My Pop-up camper build!

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bmrrwolfe

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So for a few months I have been looking for a cheap repairable project Pop-up. Well I finally found one, although its more work then I wanted to do, but it was free, with a title and complete, which is way to hard to pass up :D
Its a 1982 Coleman Sequoia. It has been sitting for about 8 years, so the interior is going to need some serious work. It does not have a bathroom, and no furnace or AC at the moment. It does have a 3 burner propane stove and a sink, but the water tank is missing.
I will probably swap out the axle, or at least replace the hubs and bearing so I could switch from the 4 lug it has now to a 5 lug and fit some matching Jeep rims and larger tires on it.
The first order of business is the roof/ceiling. From the outside it looks good but inside the paneling was starting to fall down and the wood underneath was wet so I figured it would a complete gutting of the roof and replace.
Here is a quick few pics, and I know the door will need to get bent back out to shape and its not actually cranked up all the way ;)
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I do have to say this thing is pretty big 125" long from end to end plus about 4' for one bed and 5' for the other bed. and opened is over 20 Ft and nice and roomy inside. It weights just about 1200 Lbs which will be perfect for the KJ.


Today i just cleaned and aired out the musty smell from not being opened in years and removing the curtains from the windows (the ones in the last pic) made a huge difference in the interior!

I also pulled about 1/3 of the ceiling down, as I didn't know what little support pop-ups had for the roof, just the aluminum sheeting which is very thin then 1" foam and then 1/8" wood all glued and pressed together..
the glue is strong and with a putty knife can only take off a very tiny section at a time and it took me a few hours just to get the first third of the ceiling stripped down.
Tomorrow I will strip more and clean it up enough to patch the few pin holes from the inside prime it, as well as run to the depot and get some 1"x2" s corner moldings and 1" pink foam insulation boards for my roof. It will have the corner molding and 1"x2"s around the corners then every 2 ft width wise and possibly one length wise if I feel it necessary. then remove all the exterior molding and seal up every possible spot then paint it silver to match the KJ!

Other plans, lift it, new hubs and bearing Jeep rims and decent sized tires, possibly bigger wheel wells, make a new screened door, clean and patch canvas, recover all the cushions. redo the floor, either a laminate wood or fake stick on tiles and see if any floor is rotted and needs to be replaced, redo the cabinets and change out all the paneling, then setup the propane, get a water tank and small pump, Get the wiring all squared up and probably a marine battery then put in a marine stereo and 4 6.5" speakers, LED lights in the ceiling and then possibly a fridge (or icebox) and maybe a furnace or A/C if its do able, but thats way down the road
 
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Cherrie

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I scrapped many pop ups, my utility trailer is from a pop up frame.
I was told by an owner that they were told to remove the water tank, because of health risks from bacteria.Or it could have froze.To bad I got rid of all the cabinets that I had kept.I was hoping to fix one up but never did.
As for the smell, it might not go away,mold musty smell permeates everything. But airing it out,cleaning it will help. Also when trying to change wheel size this might involve changing the wheel well and floor,maybe even some of the frame.
 

bmrrwolfe

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Very cool. Good luck and keep us posted, this is an interesting project.

Thanks and I will!

I scrapped many pop ups, my utility trailer is from a pop up frame.
I was told by an owner that they were told to remove the water tank, because of health risks from bacteria.Or it could have froze.To bad I got rid of all the cabinets that I had kept.I was hoping to fix one up but never did.
As for the smell, it might not go away,mold musty smell permeates everything. But airing it out,cleaning it will help. Also when trying to change wheel size this might involve changing the wheel well and floor,maybe even some of the frame.

Yes I will need to change out the wheel well actually just raise it a little bit and bring it into the floor about 1-2" but the frame has enough room as long as its slightly lifted.
The smell actually has improved a lot just from airing it out today, I think with a real good cleaning of the canvas and new cushion fabric the smell should almost be gone.
 

bmrrwolfe

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Well I am about to go to work, but the top is off for easier ceiling replacement.
The pop up forums say its easy, but it wasn't the canvas wouldn't come out the channels like they said it would and setting it on 2 2x6s about 2 ft apart pressed in pretty deep and dented the top pretty good, so I needed 2 more supports.
For the outside I will now probably go with more a textured paint, kinda like a bed liner if it came in silver but I know that's going to cost too much..
Anyone else know of a good paint to cover imperfections and help seal the top??
 

bmrrwolfe

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Nice freebie!

A couple forums I visit for camping trailer stuff are www.expeditionportal.com and www.ih8mud.com. THey both have sections on trailers in their forums and there's a lot of knowledge for the stuff you're going to need/want.

Thanks! I've seen Expidition portal and they have some nice stuff. I was originally thinking of just getting a cheap trailer frame and building a small utilty style trailer with a pop out tent on top like a lot of people do on that site but this for free was calling my name plus it will be easier to have a starting point and much roomier!
I will have to check out the ih8mud one :)
 

bmrrwolfe

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Well this is a lot harder and more time consuming to do the roof then I thought it would.
Got home from work at 1 and went to work at about 1:30. Took lunch at 4 and came in at about 12:30 to pass out.
I have all the foam stripped off and most of the little pin holes and one bigger hole and i found a cut through the side so those are all patched up. I assembled the front side of the top as well as the back and one side. The other side is about half way there..
The sides will all go on first with just the frame of the top then measurements and the actual top should be easier this way as its just cross braces and foam.
Home Depot run for more HD liquid nails another sheet of foam and and more 1"x2"s and maybe 2 1"x3"s for a bit more support as cross beams side to side.
Hopefully I will have all the side walls and frame in tonight so it can adhere overnight and tomorrow after work it may be ready to install back on!
 

bmrrwolfe

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Pretty neat,how about some pics as you go along?

I have a few so far, but I wanna wait to load them all at once so it actually looks like progress was made :D
I think by tonight the sides should be in so I will have pics to load, if not then tomorrow.
 

TAHOE

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Nice little project, I've had 3-4 pop ups in the past, seems all had leaks I had to repair to some extent. I even had to rebuild a side panel of our Trail Manor we have now. Check out http://www.popupexplorer.com/ its a pretty good site for popups. You can consider buying a gallon of the white liquid Kook Seal or rubber roofing for the lid of the popup.
And yes... take pics!!
 

bmrrwolfe

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Nice little project, I've had 3-4 pop ups in the past, seems all had leaks I had to repair to some extent. I even had to rebuild a side panel of our Trail Manor we have now. Check out http://www.popupexplorer.com/ its a pretty good site for popups. You can consider buying a gallon of the white liquid Kook Seal or rubber roofing for the lid of the popup.
And yes... take pics!!

I actually almost got that, but we can only get black at the mom and pop hardware store I work at, so I found this elastomeric Snow roof? Its for aluminum roofs that seals everything just Kool Seal and reflect 90% of the heat from the sun, and at my price its only $21 a gallon!

This stuff:
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4024089&CAWELAID=494221303

Also just found the new interior lights I want to install on the ceiling but with LED bulbs. Then patch the canvas and re-upholstering and new floor will go in!


Also I figured I would share this build for anyone who was interested. Its a real nice off road pop-up this made me really want my own!!
 
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TAHOE

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I was going to write "snow roof", but for the life of me, couldn't remember the name. We used it on an old motor home my parents had, coated the whole roof, never leaked. Have used it on a home roof before too.
We replaced the floor in our Trail manor with a floating laminate wood flooring, turned out pretty nice and fairly cheap if you find an overun at a hardware store.
 

bmrrwolfe

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I was going to write "snow roof", but for the life of me, couldn't remember the name. We used it on an old motor home my parents had, coated the whole roof, never leaked. Have used it on a home roof before too.
We replaced the floor in our Trail manor with a floating laminate wood flooring, turned out pretty nice and fairly cheap if you find an overun at a hardware store.

Haha, yeah I actually have a lot of Pergo floating laminate wood flooring probably about 500-600 SQ ft. from an overstock that my dad decided to buy every box they had since it was such a good price (he buys houses to fix up live in for a year or two then on to the next one so I learned a lot of my craftsmenship skill since I've been helping him since I was 10) I put it down in the dining room/entry and little hallway and just have a few more board to lay, and didn't even use half of what we had..
I was just afraid with moisture inside, athough its a real nice dark almost checkered wood and would probably look great, and only take a few boards since there isn't much floor to cover and just silicone all around the edges so nothing can get under it I should be okay.
That may be what I go with thanks Tahoe :D
 

TAHOE

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I put my laminate down with just a couple layers of roofing felt paper, I skipped the cushion layer since it gets very little use and traffic unlike a house floor. As long as you fix the leaks, moisture shouldn't be an issue :D
 

bmrrwolfe

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Roof is all assembled and drying! I will need to get the trim painted and up but that's easy.
I want to let it dry with weight on it for a day or two before reinstalling, then will have pics up.
 

bmrrwolfe

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Well finally finished all the trim and touch up and got the top back on, and actually looks pretty good for having very little money into it.
Its a very retro themed white with black trim and SS screws.
 

Dave

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Bmrrwolfe, I am anxious to see what it looks like when you are finished rebuilding it.

Dave
 

bmrrwolfe

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Bmrrwolfe, I am anxious to see what it looks like when you are finished rebuilding it.

Dave

Here are a few pictures. I guess the picture I took of it actually on didn't work and its already closed up so it will have to wait until tomorrow..
I will be sealing the top up from the outside tomorrow morning then painting it with white Kool Seal. I may use an exterior latex paint over it because people say the Kool Seal is great for sealing but is hard to keep clean and actually takes a coat or two of paint over it well.
Then paint the trailer frame and get the hubs bearing lift blocks wheels and tires done then canvas and interior.
The theme is kinda retro, black white and silver.
Here is one of the wall frames to give you an idea of whats inside:
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And here is the paneling I used:
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And these are the trim pieces I used after painting them black:
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And here is the final product before installing:
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and it is a little dirty and a little see-through (now that its up you really can't see the design of the foam behind it) but super light weight materials and most of it was free :D
Also wiring is for the two lights that I do not yet have and I know I need a little black touch up paint..
 

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