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New guy with a 1978 Alaskan 8ft NCO in SC

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#11 Rusty

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Posted 09 October 2014 - 03:44 AM

I've seen a couple with the water feed at the rear and the drain where the water is....usually

 

(must have been made in Canada)....LOL ;)


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#12 thisoldcamper

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Posted 05 November 2014 - 01:42 PM

I’ve pull off all the hardware, doors, drawers, windows and fixtures and have begun to refinish the interior.  While I am at it, I’m going to change the O-rings on the hydraulics.  Here’s a shot of the interior with the top half separated and blocked up on the lower half.  Once I get the interior re-finished, I’ll put the two halves back together, lower the top half and paint it.

 

http://gallery_5608_781_15162.jpg

 


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#13 thisoldcamper

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Posted 23 January 2015 - 01:28 PM

The wood veneer is separating from the lower edges of the upper half of my camper, so while I have the two halves apart, I’m going to re-glue the veneer and put some corner bead over it to hold it tight to the wall. I’m using 1 ¼” drywall corner with lathe screws.  I’m cutting one side down to ½” so that it’ll side under the outer skin for the front and back.  I probably won’t have to cut it for the sides because they are thicker than the front/back.  It should help keep moisture from getting to the wood since it underlaps the outer skin and once the two halves are back together, it won’t be seen.

Alaskan Top veneer1
 
Alaskan Top veneer2

Edited by thisoldcamper, 23 January 2015 - 01:28 PM.

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#14 takesiteasy

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Posted 23 January 2015 - 02:02 PM

Nice work. I really enjoyed poking around on your blog. I love those old campers.


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#15 John D

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Posted 23 January 2015 - 03:33 PM

Bob, you are one good wood worker!  I am so pleased to see you preserving that great wood work in your Alaskan.  Many of the folks on WTW are westerners but I'm seeing more easterners of late on WTW.  It is nice to see a guy interested in little campers from the Southeast.  Roll Tide!

 

I went onto your website, thisoldcamper.  What a super website.  You will have lots of visitors of like mind.  I restored an old 1968 Huntsman slide in camper years ago.  We used it to travel all over the US, really got a good return on the work invested.  That was 4 campers ago.

 

From your website, I wonder if a man can make money out of restoring old campers.  I have good friend with a son who needs a job and I wonder if it might be a small business to restore these old campers, have a web site to show the process, and selling them.  There is a following for the Shasta trailers.  I have a Navy buddy over in Florence, Alabama who restored one and tripled his money.  You won't get rich doing this, but it worked out for him.  His work is no where near as nice as yours.

 

In my occupation, I do a lot of restoration that requires precision manual dexterity and intelligent planning.  I get all the work I want and the satisfaction of fixing something with my hands.  The point being, I don't need any other personal challenges.  I work on my campers because I use them to travel and camp.  My question in connection with asking if this could be a tiny little one man business is based on a perceived need for a young man to make himself a job.  John D


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#16 thisoldcamper

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Posted 24 January 2015 - 10:23 AM

Thanks, guys.  I enjoy playing around with old campers, but I’ve always wanted a truck camper. I haven’t sold any of my restored campers yet… I get too attached to them, besides, I’d probably net about $2/hr.  I’ve seen a TV show called Flippin’ RV’s and they sell their resto-mods for $35K+ so there must be a market for vintage restorations.  I think that around here, I’d be lucky to get $5–7K for a fixed up old camper.  I might try to sell the Nomad this spring just to make room for another project.  I’m glad that you enjoyed the blog.  I started it last year so that I could show off all of my projects in one spot rather than scattered around a bunch of different forums.  I’m planning to use the Alaskan this April, but I’m going to tow the teardrop, too.   I’ll post pictures.


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#17 thisoldcamper

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Posted 22 February 2015 - 09:45 AM

I didn't really notice how beat up the front of my camper was when it was dull and dirty, but after a good cleaning and some fresh paint - it's pretty obvious that this thing got driven through a hail storm. I'm working on covering most of the dents with a piece of anodized diamond plate (.045).

I have a 2 ft wide piece, so it'll cover the top half down to where the wood shelf is.

front-hail.jpg

 

It'll look about like this!

diamond-plate-front1.jpg?w=640

 


Edited by thisoldcamper, 23 February 2015 - 07:26 PM.

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#18 thisoldcamper

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Posted 01 April 2015 - 08:16 PM

Here are my latest pictures of the refinished interior.  I rebuilt all of the counters and table but I didn't put the gas cooktop back in because I wouldn't have used it. It can always be cut in later, if desired.  I added a refrigerator and made cushions for the dinette/bed.

Next project - get it on the truck and start using it!

alaskan-rear-redone.jpg

 

alaskan-redone-right.jpg

 

alaskan-redone-left.jpg


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#19 Ripperj

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Posted 02 April 2015 - 05:32 AM

Very nice!, enjoy. Hopefully I will have some completed pics of my own to share soon
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#20 snuffy

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Posted 02 April 2015 - 05:57 AM

That is a nice camper!  my first truck camper was a old 8ft. Alaskan,  i had some great hunting trips with that thing, i just read where they are making a 6.5 cabover now.  it will be out of my price range but i can dream..  have fun


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