Jump to content


Photo
- - - - -

madhatt's 1990 Grandby Project Thread

grandby project four wheel camper

  • Please log in to reply
11 replies to this topic

#11 Edgewood

Edgewood

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 206 posts
  • LocationBellingham WA

Posted 22 September 2014 - 11:15 PM

Just came through New Denver returning from Banff and Jasper. Thats a really nice town. Stayed at the private campground on the lake by the fine Japanese Gardens. Would really like to get up into the Valhallas

 

Congratulations on the .new camper.


  • 0

#12 madhatt

madhatt

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 31 posts
  • LocationBritish Columbia

Posted 07 April 2015 - 05:38 PM

Opening the camper up for spring, I realized why my front lift panel has deteriorated. It seems there is a leak in my roof, and that the previous owner had attempted to replace the lift panel with compressed paper woodgrain wallboard. It was completly rotten, the middle hinge had ripped out and it was not functional. This past weekend, I decided to rip it out -- with some help I managed to get a new panel fabricated using the old hinges. The previous owner used 1/4" self tapping screws to connect the top hinge, so I had to re-drill 28 new holes in order to rivet it properly with 3/16th rivets. After a full days work, the camper now opens and closes perfectly and the roof sits perfectly square. Thanks to everyone who has posted their ideas on this forum, it helped me a great bit in sourcing the correct materials and making sure it worked the first time. I used SLOs ratchet strap and bailing wire method to compress the hinges, and that worked fairly well except the 1/8th" plywood flexed quite a bit during installation instead of the hinges. I'm sure if I had a 1/4" lift panel it would've worked a little better. Next step is to remove every visible screw in the roof and around the sides, apply sealant and replace with new stainless hardware. Hopefully that and a coat of paint will solve the leak and preserve my new lift panel -- I certainly do not want to do that job again in the near future. That was probably the biggest known issue with the camper, and now that it's sorted out I am getting very motivated to continue cleaning it up. The ice is coming off all the lakes around here, so I need to fabricate a nice aluminum boat rack for my canoe very soon. :D Also, a side-note -- I was only able to find Baltic Birch in 5'x5' sheets and my original panel was ~70" wide. As a result, I had to use a flimsier plywood with an Oak Veneer. It appears to be similar to the material originally used in my rear lift panel, but the Baltic Birch was much stiffer and I would suggest using that if you can find it in the right size.


Edited by madhatt, 07 April 2015 - 08:46 PM.

  • 0





Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: grandby, project, four wheel camper

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users