Pop-Up Camper - Custom Build (scratch built) Oasis-Si

[VanIsle_Greg]

I managed to sneak away for a few hours of work again today... it seems that my busy life / Job / Kids / etc keeps me limited to only 1 day a week at most. Well, we made the best of it today and managed to get all but the last upper aluminum skin installed. The front corner was tricky, and I am REALLY hoping that it turns out as well as I think it will. That was tricky as we had done the side skin first, and then needed to bend, clamp and secure this in place while ensuring the seam was tight. It gets a piece of trim over it, but still... you want to know that all the seams are 100% sealed and well, gaps suck.

Mike was a busy guy last week and managed to get the interior jst about 100% completed. Well the trim at least. There is only the bed extension and the doors on the cabinet above the sink to install... and a BUNCH of wiring and a bucket load of varnishing to do. heh

The front corners are rounded with about a 6" radius as I recall. I really wanted to do this rather than a square or a chined corner. Personal preference and an architectural detail that turns out to be a PITA. Lots more work that square or chined, but I like the look and when the roof is installed it should look rad.



Front lower skin installed. Once its dry we trim out the windows!



I like it in translucent blue. Might need to consider a wrap or spraying it that colour one day? heh



Big ole slab of aluminum on this side. Nothing too exciting. This side will be getting the awning and the awning room installed. Nice dry place out of the rain and a good place for kids to sleep!



Rear skins done. Note the fact that the LPG cubby is skinned over...lol. Need to get that cut open again, the varnish and all of my painting / varnishing tools are in there!



Interior trim is in... need to trim up those plugs. Oh and you might notice the BIG pool of glue in the corner of the seat behind the trim. When we turned the camper this morning, the glue bottle fell over and spilled. I am glad it was 90% empty. Going to wait for this to dry up and peel it off rather than make more of a mess wiping it up. Ugh...FML.



Mike finished the lid on the top of the drawer / hanging locker cabinet this past week. I really dig the way this turned out and am trying to decide if I should leave the birch ply (varnished of course) or install some of the counter top material? Hmm... thoughts?



We both signed this and I put a nice Sika smiley face for fun. If this ever telegraphs through (the smiley not the sharpie) I will not be upset. heh LOTS of Sika on this thing, the skins we have installed and pressed onare stuck on there forever... that stuff will not let go once dry. As it cures it seems to pull itself flatter and tightens up. We had to pull off 1 small 4" long piece and Mike destroyed the aluminum getting it off... the wood luckily survived... but he needed to cut it off. Crazy stuff.



Next up, the last piece of nose skin and a buttload of corner trim! Oh and framing in the door openings so we can finish the doors and tune the gaps up. Coming along... oh and the roof too. heh

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Camper build day update. Feeling pretty stoked because the last piece of skin went on and all the rest is trimmed up and ready for corners. Also feeling stoked about the rear door which is about 90% done now too. All done but the window and inner trim. T mouldings on, skinned and hinges and latch installed. More to do, but it should be installed in the next day or so, and that will be a big deal.

Managed to get some other bits done too...sanding, plugs trimmed etc. So close to roof time (this week).

Weird, these all uploaded in an odd sequence? Anyhow... this is the entry door opening with the aluminum door jam trim installed and the first piece of door jamb screwed in and plugged. Nice water seal on its way!



RV style door handle with a deadbolt and 2 locks. I have the identical units on my travel trailer, and it is really nice. Pretty standard fair for the camper and RV industry...and nice kit.



The door is almost complete now. So very close. Skinned with aluminum, hinges installed, T mouldings installed and window cutout.



The master at work. heh He will kill me for posting this, hates having his picture taken.



Hinges. These are one of my favorite things on this camper. There is something about a nicely made quality thing... and these are that. Mike picked them up for the last 2 or 3 trailers he has built, and has them on his current personal build. VERY sturdy and they look great. T moulding fits nicely under the hinge.



Window openings all trimmed out and ready for... ah, the windows.



Front corner turned out pretty good all things considered. Bending 0.040 aluminum around a 6" radius should not be too hard, but when you raise it 6' off the floor, attach it with a pasty goop, and have to clamp it in place with no fasteners, it becomes a challenge. Worked out pretty good... and the radius is devoid of any air gaps, so job done I guess.



Detail of the inner aluminum trim around the door jamb. Thanks Home Depot for the $11.00 8' trim strips!



Mike trimmed out the LPG locker, and I was able to find all my gloves and stuff I had stored in there. heh



Front all done, trimmed and ready to go. Windows next.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I also managed to get all the plugs inside trimmed up and sanded out. I am ready to finish the interior, with the exception of some more sanding on the tub insides, but I keep hitting them with my shoes and marking them up...lol, so I might wait until after the roof is done.

I ordered a SWEET adjustable aluminum table leg for this build...and Purolator lost it. Amazon was awesome and refunded my money after working with me to try to find it. So, 2 weeks later (was supposed to be delivered on the 7th) some people show up and knock on our door. "Here is your package that they delivered to us by mistake". Ugh... I already ordered its replacement, and that arrived in 2 days. Its REALLY nice too. heh

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Pretty light week as far as updates and progress, though I did manage to get a few things done. I managed to trim up the last remaining piece of the aluminum skin (front nose passenger side), so while not a great deal of work, it is a milestone of sorts. LOTS of trim to install, but that won't be too hard or difficult and should be done in a matter of a few days.

I also started to finish the interior. I needed to wait until the bulk of the BIG mess was done, and trimming that aluminum with a flush cut router bit makes one helluva mess. Aluminum 'flakes' everywhere. Works like a hot darn, and trims it up nicely but man oh man those bits get everywhere. I finished the trimming, did a massive shop and camper interior cleanup and then started sanding. LOTS of sanding... and then another cleanup. I then busted out the varathane and went to town on all the interior boxes and kitchen area. Basically all the hard stuff is done, and I did around the windows so I can get those installed soon... wanted to get any bare wood that was going to be buried sealed up.

The varnish is really bringing out the colours of the wood. The Poplar is an interesting wood, its green, white, yellow and beige all at once. I like it because no 2 pieces are alike...loads of character. The paneling is starting to look like something too. heh

Finally all of the skin is done. Time for the trim!



A coat of varnish in the hanging closet. Looks awesome with all that trim in there.



Cabinet top with its first coat.



Kitchen cabinet all sanded and first coated. Still need to mount the 3 doors, but they need to be trimmed and lined up still.



Cabinets under the sink and for the fridge slide are all sealed up one coat. You can really see the difference in the colour of the finished vs. unfinished birch plywood too. Wish I had more time, I was on a roll!



Interior of the door first coated and all of the edges sealed up. Ready for its window install now!!



Loving the way this looks. The Poplar up against the aluminum and the finished door there. Can't wait to see it with the aluminum door in place and the tinted slider window.



This coming week I am hoping to get some more varnishing done as well as getting all 3 windows installed. That will be a huge step in making this look like a finished thing. Super stoked on that! Oh and getting the LPG HW heater mounted and test fitted. Might get those cabinet doors installed as well if time permits.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I forgot to mention in my last post that we picked a name for this build. Mike's company is called Coast Mountain Trailers, and the line of off road trailers he has been building are all called 'Oasis'. There have been a few, and I think his current trailer is the Oasis 4? Can't recall but its RAD. Spy photo below...his trailer was't 100% done in this pic.

Anyhow, the Oasis name is also getting attached to this, but as it is not a trailer, we needed to come up with something different. What we came up with is the Coast Mountain Oasis - Si (for Slide In). The logo and name will be on the back and the front. and possibly on both sides as well... super stoked about the name, fits well.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Mike did a bit of tinkering this week while I was working until 7 or 7:30 every night. heh He managed to get all of the roof framing put together and the edges in place. Darned rounded corners that 'someone' wanted will take some band saw work of course... but the rest is coming together nicely. LOTS of skinning and insulation cutting in my near future! heh

Can't wait to get the skins on this, it will actually look complete soon! Fiberglass on top of the same thin wood skins we have been using and a lot of more framing for the roof fan / vent, the solar panel mounts, some light duty rack mounts (for a Canoe or a small Kayak) etc.

SIde framing for the roof... ripped up from solid stock.



Looking good! Can't wait to get in there tomorrow to do some more work.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Not a camper specific post this time, but if anyone is looking... my friend and skilled builder of all things camper / trailer / steel and weldy stuff Mike is selling his trailer that he just completed! I thought this was going to be his forever trailer, but it looks like he is going to build a custom coach for long distance travel.

If you are on Facebook, check out the Coast Mountain Trailers page here:

https://www.facebook.com/VicCMT/

Thought I would post it here to see if I could help him out as he has been helping me out so much with my build!

One of the nicest and most useful offroad trailers I have seen.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I finally managed to get over to Mike's shop or some work today, but it was a short one. I can't get inside as the roof is all braced up and leveled out to ensure the skins dry perfectly flat.

Mike has the roof frame 90% complete and we were putting on the exterior skins today. Once the glue is dry and it is all set up (and the corners are done) then we can finish the skin and flip it for insulation, wiring (lights, fan, solar, etc). Insulation goes in, then the inner skin and prep for fiberglassing the outside. It's a boatload of work on paper, but really it's 2 or 3 more sessions...plus dry time.

Today, we cut and mounted the skins and Mike prepped the rounded corners. Man... why did I want rounded corners again? What a PITA. So much messing about and so much extra work. We should have chine'd them. Oh well, it looks great! Oh and I went fabric shopping (there's a first) for the upholstery for the curtains and the seats.

This is pretty bold, but matches the interior colours pretty well.



This is nice and thick... but a little bland.



This is the same as the stuff above... still nice and a little bland.



Roof all framed up. The hole in the middle is for the fan. And I glued it all up for the first skin...



Looks awesome. Those Kreg Jig's and screws are the shiznit. I love those things!!



It will sit a little higher once all the fabric and trim etc is in place.



Apparently I forgot to take a pic with the skins actually attached. heh

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

More work recently to try to get this roof completed. Mike worked on the corners, which again being round are more of a PITA than it may be worth, but it looks great so... heh, form over function?

The roof panels were attached a couple of weeks ago. The front 2 smaller panels were done after Mike finished up the rounded frame pieces and locked them in place. Yesterday we took the roof off the camper, and flipped it over to do the wiring and the insulation. There are only a few electric items in the roof; 6 x interior LED lights, a fan / light combo and the exterior LED running lights at each corner. There are 4 x recessed LED lights for the kitchen / entry area, all on a dimmer. Then there are 2 more above the upper bunk on a separate dimmer. Both of these dimmers come with a remote and are set up for different modes. No, these are not 3 million colour LED, only soft white... though the multi colour might have been cool?

Pics uploaded last to first so the explanations are out of sequence. First up, insulated and ready for inner skins. This is the same 3/4" rigid foam we have used throughout the build. It is easy to work with, cheap and has a film on both sides and therefore should help reflect heat (silver side) and bond well to the inner skins (green side). In this shot you can see the wiring loom at the rear where it exits the top and goes into the upper kitchen cabinet. We will run it inside a fabric sleeve to hide it a little when open.



Used a hole saw to cut out the light pockets.



Here you can see the light layout. The lights I picked up were from Amazon and are really bright (hence the dimmers). Links to the dimmers and the lights. The dimmers were cheap... like super cheap, but I have used similar before and they were great so we will see. WOrst case, they don't work so good and I can easily swap them out because they will be in the cabinet and readily accessible.



Long process.



Still need to cut out the fan hole. We left it in place to ease in getting the skins on and to keep things tight. This whole roof weighs about 35-404# so far! Very light for now. Once the solar panels, fan and all the fiberglass is on it (and the inner skins) it will be quite a bit more.



Taped down all the wiring to keep it in place. All of the wiring needed channels cut into the foam to allow for a perfect fit. 3/4" foam and 3/4" ribs, so to get the inner panels to fit flush we needed it...well, flush.



Yellow wires go to the corner marker lights.



Its big! 6.5' x 12'



Lovely round corners all roughed out and installed. Man those Kregg tools are awesome.



That's a lot of square footage! I have decided on 2 solar panels. I have 1 x Renogy 100 watt Monocrystalline panel now, and will add a second. I also have a 40 watt portable to catch the sun if needed. 200 watts should produce enough power to keep the lights on and the pump running! heh



More to come soon.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I forgot to mention. The corner trim was also started. Mike installed a couple of pieces to show what it will look like when it is all done. Nice look with the satin aluminum and the polished trim I think! This is all bonded in place with Sika construction adhesive to attach it as well as to seal it up. I will ensure all the perimeter is well caulked and sealed before this hits the streets! heh

Again, the round corners will be interesting.

The gap between the roof and the sides is double what it will be when finished. There are spacer blocks to set the gap, but it is 2 x in this pic as the blocks were only in the front and one side at double the finished size. Once installed there is an aluminum trim piece to hold the fabric in place and a seal.

 

[shellbackcva59]

I'll be real curious as what the final weight comes in at. I'm guessing well over 1000#s. Last year I rebuilt a 4 wheel Grandby from the ground up. With electric jacks, battery and fridge it came in at 1100#s. After I stripped it, my bare aluminum frame with the roof was under 100#s. I used 3 sheets of 5/8 plywood for the floor tub, and a sheet of 3/4 plywood for the cabover bed. The aluminum skin was fastened to the aluminum frame with VHB tape, no plywood skin on the outside. All 1" rigid foam insulation and about 1/8" paneling on the interior. I'm guessing the interior cabinetry with counter top is less than 100#s. No propane, no heater, no stove, but a 7 gallon water tank with pump and a sink. Also a 1.5 cuft 12/120 fridge. I tried to skimp on weight everywhere I could. The electric jacks were my only luxury. My wife is handicapped and I must off load the camper and lower down to the ground at each campsite.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I'll be real curious as what the final weight comes in at. I'm guessing well over 1000#s. Last year I rebuilt a 4 wheel Grandby from the ground up. With electric jacks, battery and fridge it came in at 1100#s. After I stripped it, my bare aluminum frame with the roof was under 100#s. I used 3 sheets of 5/8 plywood for the floor tub, and a sheet of 3/4 plywood for the cabover bed. The aluminum skin was fastened to the aluminum frame with VHB tape, no plywood skin on the outside. All 1" rigid foam insulation and about 1/8" paneling on the interior. I'm guessing the interior cabinetry with counter top is less than 100#s. No propane, no heater, no stove, but a 7 gallon water tank with pump and a sink. Also a 1.5 cuft 12/120 fridge. I tried to skimp on weight everywhere I could. The electric jacks were my only luxury. My wife is handicapped and I must off load the camper and lower down to the ground at each campsite.

Its a good question. It will be over 1000#, but I am not sure by how much yet. I still need to finish it up of course, but there is not much going in to it still... the battery, fridge and the solar panels are the heaviest items. The rest is actually remarkably light.

My guess, the roof as it sits is only about 40#, and its huge. The frame we estimated to be 300#, maybe 320# with the corner bracket plate. There is a total of about 4 sheets of 1/2" birch, and the rest is all Luan which is 1/8" thick. The aluminum sheets at 4 x 8 were about 15# each (0.040) and the interior is pretty sparse.

My gut tells me about 1000 - 1200# finished dry weight. I haven't done the math however. Truck scales will tell the tale soon enough!

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Just ordered a second 100 watt Renogy Monocrystalline panel. This will give me all the power I need with the AGM battery (single for now) and the limited stuff running on electrical. I am somewhat planning ahead for a heater system of some description, but it will likely be a portable forced air unit. If no heater, the fridge will or should not be an issue.

Currently all I will have on power is lights, fridge, water pump, phone and tablet charger(s). Might add some outside lights too, for now all I have is an LED porch light.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Spent a couple of hours working on the roof (ceiling) again tonight. Mike glassed and gel-coated the sides and bottom edge of the roof inside (so far) to waterproof it and to get it ready to reinstall. We will flip it over and glass and gel coat the roof probably Friday or this coming weekend. I am really stoked about this part... it means it is getting close to fabric time! The roof finish will be white gelcoat.

I took the opportunity to strip the masking tape from the gel coat, sand and then get 1 coat of varathane on it. Man that Luan looks nice when varnished. This is a semi gloss finish and should look nice when it has a couple more coats.
Trim strips to cover the seams will be made of more poplar. Lights are black framed frosted centers and the ceiling fan is a gross off white (they all are). Minor stuff left to do on the ceiling before we reinstall it and then attach it!

First coat completed. Looks nice and shiny, but will end up a SG finish.





All sanded up ready to go.



Here you can see the glass and the gelcoat. The corner gets an aluminum 1" strip inside which holds the fabric in place. This will cover the gap and finish up the edge nicely.



Still need to run the solar panel wiring, but that is drilling 2 holes so no big deal. Will do it before we glass.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

It's pretty crazy... this roof looks HUGE, but I can still pick up one end with one hand. heh...looks can be deceiving.