Suncamper rebuild.

[LimaMikeMike]

I recently posted that I had given some thought as to whether or not I should purchase a new FWC or Northstar, well the decision is in.......

Neither.

The cash that I had alocated for the purchase will be used elsewhere and I will now attempt to repair what I had initally detemined to be beyond economical repair (well.... it still probably is, but I'm stubborn).

So here it is.

I started disassembly this weekend and it mostly went without a hitch.

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When we removed the roof I unbolted the pivot in the corner and man-handled the roof off it managed to rotate itself into a position that allowed it to poke through roof, no biggie right? hopefully this is the only damage I do to it in the disassembly stage. Oh did I mention... It happened twice so two holes to patch.:Wow1:

I don't have any pics of the canvas but it was replaced by the PO just before I bought it and stayed in amazingly good shape for my couple years of abuse.

The whole reason I wanted a new camper was the soft corners that this thing had. I knew it had water damage but I had no idea it was this extensive.:Wow1:

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Including a little mould too.

I`m seriously considering just disassembling the whole thing using it as a template and replacing everything.

One thing I was disappointed with was the quality of construction.-there was no insulation, the frame looks like it was make from scrap wood and there was really no attempt to seal under the aluminum skin.

So anyways there is some hope for this project. The roof and canvas is in decent shape.

The furnace and 3-way fridge work well.

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The extent of the damage will allow a certain amount of creativity as well, I hope to add more storage by adding wings for my short box truck, insulating it and possibly adding a cassette toilet and a water heater as well.

I found a good supplier for Baltic Birch plywood in Edmonton as well as there is a RV siding manufacturer that sells profile alum for 6 bucks a sq ft locally as well.

I plan on posting up here my progress and welcome suggestions and critisims.

Thanks

 

[eugene]

Even with that water damage, yours looks better than mine did, shouldn't be too hard.
i was thinking of redoing the frame with steel tubing but estimating the weight I think it would add too much so I'm back to wood.

 

[GroupSe7en]

LMM - I think your idea about using it as a template might be a really good one.

You could build it stronger, lighter, etc. I think that scarfing pieces to replace the bad sections would take longer than making a new piece anyway.

Good luck and keep posting.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[eugene]

I'm starting a rebuild of my back wall now, went over page after page of designs, thought about making a steel frame to make it strong but it wll just be too heavy. I'm back to wood now. I replaced the wood framing over the last month as a test and using dowels kept the wood lined up better than they staples. I'm thinking now of repacing the inside paneling with thin plywood and gluine it to the frame so the plywood helps to stiffen the frame where paneling wold just rip apart.

 

[LimaMikeMike]

I'm starting a rebuild of my back wall now, went over page after page of designs, thought about making a steel frame to make it strong but it wll just be too heavy. I'm back to wood now. I replaced the wood framing over the last month as a test and using dowels kept the wood lined up better than they staples. I'm thinking now of repacing the inside paneling with thin plywood and gluine it to the frame so the plywood helps to stiffen the frame where paneling wold just rip apart.

I was thinking the exact same thing, Using thin Balitc birch plywood (lightweight and super strong) as a replacement for the crappy paneling, this would add to to the strength and improve the esthetics immensely.

Have you given any thought to aluminum as opposed to steel, there is a industrial camper manufactuer in Edmonton (oilfield medunits and NDT etc) that manufactures theirs with a integrated aluminum tubing frame. They claim that it`s really light weight and strong. Of course FWC and ATC build the frames from aluminum too.

 

[eugene]

I don't have a welder that can do aluminum and I've never tried it myself

 

[LimaMikeMike]

I was able to start digging into the roof yesterday. I knew I had a bit of a leak so we removed all the headliner and as much of the wet cardboard as possible.

We also found that the ply holding the back of the roof together has some rot in the corners and while were there also replaced the ply stripping in the rear that the canvas is screwed to.

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leak along the seam where the aluminum roof is joined

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Epoxy setting up bonding the rear of the roof structure to the skin.

I plan on recovering the ceiling today with white 1/8 backerboard, it's lighter and looks better than soggy cardboard.

All the seams hopfully will be resealed today as well.
I purchased some proflex rv roof sealant and will apply that on the outside once the bulk of the seam sealing has dried.

I found a eccotemp on demand shower on ebay, price is really reasonable. anybody have any experiences with it?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380236614768&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

[zidaro]

Woo Doggy, you got yourself a project.
Doesnt look too bad though and your off to a good start. Do make templates before destruction. Artboard or the likes. I rebuilt a boat interior that looked similar or worse and it was somewhat smooth going with the templates to follow.
Wood is easy to manipulate and fun to play with.

On-demand shower looks great. I would be sure that the elev. restrictions and ambient temp heating works for you. Higher the elev. the less efficient the propane system will operate at if its not designed for elev. - aver. Sierra camping is at 7K+. Colder the input water the less the output and temp. the outcoming water will be- water in my town is around 47deg. in summer. On demand h20 systems for Home use, sold at Home Depot dont work up here but researching wil find plenty of units that can handle elev. and cold water temps. Tanklesswaterheaters.com may have something or info. they were VERY helpful when i researched/purchased my home On-demand.

 

[tom]

LimaMike, I got to hand it to you taking on a rebuild! I tried it for about one day on a tc, backed off and re grouped. It seemed impossible too me. I'm just new to the forum looking for ideas and suggestions. Saw your post and had to comment. I ended up building a all aluminum frame to match the size and shape of the tc I purchased. Big advantage was weight loss. After transferring skin, windows, door, a new AC and the jacks I can still life one off the ground by hand. I'm over 60 and no body builder so I'm guessing the weight is around 200 lbs. What was left of the old tc weight in at the dump at 760 lbs. I have to finish the inside but it will be with lite materials and modest. it sounds scary but I put it together with 3/16 in and 1/4 pop rivets. Still can't believe your rebuilding, great job!

Tom,

 

[eugene]

Those roof boards on mine looked like mulch, I had to replace them, not enough to epoxy together. I used Cedar 1x material, was a littl thicker than the original so I had to cut a notch for the alimunum seals to fit.

 

[wanderer-rrorc]

your damage looks better than my recent addition..Im lookin at having to dismantle the ENTIRE above cabin section to repair it..:Wow1:

 

[LimaMikeMike]

Freebie!

Sorry for the lack of up dates but I've been on vacation with the famdamly, weather has been crap, busy with work etc..blah,blah. but I have made progress (pics this weekend-promise)

so...

I'm almost done patterning what is now essentially a new camper, And I'm now facing reality that I don't have enough space for the carcass of the old one and the room to assemble the new shell.

Originally I was going to just cut it up and haul it to the dump, but seeing some of the projects here that guys have undertaken repairing their camper (that were far worse than mine), I've decided that if some one was ambitous and not quite as crazy as me it could be repaired.

So if someone in the Edmonton area wants the old camper for....whatever.. .It can be had for free .
Please see pics in earlier posts for condition and extent of damage.

It will include:
-3 tripod jacks (ugly but working) and brackets
-Bare shell, cabinets removed, the old aluminum to re-skin if wanted.
-old windows and doors (entry/ propane etc..) working condition but used appearing
-sink, hand pump faucet, cooktop.

What it will not include:
-roof
-lift system
-canvas
-table, cabinets, appliances (maybe we can talk about it, I might be replacing the fridge but undecided)

I was thinking that minus the roof and canvas it might be suitable for a hardtop conversion like FWC is performing on their new campers.

I will help you load and unload or transport since I'm motivated for my garage space back to start on the assembly of the shell.

I will hold off on destruction till the end of the month or so, after that it's termite food.

 

[eugene]

I didn't have room to do mine, I would start with tape and notepad and measure and draw out one of the old parts then carry tools and wood around the back of the house and build from there. Then when one part was done enough I'd tear the old off and put the new on.
If I was closer I'd come by and pick up yours for parts for mine, I'd like to get another jack to make mine have 4.