The Blue Turtle

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The Blue Turtle

Postby The Blue Turtle » Sat Dec 31, 2016 8:12 am

Hi all, New to the forum. Lots of great builds here, glad I found the site. So this is my project: A tear drop shaped slide on camper for the back of my truck. The truck is a '47 Chevy COE which I finished (if ever) a little over a year ago. My wife and I have traveled quite a bit in this truck and even pulled an old '69 Frolic '12 camper behind it. The only issue with that is I have 12' of wasted space behind the cab and can't bring any other toys on a trip. The answer of course is to build a camper for the back of the truck. I do have a bit of space available with a flat bed. The plans are a 12' X around 7' with the tear drop shape. This will be very basic with no galley but will have a queen sized bed in the rear which will convert to a dinette set. It will have a small fridge, a microwave, AC, a TV and some storage space. Basically like a conversion van. The frame will be rolled steel with steel studs and steel base. Still lots to figure out for sure. The camper will also need an access hatch in the front for the engine cover as the truck is mid-engine. The goal is to have it camp ready by 1 April. Here are a couple of pictures of what I working with.
Rob
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby noseoil » Sat Dec 31, 2016 10:00 am

You have plenty of room for an outdoor galley if you want one, under the bed. A small lift-gate at the rear would let you have a stove on a slide-out tray or drawer guides, which would keep cooking outdoors & be at a decent working height. Just sayin' but it's worth thinking about now, prior to the build. Outdoor cooking is easy & keeps the mess out of the bedroom....

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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby jonb8 » Sat Dec 31, 2016 7:39 pm

I dig it...
:D
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby swoody126 » Sat Dec 31, 2016 7:54 pm

i'd enjoy learning more about THE TURTLE

if you turnthebed longways no one would hae to crawl over the other to get out of bed and wouldn't loose all that much space for the lounge chair

you could have reading lights for both you & the bridal unit and a little shelf for each @ the head of the bed

maybe just move the big chair a bit to the left

all just ponderments

more pics please

sw
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby pchast » Sat Dec 31, 2016 9:00 pm

I'm curious about the mid engine detail..?
:thinking:
What is going to be under the camper that you will need to
access and how often. I'm thinking its possible to mount the
box in a way that a periodic dismount and then slide it back
is possible without difficulty.
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby The Blue Turtle » Sat Dec 31, 2016 9:47 pm

The engine is under the box. It has been very reliable but being a hot rodder I have a tendency to check my oil and look things over a bit more then is really necessary. That being said, if I do have an engine issue while on a road trip I'm not sure if I would be able pull the camper back a couple of feet. I'm thinking this thing could go in the 1300 thru 1500 pound range. By the way the truck does have complete air ride suspension plus leaf springs in the rear and I have hauled over 1 ton on the back before so weight should not be an issue. Rotating the bed may be an option. The picture below is with a wood top on the bed which removed and replaced with the steel top just for this project. The second picture is where I'm at now with the base frame.
Rob
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby KCStudly » Sun Jan 01, 2017 2:18 pm

Welcome and nice truck. :thumbsup:

I'm with noseoil, plan on allocating some of the under bed/bunk bench space to a pull out drawer at least for a chuck box, if not a working galley. At least that is what I would do for my intended style of camping. The other bunk bench could have outside access to store folding chairs and shade tent, door mat, and other outside stuff you won't want to drag thru the inside.

Again, this assumes that you will want to be outside for most of your camping activities.
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby The Blue Turtle » Sun Jan 01, 2017 3:52 pm

Good advice all. I will look into slide outs on the sides.
Thanks,
Rob
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby DrBeat » Sun Jan 01, 2017 5:20 pm

That will look so cool, keep it up

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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby The Blue Turtle » Mon Jan 02, 2017 8:45 pm

OK so I'm starting to take some baby steps. I picked a new toy, a square tubing roller. I also did some minor mods to the bed to be able to haul some 20 foot sticks of tubing which I will pick up this week. Now most important I picked up my own interior designer. OK, so shes my big sister but she works for cheep and is a pro at this design stuff.
Rob
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby The Blue Turtle » Tue Jan 03, 2017 8:37 pm

So you need to pick up 20 foot sticks of steel tubing? got it covered. Started working on wall #1.
Rob
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby friz » Wed Jan 04, 2017 9:38 am

Are you going to try to match the patina on the cab? I hope you can find some weathered siding and choice vintage camper bits.

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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby Alan_H » Wed Jan 04, 2017 9:41 am

That's going to look great! I see you picked up on the art of bending that square tubing pretty quickly.

I love the COE!! I have a 2001 Chevy dually that I've been considering converting to a COE cab and making a 4-door extension between the cab and bed to make it a 6-seater. I had a '55 Chevy step-side for a while that was really fun too!
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby The Blue Turtle » Wed Jan 04, 2017 9:05 pm

Match the patina? no, I think the patina thing is a passing fad. My truck does have good patina but that's just because I'm just to lazy to paint it. I hate body work and paint. The camper will have a white finish (Filron ?) or polished aluminum. I'm still not sure on that part and am open to suggestions. I would like to continue the body line from the truck onto the camper.
Rob
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Re: The Blue Turtle

Postby swoody126 » Wed Jan 04, 2017 9:36 pm

maybe allow the top of the camper to extend fwd over the cab giving it a visor? +/-...
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