we were cutting the cabinet doors that we also have the outlet for the heater vent… so we’re going to have to notch the door for that. I at least got the hinges installed!

While I was doing that, Jason was working on the bed slide piece so we can actually USE the camper for its intended purpose instead of sleeping on the floor! It’s 3 layers of 1708 E-glass fiberglass on top of balsa plywood. It’s super lightweight, but ended up being way more flexible than we thought it would be.