bartlettj
Forest Grove, OR
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Joined: 04/24/2012
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My bucket list contains a custom woodie camper for my 1950 Chevy pickup. However, I have a 6 month old daughter so that's on the shelf for a while. One of the ideas I have is to keep the thing light weight by using custom built structural insulated panels for the shell, no steel. SIP's work like a 3d I-Beam, but with rigid foam insulation for the core and thin plywood for the inside and outside. You can build houses out of these things without using studs. I figure I can build an entire camper shell that weighs less than 300 pounds that fits in the 4 foot by 6.5 foot stepside bed I have.
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DeadeyeLefty
Sunshine Coast, BC
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The floor is a SIP specifically to get a stiff panel with the minimum of weight. With a woody camper, you could probably eliminate any structural framing altogether by keying your panels together with mortices and tenons. As long as you have a good adhesive and plenty of surface area for a good bond, I don't think your weight target would be unreasonable.
That truck with a woodie camper would be a great looking combination. I drove a buddy's 55 for a while: LOVED that truck.
Project Glacier trailer build.
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recycler
michigan
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looking good..looking at those pics and got to thinking a guy/gal could build a really out there space ship look camper with gull wing door and everything using the foam like that...
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westend
all over
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Lefty, any more thoughts to the exterior finish? I am curently dabbling with the idea of a faux paint finish on my TT. Maybe make it to resemble an older wood building. Preliminary experiments proved this to be not that hard to do, I just used a pocket comb and my eye to spread some gel stain over a solid base color (all of this on aluminum panel). The result was not that bad but with a proper faux graining tool, it could be very close to the metallic wood grained panels on an older car.
Yeah, 40's and 50's Chevy pickups were cute but I found the 216 and 235 ci. engines not that freeway capable. If a guy was just to go short distance or off-roading, there wouldn't be a worry.
'03 F-250 4x4 CC
'71 Starcraft Wanderstar -- The Cowboy/Hilton
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DeadeyeLefty
Sunshine Coast, BC
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Thx recycler. I've had a few ideas for this build that aren't practical or would take too long to incorporate. Combined with a couple things I would do differently next time, I think I'm gonna have to build another when this one's done !
A gullwing door would be a piece of cake in glassed foam and would be light enough that the hardware wouldn't need to be industrial grade. My door weighs maybe 5-10 lbs and I could do a gullwing for the same weight. One would need to work out how to seal it and you'd probably want to use it to support some sort of awning...but it would certainly be certainly doable. There's a teardrop-esque design floating around the web I like, it's called the Roswell.
Westend, as far as the exterior finish goes I'm still leaning toward the garage floor epoxy in gray for the body and white for the roof. I'll probably get a sign maker buddy to do a vinyl decal package but I haven't thought much beyond that.
I'm curious about the stain on the aluminum: obviously it wouldn't penetrate, but it seems to me it would just rub off. Did you have any problems getting the base coat to stay put ?
I hear ya on the trucks. If memory serves, that truck's weight and underachieving brakes would have made a bigger engine a deathtrap anyway, lol.
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westend
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DeadeyeLefty wrote:
Westend, as far as the exterior finish goes I'm still leaning toward the garage floor epoxy in gray for the body and white for the roof. I'll probably get a sign maker buddy to do a vinyl decal package but I haven't thought much beyond that.
I'm curious about the stain on the aluminum: obviously it wouldn't penetrate, but it seems to me it would just rub off. Did you have any problems getting the base coat to stay put ?
Epoxy is always a good choice, IMO, excellent bond strength.
For the faux finish, the primer and base coat is applied and allowed to dry. The oil based gel stain is applied and raked and/or brushed and allowed to dry. Usually, a protective clearcoat is applied as a final finish. I have done doors and walls without a final clearcoat and haven't seen problems with adhesion or deterioration of the finish. On a vehicle, it is a usual final process to apply a clear coat.
Wood faux finish on car
Foam finish on camper exterior
* This post was
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DeadeyeLefty
Sunshine Coast, BC
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The other reasons for going with epoxy are it's resistance to just about everything and...I can pretty much guarantee I'll never have a leaking roof !
;^)
It will give the trailer a 'hard candy shell' that laughs at stone chips and road spray.
Thx for those links - that truck looks great in the pics.
I wonder how it looks close up ?
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MaxThrust
Sierra Vista, AZ
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Hey, isn't it about time for some more updates???
Mike 
My computer beat me at chess, but I beat it at kick boxing!
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DeadeyeLefty
Sunshine Coast, BC
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Ask and ye shall receive, lol.
More glassing yesterday...I flipped the panel in the previous pics so I could glass the inside face. Now a bit of fairing (I've already got compound on the other side) and it will be ready to hang back onto the form:
The stay is there to maintain the distance between the two edges so the glass isn't under any strain when it's offered up. It did cause the flat side (on the table) to curl a bit, so I grabbed a couple hunks of fir that are destined to become a bar top when I get to that item on the honey-do list:
The rowboat you see in the background is the next project. I've got to get some more hours in to buy a bunch more glassing stuff to continue, so Project Glacier will likely live up to its name for a couple more weeks. It will give me a chance to get the purpleheart deck onto that boat and get the gunwhales and new oarlocks on (fir and polished bronze). I may also start moving some of the appliances into the trailer and start laying out the final floorplan (with pics of course !)
This shot shows how clear the glass cures (West 105/205 and 6 oz cloth). You can see why it's so popular for bright-finished wooden boats.
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westend
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Nice work, my hat's off to anyone that is skillful with fiberglassing or gelcoat. It's part art, part magic, and mostly messy, IMO.
When you're done with that rowboat and camper, I have another project for 'ya:
This is the SS POS, a 1934 steel lifeboat that now resides at the back end of my lot. I am not in a hurry to get going on it since it hasn't rusted in the last 75 yrs. and should hold together for a few more.
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