Chopping off rear tail lights!

[Skeeter]

I got the courage to chop off the rear tail lights. I reused some of the framing material and pop riveted the verical braces to hold the foot stands. I also recycled the wood to fill in the floor pack. I used glue and staples to rebuild the side of the box. I also made upper lateral supports to fill in the top of the pack.

Here is the before shot, my camper was a fixer upper that I rescued from a trailer park in Oregon.

The removal was straght forward, measure....chop and repeat.

After riveting braces for foot steps, I insulated between the beams with insulfoam.

Left side went together nicely, no battery zapping furance here!

Also built a new lift for the rear.

Also added LED running lights that I got from Wally world for 5 bucks a piece.

The project is almost complete, Im in the process of installing a mppt solar controller by Rouge technologies and a custom battery box with outlets and fuse box.

I will add more pics of finnished camper when Im back home in two weeks. The project was not too difficult and anyone with a hacksaw and pop rivet gun should be able to tackle this. I also used a air driven staple gun for the wood box. I know FWC didnt make very many of these models, but for those of you who have them and want to wack'em off, feel free to message me if you have any questions. I have two spare rear lights for anyone interested. -Skeeter

 

[ski3pin]

Looking good Skeeter! Glad you're tearing into this and making it like you want it. I appreciate the detailed photos as your unit is much like ours.

 

[BSS]

So far, so good Skeeter. Nice pics.

Will you be using a catalytic furnace or none at all?

 

[Skeeter]

So far, so good Skeeter. Nice pics.

Will you be using a catalytic furnace or none at all?


Thanks! Good question since I covered up the furance hole. I bought a "little buddy" heater and a battery powered carbon monoxide alarm. I only have to finnish up some trim and interior wiring and then she is good to go. I will have another write up on my solar setup.

Instead of mounting the panel on the roof, I decided that I would connect it to a 25' cable, so that I could maximize sunlight to the panel. I normally camp in the shade, so I wanted a setup that I could plug in when I got to camp. I got a beefed up solar charger that is should be able to grow if I decided to add more panels/batteries in the future.

 

[ntsqd]

If you used something like Weatherpak connectors you could make up "extension cords" to allow the solar panel to be where-ever it needs to be.

By "battery powered CO alarm" do you mean that it connects to the camper battery, or that it uses flashlight batteries? I would be hesitant to do the latter.

 

[jcfly]

Nicely done. I especially like the LED running lights.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

The mods are looking good there Skeeter.

I now have my ATC off the camper for cleaning and painting so I wondered what brand of grey paint are you using on the floor pack?

By the way, a CO alarm won't help you with the Buddy Heater. It doesn't produce CO; it just uses up the O2 till you die. I use a Buddy all the time and the trick is to have plenty of fresh air circulating into the camper and venting out the top. Also, the Buddy has a O2 sensor so the unit will shut itself off if O2 gets too low, but I wouldn't put it to the test while sleeping.

Stew

 

[Skeeter]

NTSQD- Thanks for the info on the weather paks! I am ordering some to finnish up the electrical.

JCFLY- Taking out the rear lift and replacing the interior wall on the rear made the LED install simple. Since I already had the wiring in place for the tail lights, I just used what was there. I think that having them really improves safety.

STEW- I cannot remeber the brand or type of paint at the moment. Just worked a 15 hour duty day and took a cab from LGA to Newark through Manhattan rush hour! I will be home by the 15th and will let you know, it is almost a perfect match for color. Thanks for the info on the buddy, I guess that I forgot about the CO2 built it. I never sleep with it on and like you said, always vent the camper. I guess it never is a bad thing to have a backup. It is time to dream about camping.

 

[pvstoy]

Stew the paint that I used for several FWC on the outside:

At the Home Depot I bought: Glidden Porch & Floor Interior/Exterior Polyurethane Oil Gloss Floor Paint, 1 Gallon, Accent Tint Base

You can have them tint to whatever the truck color is if the camper sticks out the back and shows. I used a brush and made sure to push the oil up into the screw holes and into all the seams where the two pieces of wood come together, Watch for runs in these areas. Once it dries the runs will stay. I did three coats on my camper, a Eagle and Kestrel. and a friend did his also. Here is a link to the Home Depot.

Using this will seal up the bottom and prevent the wood down the road from weathering due to poor air circulation.

http://www.homedepot...uctId=100175868

 

[cwdtmmrs]

I have a Ranger II on a 1986 Toyota 4x4 turbo pick up. I like the wings and lights. For the wood floor I calked all of the seams and then used black brush/roll on truck bed liner to waterproof the bottom and sides of the camper. Worked great and gave the bottom a non-skid surface against the painted truck bed. I also had bed liner material custom color matched to the exterior of the camper and sprayed the entire roof to seal and waterproof it as well. That really work well and dirt washes right off. Better then anything else on the market.

CWD

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Skeeter, I hope you escape Manhattan and get back to camping soon!

Partrick and CWD, Thanks for the painting tips.

Stew