Happy Birthday

This weekend was my 38th birthday. I decided to take the day off in order to work on the camper. I wanted to remove the interior paneling to determine the state of the electrical and 12 volt system. This would also reveal any upper rot that needs to be reconciled.

The electrical has obviously been reworked at least once. It all looked pretty solid. The AC and 12v are separate systems where the 12v only runs the exterior lights on the camper. The AC has 2 lights, 2 outlets, a fan line and breakers. I am hoping to rewire the camper so that the AC and 12v work together like modern rv's. I plan to run at least 1 deep cycle battery in order to allow for dry camping. The plan is to run lights, DVD player, and a vent fan when only on 12 volt. When AC is available to be able to run everything including AC.

I do not plan to run a fridge, or running water at this point, but as my knowledge builds this may change. I have been ready a good book called Managing 12 Volts by Harold Barre. Conversations on the electrical are fun, but it will be sometime before I get to that part of the project. Why you ask? Wasn't that the point of removing all the interior paneling? Well there is a reason I called this the Nebraskan Camper. The top is junk.

I knew the top by some rot, but between the top and the bottom, I thought the bottom was worse. I was wrong. removing the interior revealed a top that is very rotted. I sat in the camper for a long while contemplating the situation and determining the next steps if any. The camper was either ready to be junked, or I make a real commitment and rebuild the top from scratch. The top is really quite simple. There are 3/4" plywood ends and 2x2 runners and window frames. This does not sound too difficult, but it is made more challenging since the camper is in my backyard and not moving until the tree guy removed the 2 very large trees in my backyard, the snow melts, I rebuild the fence, and create a driveway to the alley. That means that any and all rebuilding will need to take place where it is. - great. The good thing is that I estimate the total cost at less then $200 to rebuild the entire framing.

Then there is the matter of the exterior. I was planning to save this to cut costs, but I am doubtful that I will be able to reuse it once a new frame is built. For that matter a rebuilt top deserves a new shell. I have no idea on this yet, but we will not let that from letting us proceed.


Here is nice pic of the interior paneling removed.

Not looking so good

This is what I had hoped for.

This is what I got...

From the outside.
I had to put the camper on blocks so that it would be easier to work on the top. Plus nothing looks better then having something up on blocks in your backyard.

Not so good electrical connection. That is just plain scary.

A nice picture of my ghetto backyard.

The best picture for last. A fifty year old camper on blocks under a tarp. I just need to slap my wife a few times and buy some cheap beer and the package will be complete.

Camper cost

I wanted to address this earlier, but got excited about rebuild pictures. I bought this camper for several reasons.

First, I wanted an Alaskan camper and this was the first one I have ever seen for sale within several hundred miles.

Second I am not sure what I want in a camper. The new smaller campers did not meet my expectations for luxuries while the large camper require a monster truck. I wanted a smaller camper to experiment on.

Third, I like living as debt free as possible.

So here is the break down so far.

Camper - $500 (Craigs list)
Jacks - $100 (Craigs list WTB response - lucky me)
Wood and hardware to replace the floor - $75
New electric drill (yes I am cheap) - $30
Re-plumb the lift mechanism - $35
Total cost to date - $740

Upper Cabinets

I pulled the upper cabinets out today. I plan to remove all of the internal paneling so that I can add foam insulation, fix some rot along the edges, and redo the wiring. I managed to feel some electrical current a couple of months back when I touched the camper while also touching the jack. I have been doing research on 12v systems and plan to rewire the camper just to be sure it is safe.

Not planning anything grand. I want to be able to run off shore power, or battery. Electricity has never been my store suit, so I order a book.

http://www.amazon.com/Managing-12-Volts-Troubleshoot-Electrical/dp/0964738627

I have also been doing some research on the tear drop forum. If you have not checked this site out it is worth a look. There is a done of DIY camper information there applicable to all campers.

http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/

Here are the 3 upper cabinets. I have been deciding whether to build new, or paint the old. I am leaning on building new at this point to give the camper an updated look. Probably face frames and 2 doors per cabinet. I also need a 4th cabinet. There are only 3 in the standard Alaska layout, but since my camper is empty I might as well fill that space for more storage. Now to decide what wood to use. I think something light and natural with just a Tung oil finish. I will want to match the new interior paneling once that is installed.



I could some help identifing this plastic. It is used throughout the camper to fill in any gaps in the cabinets where they are mounted to the camper. What is it? And where can I get something close? It is a plastic tab with a round end on one side used to cover up any gaps between the cabinets and the paneling.


Next up is to work on rebuilding these and work on pulling the paneling out. There are way too may tiny screws in the Alaskan. I have hundreds to remove. Once the paneling is removed the extent of the upper damage will be apparent. I do not feel positive about this, but it needs to be done in order to create a platform worth remodeling in the first place.

Replacing the hydraulics - the evil flare tool

The Flare tool is not your friend

I set to work this weekend on repairing the lift mechanism on the Alaska camper. I had nicked one of the lines gutting the camper. Once bare, I was not too keen on the how the lines where laid out. They meet dead center in the middle of the camper. Since I want to build 2 beds long the wheel wells and keep the center open, I needed a new layout. I was not too sure of how to go about re-plumbing the lines, and turned to Expedition Portal for advise. The general consensus was to keep the lines all the same length; which is how the original set-up is configured.

Armed with a few tips, I went to work. First up was a trip to Menard's for some new 1/4” copper line and a lovely flare tool. Total cost was $26 and $9 for hydraulic fluid at Advanced Auto Parts down the street.


Flare tool bad:


Flare tool good - remember the connector...


Well it took most of the afternoon, but I did finally get all the lines laid out basically how I wanted them along the wheel wells. The basic layout is the same. The left and right sides are connected. These connections are split in the middle. From here feeder lines run back to join both sides and finally the pump line runs to the connection of both feeders. This means that all lines are essentially the same length and receive equal hydraulic pressure from the pump.





Black beauty is finally down.

In the end I did get the jack working and was able to lower the camper for the first time in a couple of months. I was worried that there would be some leaks caused by having the lift cylinders empty for so long. This was not that case and all the seals seemed to hold. The one that did not was the only once I forgot to tighten. Needless to say, I cleaned up hydraulic fluid for some time and several more F bombs where recited.

Goals

Now that I have actually started the restoration, I thought it was a good time to re-examine my goals for this camper.

1. Use the camper to travel to the Grand Canyon with my son in June for 5 - 10 days (TBD).
2. Use the camper to explore Nebraska and surrounding states - looking for out of the way adventures (minor ones)

Camper Goals
1. Sleep 3 adults in a T configuration. 2 single beds along the wheel wells. 1 single bed across the camper towards the truck cab. This bed will fold down to provide back support for sitting on the 2 other beds when rellaxi
2. Late night Facilities so that you do not have to leave the camper if you choose not too. #1 only.
3. Fantastic Fan
4. AC - it gets darn hot in NE during the summer
5. Outdoor water. I like the outdoor showers on new campers. I just really need cold water and a sprayer
6. Battery power for lights, fan, maybe a laptop or DVD player since my son is 13 and likes his electronics
7. Outside lighting to read by so that a lantern is not required.
8. Some sort of awning that is self contained and easy to deploy.
9. Drawers and doors to store stuff.
10. Coffee maker or someway quick to make coffee in the morning. I hate waiting for it.

I am sure there will be a lot more, but some decisions need to be determined before I start building inside the camper. This is the part I am most looking forward too. The next post will describe what needs to be done before I can build out the interior.

Torsion Box

These pictures are in reverse order as I am still trying to figure out the blogger interface. I built this torsion box to go under the primary floor for a couple of reason. I needed to raise the camper a little to clear the bed rails on my truck. I also wanted to add whatever storage I could manage. The 2 outside compartments are 16" and the center is 24". All that is left is to fasten the 2 together.

This thing was heavier then I would have liked. I ended up dragging it over the snow from the deck to the camper. Again with the weight issue. Once I get the basics done, I plan to weight it in order to establish a baseline.



Here is a shot of the completed box. 2 1/2" sheets and several 2X4's. I used stainless steel deck screws to put it together. Once the weather improves, I will seal and paint it to increase its lifespan.

Attaching the Floor

Here are a few pictures of how I secured the floor. I ended up using 2X4's screwed to the walls and then up from the bottom. This resulted in a very secure connection. One item I need to keep in mind is weight. I really do not want this to be a tank, so I will need to watch it as the restoration continues.



Above is the area of rot that I need to complete repairs on. Even so, I wanted to secure the floor to align the camper since it will sit for a week before I can work on it again. This will need to be removed to complete repairs.


Here is looking in the camper to the left of the door. No rot here - sweet.

Here is one of the 2X4 braces. This will be covered up once the beds are completed.

More Floor

Here are some pictures from the inside of the new floor. It is 1/2 inch plywood instead of the 3/4. This is because I need to lift the camper to clear the rails on my F150. I am building a drawer box under the floor to raise the camper. The logic is that having separate pieces will make the camper more flexible in the future if I get a different truck and need to change the hight
This picture is just the camper sitting on the floor, but not secured. I needed to determine the best way to attach the floor. Since the sides are 1/2" I was not real keen on screwing stainless deck screws into the walls.

Replacing the floor

Once the old plywood was exposed we see the floor for what it was - toast. A previous owner had added an additional 3/4 sheet under the original and then used auto body putty to fill in the missing spots. The newer floor was bolted to the old so I removed all the nuts and slowly raised the camper. To my amazement the addition stayed put and I slid it out from under the camper. Now onto the primary floor.

I lowered the camper back down and started to ponder the removal of the primary floor. Now I figure this could go 1 of about 3 ways.

1. I jack up the camper and pry off the primary floor. The camper collapses and fall on me. resulting in me losing $500 bucks and gaining a trip to the Emergency room or the undertaker.
2. The camper explodes and falls away from me - thus I retain my good looks, and only lose the $500.
3. The god of stupidity takes pity on me knowing a future dumb idea will be forthcoming and more worthy of my demise.

Now a smarter man would have planned more then 5 minutes, but I have been looking at this camper since October every morning and I wanted to make some real progress. Once again, I jacked up the camper and uses a pry bar removed the primary floor. Nothing happened. Realizing, this was not the dumbest thing I had ever done I wasted no time laying a piece of 1/2 plywood under the camper and lowering back down. Not everything lines up as expected, but I would solve that later.

Now I do not have pictures of the floor being removed, or once it was removed. I am talented, but really could not figure out to to get my crap of a camera out while carrying a full sheet of plywood 30 feet, down some stairs, and then across and icy backyard. You will just have to believe me that sometimes stupid people do stupid things and they actually work out.

Here is a picture of the camper once the new plywood was under, but not attached. Not real exciting, but I never claimed any particular skill set. Next step - attach the floor and re-align the camper.

Once the old plywood was exposed we see the floor for what it was - toast.

The first picture is looking into the camper and right to the. The second picture is the same corner from the outside.

Empty the Camper

I started my little remodel and all good slash and burn campaigns go by removing all of the items possible in the camper. Luckily there was not much. Some cheap auto carpet and a bed. Under the carpet was some nasty vinyl flooring. That took a little more work with the heat gun. I also managed to nick on of the hydraulic lines during the process and had to clean up fluid for several days, but more on that in a future post.

Once the camper was empty, I stood back in admired it in all of its glory. OK I had bought a POS. No matter. It was paid for and I could really make it mine - or not...

The camper

This is the first picture I could find. I realized early on that the camper needed help. The floor was rotting away and the upper section needs help too. I do a fair amount of woodworking so none of this scared me, but needless to say this is and will be a project.

Here is a picture of the camper prior to removing the floor. I need to remove the bottom half of the outer shell which is revealed.

I have lots of pictures replacing the floor that I will add soon.

About the camper

I bought the camper from a older gentleman in Omaha. He had used it traveling for more then 20 years. It cost me a grand total of 500 dollars. A great deal so I thought. The camper was gutted of the original design. He had carpeted the inside and added a double bed. In general the camper was in ok condition. There are no broken windows, the door operates as intended and the jack system was functional. My camper is an 8 foot non cab over design built in the 50's.

I loaded the camper into my F150 and home I drove - slowly. There are NO tie downs on this thing - the guy said he never needed them, but since this was my first truck camper I was nervous and took the old back roads home to Lincoln (60 miles).

The camper stayed in the truck for the month of October since I had no way to remove it. Poor planning on my part, but... I finally found a couple of used camper jacks in Iowa in November and my plans improved. I drove the wife's Prius to pick them up and although the jacks where huge the Pruis ate them up like usual. I am constantly amazed and what this little car will do.

I now had a camper and some scary looking jacks and nowhere to put the camper. We live in an old house with a single driveway and a model T garage. We do have an alley behind the house, but no backyard access from the alley. The wife and I had been discussing a back yard remodel in 2010 and the camper project seemed to be committing me too it if I wanted to store it behind the house.

Since this is supposed to be about my camper and camping, I will shorten the next part. November was a warm Nebraska month and in this month, I removed the 24 foot pool, cut off 1/2 of the deck around the pool, removed the fence, built a camper stand from the old deck material. rented a roll off to dispose of the deck, and finally removed the camper from my truck to a spot behind the garage.

So where does that leave me. My backyard is a disaster, the camper is ready for work, and the wife expects a nicely sodded backyard with a pond in the spring. I finally got rid of the pool after 7 years and now have to maintain a pond...great

December rolled around and Mother Earth decided Nebraska was where all the snow intended for CO needed to fall. We received over 2 feet of snow in December; which is 2 more feet then usual - that I can remember. Now, Nebraska is cold, but snow like this? Not since I was a kid. I do not like cold and I hate shoveling snow. So that camper sat for all of December until finally, I could not take in any longer. The weekend of Jan 30, I was determined to work on the camper.

First Post

This site has 2 primary purposes. First is to document the restoring of a 1954 Alaska camper. There is not a lot of information on the internet on these. There are a few posts on Expedition portal and there is a Yahoo group, but overall more information is needed. Second, is to document some of the great places in Nebraska to camp and explore. And yes, I hope to do this in my new to me Nebraskan camper.