New Floor in our Skamper Camper

The new floor is almost done! So far it is looking really good. We scraped the crap off of the floor and cleaned it very well. We swept and then vacuumed the floor as well to make sure it was clear enough. Next we found the center of the floor in both directions and then offset the marks 6" to one direction so we could align the tile edges to our floor lines. So far so good. I got most of the easy tiles set and will finish the cut tiles tomorrow.

Peel & Stick Tile Deal at Lowe's

We got a super sweet deal on peel and stick tile for our pop up camper. It was on sale for .25 cents a tile. We purchased two boxes (45 tiles per box) for a total of $22.00. This saved us $12.00 on the cost of flooring. We chose peel and stick tile for our floors because of the cost and ease of use for installation. Those peel and stick tile went on sale this past Thursday and they were only marked in the paper and not in the store, so there were plenty of boxes on hand.

Lowe's Peel and Stick Tile

Picture of Lowe's Tile Part Number

Painting our Skamper Pop Up Camper

We have been waiting for the weather to cooperate and we finally got some time. Spring time is a very windy time of year in the desert Southwest and so far this spring is super windy. We wanted to update the interior color of our pop up so we went with some different colors besides the typical wood grain finish. We have seen other people do this with their campers as well, so we decided to give it a shot. Take a look at our pictures of both the ceiling and the walls. The ceiling's contact paper was peeling off so we peeled it off all the way and painted the hardboard that was left exposed. It took three coats of paint but it finally looks nice.

New Wall Color in our Pop Up

Painted Ceiling in our Pop Up

Replacement Crank Mechanism for Skamper Pop Up

Last week my youngest child decided to crank the lifting mechanism backwards while the top was in the down position until the cable snapped at the crank. I thought that if a child can break it then it needed to be replaced. I took a closer look and the whole front area of the trailer needs some work. The cranking mechanism was being held on with one bolt and the handle was welded together and bent. I am not sure if it was original but it needed help. I am not really a welder but I do have a back ground in machining and metal work, so I took a machinist's approach to replacing the crank mechanism.

First things first, all of the old metal brackets needed to be removed. Somehow the previous owner bent the propane and crank brackets. They were welded on so I cut the welds off with my cut off wheel to get them out of the way. I purchased my replacement crank mechanism at Harbor Freight with a 20% off coupon for $17.00. Next I located a piece of 3/8" thick 6061-T6 aluminum bar stock to use as my new bracket. I laid the aluminum on top of the frame and started laying out the position of everything. I got everything "eyeball aligned" so that the crank shaft lined up to the crank clearance hole in the frame. I sharpie marked the locations on the aluminum plate of the new crank and also the angles where it connects to the frame. The angles ended up being 22.5 degrees which was an easy setting on my compound miter saw. Yes you can cut aluminum with your carbide tipped wood blades on your compound miter saw. I only cut aluminum on my compound miter saw or jig saw and never on the table saw. I prefer the miter saw because of the stationary back fence and the fact that the saw blade is turning away from you forcing the metal against the fence. Always cut slow and use cutting fluid (WD40 works). I then transferred hole locations from the crank to the plate and drilled and tapped those holes. I also drilled mounting holes on the outside edges of the plate and then brought everything over to the trailer frame to locate the position. Once I got everything lined up I matched drilled the holes into the frame. Only leave a dimple in your drill holes so you can get everything out of the way so you can do some real drilling without losing location. I only drilled through the top part of the steel channel which was around .125" thick. I tapped those holes too but then followed the screws with Nylok nuts on the bottom for extra strength.

Next was making a new shaft to go from the new crank output shaft to a place outside of the frame. The previous owner rigged a welded tube that got bent. I used a solid piece of 3/4" 1018 steel (cold rolled steel, nothing fancy). I drilled a .450" hole in one end on my drill press and drilled cross holes and tapped them. The other end was also drilled and tapped for a retaining hole for the new handle. This end also needed to be tuned or ground down. I do not have a lathe but I do have a bench grinder that I carefully ground the tip of the OD down to .470". I then had to grind a .330" flat on both sides (.330" being the total distance of the flats). This fit the new keyed end of the crank handle. Everything fit well and it is better than new. Check out the pictures below.

Pop Up Lifting Crank Mechanism Before

Skamper Pop Up Old Ratcheting Crank

New Harbor Freight Crank

New Skamper Pop Up Crank Mechanism

Solid Steel Shaft Connected with Double Screws

New Lifting Crank for my Pop Up

New Canvas from Bear Creek Canvas

Bear Creek Canvas received our canvas late last week and has begun the work to create our replacements. So far my experience with Bear Creek has been great. They have answered all of my questions quickly and professionally. I called them up as well and they have a lot of experience and knowledge for people that are restoring their pop ups. I look forward to asking them more questions and of course receiving our brand new canvas.

New Floors for our Skamper Pop Up

As mentioned in an earlier post, we went all in on our 1989 Skamper Pop Up restoration. Today we removed all of the cabinets so that we could pull up the old vinyl flooring. Nothing was really in that bad of shape, but you could see the 22 years of wear and tear on it. It needs a restoration. Check out the pictures everything is out and almost ready for new floors. We learned a few more things about our pop up. The refrigerator was not a fridge at all but just an icebox. That's OK with us, makes the restoration easier. We also got to see the water system. That wasn't too bad either but we will probably redo the hoses and give the tank a good clean. The water tank is only 16 gallons which is OK for cooking and washing uses.

Skamper pop up without cabinets

Skamper w/o cabinets

Needs 70 sq/ft of new flooring

Complete Restoration has Started on 1989 Skamper 240C Pop Up

We decided to bite the bullet and go all in on the pop up Skamper Camper restoration. Today all of the canvas came down and we will be sending it to Bear Creek Canvas. They have been quick to respond to our request for quote and we have read lots of good things about them. We did find some soft spots in the floor but they do not go all the way through. Should be an easy repair. Next up while were waiting for our new canvas is to pull the cabinets and redo the floor. The materials should be cheap, just need the time to get it done. Stay tuned.

Skamper Pop Up w/o Canvas

Skamper 240C Pop Up minus the Canvas