M1102 conversion to Expedition trailer

[ShamusTX]

Sunday began with mixing the three parts of the Monstaliner and 4 oz of MEK to thin so that it can be sprayed on. Spraying goes a lot faster and can produce a more uniform coat. To do the outside walls of the trailer, inside walls and bed of the trailer took 1 gallon of liner. Each gallon covers ~60 sq ft.

After the first coat:







After the second coat sitting out in the Texas sun curing. The second coat also took 1 gallon. But I was able to do one coat in both of the inside fender wells. The only thing that did not get done was the tail gate. I will get another gallon and do the tail gate, second coat of the fender wells and the front storage grate.





Picture of the texture produce by spraying.




Anything still tan after the final coating will be painted blank.

Even thou I was going to spray the liner I went ahead and purchased the complete kit, glad I did. The kit comes with the rollers and scuff pads. When I was spraying the liner, in a few areas I got the liner to thick on the first coat and it began to run. No problem waited a few minutes for it to start to set then ran the dry roller over it and spread everything evenly out. This stuff if very forgiving. The only bad thing about spraying is that it spatters everywhere. You need to cover everything you don't want coated.

 

[ShamusTX]

Did a whole lot of work on the trailer over the last two weekends. Completed work on the frame, added supports for sheet metal. Added mount pints for rod holders, tables and RTT

Top of frame with sheet metal supports for 18ga metal. Should be able to walk on the top with out the sheet metal flexing


Added mounts for the rod holders and tables.





Added expanded metal base to the the front storage area.

 

[ShamusTX]

Finished test fitting the top skin and installing the RTT mount points.





Test fitting the side skins


Almost all skins attached and test fitted

 

[ShamusTX]

Tack welded the top skins in place. I was advised to tack weld in stead of trying to do a full weld. The bed liner that will be sprayed on later will seal the top up. I guess a little bondo would seal the joints as well before applying the epoxy primer and spray on bed liner to the top.





A look at the inside and the tack welds.


When I did the underside of the top, I took two canvas painters tarps and saturated them in water. Then laid the in the bottom of the trailer to protect the bed liner from welding splatter.

After the top skins were installed I was able to walk on the top without any flex in the frame.

All the side skins have been cut and fitted. Next to tack weld them on and then grind and clean up all the welds.

 

[ShamusTX]

Got all the side panels welded on.






Had to remove the bolts holding the top down and slide the top over so that I could weld the bottom of the panels with out melting the bed liner. This is the first time I had all the bolts loose since putting the top panels on side panels on. As expected the rear of the frame sprung out about 1/2" on both sides.

I marked on the two rear horizontal cross supports where the bowing was at, then grab a couple of large tie downs and force the top back in to position to bolt back on the trailer. The next day I got out with a 12ton hydraulic jack to help straighten the sections that are bowed. I use a hammer to try and realign the metal structure while the jack keep everything straight. This worked to get the top realigned to within 3/16". Then I had to use a torch to heat and cool a couple of sections. After about 2 hours worth of work I was able to get the top realigned to within 1/16" and able to put all the bolts in with very little effort. During this process I also removed any oil can affects in the sheet metal.

Next I went to work building the supports for the RTT on the top. I plan on mounting the RTT on the passenger side of the trailer. On the other side I will build two mounts for things like Yaks or paddle boards, etc.

Checking to make sure things are still level after the realignment.




Finally passenger side with all four mounts point



Next to weld up the supports and apply some bondo to the weld seams on the top. Then I can clean everything and spray it with an epoxy primer before applying the monstaliner

 

[skltex]

Got a good deal on mine $390 from Fort Hood, they had a lot of them for auction at the time. Modified mine for fishing and hauling kayak. purchased mine from http://www.govliquidation.com/.

 

[emillika]

Updates?

 

[ShamusTX]

Finished the Bondo work and hung the top in the garage for final prep before spraying on the epoxy primer and bed liner.

The Bondo worked great to fill and gaps that might be to big for the bed liner to cover long term, that and JB weld.

Front



Top


To make quick work of sanding I just used an angle grinder with a sanding disk. Was not worried about removing too much material just want the bondo & JB weld to file the holes and not smooth anything out.

 

[ShamusTX]

After the bondo work was completed the top , doors and grills were sprayed with an epoxy primer.

Side


Top




Front


Inside


Door


Front Grate


I had 2 quarts of the epoxy 2-part primer. To spray the whole thing with two coats only took about 3 quarts with 1 quart left over for the rails on the top which are not done yet. I mixed up the primer in 16oz batches so that any remaining primer could be saved for later.

 

[ShamusTX]

Finally after all the cutting, welding, grinding, sanding and prep, I was able to apply the Monstaliner to the trailer top. I chose Medium quartz for the color. These pics were taken after the first coat before it had completely set. I applied 2 coats to the sides and doors and three coats to the top. I did not apply any liner to the inside of the top and left it in Light gray primer. I used 2 gallons of the bed liner to do the trailer top.

Front


Top


Doors


Side


Now to finish the rails for the top and prime those. The grates and rails will be blue like the trailer itself. I will also apply a 3rd coat to the trailer cargo area to fill in the welding burns and scratches made by hauling steel around. In total I have applied 5 gallons of bed liner to cover the trailer. That's about $600 in bed liner material. To have the trailer cargo area and trailer sides done in Line-x would of been ~$1K. That did not include the top.

I have to wait 7 days for the trailer top to cure before remounting it to the trailer and then I can take an almost complete pic of both.

 

[Gizzard Stone]

Rad project! What does that trailer weigh stock?

-M

 

[ShamusTX]

1650lb without the additions. People have removed the Military tires and dropped 300-400lbs.

 

[ShamusTX]

Sitting at the house last Friday thinking about how much was left to get the trailer exterior completed for tent install and the is a knock on the door. Open the door up and there is an 18 Wheeler on my street with a delivery. I was not expecting it till next week and had no place to store it. Well, I made due for a couple of days


So my weekend was to fishing the bed liner for all the parts I had built of the last few weekends, including the roof mounts for the item above.

I completed the tail gate ( 3 coats), roof mounting racks, Fishing poll mounting racks with camouflage netting holders, trailer bed(third coat) and miscellaneous parts with one gallon left. That makes a total of 5 gallons used to cover the entire structure and parts with at least 2 coats and high wear areas with 3
.
Roof Racks for item above and yaks / paddle board, etc.


Tail gate


From grate for external cargo area and misc parts


I also needed to inspect the contents of the box, no external damage so I was not worried about it too much. I unpacked it and open it up for inspection.


The tent is a Tepui Kukenam XL Ruggedized[SUP]TM[/SUP]

I believe the ladder is long enough


I just need to wait until this weekend to give a chance for the bed liner to cure on the newly coated parts and to fix one of the nutserts that broke loose in the trailer that holds the top down. Then I can install the tent on top of the trailer. The trailer will get its shake down run with a trip to the Colorado Flat Tops to hunt Elk this season.

Once the trailer is back together then I will post completed pics.

 

[Msbaugh]

Awesome work my man

 

[emillika]

Cool build! Any updates or progress?