Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

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Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby daveesl77 » Tue Oct 02, 2018 10:44 am

Just about the time I mostly finished Conch Fritter, I already knew I would build another one. Bigger, Lighter, and Quirky. The first one was fun, very educational and became quite the eye pleaser. However, I made some errors and the Fritter has a bit of rot and mostly I messed up on not correctly sealing the cedar and using crappy Lowes plywood. I realized that I had every single thing (almost) that becomes the expensive parts of any camper and all I needed to do was build a new body. And thus Conch Fritter will return to the small camper nirvana and from its ashes will come

Streamliner (or something along those lines)

I'll disassemble the Fritter's body, keeping all the goodies I can, which is alot. The new build will be as much foam board as I can do. I am now totally sold on foam, Conch Fritter was maybe 80%. I want this one to be in the 95%+ range. It is going to be a high-low design and the recent thread on the 1950s Odyssey camper is just about exactly what I want to build,mostly.

I want it to be 10-12' long. 5-6' wide. Closed the body should be no more than 30" tall. I envision the camper to open up to a 6' height. Walls will probably be in slide up style, 3 sections. Since it will be foam, it will be very, very light, so no mechanical lifting mechanisms. I want it to look like a 1950's / Deco style space ship when both open and closed. I want wild color schemes (maybe). It will be PMF over XPS. Oh, and it will be removable. Some fun now.

Best of all, Regina said I could do it!

dave
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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby Atomic77 » Tue Oct 02, 2018 11:03 am

daveesl77 wrote:Just about the time I mostly finished Conch Fritter, I already knew I would build another one. Bigger, Lighter, and Quirky. The first one was fun, very educational and became quite the eye pleaser. However, I made some errors and the Fritter has a bit of rot and mostly I messed up on not correctly sealing the cedar and using crappy Lowes plywood. I realized that I had every single thing (almost) that becomes the expensive parts of any camper and all I needed to do was build a new body. And thus Conch Fritter will return to the small camper nirvana and from its ashes will come

Streamliner (or something along those lines)

I'll disassemble the Fritter's body, keeping all the goodies I can, which is alot. The new build will be as much foam board as I can do. I am now totally sold on foam, Conch Fritter was maybe 80%. I want this one to be in the 95%+ range. It is going to be a high-low design and the recent thread on the 1950s Odyssey camper is just about exactly what I want to build,mostly.

I want it to be 10-12' long. 5-6' wide. Closed the body should be no more than 30" tall. I envision the camper to open up to a 6' height. Walls will probably be in slide up style, 3 sections. Since it will be foam, it will be very, very light, so no mechanical lifting mechanisms. I want it to look like a 1950's / Deco style space ship when both open and closed. I want wild color schemes (maybe). It will be PMF over XPS. Oh, and it will be removable. Some fun now.

Best of all, Regina said I could do it!

dave
Good luck Dave! We all know it will be awesome with your obvious skillset! I'll be cheering you on!

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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby daveesl77 » Tue Oct 02, 2018 11:35 am

THanks Mike! I found an old video with one of the Odyssey campers. It is a 1962 Price is Right show. The camper is a prize and begins at about the 8:30 mark. It is pretty cool. I'd like to make it more streamline. Unfortunately the show is black and white.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6cAJo8cLlA

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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby Pmullen503 » Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:21 pm

The Odyssey trailer is cool but there isn't enough ceiling height for the galley in front. The front also lifts up a bit as well.
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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby daveesl77 » Wed Oct 03, 2018 7:15 am

I doubt I would do an indoor galley. My still developing concept is to make the front area a convertible dinette/bed. That is one thing I miss when it is really crappy weather outside, with the Fritter it just isn't comfy to sit up. Laying down works great. We have the ez-up canopies and wall sections (heck we even have a complete tent setup for it, along with side rooms) that we use most of the time. I'll move the trailer axles back maybe a foot. I've already reinforced the trailer tongue and front cross members. My target weight is to have it at about 800#, all in. I'll try to draw up some designs this weekend.

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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby OP827 » Fri Oct 19, 2018 5:24 pm

Hi Dave. I will definitely watch how this design idea evolves. And I agree with Michael, your skills are great!
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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby Atomic77 » Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:03 am

daveesl77 wrote:THanks Mike! I found an old video with one of the Odyssey campers. It is a 1962 Price is Right show. The camper is a prize and begins at about the 8:30 mark. It is pretty cool. I'd like to make it more streamline. Unfortunately the show is black and white.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6cAJo8cLlA

dave
That thing is sweet. Of course I love the retro-ness of it. I would do it like Oleg did and carve it out of foam then wrap it in glass. Chevy taillights maybe? Go retro fridge and stove. I can see it now ;)

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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby Pmullen503 » Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:35 am

Atomic77 wrote:That thing is sweet. Of course I love the retro-ness of it. I would do it like Oleg did and carve it out of foam then wrap it in glass. Chevy taillights maybe? Go retro fridge and stove. I can see it now ;)

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Glass, on the upper part at least, will be smoother on the curved parts. You might be able to do the lower section in canvas. Cool tail lights will be critical to the look.
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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby daveesl77 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:46 am

I probably won't get to work on it for a month or so. Doing some final tweaks and updates on the home in WV. We absolutely love it here!

Put in a pellet stove in the basement for a primary backup heat source for the house and it works great. I never had one before, so this has been an interesting experiment. The way I have it going is that it essentially turns the entire floor structure into a radiant heat. The floors in this house are double-layered, 2 1/4" total thickness solid oak. Serious, the roof is the same, only 1" thick as an underlayment. All joists, rafters and studs are cedar, oak and poplar. During my test runs with outside temps in the 20s, after the initial warmup of about 4 hours, I set the stove down to about 35% and operate it off of a programmable thermostat. It kept every area of the house within 2 degrees over a 48 hour period. I have a full solar/battery backup system, so even in a power failure, I can run this unit for about 3 days non-stop.

Should have my DIY solar heater fully installed and operational by next week. This is a third-level heat source and so far looks really promising, I'll know more as winter comes in. In a slight to moderate overcast it was creating a net temperature rise of about 30F between input and output temps. In full sun, the increase was hitting close to 80F increase at 150 CFM output. This is on a single 3x7' collector.

The things I learned with Conch Fritter are now coming to bear in my house.

Once I get started on the camper I'll do updates and photos.

dave
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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby greygoos » Fri Nov 02, 2018 2:55 pm

daveesl77 wrote:I probably won't get to work on it for a month or so. Doing some final tweaks and updates on the home in WV. We absolutely love it here!

Put in a pellet stove in the basement for a primary backup heat source for the house and it works great. I never had one before, so this has been an interesting experiment. The way I have it going is that it essentially turns the entire floor structure into a radiant heat. The floors in this house are double-layered, 2 1/4" total thickness solid oak. Serious, the roof is the same, only 1" thick as an underlayment. All joists, rafters and studs are cedar, oak and poplar. During my test runs with outside temps in the 20s, after the initial warmup of about 4 hours, I set the stove down to about 35% and operate it off of a programmable thermostat. It kept every area of the house within 2 degrees over a 48 hour period. I have a full solar/battery backup system, so even in a power failure, I can run this unit for about 3 days non-stop.

Should have my DIY solar heater fully installed and operational by next week. This is a third-level heat source and so far looks really promising, I'll know more as winter comes in. In a slight to moderate overcast it was creating a net temperature rise of about 30F between input and output temps. In full sun, the increase was hitting close to 80F increase at 150 CFM output. This is on a single 3x7' collector.

The things I learned with Conch Fritter are now coming to bear in my house.

Once I get started on the camper I'll do updates and photos.
In the last house I ran a pellet stove in the basement also. Cut in 3 adjustable vents between the basement and main floor. Made quite a difference in the heating bill.

dave
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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby daveesl77 » Wed Jun 26, 2019 1:59 pm

Well, it has been awhile since I posted and no I haven't actually started on the Streamliner build yet, but Dear Wifey says I need to get on it soon! Serious, she is the one pushing it now. Loving West Virginia and boy there are some great camping places here. Kind of nice living inside a National Forest, just west of two others, with 6 state parks and two state forests thrown in for good measure. I am having to adjust the size, as I'll now be towing with a Kia Soul. I'll put together some drawings in the next while and will post as soon as I can. Goal is still well under 800# total weight. Fingers crossed. dave
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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby aggie79 » Wed Jun 26, 2019 2:40 pm

I look forward to your second project!

Here's a build to look at for inspiration: http://www.goldbrand.info/motorcykelhusvagn2.html . The streamlined trailer/caravan was designed to be pulled by a motorcycle. It has a lifting roof, weighs 319 pounds, and is 12 feet in length, 5 feet wide, and 5 feet tall in travel (down) position. The construction is foam, but epoxy fiberglass and not PMF.

Travel (down) position:
Image

Camping (up) position:
Image
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Re: Time to build camper #2 - folding foamie streamliner

Postby daveesl77 » Thu Jun 27, 2019 5:49 am

Thank you for that! What a great job!
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