Build - Fiberglass & Foam Truck Camper

[ExpoMike]

Looks great! Love how this is turning out. If you haven't thought of it already, on the bolts sticking out the back, you might want to get some acorn nuts to finish them off. I would leave the standard nut there and use the acorn nut as a jam/finishing nut so it will look clean and keep them from ever loosening.

 

[ITTOG]

Looks great. I love all the angles on the roof and front taper. It really sets it apart.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Leonmac]

After going back and forward through the shots I have finally figured out how the lift mechanism works, Very clever and very simple, KISS is quite often the best way. I'm thinking you will have some kind of latch arrangement on the lifter bar inside to hold it down tight ? a guy I work with is building a slide on pop top. his has gas struts to push the top up and has latches on the outside to hold it down. Where are the new Wheels and tires on the truck to go with the flash shocks.
Keep the good pis coming, Cheers Leon (NZ)

 

[underkill]

After going back and forward through the shots I have finally figured out how the lift mechanism works, Very clever and very simple, KISS is quite often the best way. I'm thinking you will have some kind of latch arrangement on the lifter bar inside to hold it down tight ? a guy I work with is building a slide on pop top. his has gas struts to push the top up and has latches on the outside to hold it down. Where are the new Wheels and tires on the truck to go with the flash shocks.
Keep the good pis coming, Cheers Leon (NZ)

Yep it's pretty simple! We considered struts, but it's light enough to just push up from the inside and the lift bar kind of overextends and "locks" into place. We put some velcro on it to keep it from falling.

Still working on the wheels and tires.. have to wait until monday!

 

[underkill]

Finally got the wheels and tires on the truck! We've had bad luck with tires previously... they never just get punctured they get destroyed! We wanted something extra beefy this time and went with the BFGoodrich All terrains with the sidewall protection. We'll see how that goes....and some bronze Mayhem rims. We argued quite a bit about the color of the wheels and finally settled on these as not being "too Toyota gold" and "not black".

That should be good for the truck for a while! It's our only vehicle, so we can't get too crazy with it!

We got the lift finished today! The hardest part was making sure all the linkages were the same length and tightening it all down where it should go. I had to sit on the cabover part and hold the roof up while Jason fiddled with everything. My shoulders hurt now.

We tied the sides together with straps to keep everything tight until I can get the canvas made, otherwise it'll just flop over.

Eventually the masking tape is going to be replaced with nice velcro straps, but for now it'll keep everything together.

We had to readjust to make sure there was going to be enough room for our mattress.

The bar in the back tucks up nice and out of the way so I can still crawl in there and get snacks without having to also climb over a bar!

There's a LOT of head room. Jason can stand up with no problems (he's 6' tall). Here's a picture of me sitting up on the cabover part, so there's enough room to sit up in bed also without feeling like you have to crawl into a hole to sleep!

We had a super productive day and aside from some minor touch up paint on the roof, it's pretty much done! To finish up, we glued some support pieces to the shell for the galley cabinets to prep for tomorrow!

 

[underkill]

I *had* to order a new sewing machine to be able to sew the canvas, but it's taking forever to get here, so we're moving on to the galley cabinets that we've been procrastinating on! We wanted as much storage in here as possible after years of living out of tubs in the bed of the truck. Everything needs a place to be! I had a rough layout in mind already. We had a nice 2 burner camp stove that I was going to cannibalize and install, so it was going to go on the forward end of the counter because I didn't want someone to be cooking right where people would be going in and out by the door. That left the back part for counter space and the sink. I wanted as much usable counter space as possible, so my plan was to put the sink as far back as I thought I could while still having enough room to actually use it. Then I took into account the size of the battery being mounted to the floor and that pretty much set where my main divider bulkhead was going to go. Still using my trusty landscaping rocks. I also glued in Jason's electrical panel piece.

We didn't have enough room for a big propane tank. The only thing running propane is our little camp stove, so my plan was to create a little propane "locker" underneath the stove to store a few of those green bottles.

Our little camp shower will go here if we choose to bring it along.

After the glue set up I measured for the platform that the stove would set on and got that cut out.

Going to go here!

Need to glue in one more support board

The heater is sitting in the back corner for scale! It's so tiny! Also note all of the pieces of wood glued to the bulkhead. The countertop will sit on those and the support boards in the middle.

We did a test fit with the countertop. It fit pretty well after some minor trimming! Unfortunately I hate the color. I wanted a more modern looking greyed out color.. this is like chocolate mousse or saddle leather.

We're going to have a door in the countertop that opens to get to the stove!

Now it's time to glass all of this stuff in place... cue more of the 6oz tape! (I love that stuff!) Everything is getting 3 layers.

DONE!

While we were waiting for the fiberglass to set up, we cut the filler piece for the floor over the water tank.

While I was busy doing something useful, Jason made the backing plates for the forward tie downs. They had to be radiused to clear the access holes. Square holes and everything! We're getting fancy!

We started this project with a totally clean shed.... now it looks like Lowe's barfed in there...

 

[underkill]

Jason and I both have no experience with cabinetry, so we spent what felt like a lot of time yesterday pondering how to attach everything and make it work. It paid off because we hit the ground running today! The stove platform is screwed in and fully installed.

I cut the hole for the sink. It's an undermount, so I'll have to smooth the edges and make it pretty.

The propane locker will be small, but fit quite a few little bottles so we have spares. It will also contain any propane that might escape. Probably not explicitly necessary, but I don't want to die in my own homemade camper...

We're turning the piece we cut out into a nice sink cover for more countertop space. I'm obsessed with counter space. Although Jason's the one who always cooks, so I don't know why I'm so worried about it... he deserves nice things!

This will eventually hinge

All the covers in place!

 

[underkill]

OK guys! It's starting to feel like a real camper! Here's a current galley picture!

I drilled the hole for the little manual faucet that I bought. (thanks, Amazon!)

Drain testing!

I found a low profile drain to maximize space under the sink.

This is the panel to keep the stove in place and seal off the propane locker from the inside of the camper.

Time for more structure to get glued in!

This is going to actually be a really large storage area...

Also note the tie downs for the battery sunk into the hefty marine plywood on the floor. It's not going to move! We also installed a little divider piece on the side.

Cutting some more little cabinet support pieces out of leftover 3/4" ply...

I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of those bed divider things.

We did have to buy a few more clamps...

 

[fitt]

Nice Work!!

 

[TantoTrailers]

This thing is so cool! I can't wait to see the finished rig! Nice truck btw

 

[lqdchkn]

Have you guys thought of using double c clips to make popping the roof up a tad faster/easier?

Lift, clip, clip
then other side, lift clip, clip
then once up, go back and maybe add the velrco to one pole on each end for additional security???

They can also be left on one side and rotated out of the way so they are stowed in place

Double sided Hose Mounting-Support Clip for 230SL Brake Vacuum & Coolant Reservoir Hose

Double sided Hose Mounting-Support Clip for 230SL Brake Vacuum & Coolant Reservoir Hose

www.authenticclassics.com

CDU2153L | PLASTIC SWIVEL CLIP DOUBLE ENDED - AIR CON PIPES - FREELANDER 1 - DISCOVERY 3 - RANGE ROVER SPORT | Land Rover | | Britcar (UK) Ltd

Looking for CDU2153L PLASTIC SWIVEL CLIP DOUBLE ENDED - AIR CON PIPES - FREELANDER 1 - DISCOVERY 3 - RANGE ROVER SPORT? Britcar can help you. View all details of this part here

www.brit-car.co.uk

 

[underkill]

Have you guys thought of using double c clips to make popping the roof up a tad faster/easier?

Lift, clip, clip
then other side, lift clip, clip
then once up, go back and maybe add the velrco to one pole on each end for additional security???

They can also be left on one side and rotated out of the way so they are stowed in place

Double sided Hose Mounting-Support Clip for 230SL Brake Vacuum & Coolant Reservoir Hose

Double sided Hose Mounting-Support Clip for 230SL Brake Vacuum & Coolant Reservoir Hose

www.authenticclassics.com

CDU2153L | PLASTIC SWIVEL CLIP DOUBLE ENDED - AIR CON PIPES - FREELANDER 1 - DISCOVERY 3 - RANGE ROVER SPORT | Land Rover | | Britcar (UK) Ltd

Looking for CDU2153L PLASTIC SWIVEL CLIP DOUBLE ENDED - AIR CON PIPES - FREELANDER 1 - DISCOVERY 3 - RANGE ROVER SPORT? Britcar can help you. View all details of this part here

www.brit-car.co.uk

That's an interesting idea! I'll have to look into it! Thanks!

 

[underkill]

We got a lot of the cabinetry done the other day, so now that it's hot and sunny outside, we can start painting it!

This is the current state of the galley, all glassed in and ready for finishing panels!

This is the face plate for the galley cabinets. With all of the drawer openings cut out of it there's not much left! I like the look of the flush drawer openings, so we're going to do that.

Lots of primer!

Should be a lot of storage!

The final bright white paint! That really kicks it up a notch!

While I was taking a break, Jason installed the electrical pieces inside the seat back like he had planned. That turned out way cleaner than I expected!

He even started the wiring!

Since only one person can really be working in the camper at one time and the wiring is important I kept entertained by sanding down the countertop and table since I absolutely hated the color that I stained them. Turns out that after sanding they DO look like vintage barn wood... but I still hate it... Good to know for future projects I guess.

This is me officially giving up. I'm staining everything black!

Turns out the black stain is perfect! It shows the wood texture and grain just enough so that you know it's wood, but it's not just a boring black sheet. It's going to look awesome!

 

[underkill]

I got another package from Amazon (this is a trend...) and it felt like a picture frame... which I didn't order... but it wasn't! The premade boat hatch that we're going to use for the propane locker access from the outside came in! This way we can totally seal off the propane locker from the inside of the camper. I really don't want to die in this thing.

We're going to put a vent in the door so any propane that leaks can just escape. We're also going to have a carbon monoxide alarm because of the diesel heater that we'll eventually install.

 

[Stitebunny]

Your camper is super cool! Very nice job!
I really admire people like you guys who have a vision and can build it from scratch and stay motivated for continuous work!
How long was the actual build time?
Where are you guys from in Wa? I’ll be looking for this out and about!