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Rebuilding of a Truck Camper

Have not done too much. Spent the weekend out of town. I did do a little today.
Yanked off the last board on this side. It had to come off in one piece. Need it to make the new board.
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I plan on making the new board one long section, unlike the old. I will also use pressure treated 1/2" lumber and a 2X4 cut down to size needed.
Here it is laid out over the left over cuts of plywood. Waste not, want not, our something like that! :rolleyes5:
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Here it is waiting on the overload of glue to dry. I still need to purchase more clamps.
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That is about all I did today. If we get no rain tomorrow I will do more.
 
I have been working on this section the last couple of days. It is finally installed! :agreed:
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I had to or needed to purchase a tool to assist with these curved cuts, keep them square.
This little scroll saw seemed to do the trick. I picked it up at a pawn shop for less than $50.
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I will get the back and bottom boards up today. Then I will just need to seal the wood. :thumbsup:
 
NVW said:
Looking good Marty:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Thanks! :thumbsup:

My camper kept marking it's territory. I finally got smart and placed the toilet inside and hooked up the waterline.
I have attempted to dump all the water out of this thing numerous times. I guess I still did not get it all.
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I got the two back corner boards installed. They did not turn out as I envisioned. They are at least installed.
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I also got the last bottom board installed. I still need to go behind and cut my mess of nails off with a small grinder.
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I just remembered I need to install 1 or 2 more boards for the bumper side to mount to.
I will do that and seal this wood up and then I can move on to other places. :D
 
Did nothing exciting today. Added the two boards for the side of the bumper. Removed all the nails and staples that were pocking out. I also started sealing up this side so I can start to close it back up.
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I will continue to seal up the wood. I am thinking about tapping into the reverse lights so I can add bigger lights to the back. It would be easy since I have all the wires accessible at the moment.
 
Have not got to much done over the last couple of days worth showing. Besides the crazy weather applying wood sealer is just plan boring. I did move stuff around inside the camper in preparation for the fridge removal. It seems the fridge is only held in place with 4 screws.
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I have applied more than a couple of coats of wood sealer. Once this one dries I will start to attach the siding. I filled in the gap in the lower back corner of the camper. It was bothering me, so I filled it in with wood and glue. I still need to attach it with some nails.
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I have applied a few coats across the back also. I cut out and inserted the red foam. I removed the door so I can seal it up and fill the cracks with liquid nails. I have not yet added the extra reverse wire. I plan on splicing in to the tail light splice. It will prevent me from making new holes in the wire harness. Plus this way seems easier.
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I am currently waiting on sealer to dry. I think I need to attach some L brackets across the back left side. The bumper will pull down on all the wood I have attached. It might need the extra support.
 
I went and got four brackets. I only used 3 of them. I hope this helps with supporting the bumper. Of course the bumper only had about 3 to 6 bolts holding it up before I started ripping into this rebuild. Here is the first one I installed, by the door on the left side of the camper.
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Here is the other two brackets.
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I got the wood sealed up good on the left and across the top. Need a few more coats on the bottom right. Also started installing siding.
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I got another coat of sealer across the bottom and around the door, still needs more.
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I left the door off for the night. I hope it is warmer tomorrow. In 49F weather the sealer is taking forever to dry.
 
This little piece of wood took me three tries to get it cut correctly. It was driving me insane seeing the ugly V-hole down there. Well, I finally got it fixed. It might not be pretty, but it will never come out.
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I put more coats of sealer on the wood. Then I got the other side of the opening panel placed up.
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I put the thin factory foam layer back up and held it in place with some black duck tape. Then I installed the next lower panel on the left side. I also went ahead and stapled down the one on the right side.
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I still need a couple more coats of sealer across the back underside. I am hoping to get the rest of the panels back up by this weekend. I still need to drag out the bumper and do a fit test. It is all coming along slowly! :agreed:
 
I started to get the fitment of the last piece(s) of siding the runs down the back and folds under the bottom. I never had a board any place across the back on this. It was either rotted or completely gone. My guess work of the last and bottom wood was off by about 1/4". Here is two different views of what I am talking about.
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and here
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On the bright side I got to check the fitment of the bumper. Out of three sides it had to mate too I got two correct. Both sides are just about perfect. The bottom is off some on one side. When I installed the wood beam I got it crooked on the right side. I will make some wood shims for were the bolts go through to fix the small problem. If you blow up the picture you might be able to see it.
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I have two ideas on how to fix the siding issue.
One, lay the siding on a board and straighten it out with a hammer. The place it up on the camper and reform the bend.
Two, trim the wood beam down. It will have to be done with it on the camper. No way in hell that board is coming out.

I am leaning toward idea one. It just seems to be so much easier.
 
ak diesel driver said:
me being a wood guy I'd cut the beam. you'll never be able to hide that rebend in the metal
Click to expand...

How would you cut it? What saw? I guess I could start the cut with a circular saw and do the finish cuts with my multi saw.

So close, yet so far away! :mad2:
 
I got the door prop holder installed. I did this on Friday sometime. I did no work yesterday due to the rain.
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I got the back bottom wood beam trimmed down. Here is the left siding just laid in place.
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I also had to trim up more wood to install the last piece of siding on the left wing. Here is the siding fully installed.
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I already put one coat of wood sealer across the bottom and the places I cut. I will put at least two more coats on before I install the last three pieces of the rear siding.
 
I got the rear lower wood beam all sealed up. I cut the old screws off the shower support boards. I installed them and stapled them to the floor. They seem short so I will have to shim them up. There was no floor there before to judge from. But, there was flooring under there before. This would explain the gap.
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I still need to drill the hole for the license plate lights wire. I will do that in the morning. I will also install the rear lower siding. If I have time I will fully reinstall the door. I have a busy and long day tomorrow helping out a buddy.
 
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