squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

I've been pretty busy with robots, but I did get a little work done on the camper this week. I started on the partition that goes at the bottom front, and covers the water tank, battery, and pump. The original battery was a long skinny one that you can't buy at Walmart, so I decided to move the partition back a few inches, so I could install a normal battery. This means I need to make a sealed battery box too. I finally figured out how to do it---the sealed boxes you can buy are way too wide. I'm going to make a plywood box, with a hinged lid, and weather stripping around the lid. The battery will sit in a plastic battery box I found at walmart, but I"m only using it as a tub to hold the battery and catch any acid that might spill. The old partition was eaten away along the bottom from acid, looks like it was charred by fire, but I guess that's what acid does to wood.

Of course this all led me to have to take out the kitchen side of the camper...I removed the plumbing, sink, and oven. Then I realized the counter top was fastened in pretty well (and at a nice sloping angle, too). I managed to get the cabinet out from under the counter top. Then I got to work removing the counter top--it had a piece of aluminum trim screwed above it around the edge, that pulled off with a lot of force (enough to completely ruin the trim). There was a lot of caulk/sealer/glue type stuff holding it all on. The counter top would still not move. I got one end to wiggle a bit, then yanked and broke that end off. Then I saw the problem. I had wondered what those 7/16" bolt heads were on the outside of the camper...turns out they're 4" long lag bolts, screwed into the edge of the counter from outside the camper, holding the counter top in! idiots....

Anyways, the kitchen is out now, and it looks like it won't really be too hard to fix it. I need a new counter top, and the oven/stove is pretty old and broken looking. New stoves with an oven are $400 or so, and I'm kind of thinking a two burner cook top would do all I need.

[Tom Slick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Was the external bolt original equipment? That's kind of nutty.

The stoves always make me curious - how much would you really use an oven in an RV? Mine's coming out for a microwave and a coleman propane stove. They will both fit in the hole where the stove was and I'll get the counter space back.. it's got limited counter space, and I cook outside most of the time anyway. I had thought at one time about putting the a/c unit in that hole and putting it on a drawer sliders so it doesn't stick out when in transit.

Have you checked the heater out yet?

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

my security camper had a countertop that was not level - maybe it was a design feature because the counter sloped towards the wall... maybe yours did the same thing? as you have it apart, is there any chance you can tell why it was sloping?

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

I think I figured out why it was sloping...combination of the whole camper sagging a bit (about 3/4" on the kitchen side, only about 1/4" on the street side), and some previous remodeler who was fricken clueless. The long lag bolts are not original, it looks like the counter top was trimmed along the back edge to fit, sort of. One end is about an inch wider than the other. I think he trimmed until it was too far gone, then just bolted and glued it in as best he could. I'll replace the countertop, and leave the cabinet pretty much as it is--except I'll install it so it's all plumb and level.

On the stove thing, I did some more looking around and found a new surplus oven/range that's complete, but has a few little dents and chips, on ebay. I won the bidding at $105 so I guess it'll show up later this week. Then I can leave the cabinet as it is, and just make a new counter to go on top of it. I'm debating about the counter, I'm thinking I'll just get some melamine particle board and use that. It's pretty much the same material as "real" countertop, but it's cheap and easy to buy and use. $35 will buy enough for two counters, and I only need one. Also if I screw up, I can make it over again. I should search and search for the correct original speckled pattern Formica...but that ain't happenin.

Here it is with just about everything removed. I took out the shelf brackets too, I doubt they were doing anything helpful.



And again with the cabinet back in place, and a level on it. The countertop was at least an inch out of whack.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

My POS trailer doesn't seem to have anything "squared" up in it. I think it's just the nature of building these things, make it fit.

Taking a lesson from watching a show on building house boats, don't worry about making everything level, just make sure it's square and will stay square. Because the levelling will change when you load it onto the truck, and probably change again if you modify how it sits on the truck.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

My tolerance for level on this thing is around 1/8" per foot. If it's out 1/2" per foot, it needs to be fixed.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Also you're giving me the urge to work on the kitchen in my POS trailer, stop it! :D Get the sink and water tank plumbed back in as well as the 3 range stove. Then tackle doing some real electrical work and permanent fix on the AC unit.... Looks great though Jim.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

thanks, hope you get something done...although having it in the shop to work on it is a big help for me....you might need to wait until spring?

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

oh, one more thing. When I stopped by my brother's house in Tucson when I was hauling the camper home, he mentioned something about going to Burning Man. And they've been pestering me more about going. So I might end up taking it up to Black Rock City this fall. If I buy a ticket ($320) then I'll have serious motiviation to get the truck and camper all done this summer. Is Ely on the way up to there?

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Yeah, 3 inches of snow fell last night, and I still haven't removed the tree branch that broke and landed on top of the trailer in December (no damage, I did check). So that and I suffer from the common problem of too many projects I want to complete.

[Weldangrind]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

My POS trailer doesn't seem to have anything "squared" up in it. I think it's just the nature of building these things, make it fit.

Taking a lesson from watching a show on building house boats, don't worry about making everything level, just make sure it's square and will stay square. Because the levelling will change when you load it onto the truck, and probably change again if you modify how it sits on the truck.

I wonder if things change much with the camper installed. As an example, I've always heard that you should fill a bathtub with water and then climb in to apply silicone. The reason is that the weight of the water will cause the tub to sag just a bit, and the silicone could pull away from the tile the first time you fill the tub, if you applied the silicone to an empty tub. Is there any value in installing cabinets, etc with the camper mounted in the truck?


On another note, melamine coated particle board will absorb water like a sponge, even if you try to seal the perimeter. Have you considered UHMW plastic? It would be like having a giant cutting board, and the price is reasonable.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Intersting about melamine, I didn't know that...I guess I'll need to use formica after all. Thanks for the comment!

As far as the camper sitting in the truck, it sits on the same place in the truck as it sits on the dolly for the most part. The "wings" will be pulled down a little bit by the turnbuckles, but not much (the camper instructions say to leave them just snug, not tight). I expect that installing the camper in the truck would still keep everything within my 1/8" per foot tolerance

I've used uhmw plastic on robots, it's pretty soft stuff.

[milner351]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Ready to go formica counters at the box stores is pretty cheap and easy to use, available in stock lengths with straight or 45'd ends, and it's not THAT heavy, probably lighter than what you took out.

If you've never cut it before (something tells me you have) put tape on the cut line and cut it upside down so the blade goes through the formica first, then the wood, else you'll have a chipped formica edge.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

The problem with the premade counters is that they have the curved edge up front. The RV range has a squared off corner. No worky.

But thanks for the suggestion!

I'll probably get a sheet of formica ($50 at the building supply) and some contact cement and a piece of 3/4 plywood. What fun.

[milner351]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

3/4 plywood sanded on one side with no voids is going to set you back probably $60 - it's as if wood has gold dust in it these days. 1/2" OSB is back up to near $8 a sheet, at least it's not double digits like it is after every tropical storm.

I used MDF as underlayment for our granite slab counters in the kitchen. It's VERY smooth and flat - great to bond formica too - but it will wick up moisture too.