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Palomino B500 Rebuild


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#11 Vic Harder

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Posted 31 August 2022 - 05:50 PM

I put a layer of reflectix on the inside of my ceiling when I redid it.  Without it, the different colours of the rigid insulation and the alum structure was too visible.  Also taped it all with Duct tape for an airtight seal.  Covered it with the same cloth as factory by buying it from ATC.  Looks great.


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#12 SurfinRik

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Posted 19 September 2022 - 04:29 AM

I put a layer of reflectix on the inside of my ceiling when I redid it.  Without it, the different colours of the rigid insulation and the alum structure was too visible.  Also taped it all with Duct tape for an airtight seal.  Covered it with the same cloth as factory by buying it from ATC.  Looks great.

 

That's a good idea. I put up the thin plywood but i think i may run my wires along the plywood and cover them with reflectix and headliner. A little extra insulation can never hurt.


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#13 SurfinRik

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Posted 19 September 2022 - 04:53 AM

I decided to go the thin plywood on the inside of the roof route so i cut some 1" thick strips (same as the foam) of wood and glued and nailed them to the perimeter. 

 

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I then flipped the roof, installed the 1/8" plywood using TB3 and brad nails to the nailers on the perimeter and construction adhesive and screws to the aluminum. Then I cut and sanded the foam panels with 60 grit and rolled with a carpet seam roller to help with bond strength. I flipped the roof back to right side up and installed the foam with super 77 and spray foam around the perimeter.

 

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Once the foam was in there was lots of filling to be done. I used mostly thickened epoxy and some spray foam. There was LOTS of filling to do as everything must be relatively flat and smooth. It took multiple coats and a lot of sanding to get it ready for glassing. For the glassing I did 2 layers of 6oz glass and marine grade epoxy which I used ~140oz of. It was a pretty difficult glass job but it went pretty well overall. 

 

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Next was some sanding and patching air bubbles here and there. I did the fill coat today and will start the sanding tomorrow. I'm hoping to get it primed this week. I'll be using the same primer as the cab over, interlux epoxycoat, and then i'll use rustoleum marine paint. Hope to get that done soon. 


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#14 SurfinRik

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Posted 13 October 2022 - 04:30 AM

The roof has been primed and painted with two coats of the Rustoleum marine topside paint. This paint was super easy to use and looks pretty good. I wish it wasn't gloss though, you can see every imperfection and with my glass job there are a lot. Luckily it's just a roof and it will be water tight. Here's a picture post priming, forgot to get one after it was painted. 

 

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After paint I started the fan install, first using my router I cut the ceiling plywood back to the aluminum framing. Then using some butyl tape and screws I fastened the Maxxfan flange to the roof. I still need to seal it up with some lap sealant. I also sealed exposed lower edge of the plywood frame with some epoxy. 

 

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I wanted to take advantage of the good weather so I prepped the exterior for paint, removing all trim and windows. I removed all the residual butyl tape with some adhesive remover and a wire cup on a drill. I also removed all the decals/pin stripes with a decal remover wheel. Then I primed with some kilz and painted with Sherwin Williams Emerald exterior latex paint. Looks pretty good but will look even better when I finish painting the trim black and get that installed. 

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Roof install will be next, getting everything prepped so it doesn't end up on the ground in the process. I'll be happy when I can start working on the interior and don't need a tarp to keep this thing water tight. 


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#15 SurfinRik

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Posted 19 October 2022 - 05:48 AM

Well the roof is on with no major issues. I started by mounting the lifting arms with the roof upside down. I used 8 1/4" bolts to secure each rear corner brace and 6 1/4" lag screws for the fronts. I did make a quite large mistake installing the driver side on the passenger and vice e versa. I labeled them but somehow missed it and didn't realize it until I had already attached the lower brackets on the camper. 

 

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With the arms swapped, this made the torsion bars under a lot more preload which was incredible difficult to attach and impossible to lower. So, I put the sawhorse back on the cab over, took off some of the preload with ratchet straps and disconnected the front half of the arms. Once they were swapped things went together quite a bit easier and the roof lowered easily but with another issue, It doesn't close all the way in the front. 

 

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When I crank down I start to feel resistance at the very last few rotations. I can force it those last few turns but if I let go of the crank it'll slowly unwind. 

 

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It was suggested that I remove the set screws that set the length of the lift poles and lower the roof. When I did this the roof closed more and the front poles got shorter but bottomed out and the roof still didn't close. So maybe I cut them shorter? It seems to make sense but I'd hate to ruin them. I guess I'll start with a small amount and see if it makes a difference. Anyone have anyone have any experience with this? I've triple checked measurements from the old roof for where the brackets were mounted in relation to the lower edge and distance from the floor in the up position and they all match up with the new. Perhaps the sides bow in a bit and the old bowed out. Also the new roof is probably lighter than the old one so that may not be helping. 

 

I also got the maxxfan fully installed and sealed so the roof should be almost fully waterproof, besides it not being fully closed. I'll need to get the window and all the trim back on next. 


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#16 Beach

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Posted 19 October 2022 - 01:39 PM

Looks like some ding repair happening in the back ground while you had the resin out.


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#17 SurfinRik

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Posted 20 October 2022 - 03:59 AM

Looks like some ding repair happening in the back ground while you had the resin out.

That's right! I always mix up too much resin and always have dings to repair so I just plan ahead. Still haven't finished that ding repair....


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#18 SurfinRik

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Posted 15 May 2023 - 06:12 AM

Finally getting back to posting about camper progress. We took some time off from working on the camper to remodel out kitchen but have been at it strong the past couple months. Getting really close to being able to finally use this thing. 

 

I did a pretty bad job of taking pictures over the last few months so I'll try and fill in the gaps. 

 

We got the bed overhang supported with some 1/2" plywood and aluminum angle. After I rebuilt the overhang I noticed there was some flex to it. The previous overhang had some OSB pieces running left to right which I thought were just spacers for the bed to add more storage but those were structural. I decided to mimic those but use aluminum angle for some added stiffness but with less weight. The aluminum was glued with gorilla glue and bolted through the bottom. gallery_12109_1533_1245533.jpg

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I then added the bed surface which is just 1/2" plywood that we later covered with some canvas. The bed is way sturdier now, cant feel any flexing with two people. 

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We've also been trying to figure out how to get a North South queen sized bed. We think we've come up with a solution that we like but I didn't take pictures. I'll add more on that later. 

 

When I bought my camper it was missing the roof trim on the passenger side. The rest of the trim has a T slot for a bulb seal to go so I needed a replacement. After trying every RV supply store in my area and contacting Palomino and not having any luck, I decided to wing it. I decided on some garage door seal trim I found online but the issue was it didn't have a drip edge that overhung the lower half of the camper. After looking at some flooring transition trim in my house I realized that was the perfect shape and is pretty cheap. I bought a couple of these and painted them and screwed them in place. I then decided it would be a good idea to add that same trim all the way around to extend the overhang since there's still a bit of a gap. On the sides with the existing trim I just riveted it in place. 

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More to come...


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#19 goinoregon

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Posted 15 May 2023 - 08:43 PM

good work, and thx for the pics, and reporting..

now i want to see what u did with the kitchen !!!

go


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#20 SurfinRik

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Posted 22 May 2023 - 01:21 AM

Made some progress on the bed extension setup. I originally had one piece of 1/2" plywood that ran the full span sitting on 1.5" aluminum angle but that was way to flimsy. I added aluminum angle on the underside of the plywood which felt pretty good. I decided I would just build a cabinet on the driver side that would be the same height as the bed so then the extension would just go to the front edge of the cabinet and sit on aluminum angle. That felt ok but I decided to just do the same on the passenger side as well. Here's what we came up with. 

 

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Close-up of the extension. It's 1/2" 5 ply with a piece of 1/8" 1.5" aluminum angle. I glued with gorilla glue and bolted the angle to the plywood. Cabinets are framed with 1x2s I ripped from some 2x4s and put 1/2 plywood on the outer sides and tops. Lightweight but strong. Gotta add some shelves in the cabinets and figure out how I'm going to do the doors. Not in a big rush to do that though. 

 

Getting close to using this thing! We got the mattress cut and will start making the covers for that. 


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