Been a long time

It has been a long time since I updated Lucy's progress. A lot of work has been done and she is beginning to look like herself.  This blog entry covers about 2 months work. 

After the floor was completed and fit to the frame, I removed it and put the wheel wells back on. Thankfully I didn't damage them when i removed them. Some primer and black paint and they were good as new.  Thanks to all the helpful people on the NSSO Facebook page, I decided to coat the floor with Herculiner.  This is a roll on bed liner product.  Many people recommended covering all of the wood with it but I decided to only cover the framing and edges.  My reasoning for this is that I think the plywood needs to breath.  The top will be completely covered with glue and vinyl flooring.  Leaving patches of un-coated plywood will allow it to dry out if it gets wet.  

I added a new wire harness and then bolted the floor down. I have also removed the wheels and re-packed the bearings.  This was necessary because one of the hubs did not spin easily. However, once the job was finished, the other hub does not spin well.  I have not repacked that bearing again yet.

We attached the outer walls on both sides, paying close attention to put them back where they go.  All of the openings were cut small so that I can adjust them to the aluminum skin when I put it back on.

To give Lucy some extra strength, I am laminating a second layer of plywood on the inside.  This will make her 1" smaller inside but I believe it is worth it.  I staggered the joints and used two different layers of 1/2" plywood.  I have used Heavy Duty Liquid Nails between the layers along with countersunk stainless steel screws on the outside.  These walls are sturdy now.

Once the glue dried, I used my router and a follow bit and trimmed the interior panels to size.  The exterior is a OSB grade and the interior is a Birch paint/stain-able grade.

Laminated Layers

Flush Trimming with Router

The cabinetry is coming along too. We found a refrigerator that replaces the old icebox perfectly.  We are not going to put a stove back in because I can't imagine cooking in a 70 sq ft camper.  This gave us some extra room for a bigger fridge.  On the opposite side the cabinet went floor to ceiling before.  We shortened it to make the camper feel bigger on the inside.

The flooring is in now and I have ordered flexible wood for the ceiling and I expect it in anytime.  I can't wait to get her under roof.

Cheers!

Starting to Rebuild

Things have slowed down a little bit with Lucy.  Swim practice and soccer started so we are running kids around a lot more. This being said, we have made some good progress.  I took the frame over to my uncle's house to get a hitch receiver welded on.  While I was there, he reinforced every weld on the frame.  Lucy is stronger than ever.

Once I got the frame back home I prepped the frame for painting.  I used the Por15 system.  It took most of the day to complete.  The degreasing went quickly but the metal etching took a while and was difficult to wash all the way off.  I had to use a rag to wipe off residue before I could paint. Por15 is awesome stuff.  It paints on super easy and leaves a smooth finish.  One downside is that if it is not removed right away, it sticks to skin for a while.  It took me over a week to wash off everything I got on myself.

You may have noticed the red rims in the picture above.  I ended up getting my neighbors son to clean them up and paint them.  He did an awesome job and he only had them for 26 hours.  The tires were removed, they were stripped, primed, painted and top coated.  After I got them back I had new tires put on them.  They look awesome now.

 

Once I got her back in the garage, it was time to start on the floor.  I took a lot of measurements off of Lucy before I took her apart.  This is a very important step if you are doing a rebuild. If you have the space, you should keep all of the parts you remove.  Unfortunately I don't have the space.  Anyway, I am putting her back about the same as before.  I am adding a slightly different framing structure below the plywood.  I am using pine 2x4's for support that I rip to the correct thickness.  The floor is simple 1/2" sanded plywood.  I will add some kind of coating to the underside next.  I was all set to use bed liner material, but now I am not so sure.  More research to be done.

Cheers!