Retro-Kamper (Puffin for Four)

[Danno]

Suscribed

me too, this is a nice looking TT...

[Donutboy]

Hey all! Finally working on the camper again. I've removed all windows and lights from the exterior. Sanded the entire thing down, and I'm filling in the rest of the depressions, dents, and any cracks or voids in the woodgrain with epoxy + West System 407 Low-Density Fairing Filler. I may do one more full coat of epoxy before painting. I'd post pictures, but they'd look the same as the ones I've posted previously.

In retrospect, that easy to get, inexpensive plywood from the bigbox store probably cost me several hours of extra work trying to get it ready for the final coat. That goes into the big list of "things I've learned".

[aggie79]

Jerry,

I'm glad to see you're back in construction mode. I know a lot of us have been waiting to see progress pictures! Your design has been bookmarked for reference for build #2 (assuming build #1 ever gets finished.)

Take care,
Tom

[Donutboy]

After having the camper sit idle (but in the safety and comfort of our garage ) my wife decided she wanted to move again. This prompted a major effort to get the camper painted and reassembled. I also mounted the toilet, microwave, and refrigerator. Previously they were just sitting in place. I've got enough momentum now that I think I can finish things up after we move. Here are a few pics.

[aggie79]

Kerry,
She's looking good! What's left?
Take care,
Tom

[droid_ca]

This is one nice looking trailer...Are you following any plans or just another build thread I like your use of space...I'm thinking something similar to this as I need to keep the weight down but would like to stand inside I can cook outside if I have to

[Donutboy]

Thanks for the compliments, guys. As far as what's left, I have to epoxy and paint the bathroom/shower area, do all the plumbing, remount the table on two legs instead of one (unstable as is), do the flooring, make/mount a shower curtain rod, and do the upholstry and cots. But it is usable as is.

I didn't have any plans but liberally copied ideas from the Puffin trailer created by Steve Wolverton. I tried to balance the items front to back to keep the tongue weight to 150 lbs, which is the limit for my Honda Element. That's why the A/C and the microwave are over the wheels as much as possible. I'm about 5'10" and can almost stand in it (have to stoop a little); my wife is 5' 6" and can stand up fully. The overall height was determined by the garage door height of the home I owned when I built it. Storage in the garage was a requirement. I dropped the floor as much as I dared with ground clearance in mind.

I do have many more pics in my gallery than I do in this thread. Also, I definitely want to give credit to Steve. I wouldn't have even attempted this if Steve hadn't done it first. You will see where I followed many of his ideas but branched off in different areas. Here is a link to a few pic's from Steve's album:
http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/album.php?album_id=2226

Here is a link to the build thread for the Puffin, but the pictures are no longer there.
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11984&hilit=puffin

However, from another thread, I found this:

although most of the original Puffin photos are gone - bve did make a PDF of the thread

http://www3.telus.net/public/bve/

It looks like the PDF is still there. Kudo's to "BVE" for creating it; this is a very valuable resource.

[Donutboy]

More sporadic construction. Finished the flooring using stick-on tile floor planks. The sides of the dropped down floor box have been finished with panels of thin plywood covered with black indoor outdoor carpet.



Next up is work to seal the shower area with epoxy and then paint it.

[aggie79]

Very nice Kerry!

As soon as I can convince the CFO I want to start something similar myself borrowing heavily from your build.

Take care ,
Tom

[Donutboy]

Thanks, Tom.

Yep, I'm hoping to finally complete it this time around. Started epoxying the bathroom this evening. Originally I was going to use a cut down utility sink for a shower pan. I abandoned that idea and will be trying something else as soon as the drain I ordered comes in. I also need to hook up the Eccotemp on demand water heater and play with that.

Stay tuned. Jerry

[Donutboy]

I installed the backsplash a while back but never uploaded the photo. Here it is.

[Oldragbaggers]

LOVE that galley area. So very classy. That backsplash really makes it pop. Nice trailer.

[KCStudly]

Awesome!

[Donutboy]

Thanks all. Got a little more work done. Concentrating on the bathroom area now. Removed the toilet, and the ledge it was sitting on. Sealed the area with three coats of epoxy. Water should never get down there, but if it does, it won't rot. There is also an access door from the outside to this small storage area, visible in this picture.



That done, I reinstalled the board, sealing it with epoxy, and began filleting all the corners with epoxy as well.



The floor drain I ordered should arrive this week and I will build the shower pan. Pics to follow for that project.

Jerry

[Donutboy]

This is what I came up with for the floor drain. Here's the shower pan. The two smaller holes are to clear existing bolts and will be filled with epoxy. Epoxy with West Systems 407 filler will also be used to fill in the pan, from the lip that surrounds it tapering down to the drain hole.



This shows the pan installed over the existing floor. The drain actually bolts into the floor, not the drain pan. Epoxy will also fill the gap between the pan and the wall.



As you can see here, the drain is just below the drain pan, so water should flow down and out. That's the plan anyway!