Well, here we go again! Atl-atl gets another Four Wheel Campers "Blazer"

[Atl-atl]

Huge progress this week! Got the entire frame cleaned up. Took a full day to remove all the old adhesive, gunk, corrosion etc. Looks really good now, not new but good haha. Also got all of the wood panel structure installed to the point where i was able to get the camper back on the dolly!! Cant tell you how happy I am about this. Ill now be able to get the camper back on the trailer and down to my shop in Phoenix so I can finish it there since its finally cooling off in the valley.

Here is a partial before and after of the front corners of the cabover area. There was tape residue, butyl, some kind of black mastic like goop, light corrosion of the aluminum, paint, silicone etc. Wire wheel took care of it all pretty easily.



On the underside of the cabover frame there was multiple layers of paint and also silicone and butyl residue. This was actually quite difficult to remove even with a wire wheel. The line between removed and not yet removed is pretty obvious.


I chose butyl tape to seal the bed platform. I seems to be the best combo of easy to work with, sealing capability and ease of cleanup/removal.


And here are all the wood panels installed



I chose to make the driver side panel 3" deeper than stock for added storage space, larger fridge and sink capacity etc. Having my other camper to use as a benchmark really helped to know how it will feel with some of these changes. The benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.



Most of the screws holding things in place are temporary because the trim is actually what holds everything together on these campers.

 

[Atl-atl]

So I decided to try my hand at making videos for this project. If anyone wants to watch along Ive started a Darlington Adventures account on Youtube.

 

[Atl-atl]

Video #2 is up. It doesnt quite catch up to where I am in this build thread but its close. Next week Ill finally be bringing the camper down to Phoenix to start the next phase. Please watch like and subscribe!!

 

[Atl-atl]

Well, I cant believe its been three months since I last updated this thread. I have been working on the camper a lot but its been incredibly slow going. When you mix that with holidays and tons of house projects and tons of other vehicle projects, as well as trying to sneak in some "just the two of us" time with the wife before the birth of our first child, well, some things get put on simmer. Ive got some pretty big updates though! Ive moved the camper down to my shop in Phoenix where I will complete it over the winter. A 2 car garage in Flagstaff in the winter isnt ideal for a project like this ha. Ive taken a lot of video and timelapse that I need to put together into something watchable. For now itll just be a normal update.


I picked up a stock K5 fiberglass top thats in terrible condition to use as the "gasket" between the truck and camper. Same as I did on my other Blazer. And just like the last time I immediately cut it into pieces to salvage just the front 3/4"



Then I tore into the roof. Man has this been a project. Delicately restoring something that is ten feet long, eight feet wide, made out of paper thin aluminum, covered in gunk and various sealants, held together with screws and staples that break and snap and is 40 years old is a real chore. not to mention trying to move it around by myself ha!

It took me a full week to strip all the old goop off the roof.






Here is the "inside" or ceiling, before tearing it apart. The stains on the fabric are from the old canvas and lift panels. It was almost completely dry inside the ceiling which I was ecstatic to find out.


Here is the after, with the original insulation in place. Thankfully it was in nearly new condition inside. The roof of this camper only had one tiny pin hole leak that never even made it through the fiberglass to get into the camper. For a hot minute I was planning to reuse the fiberglass but decided against it for a variety of reasons.

 

[Atl-atl]

But wait, THERES MORE!!
Once everything was cleaned out I got to rewiring. I used 10awg for the main wires which is overkill but I figured a little bigger than necessary isnt a bad thing. I also opted to use rubber grommets everywhere the wires go through the aluminum frame. A little lube helps a lot during this process. The holes are incredibly sharp, Im quite surprised none of the original wiring had been sliced and shorted, or worse.


I rerouted the entry point slightly so the wires hide behind the rear lift panel. Ive always disliked the way these campers were wired from the factory.


I soldered the connections for the two overhead lights and the fan. The original wiring used vampire clamps. Im even more surprised that these held up than I was about the wiring not getting cut by the frame. Final note, camper wiring is odd to me, black represents + and white negative. It was this was back in the 70s when FWC made these and its still this way today. The brand new MaxxFan that I bought is black + and white - , weird. In trailer wiring green is the hot for a 7 pin plug so I chose green for my long run from the ceiling down to where I will have a fuse block inside the camper. This way the future owner can run power off the trailer harness wiring if they want to and it will all be consistent. Or they can do whatever else they want ha.


Here it is empty, save for the wiring.


After much internal deliberation I wound up choosing to use aluminum backed 1" closed cell foam insulation instead of fiberglass batt insulation. For starters its nearly impossible to find 1" thick fiberglass batt. Also its a potential allergen(or worse) and since its going to be on the other side of perforated vinyl I decided against it.


I decided to use aluminum tape to seal up all the seams prior to installing the new vinyl. Then I fastened the first section of vinyl using the amazing HH-66 glue. Only going around the edges and only just laying the fabric flat, not pulling it too taught. The wood slat trim strips will hold the center of the vinyl in place.


Main was it a tedious project getting the vinyl in place but it turned out great.

 

[MR E30]

Nice work Mike

 

[ExpoMike]

I think the wiring colors are held over from household wiring. No idea why companies using 12v items didn't use the standard red/black but my guess it was likely because builders were using household wire for both the A/C systems and D/C systems, so they didn't have to stock any other wiring supplies.