New to me camper, missing door.
I bought a vintage camper the other day at an auction, its missing its door. The lower part is there, the top is gone. The opening is 24.5" x 40.5". The lower door is made with 1" square steel tubing ...
Forum Discussion
I figured that for now I just need something in the hole, so I cut a piece of 1/2" plywood and am gluing up a frame for it. I'll cover it with a layer of glass and epoxy resin for protection. I'll hinge it with a piano hinge and latch it separately. That way the top could be left open if needed. The bottom section is very stout, the lower door has a hinged steel frame on which they molded the door. The door overall is about 3" thick counting the body contours. The steel is only visible where the hinges are welded on. The roof is held up with a different frame than the walls, I suppose they used the original frame to raise the roof, then welded the hinge points in place and removed what ever raised the top. I thought about attaching to the lower door and leaving the new top section to just ride on the lower door but the door knob is very low, and the upper would still need some sort of latch. I also thought about just making a one piece door but that would mean reworking the door way so the door could open outward. The body isn't flat down low, so a flat door would need to swing out and away a few inches to clear the contours of the fiberglass.
I will most likely install two slide bolts that make both doors move together but they will remain separate panels. If the steel frame on the lower door was easier to get at, (without digging into nice clean fiberglass), I'd just weld on a top frame and skin it with fiberglass or metal but without all but ruining the lower door, a separate door is probably my best option for now.
Its basically going to be a swap meet hauler with room to crash. Anything beats the front seat of the truck or a tent.
Who ever did the conversion did ok, but its sloppy in some areas. They were careful cutting the panels but put the corner caps on crooked and never rerigged the electric other than running individual wires to each fixture, plus they added a few 4' florescent fixtures to the top. I'm 6' 3" tall and can stand up in this with about an inch to spare. There's one huge bar going across the front about 1/4 of the way back, its attached to two plates. I'm thinking it was just there to hold up the bunks, I can't see it doing much structurally being only 18" off the floor and that close to the front. The 4x8 panel on the front wall pretty much takes care of any flex or sway the top may have had on the frame.
I home to have the door done by tomorrow night, and then its a trip to the lumber yard for some wood for the floor. Its got particle board in there now, with a few pieces of OSB. I figure that 5/8" CDX ply should be fine.
Is there anything in particular I should coat the road side of the new floor panels with?
I also intend to leave a few access panels in the floor to get at the springs, and anywhere I feel I may need to access later. The frame is basically shaped like a tic tac toe board with a tongue added. Someone replaced the tongue with a single piece of 2x2" square tubing. The original appears to have just been welded to the face of the front cross member. They ran under the first two and welded the new bar to two cross members, but the new tongue flexes a lot.
My fix will be to do a 50 degree coupler and 4" C channel for a tongue under the front cross member and out to the ends of the second cross member. With the floor out, I'll have good access to weld this in place.
It'll also add a bit of needed length to the tongue. The current tongue is short, to short to make a full turn when backing.
The front wall on this thing slants forward, the sides and rear are vertical, the roof section is about 12" longer than the floor.
I will most likely install two slide bolts that make both doors move together but they will remain separate panels. If the steel frame on the lower door was easier to get at, (without digging into nice clean fiberglass), I'd just weld on a top frame and skin it with fiberglass or metal but without all but ruining the lower door, a separate door is probably my best option for now.
Its basically going to be a swap meet hauler with room to crash. Anything beats the front seat of the truck or a tent.
Who ever did the conversion did ok, but its sloppy in some areas. They were careful cutting the panels but put the corner caps on crooked and never rerigged the electric other than running individual wires to each fixture, plus they added a few 4' florescent fixtures to the top. I'm 6' 3" tall and can stand up in this with about an inch to spare. There's one huge bar going across the front about 1/4 of the way back, its attached to two plates. I'm thinking it was just there to hold up the bunks, I can't see it doing much structurally being only 18" off the floor and that close to the front. The 4x8 panel on the front wall pretty much takes care of any flex or sway the top may have had on the frame.
I home to have the door done by tomorrow night, and then its a trip to the lumber yard for some wood for the floor. Its got particle board in there now, with a few pieces of OSB. I figure that 5/8" CDX ply should be fine.
Is there anything in particular I should coat the road side of the new floor panels with?
I also intend to leave a few access panels in the floor to get at the springs, and anywhere I feel I may need to access later. The frame is basically shaped like a tic tac toe board with a tongue added. Someone replaced the tongue with a single piece of 2x2" square tubing. The original appears to have just been welded to the face of the front cross member. They ran under the first two and welded the new bar to two cross members, but the new tongue flexes a lot.
My fix will be to do a 50 degree coupler and 4" C channel for a tongue under the front cross member and out to the ends of the second cross member. With the floor out, I'll have good access to weld this in place.
It'll also add a bit of needed length to the tongue. The current tongue is short, to short to make a full turn when backing.
The front wall on this thing slants forward, the sides and rear are vertical, the roof section is about 12" longer than the floor.
