The Rain Has Lifted, Time To Do Some Work On The Camper - Reinforcing The Walls

The last number of weeks have been getting pretty crazy weather, but today for the first time the rain finally lifted. It was time to get down to reinforcing the walls. The bad weather managed to pull apart some of the frame that was head together with 1 inch L brackets and also pull a bungee chord apart (they did only cost 1.49 each though so i'm not too sure about the quality). I first started off by removing those brackets and upgrading them to the 2 inch brackets. It was not because of choice I started with the 1 inch brackets, I just happened to run out of anything bigger.

I went to the shop, and picked up 40 of the 2inch brackets, and 40 of the one inch brackets just to have by chance I need them further down the line. Nothing is worse than starting the job to realize that you don't have what you need.

In the picture below you can see some of the brackets I was left with after today, along with the Makita drill that was given to me as a present over Christmas. This drill came with the usual spare battery that can be charged while you are using the other battery. And today, like every other time while working my battery did go flat and a jump to the other battery was needed.

Below you can see what the corners look like, they are 2x2 inch batons that are held together with the brackets using 4x40mm screws. Turned out quite well.

A side profile of the camper to date so far. You can see on the front left corner, there is a bit of wood connecting the left panel and the front right of the camper. This is to hold the entire frame together during the next few weeks, which will no doubt be windy again.

In the very middle of the camper, I added a sort of T-shape piece of wood. What is this little guy for? The job is pretty simple, just like a circus tent, the leg in the middle holds the tarp up, stopping water from collecting in the middle of the tarp. The big pools of water that were seen earlier in the blog are avoided this time!

The picture below shows a floor view of the camper to date so far.

The over all frame is now in place, and nicely secure. Now the interesting bits such as the curved edges which will be made from MDF can be added. The camper will stop looking like a box and more like the camper that I have in my mind.

Although the frame has come together will, some work will still be needed to affix the frame to the cross members (bit 4x3 inch wood at the chassis level) that were put in place earlier on. This is a job for a day when it is less windy, and the sprit level can come out to make sure everything is level!

The Walls Were Added To The Camper - And The Rain Returned

Now that the floor was added the most interesting part was about to start. The walls create realistic dividing lines in the camper and allow you to see what the space is really going to look like. Seeing it all down on paper is always just one perspective, really being able to climb inside is always the most valuable.

To get started, 2x3 inch wood was added to the four corner posts. Simple L brackets were used, with some three inch long screws to secure them in place. These, are pretty shaky by themselves so the next important part was to add the securing braces between them. The wood running between them was 2x2 inch timber when secured in place with some L brackets really pulled it all together.

The picture below shows a look from the inside:

The rain, once again started off so there was a really quick rush to get the tarp on top once again. All the rope and bungee chords that could be found were used to secure all of the eyelet holes on the tarp in place. The rain is always a small percentage of the problem, the wind is usually is what pulls the tarp off.

Looking in from the very front of the camper, the size really becomes visible. Some temporary diagonal pieces were added to hold the frame in place for the week, before it could be fully secured. The beautiful red anti-rust paint can be seen a mile away on the trailer. It sort of adds a kind of character to the trailer already... sort of.

This rectangle frame, was 3ft 6inches tall, and runs the whole way around the camper. This is the dividing line between the bottom half of the camper and the top half of the camper, which has a tilted in design as can be seen on the VW campers. Now that the frame is in place, the next step will be adding additional strengthening pieces to make sure the all of the walls stay put.

To the very front left of the camper, a space about 2 foot wide is where the door will eventually be placed.

The Tools For Building The Camper

Before any project begins, it is always a good practice to see what tools you are working with to make sure that you don't go running out looking for things when you really need them. So far my favourite tool has always been the angle grinder, as it is a single solution for any metal related problems that happen along the way. 

Apart from this, the usual tape measure, hand saw and plenty of screws are all that have been used oh, and a circular table saw!

Although technology has evolved and the process of using electrical saws has been around for years, this was the first project where I actually used one. Due to the amount of cuts that were needed, the idea of the electrical saw just seemed better. This actually speeded the process of erecting the frames so much quicker, although the saws are 100% more dangerous than anything you operate with your own power like a hand saw as they can quickly take your fingers off.

So far we have been lucky and no injuries have been sustained.

Take Cover! Take Cover! - The Week The Rain Started to Hit

In the month of december it is always cold and I am fine with that. But as soon as rain enters into the situation, it is a completely different story. Rain can make anything more miserable, specifically if you don't have any from of a cover or tarpaulin.

During January, I spend must time grinding quickly, paining quickly and then waiting in all hope that it would not rain. 9 out of 10 times, we got away with it and nothing too bad ever happened. Apart from the odd rain drop shaped blotch on the paint.

During this time, I managed to get the new 4x3 cross members put into place and they were first hole drilled in, and a coach bolt was then hammered in and finally tightened with a 13mm socket.

This process was repeated 18 times in total, two bolts per end.

Then The Rain Really Hit

The country has gone onto high alert and that sent a pulse straight to my project thinking what do I need to do that will keep this rusty and half painted frame dry for another week or two. I managed to find some cloths in the garage that did just about the right trick. But soon they were not good enough.

I came across an english site called Tarpaulins-direct, which offered pretty good looking tarps at a great price, so in my late night slummed state I went ahead and bought the biggest forrest green tarp I could fined... And damn was I happy to have it.

On the first night of the storm, all bungie cords were taken out, and bricks where thrown across the tarp to keep it down. This winds got faster and quickly blew all this away. A plan B was needed.

 The pools of water nicely built up on the tarp.

I placed an other with my brother to get me a 100ft piece of rope, and we were going to go around the entire trailer a few times and tie it down nice and safe. This time, it did work.

What To Do With A Rusted Trailer - How Not To Throw It Away

Once all the wood had been removed, we were then left with a rusted metal frame. By rust I mean rust. Not that it had holes in it, that would be pretty unsafe, but it did have a good film of rust that could pose as paint if you looked at it from the right angle.

Something had to be done about the rust...

I first attempted to use a brass bristle brush, which is put into an electric drill. After a good few combs across the surface and very little of the rust removed (more just of the paint removed). I knew it was time to move into the bigger guns.

My personal motto when it comes to DIY has always been "when in doubt, get the angle grinder out" and in this case it was no exception. With a grinder, a collection of grinding disks, mask, eye protection (no way I ever want to go blind from my own stupidity as getting metal filings in me eyes) and I got down to it.

The cycle can be seen as:

• Grind
• Grind more
• Grind even more
• Have a cup of tea
• Grind more

One this was done, I would then clean up the area with a rag to get as much of the surface dust off as possible and get it ready for a bit of paint.

Their was one night however, where due to rain I left some of the metal bare. Anyone with metal working experience would know that:

Bare Metal + time = Rust

So once again, the cycle needed to be repeated to get the last layer of rust off and it was time to get down to it with some red oxide paint (i've been told will keep the rust from getting to out of control). Nice thick paint, that takes the metal very well.

A strong contrast can be seen between the old rusted bits which have not been grinded and the new grinded+painted sections.

 The picture below, shows the whole metal frame really looking well. The left and right horizontal metal frame sections were actually galvanized, so no major work was needed on them.

The one thing you may have seen is that the wheel are off the trailer.

Where did the wheels go?

As a sort of anti theft device, we took the four wheels off. I have not had much experience with old wheels on axels, as most of my time is spend with newer cars. Those wheels did NOT want to come off without a fight.

The frame was propped up on blocks, and the crowbar was once again brought out to show its service to the cause. After about an hour of oiling, with my favorite WD-40 and a lot of smacking and bending, they did eventually come off.


Who knows what is next!

So I Bought A Trailer.. How Much Work Will It Be To Build A Camper?

As described in the previous post, the main issue with this project was that I wanted it to be done on a budget, a real budget. The concept of buying a camper of any sorts didn't appeal to me, because nothing really suited my taste.

I really liked the iconic 1950s air stream, the body looked right, great curves and well crafted.. but it didn't have the connection to the styles of the early bay window VW that I originally tried to recreate with my VW Transporter idea. Enter the trailer: 

The previous owner had told me it was used as a car transporter of sorts, its about 10ft or so long, and about 6 foot wide. Really wide wheelbase which was perfect.

 It also came with four tires, in pretty bad condition. Cracks all around, bald as far as the eye can see and a hazard in all forms. This was something that would need to be addressed in the future.

Before I could get on with building what I had in my mind, the very first thing that needed to go was the wood. It was old, oily and water logged. Not a good way to start any sort of future project. I pulled out the jigsaw, my preferred tool of choice and got down to work.

The first to go was the lengths of wood running from the front to back. These cut off quite quickly without any hassle and just left behind the horizontal 4x3 inch cross members. These were not actually secured in by any great means, just held in by their own weight and pressure. A few quick smacks with a sledgehammer and a crow bar, and we were back in action. 

I was left with a nice, rusted frame. What a better way to start any project.