Until now my modest Lil' Queeny had remained covered up nice. Oh sure, I was starting to get peaks at what she had hidden underneath, but between her aluminum sided outer covers and the under covering of fiberglass wrap, she was still something of a mystery.
Having made certain all fasteners were removed and that the metal was just draped over the frame, I proceeded to the siding storage solution. Originally I had planned to roll the metal into a cylinder shape and perhaps hang the roll from a high point near the ceiling out of the way. However, some of the nail and staple holes along the end edges started threatening to tear as the metal was manipulated. Because of that, I flattened the 90 degree folded edges to prevent such stress and realized a storage (and removal) process was required which retained the draped shape and was as gentle as possible. Enter Lil' Willy.
Lil' Willy is our 1954 CJ3B Willys Jeep, whom we had the pleasure to welcome to our family in about 1995. Even so, he just kind of laid around the house and garage until 2005, the year I gave him a new motor. Since then he has been all over with us, including Alaska and most recently taking my son and I Elk hunting near our home. In recent days Lil' Willy was just sitting patiently on one side of the garage while I had my attentions on this new girl Lil' Queeny.
I looked at Lil' Willy, I looked at Lil' Queeny... I think it could work.
I got a couple of quilts from DW to spread over, and protect, the Jeep's soft top and ran over to the home center where I picked up some lengths of PVC pipe. Here was my solution...
Then I got on the phone to enlist bodies. My son and his buddy and one neighbor later, along with DW and self, we positioned the camper perpendicular to its normal location on the rolling dolly casters, then slid the roofing off the camper and gently walked it right over the PVC arches built over Lil' Willy.
The toolbox was placed to offer more protection to the front corners of the cabover siding ends, and in fact the fresh and grey water tanks (not pictured) are now alongside the toolbox to protect the other corner.
With the metal off, the under cover of insulation was still preventing a full view, but I was seeing some of those "exciting possibilities" 67avion mentioned a little bit ago.
The insulation wraps were only stapled along their lower edges. I freed those spots and went inside to get DW for the unveiling.
I was ecstatic! Seeing all that fresh, undamaged wood was good for the soul. The roof had held all these years, even around the vents and the metal tear at the rear vent, and another patched hole in the forward area where it looks like a branch got the better of Lil' Queeny one day on a trip from her past. It brought a balance to her ugly scars and festering wounds from those evil corner jacks; a sort of yin and yang if you will.
The tedious outer layer removal process was over and I needed room to work. The first step was to reorganize my parts storage methods. The rest of the metal went from a temporary location to it's new home "Under The Dome". The drawers, cabinet doors and metal access doors went on Lil' Willy's hood. The windows and screen frames went under the Jeep. The new holding tanks and porti-potti left their spot on the cabover bed and went with their friends to the other side of the garage as well. Now there was room to finish getting metal off the front box wall and cabover roof.
Lil' Queeny stood there proud and gorgeous in all her natural glory! It was time to get serious.
Having made certain all fasteners were removed and that the metal was just draped over the frame, I proceeded to the siding storage solution. Originally I had planned to roll the metal into a cylinder shape and perhaps hang the roll from a high point near the ceiling out of the way. However, some of the nail and staple holes along the end edges started threatening to tear as the metal was manipulated. Because of that, I flattened the 90 degree folded edges to prevent such stress and realized a storage (and removal) process was required which retained the draped shape and was as gentle as possible. Enter Lil' Willy.
Lil' Willy is our 1954 CJ3B Willys Jeep, whom we had the pleasure to welcome to our family in about 1995. Even so, he just kind of laid around the house and garage until 2005, the year I gave him a new motor. Since then he has been all over with us, including Alaska and most recently taking my son and I Elk hunting near our home. In recent days Lil' Willy was just sitting patiently on one side of the garage while I had my attentions on this new girl Lil' Queeny.
I looked at Lil' Willy, I looked at Lil' Queeny... I think it could work.
I got a couple of quilts from DW to spread over, and protect, the Jeep's soft top and ran over to the home center where I picked up some lengths of PVC pipe. Here was my solution...
Then I got on the phone to enlist bodies. My son and his buddy and one neighbor later, along with DW and self, we positioned the camper perpendicular to its normal location on the rolling dolly casters, then slid the roofing off the camper and gently walked it right over the PVC arches built over Lil' Willy.
The toolbox was placed to offer more protection to the front corners of the cabover siding ends, and in fact the fresh and grey water tanks (not pictured) are now alongside the toolbox to protect the other corner.
With the metal off, the under cover of insulation was still preventing a full view, but I was seeing some of those "exciting possibilities" 67avion mentioned a little bit ago.
The insulation wraps were only stapled along their lower edges. I freed those spots and went inside to get DW for the unveiling.
I was ecstatic! Seeing all that fresh, undamaged wood was good for the soul. The roof had held all these years, even around the vents and the metal tear at the rear vent, and another patched hole in the forward area where it looks like a branch got the better of Lil' Queeny one day on a trip from her past. It brought a balance to her ugly scars and festering wounds from those evil corner jacks; a sort of yin and yang if you will.
The tedious outer layer removal process was over and I needed room to work. The first step was to reorganize my parts storage methods. The rest of the metal went from a temporary location to it's new home "Under The Dome". The drawers, cabinet doors and metal access doors went on Lil' Willy's hood. The windows and screen frames went under the Jeep. The new holding tanks and porti-potti left their spot on the cabover bed and went with their friends to the other side of the garage as well. Now there was room to finish getting metal off the front box wall and cabover roof.
Lil' Queeny stood there proud and gorgeous in all her natural glory! It was time to get serious.
With Lil' Queeny tucked in the garage nice and neat the exterior dis-assembly began in earnest.
I've never done a full camper before. Well, there was that time in the early 90's when I tore apart a too-far gone truck camper my Dad gave us and I salvaged a great deal of it, including the siding which I wrapped around railroad ties lining our outdoor pig-roasting pit, and the wiring that I still pull from in a container in the garage. I retrofitted the fridge (replacing an ice box) and fresh water system into our 1954 canned ham 15' trailer. That worked out pretty good too as we never froze up the water line while elk hunting that one year until the outside temperature reached -15. So we left the Jackson Hole area driving through Yellowstone as about the last outfit through and coasted on fumes down to Cody where we got a room in the historic Irma Hotel and had a hot bath in the claw-foot tub and mistakenly threw away our dirty hunting clothes temporarily placed in a black plastic bag when we threw out the other trash bag, but I digress.
I started by pulling corner moldings, windows, access doors, etc. As I went I tried to make a complete removal of the putty between the siding and the removed items. I discovered a (new to me) green sticky putty was used, probably from the factory.
Most of us are familiar with the white RV putty tape. And some of us may have tried plumbers putty (grey and not as sticky) and who among us could possibly be unfamiliar with the evil, if sometimes effective, silicon caulking? I hate that stuff, both when you put it on, and when you attempt removal. I say attempt because it CANNOT be removed.
After a previous owner had installed (or had installed by that earlier mentioned high-school kid) the aftermarket camper corner jacks, and had destroyed the 1x2 by 8.5" long side wall corner framing, and had split and tore up the 5/8" plywood edges of the front and back walls, the lag bolts just wouldn't grab tight and for the rest of the jacks' lives they must have just kind of hung there, flapping in the breeze.
Of course one solution to an inability to make a fastener fasten is to use glue, right? So approximately one tube of silicon caulking was added to each of the corner brackets and they were stuck onto the torn up corners, maybe just to cover up the nasty holes in the siding. Then the jacks were hung back on like a pretty Christmas tree ornament.
Also, the front tie downs were hand tightened and then further secured too securely on the metal framework under and bolted to the wings for the original jack system and the front edge of the plywood wing on both sides was pulled down away from the front wall plywood, making a nice vent for passengers maybe riding in the camper.
Perhaps after their summer trips when they appreciated the new interior venting, they took a winter camp and the venting from the holes which had been opened up became too cold and they filled the up to half inch gap with caulking. The assembly stables every inch or so along the open gap assisted the caulking in retaining it's position.
I don't mean to criticize any previous owners. We all suffer from ignorance and none of us know everything about everything. We want these things held down and to stay in the truck right? And manufacturers could do a so much better job building these critical stress areas. I'll be paying special attention to my jacks and tie-down areas when we get to that on the rebuild.
The putty used on most of my removed pieces was a dark olive green color, and boy is it dense and sticky! I used a metal scrapper to clean it off as I went, and at the same time developed a process where I was removing the attached item, the putty, the siding edge staples and small nails, and siding screws. I saved the screws but of course won't reuse them. The bottom edge of the back wall was arguably the worst, with attempted past repairs, and rotten wood areas and damage.
I stored removed items where best I could in my garage (not shop) and have since rearranged several times. This sort of removal process is quite tedious, but having it in the garage allowed me to get to it for short periods, or longer periods, or let it set for a few days, etc. Life went on with some other activities. Finally back in the garage I kept working. Here are a number of pictures, some with explanations above the picture...
Rear access door rough opening. 3/4" plywood edging looks original. The back wall plywood edge around the door (5/8" plus 1/8" of interior paneling for a total 3/4" wall thickness) was quite rotted and damaged in places from past water intrusion around the door.
This view shows the sectioned siding, removed from bottom upward, the underlying insulation and the water damaged rear small storage access door rough opening. This floor plan and door area appears to have been an outside tool storage location, doubling (from the manufacturer) as a possible black water tank location for a possible stool option. The board above my storage space had, from the closet side, a 1/2" plywood floor on top of another 1/2" plywood sub-floor with a toilet flange sized hole in it.
Typical old-school clearance light base.
The close corner has a siding tear about 3" long from the corner toward the camera. It's hard to see, but you can see where I scrapped off the previous sealant for the tear.
Before and after scrapping. Another example on the camper top front edge of owner belief that "more is better". I believe a seal is best made by removing the old, and do the new afresh. Don't just put it on top of the old.
The camper insulation consisted of a fiberglass wrapping (I kind of choke trying to say batt because it is so thin). The fiberglass thickness is only about 1/4" but the metalized reflective surface was installed inboard so as to cause most of the camper's insulative value to be in the form of reflecting radiant heat back into the camper. It's pretty hard to get a good R-value in a thin camper wall so really, reflection of radiant heat may well be the most effective anyway. Plus the closed cell structure of wood is pretty good once heated up. I've really researched home insulation concepts, log home logs, radiant versus r-value, etc. in the past. Additionally, cutting out drafts in an RV is arguably the most important; one more reason I dislike slides for cold weather use.
Note how the el-shaped plywood extension (lower left) is held to the main wall plywood with stapled siding gussets.
The reveal continued.
This is how it looked for a good deal of September and early October. Tomorrow I'll post the unveiling (siding removal).
I've never done a full camper before. Well, there was that time in the early 90's when I tore apart a too-far gone truck camper my Dad gave us and I salvaged a great deal of it, including the siding which I wrapped around railroad ties lining our outdoor pig-roasting pit, and the wiring that I still pull from in a container in the garage. I retrofitted the fridge (replacing an ice box) and fresh water system into our 1954 canned ham 15' trailer. That worked out pretty good too as we never froze up the water line while elk hunting that one year until the outside temperature reached -15. So we left the Jackson Hole area driving through Yellowstone as about the last outfit through and coasted on fumes down to Cody where we got a room in the historic Irma Hotel and had a hot bath in the claw-foot tub and mistakenly threw away our dirty hunting clothes temporarily placed in a black plastic bag when we threw out the other trash bag, but I digress.
I started by pulling corner moldings, windows, access doors, etc. As I went I tried to make a complete removal of the putty between the siding and the removed items. I discovered a (new to me) green sticky putty was used, probably from the factory.
Most of us are familiar with the white RV putty tape. And some of us may have tried plumbers putty (grey and not as sticky) and who among us could possibly be unfamiliar with the evil, if sometimes effective, silicon caulking? I hate that stuff, both when you put it on, and when you attempt removal. I say attempt because it CANNOT be removed.
After a previous owner had installed (or had installed by that earlier mentioned high-school kid) the aftermarket camper corner jacks, and had destroyed the 1x2 by 8.5" long side wall corner framing, and had split and tore up the 5/8" plywood edges of the front and back walls, the lag bolts just wouldn't grab tight and for the rest of the jacks' lives they must have just kind of hung there, flapping in the breeze.
Of course one solution to an inability to make a fastener fasten is to use glue, right? So approximately one tube of silicon caulking was added to each of the corner brackets and they were stuck onto the torn up corners, maybe just to cover up the nasty holes in the siding. Then the jacks were hung back on like a pretty Christmas tree ornament.
Also, the front tie downs were hand tightened and then further secured too securely on the metal framework under and bolted to the wings for the original jack system and the front edge of the plywood wing on both sides was pulled down away from the front wall plywood, making a nice vent for passengers maybe riding in the camper.
Perhaps after their summer trips when they appreciated the new interior venting, they took a winter camp and the venting from the holes which had been opened up became too cold and they filled the up to half inch gap with caulking. The assembly stables every inch or so along the open gap assisted the caulking in retaining it's position.
I don't mean to criticize any previous owners. We all suffer from ignorance and none of us know everything about everything. We want these things held down and to stay in the truck right? And manufacturers could do a so much better job building these critical stress areas. I'll be paying special attention to my jacks and tie-down areas when we get to that on the rebuild.
The putty used on most of my removed pieces was a dark olive green color, and boy is it dense and sticky! I used a metal scrapper to clean it off as I went, and at the same time developed a process where I was removing the attached item, the putty, the siding edge staples and small nails, and siding screws. I saved the screws but of course won't reuse them. The bottom edge of the back wall was arguably the worst, with attempted past repairs, and rotten wood areas and damage.
I stored removed items where best I could in my garage (not shop) and have since rearranged several times. This sort of removal process is quite tedious, but having it in the garage allowed me to get to it for short periods, or longer periods, or let it set for a few days, etc. Life went on with some other activities. Finally back in the garage I kept working. Here are a number of pictures, some with explanations above the picture...
Rear access door rough opening. 3/4" plywood edging looks original. The back wall plywood edge around the door (5/8" plus 1/8" of interior paneling for a total 3/4" wall thickness) was quite rotted and damaged in places from past water intrusion around the door.
This view shows the sectioned siding, removed from bottom upward, the underlying insulation and the water damaged rear small storage access door rough opening. This floor plan and door area appears to have been an outside tool storage location, doubling (from the manufacturer) as a possible black water tank location for a possible stool option. The board above my storage space had, from the closet side, a 1/2" plywood floor on top of another 1/2" plywood sub-floor with a toilet flange sized hole in it.
Typical old-school clearance light base.
The close corner has a siding tear about 3" long from the corner toward the camera. It's hard to see, but you can see where I scrapped off the previous sealant for the tear.
Before and after scrapping. Another example on the camper top front edge of owner belief that "more is better". I believe a seal is best made by removing the old, and do the new afresh. Don't just put it on top of the old.
The camper insulation consisted of a fiberglass wrapping (I kind of choke trying to say batt because it is so thin). The fiberglass thickness is only about 1/4" but the metalized reflective surface was installed inboard so as to cause most of the camper's insulative value to be in the form of reflecting radiant heat back into the camper. It's pretty hard to get a good R-value in a thin camper wall so really, reflection of radiant heat may well be the most effective anyway. Plus the closed cell structure of wood is pretty good once heated up. I've really researched home insulation concepts, log home logs, radiant versus r-value, etc. in the past. Additionally, cutting out drafts in an RV is arguably the most important; one more reason I dislike slides for cold weather use.
Note how the el-shaped plywood extension (lower left) is held to the main wall plywood with stapled siding gussets.
The reveal continued.
This is how it looked for a good deal of September and early October. Tomorrow I'll post the unveiling (siding removal).
Today's post is a slight deviation from the main topic; consider it an intermission of sorts, or perhaps an "in other news".
Yesterday I ran up to another town in Wyoming, about 130 miles from my home, with a friend and neighbor who has his early '70s Alaska Camper at another friend's shop for rebuild.
The rebuilder Kevin has rebuilt 14 units, and parted out 4. I hate to say restored or modified because in each case he does different things to a given camper based on what it actually needs. His first was of course for himself. Then he did one for each of his two kids, then his two buddies who are long-term hunting partners, and then for other friends and acquaintances, charging some labor and materials as his relationships changed. He and his wife figured it out once and determined he's making about $2 an hour for his labor. He claims he is sick and he was pleased to meet me and learn of my similar illness. As we all know, misery loves company.
During the course of our visit I picked his brain a bit, and he showed what he did on the recent camper. I learned some great tips.
He was not going to work much on the interior, that is to say he was leaving alone such things as interior wood finishing, curtains, cushions, etc. but he strengthened weak and damage areas, restored the exterior finish. etc.
An Alaska Camper is a hard-sided pop-up. After raising the roof the front cabover wall lifts forward into place and locks, then the two cabover side walls hinge up and lock. Therefore, you do have the camper open to the elements when popping up and when taking down, but once up it is a hard side.
The lift mechanism mounts, and of course the camper corners for jacks and tie-downs, get the most structural abuse and these are the specific locations Kevin rebuilds and strengthens. The strengthening is usually accomplished with aluminum plates on two sides, sandwiching the camper wall in between and bolted together.
Another location that is strengthened is the cabover floor and side wall to where it connects to the main camper. You'll notice the heavy metal additions in a radius to these corners.
He uses all stainless steal exterior screws and staples and on the interior he replaces all the paneling nails (which rust from interior moisture) with brass screws in an antique brass finish.
Kevin says something a little differently from what I heard elsewhere on this forum about the stainless steal screws and aluminum. Kevin says Regular steal and aluminum together cause a chemical reaction that creates a caustic gas which will corrode the joint, much like an electrolysis reaction. Others on here have told me it is the stainless steal and aluminum together which cause the caustic reaction. I don't know the truth.
{Edit update - Please read my next post on the stainless steal screw subject before making any conclusions.}
In my case, my camper is almost 50 years old as is. I might use regular (less expensive than stainless) steel screws and staples to reassemble mine because even just doing that, it will probably out-live me, and perhaps whichever of my children inherits it. I will do what I must to prevent a rust look however and I'll probably research the question and decide after that.
I am told, between the aluminum diamond tread plate, the aluminum sheet, the added aluminum corners/braces/etc., the stainless steel screws and staples, the brass screws, I guess some wood, and maybe other materials, the camper in the pictures to follow now has $2300 worth of materials in it! That is without appliance replacement etc. Oh, maybe it includes the aircraft grade epoxy paint. Not sure.
The pink ballerina curtain is a joke, as is the skeleton in the closet (if I got a picture of that).
I'm not sure what all Kevin was asked to do on the interior, but perhaps he fixed up some of the wood. I know he replaced all the paneling nails with screws and painted the furnace grill and is still going to remove the fridge and paint the edge metal to look better. He might have added some stain to the panels and now it needs some oil-wax or something, but here are the interior photos.
Here is a picture of Kevin and another camper he has under process. It is a non-cabover 10' Alaska.
As I stated, I learned some tips from Kevin. I also have his phone number for those times when I have questions. Like so many craftsmen of various disciplines, Kevin is old school and hasn't become an Internet or email user. Of course he (and others like him) will not be found here. I am glad to have made better acquaintance with him through my other friends.
The most important tip I learned that I can use right now, is Kevin's method for removing nails from the interior birch paneling without damage to the wood. He simply uses a reverse drill bit. As you may know, these nails are generally (if not always) a twist nail. As the nail is driven it turns slightly clockwise with the twist. The reverse drill action will twist it back out, never touching the wood. I was pretty worried about that step and now I have much greater confidence.
The next posts will take Lil' Queeny from my last post of getting her in the garage, to where she currently sits with her ribs exposed.
Yesterday I ran up to another town in Wyoming, about 130 miles from my home, with a friend and neighbor who has his early '70s Alaska Camper at another friend's shop for rebuild.
The rebuilder Kevin has rebuilt 14 units, and parted out 4. I hate to say restored or modified because in each case he does different things to a given camper based on what it actually needs. His first was of course for himself. Then he did one for each of his two kids, then his two buddies who are long-term hunting partners, and then for other friends and acquaintances, charging some labor and materials as his relationships changed. He and his wife figured it out once and determined he's making about $2 an hour for his labor. He claims he is sick and he was pleased to meet me and learn of my similar illness. As we all know, misery loves company.
During the course of our visit I picked his brain a bit, and he showed what he did on the recent camper. I learned some great tips.
He was not going to work much on the interior, that is to say he was leaving alone such things as interior wood finishing, curtains, cushions, etc. but he strengthened weak and damage areas, restored the exterior finish. etc.
An Alaska Camper is a hard-sided pop-up. After raising the roof the front cabover wall lifts forward into place and locks, then the two cabover side walls hinge up and lock. Therefore, you do have the camper open to the elements when popping up and when taking down, but once up it is a hard side.
The lift mechanism mounts, and of course the camper corners for jacks and tie-downs, get the most structural abuse and these are the specific locations Kevin rebuilds and strengthens. The strengthening is usually accomplished with aluminum plates on two sides, sandwiching the camper wall in between and bolted together.
Another location that is strengthened is the cabover floor and side wall to where it connects to the main camper. You'll notice the heavy metal additions in a radius to these corners.
He uses all stainless steal exterior screws and staples and on the interior he replaces all the paneling nails (which rust from interior moisture) with brass screws in an antique brass finish.
Kevin says something a little differently from what I heard elsewhere on this forum about the stainless steal screws and aluminum. Kevin says Regular steal and aluminum together cause a chemical reaction that creates a caustic gas which will corrode the joint, much like an electrolysis reaction. Others on here have told me it is the stainless steal and aluminum together which cause the caustic reaction. I don't know the truth.
{Edit update - Please read my next post on the stainless steal screw subject before making any conclusions.}
In my case, my camper is almost 50 years old as is. I might use regular (less expensive than stainless) steel screws and staples to reassemble mine because even just doing that, it will probably out-live me, and perhaps whichever of my children inherits it. I will do what I must to prevent a rust look however and I'll probably research the question and decide after that.
I am told, between the aluminum diamond tread plate, the aluminum sheet, the added aluminum corners/braces/etc., the stainless steel screws and staples, the brass screws, I guess some wood, and maybe other materials, the camper in the pictures to follow now has $2300 worth of materials in it! That is without appliance replacement etc. Oh, maybe it includes the aircraft grade epoxy paint. Not sure.
The pink ballerina curtain is a joke, as is the skeleton in the closet (if I got a picture of that).
I'm not sure what all Kevin was asked to do on the interior, but perhaps he fixed up some of the wood. I know he replaced all the paneling nails with screws and painted the furnace grill and is still going to remove the fridge and paint the edge metal to look better. He might have added some stain to the panels and now it needs some oil-wax or something, but here are the interior photos.
Here is a picture of Kevin and another camper he has under process. It is a non-cabover 10' Alaska.
As I stated, I learned some tips from Kevin. I also have his phone number for those times when I have questions. Like so many craftsmen of various disciplines, Kevin is old school and hasn't become an Internet or email user. Of course he (and others like him) will not be found here. I am glad to have made better acquaintance with him through my other friends.
The most important tip I learned that I can use right now, is Kevin's method for removing nails from the interior birch paneling without damage to the wood. He simply uses a reverse drill bit. As you may know, these nails are generally (if not always) a twist nail. As the nail is driven it turns slightly clockwise with the twist. The reverse drill action will twist it back out, never touching the wood. I was pretty worried about that step and now I have much greater confidence.
The next posts will take Lil' Queeny from my last post of getting her in the garage, to where she currently sits with her ribs exposed.
I removed enough accessories and structural components from the interior to determine I needed to replace the plywood of the wings because improperly using the metal grid structure for the jack system as a tie-down platform had pulled the metal grid and wing wood downward, bending it all and allowing water into the ends.
The rear two feet or so of the floor also looked suspect, but I thought perhaps I could live with that. Also, I was beginning to suspect I couldn't do the kind of job I wanted by removing one window at a time for cleanup, re-seal and re-installment. It was time to get the camper into the garage.
I had read on this forum how others had gone about building camper dollies. I knew I could do something with wood, but I just don't have the tools or skills for metal.
I settled on some strong swivel castors through Amazon (I think 500 lbs capacity each) and built two platforms, each with two wheels. One platform for the front and one for the rear, they are simply 2x8 by 4'. The camper floor joists are 2x2s run lengthwise so the 2x2s rest on the two platforms which are placed perpendicular (left to right).
Now of course I had to tie these platforms together or they would roll over so I ran 2x4 stringers between the platforms cutting their lengths to better fit the camper's center of gravity, making a final platform of about 4' by 6'. With a few fasteners removed, these dollies can be disassembled and stored, making it a portable system.
I also needed to unload the camper in front of the garage on an unpaved surface so I required a smooth surface for the casters to roll on. I built two runners out of 2x6 by 8' and screwed 1x2 by 8' along the two outer edges of the top surface of each 2x6. That left a channel on top of the 2x6 for the casters to roll in. I also fastened a short 1x2 to each down hill side of the runner to keep the camper from rolling off.
I loaded the camper far enough onto the truck to drive it into position and unloaded it as close as possible to the garage door taking into account how far the eave jutted out.
The process was to lower the camper onto the pre-positioned runners and dolly, move the camper two feet, lock the casters, raise the camper off the dolly, re-position the system closer to the garage another two feet, repeat. I think I had to lift it twice with my portable side jacks to get the runners against the concrete floor of the garage. I did it alone and it worked real smooth. Didn't take long and the camper was in the garage.
By this time I had resigned myself to the fact that this camper is a "winter project". I really hate to rush things; I just don't enjoy the process when I do. At times, and depending on the subject at hand, I am willing to overlook what might need to be done or to scrimp a bit on how it's done, but overall I'm what most would call anal. Some have told me I over-think things, but oh well. We are all what we are.
Having the camper in the garage gave me the psychological boost I needed to jump start the project anew in my head. Now I could remove portions without being concerned with the weather, or the wind, and I was much closer to the tools, the air-compressor, the radio, etc.
Earlier in the summer, my neighbor and long-time hunting partner retired and he found his own "old camper"; an early seventies Alaskan Pop-Up. While he is great with his home remodel projects, he just hasn't had an interest over the years in developing a vehicle/RV repairing capability. So he has farmed out his "Alaska Camper Rebuild" to the now retired high-school chum of our OTHER neighbor and hunting partner, a man who's retirement hobby is rebuilding vintage Alaska Campers. He has a large shop, all his tools, and the experience of rebuilding several Alaska Campers so apparently my neighbor's camper is now ready! I will tag along with him tomorrow to go pick it up from another town about 100 miles from here. I have met the other guy, but don't know him well. Tomorrow I will check out his operation and pick his brain for my own project.
The rear two feet or so of the floor also looked suspect, but I thought perhaps I could live with that. Also, I was beginning to suspect I couldn't do the kind of job I wanted by removing one window at a time for cleanup, re-seal and re-installment. It was time to get the camper into the garage.
I had read on this forum how others had gone about building camper dollies. I knew I could do something with wood, but I just don't have the tools or skills for metal.
I settled on some strong swivel castors through Amazon (I think 500 lbs capacity each) and built two platforms, each with two wheels. One platform for the front and one for the rear, they are simply 2x8 by 4'. The camper floor joists are 2x2s run lengthwise so the 2x2s rest on the two platforms which are placed perpendicular (left to right).
Now of course I had to tie these platforms together or they would roll over so I ran 2x4 stringers between the platforms cutting their lengths to better fit the camper's center of gravity, making a final platform of about 4' by 6'. With a few fasteners removed, these dollies can be disassembled and stored, making it a portable system.
I also needed to unload the camper in front of the garage on an unpaved surface so I required a smooth surface for the casters to roll on. I built two runners out of 2x6 by 8' and screwed 1x2 by 8' along the two outer edges of the top surface of each 2x6. That left a channel on top of the 2x6 for the casters to roll in. I also fastened a short 1x2 to each down hill side of the runner to keep the camper from rolling off.
I loaded the camper far enough onto the truck to drive it into position and unloaded it as close as possible to the garage door taking into account how far the eave jutted out.
The process was to lower the camper onto the pre-positioned runners and dolly, move the camper two feet, lock the casters, raise the camper off the dolly, re-position the system closer to the garage another two feet, repeat. I think I had to lift it twice with my portable side jacks to get the runners against the concrete floor of the garage. I did it alone and it worked real smooth. Didn't take long and the camper was in the garage.
By this time I had resigned myself to the fact that this camper is a "winter project". I really hate to rush things; I just don't enjoy the process when I do. At times, and depending on the subject at hand, I am willing to overlook what might need to be done or to scrimp a bit on how it's done, but overall I'm what most would call anal. Some have told me I over-think things, but oh well. We are all what we are.
Having the camper in the garage gave me the psychological boost I needed to jump start the project anew in my head. Now I could remove portions without being concerned with the weather, or the wind, and I was much closer to the tools, the air-compressor, the radio, etc.
Earlier in the summer, my neighbor and long-time hunting partner retired and he found his own "old camper"; an early seventies Alaskan Pop-Up. While he is great with his home remodel projects, he just hasn't had an interest over the years in developing a vehicle/RV repairing capability. So he has farmed out his "Alaska Camper Rebuild" to the now retired high-school chum of our OTHER neighbor and hunting partner, a man who's retirement hobby is rebuilding vintage Alaska Campers. He has a large shop, all his tools, and the experience of rebuilding several Alaska Campers so apparently my neighbor's camper is now ready! I will tag along with him tomorrow to go pick it up from another town about 100 miles from here. I have met the other guy, but don't know him well. Tomorrow I will check out his operation and pick his brain for my own project.
As the days of summer in Wyoming warmed and became hotter, the odor of mouse urine in the donor camper became worse. We had seen mouse evidence when we bought it, and it was stored in a field for who knows how long. But the odor became so offensive and unsafe that I took to wearing a respirator while inside.
In addition to the refrigerator, I removed cabinet doors, drawers, light fixtures (12V, 110V and gas), unique parts like the plastic partition lenses and dinette post and started storing these in the garage out of the weather. Then on the outside I removed windows, doors, vents, etc. and stored these items in a neat pile behind the camper along with the jacks for both campers that had been previously removed.
I had planned to dismantle and perhaps draw up plans or instructions of a sort of reverse engineering to where an energetic individual could perhaps build a Travel Queen style camper from all new materials.
But as I got deeper into the removal process I decided it wasn't worth the risk and took the last serviceable parts and scrapped the rest of the camper as a unit.
Now back at the ranch, I began a similar dismantling on the interior of Lil' Queeny. Needing to keep the exterior intact as much as possible for weather proofing reasons, I left the windows alone, even though sealing one window from a leak had been on my original list of the first thing to do. It was temporarily sealed by aluminum duct tape at the top where the leak was located, as were all the joints from where I had removed corner jacks and brackets. All of this was done through June, July and August.
I cut a rectanglular hole (see picture above) in between the bathroom and the dinette, on the floor. This fits my special order grey water tank that I ordered with specific connections for my applications. The tank sits on the floor, fully under the dinette floor platform, between the table pedestal and the drain gate under the shower pan location, just forward of the rear camper access door (to keep it inside and heated for four season use). Here is a picture of that tank.
The other tank I ordered is for 40 gallons of fresh water (original was 30 and I wanted a new tank for fresh water anyway). Doing that, and keeping enough space for a trash can under the cab-over step up required a modification to the furniture face of the front tank storage to main floor space standing in front of the kitchen range. This reduced floor space slightly but keeps plenty of standing space in front of the range and makes for a larger lounge area on the truck cab window wall.
In addition to the refrigerator, I removed cabinet doors, drawers, light fixtures (12V, 110V and gas), unique parts like the plastic partition lenses and dinette post and started storing these in the garage out of the weather. Then on the outside I removed windows, doors, vents, etc. and stored these items in a neat pile behind the camper along with the jacks for both campers that had been previously removed.
I had planned to dismantle and perhaps draw up plans or instructions of a sort of reverse engineering to where an energetic individual could perhaps build a Travel Queen style camper from all new materials.
But as I got deeper into the removal process I decided it wasn't worth the risk and took the last serviceable parts and scrapped the rest of the camper as a unit.
Now back at the ranch, I began a similar dismantling on the interior of Lil' Queeny. Needing to keep the exterior intact as much as possible for weather proofing reasons, I left the windows alone, even though sealing one window from a leak had been on my original list of the first thing to do. It was temporarily sealed by aluminum duct tape at the top where the leak was located, as were all the joints from where I had removed corner jacks and brackets. All of this was done through June, July and August.
I cut a rectanglular hole (see picture above) in between the bathroom and the dinette, on the floor. This fits my special order grey water tank that I ordered with specific connections for my applications. The tank sits on the floor, fully under the dinette floor platform, between the table pedestal and the drain gate under the shower pan location, just forward of the rear camper access door (to keep it inside and heated for four season use). Here is a picture of that tank.
The other tank I ordered is for 40 gallons of fresh water (original was 30 and I wanted a new tank for fresh water anyway). Doing that, and keeping enough space for a trash can under the cab-over step up required a modification to the furniture face of the front tank storage to main floor space standing in front of the kitchen range. This reduced floor space slightly but keeps plenty of standing space in front of the range and makes for a larger lounge area on the truck cab window wall.
