Scoutman's 'new' Starcraft Pine Mtn on Dodge 3500

[Scoutman]

The panel that I got is only 15w. That's not much but hopefully it will keep my house batteries topped off while it's parked at the house between trips. That way I can get rid of the extension cord to the converter.

I wanted to put the track down so if I had to make changes or add more panels later I could and not have to drill any more holes in the roof. At least if I go ahead and mount the tracks now I know where the ribs are in the roof.

 

[Scoutman]

So an hour here and an hour there doesn't make for much interesting progress but I figured I'd post up anyway. Last night Mudy_Ovl came over and helped me get the AC off the roof and we discussed some different options on what to do to fix this thing. I made the mistake of dropping the fantastic fan into the AC roof cutout and instantly fell in love the lower profile. :elkgrin: The AC unit is about 14" tall over the top of the camper roof but I could never justify taking it out and buying a low profile AC. Some things we were looking at last night were any good solutions to put a window or portable AC unit in to get rid of the roof mounted version. I'm still looking for good ideas that aren't going to require major reconstruction. AC is a must for us in the south anytime between April and October so I can't get rid of it completely but it has left me wondering if I need to cut a second roof hole for the fan and leave the AC or if I'm better off relocating the AC elsewhere.

 

[Scoutman]

Cutting the fan hole

Finally got some time to work on fixing this thing back up. I had been getting materials and cutting boards, waiting for some time to get back to work. I had decided I wanted a few additional support ribs in the front ceiling area and cut down a 2x4 to some 1" x 1.5" strips to match the ribs that were already up there. I laid out the places where they would go, drilled holes for the corners of the opening and started cutting the foam with a new utility knife. I had a piece of 1.5" wide aluminum flat bar that made a great guide for the blade and made nice straight cuts. Once all the channels were cut I took my jigsaw and cut the main opening the standard 14.5" x 14.5" where the fan will go. I also pulled the front light down and located the wiring that's run under the insulation and I'll tap into that for my fan wiring since it's plenty big and the light will be upgraded to LED. After making sure all the pieces fit the way I wanted to I clamped them to the table, drilled and countersunk holes, gorilla glued and finally screwed the frame together.

The next step is to get the channels filled with glue, lay the frame in place and clamp/screw it till dry. I'll then fill in the chunk of missing foam that you can see next to one of the rib channels.

You can see that my 'helper' was with me every step of the way and was eager to help whenever he could.

Felt good to make some visible progress. My son has been beating me up to go camping and I'm hoping to get it back working for my favorite season, fall.

 

[Scoutman]

A few more picts...

 

[Scoutman]

Two steps forward, one step back. This roofing is a huge pain in my ******** and nice weather is only a few weeks away! Just when I was ready to get it locally the guy told me the price and it was over $1100 for the sheet of Filon siding alone! :Wow1: I went down the road to his competitor and got a similar story. Why is it that this stuff is ~$20 per linear foot online some places and ~$80+ at others (locally included)?

So my best option for no seams at the moment is ~$500 in materials ($300 Filon, $100 shipping, and $100 in adhesive). I've still ruled out PVC, Aluminum, EPDM (rubber), and TPO due to they need a sheet of luan to stick to and I don't want the spacing and weight of the extra material.

All that being said, I did get the vent hole frame glued and screwed in place the other day. Next step is to get the front PVC board on and screwed in place and then roll it back outside to sand the curves and clean things up before prepping for roofing.

 

[Scoutman]

Also the other night I finished taking the rear apart. I found out that the fiberglass was only glued to the roof and not to the vertical board. This was probably to let it naturally curve around and was held in place by the clearance lights and whatever caulk was sealing it to the trim. I'm not sure if I'm going back this route or not. I really want some adhesive there to hold it down, especially in the front where the problem started in the first place.

 

[Scoutman]

Getting the front board back on

So this past weekend I finally got the front board back on. You can see all the cuts I made to it to get it to fit just right. It fit the lower channel, had the angle to match the side wall, and a notch off the top to let it clear the roof support. I counterbored all the holes and then ran deck screws to hold it in place. There are stainless screws coming in from the bottom where the gasket attaches. It is much more rigid now and the front wall doesn't bow like it used to. The additional support ribs in the roof that box in the fan hole have given the front part of the roof a lot more structure and there isn't near as much sag as there was before.

With that part completed I rolled it outside to clean the garage out, sand the front curve down, and take some more pictures.

 

[Scoutman]

Winch it back in

I had to winch it back in since it was just me and I just couldn't get it up the rise into the garage.

 

[Scoutman]

closeup of curved corners

So here's how the top edge came out after some time with a DA sander. I'm pretty pleased. You can also see where I mixed some Styrofoam balls that mixed with glue to fill in the missing chunk up top.

 

[Scoutman]

Overall shots

I also took a few overall shots of the outside while it was out.

 

[FullTankHank]

Very good idea with the winch, I was thinking about an easy way to get a popup into the garage by myself. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Scoutman]

Very good idea with the winch, I was thinking about an easy way to get a popup into the garage by myself. Thanks for the idea.

With an extra set of adult hands we can roll it in without it. This time I let my almost 6 yr old operate the winch controller while I steer it in. He loves being the winch operator and gets good practice communicating with my hand signals.

I was beginning to wonder if anyone was reading all this stuff... :coffeedrink:

 

[Scoutman]

Well I didn't get any roof work done this weekend but I did manage to find a little time last night to pop in the new LED circuit boards from Command Electronics. They are the mfg of the lights in my camper and I bought the light that's over the kitchen area already setup with LED's. They have upgrade kits that plug in and replace the plastic diffuser. So now all 4 interior lights are LED. The exterior lights (amber porch and side light) will get upgraded later.

I also temp hooked up the roof fan and wow does it move some air. I'm looking forward to trying that out soon.

Still trying to decide on what adhesive to use to hold the filon to the roof boards/foam. Any suggestions?

 

[Scoutman]

I wonder if this stuff is any good? It says it's ideal for adhering FRP to porous building materials.

 

[JCMatthews]

Good luck. That camper is to nice to get rid of. Hopefully it all comes together well and for not too much money.