camper conversion

[fishNcrappie]

hello all, first time poster, long time lurking in the shadows finding info needed to finish projects. i guess one could say i came out of the closet...i'm a FM'er, there i said it!

after reading up on modifying my portable and having finishing. which inspired me to buy a diamond in the rough camper. here's where i'm at...

just bought a 13ft and gutted it out.only thing that was kept was the dinette/bunk. whoa, lot more water damage then i thought. a few more 2x2's need replacing. knew some elbow grease would be the case to get it to be a great shack. but didnt realize i'd be knee deep in it! i have researched and read alot posts about doing this. lots of good info/tips and such. planning on using 1.5 inch pink insulation for ceiling, walls and floor. cutting reflectix (sp?) insulation for windows. and a 20000 btu blueflame ventfree heater.prefer vented but pocket book likes ventfree more.

wonder if i could get you guys that have converted to post some pics...during convert/after...that would be great. i would like to get 4 holes in it...but not sure if room allows.would be great to get some visual ideas. have to sleep 4 people so i'll have to build a bunk. i'm no carpenter or electrician but i have a tendancy to dive headfirst into projects. usually turn out ok.

ok, questions...

20000 btu be warm enough? (i like t-shirt warm in shack or atmost longsleeve)

have some water leak issues, looks like at seam where roof and wall meet. whats a good sealant for alum.? was looking at eternabond, guess its rolled alum sealant tape. i know i'm not the only one with water leaks, what do you guys use?

i know i have more but thats all i can think of now. after gutting and seeing how bad it was...man, that was discouraging...this is my first attempt at building any kind of shack. i'll get some pics asap

any help appreciated

[Pikeslayer]

Boy did you open a can of worms,but Im in the same boat!I have a 16 foot trailer with water damage also.For the roof I used a big sheet of rubber roofing that I got from a buddy who works in the roofing bussiness.I still have to rebuild the inside,I have it gutted out and ready but Im still working on the outside.The trailer sat for 20 years so Im more concerned with how road worthy it is,I didnt get a spare tire and the tires that were on it were so weather checked,they were not safe for the road,the wheel bearings were dry but I did save the axel!I had no idea where to get a spare tire rim so I bought new hubs at Northern Tool and Supply and now I can put just about any size trailer tire I want on it!Mine also had trailer brakes on it,this is a good spot for water and ice to build up and freeze solid when your on the lake makeing it next to impossible to move!OK now lets talk about heat,my pocketbook is also really shy!I think its hideing ever since I bought fuel oil for the house Im going with a small barrel stove that I took out of a old fishhouse that has seen better days. I just could not go to sleep in a house with a ventless heater.This is my first camper to fish house project,and yes it looks like its going to be a big job but I beleave it will be worth it! GOOD LUCK!!

[DuluthMedic]

This will be my first year with our newly converted 16ft Mallard camper. After we took the stove out and sink, We managed 4 holes in it. It has a fold down bunk and the 2 bench seats fold out to what seems to be a king sized bed. We left the toilet in, it will be nice not to have to go outside. We bought a propane heater from menards, the one with the ice fisherman on it. We bought 4 hole covers from fish house supply, easy to put in. The floor is insulated..not well but may work. We used it for hunting in 40 degree weather and did not use the heater at night. The walls could use some insulation but who knows. Ours has wheel brakes..we just cut the wire. We shouldn't need them. My advice is insulate it as best you can if you plan on gutting it. Get some co detectors and keep a window cracked. Good luck, the best part is just putting it all together!

[Blaze]

fishNcrapppie,

Welcome aboard. WARNING: this site can be addicting and hazardous to your (mental) health.

As for your camper questions - if you use the search feature above, you'll find a fair amount of info on this topic. I got into the camper conversion game last year with Federline from this site and one other guy. It has come along nicely and we are very happy with what we've got...especially for the money. Here are a few links pertaining to camper conversions. Enjoy...and feel free to share tips & tricks you learn and ask if you need some ideas.

1. Drop down ideas

2. Buying a camper to convert

3. Converting camper to fishhouse

4. Fish hole sleeves

Thought I'd share a couple before/after pics too:

The Gut Pile

Gutted Interior (we did a COMPLETE frame-off rebuild):

Fall 2007 - a few improvements made!

Interior - the wires are for hole lights and fans, and a 12v adapter under the window for charging cell phones, etc - need a shelf there:

(also note the velcro around windows for putting up reflectix)

Rattle reels for night time, or flip up bunks during day to fish the corner holes:

Bring on the ICE!

[Dances with Walleye]

Ah my great Odyssey...

My Buddy and I bought a 12 footer the day before my wedding...

At that point I was unaware of just how lazy he was... To date I've put 43 hours in to the project to his 4...

But I gave up on his help and once I resigned myself to doing it alone... I really started getting things done.

My camper had a leaky roof... that the previous owner then covered in a sheet of rubber. The inside was just a mess of sags and dry rot. (But hey we paid a total of $400 for it.)

I had to gut one entire wall down to the aluminum and the I just sheet metal screwed 2X2's from the outside... I replaced 80% of the beams in the ceilings with 2X2's and 2x4's...

The old bunk was a bodge of 2X4's and plywood... That came down too low to be able to sit under... So I created a new bunk that rested on joist hangers.

For insulation... I traded some wood to a co-worker who gave me her left over 6 inch fiberglass. (She just built a new house) So I've been stuffing that everything with fiberglass, tearing and cutting down as needed.

Any "Leaky Seams" I've been hitting up with spray foam insulation.

Then I built benches over top of the wheel wells and insulated them, as I know they'll be massive heat loss zones.

Heating... I just got my wood stove in yesterday.

Yeah wood heat is a little tricky... And I'm sure I'm going to cook myself out of it a couple of times while I'm building a relationship with it.

But considering I've got a ton of wood... It means every trip I take up to the fish house... Costs me nothing to heat... Versus all the propane costs I'd occur... With a young wife, a mortgage down payment and talk of starting a family in my near future... Going wood stove buys me 3-4 more trips to Mille Lacs this winter.

[fishNcrappie]

thanks for the info guys! i really appreciate this site!!! this project started with the idea of getting camper and cutting some holes and going fishing!! now that i gutted it and got the siding off its looking like i'm going to take it down to trailor and start fresh. way more rot then thought. but i'm still motivated!!! i took some pics the other night. now i just have to read up on how to post them.

Blaze,

thanks for the pics! gave me little more confidence to keep working on mine! great job! the posts i have bookmarked...LOL...did alot of reading before getting camper. i like your idea with flipbunks. i'm planning on keeping dinnette/bunk and thinking something like what you did. again, thanks for pics. that made me see light at end of tunnel!

dances with walley,

i feel your pain about partner. mine is the same way!! i have 20 hrs or so and he hasnt lifted one finger yet! even questioned his intentions on this. long story short, im doing this alone!!.

i know this topic is like kicking a dead horse with so many posts. but i really appreciate the info/tips. soon as i figure out how to put pics on here i'll get'em

[fishNcrappie]

Here are some pics.

[caughtacase73]

I purchased an old (70's) 14 foot camper a couple of years ago. The camper was in pretty good shape. Only leak was around the vent in the ceiling. I kept most creature comforts of the camper for the kids (that was the selling point to my wife). We paid $400.00. I left the dinette for seating and counter space. I kept the 3 burner stove / oven for cooking and that is my heat source. I was only able to carve out 4 holes. Seems who ever designed the camper did not have ice fishing in mind. We did re-insulate the ceiling with 2" styrofoam. We added 5 led lights (1157 auto bulbs) in the ceiling and use computer fans to keep the hot are moving from top to bottom. We painted everything white to help reflect the light. I block the rear frame with concete blocks then jack the tongue up high enough to take the wheels off and then block the front of the frame and lower the tongue. 2 guys can move and be set up in about 15 minutes. The floor is about 15 inches off the ice. I use 10 pvc sewer pipe to bridge the gap from the floor to the ice. All in all it is a very comfortable set up for less than $600.00 total.

We have the house broken into last year and had to remodel. I removed all but 2 windows and borded them up. Most windows were broken out when we were robbed. Less windows will hopefully prevent a future break in and keep it warmer as well. Just some of my experiences. Good luck with your project.

[ice_it_06]

caughtacase73:

When I hear stories of peoples houses being vandalized I get so stoked with frustration and anger.

Years ago I was broken in to in a half hour period of leaving the house.

I lived on the lake and (100) yards from my house at that time.Early a.m. in day light, I went back home to get the battery I forgot. I was obviously a target that had been scouted.

One month later I found my auger for sale through hear say.

I had painted the auger stem or mount for the head (RED) and sprayed yellow paint in the recoil on a broken fin it had.

Along with having the serial# it was very easy to identify.

I baited these fools back to my house and sure enough they returned one night. Only to find me waiting & watching from home. I walked down the shoreline to my friends truck parked behind a big 10 X 20 perm that was about 50 yards from my house. Drove right up to the door on my fish house and put the plow against the door. Trapped, caught, surprised and no way out for them. House had no windows to bust out, plus I would have been waiting. These guys were setting up to fish if you can believe it. Guess they figured lets use it this time before we strip him clean.

Needless to say one of the clowns was the seller of my auger back to me

I applaud all you guys with your effort, work, and enthusiasm The houses look great !!

[Pikeslayer]

Crooks are part of life,sooner or later we all have to deal with them,Im just glad to hear you had the upper hand! It dosnt always turn out so good! I know, it happened to me with a 3 wheeler(5 mounths old) I was gone for less than two hours and mine was gone out of my back yard.Chain around a tree,2 in the after noon,lots of neighbors around,But nobody saw nothing,I come back and no wheeler,Talk about a sick feeling!But what can you do,Now I ride a RAT WHEELER that nobuddy could start let alone steel! or want!But its never left me in the woods!!

[Blaze]

Wow, fnc - you really DID gut that thing. We didn't take the siding off, as you see above, but we did take the whole shell off the frame so we could build a new, insulated floor.

Now comes the FUN STUFF! Keep the pics coming.

[Dances with Walleye]

When it comes to a lazy partner... I found that it was far faster for me to simply count him out and do it all myself... If he shows up, then Great I've got an extra pair of hands...

And when he does show up... He gets the joy of doing all the dirty work...

Since we're going with a wood stove for heat, he know has to live with the knowledge that he gets to split a cord of oak outside in the bitter cold, when he could have spent that time installing lights in the warm fish house!

[fishNcrappie]

yeah, the tear down is more then i wanted to do. but once i opened her up and saw all the water damage/rot i was committed!

i dont know if this is the right way to go about it but i think i'll replace studs as it sits. once all studs are done was thinking of taking the 2x2 shell off trailer so i can rebuild floor. then put the shell back on and build from the inside out. just bought13 sheets of 1/4 inch laun and about 15 2x4's that i'll rip for 2x2s. i would think the laun would be sturdy enough, eh? this project was a good reason to go buy new brad/stapler gun! was going to work some tomorrow on it but a friend just brought over a deer so i have to do some cuttin instead i think! MMMM can taste it now!

[federline]

fnc, you are as sick as we were about this, man! Once we jacked up the shell and rebuilt the floor, we were committed, too. My wife would have liked to HAVE me committed, but that was just a minor setback.

Yeah, you should be OK reinforcing/replacing studs in-place - we were OK.

Give special thought to floorplan now, so you can put wide studs in the walls where you want to mount stuff to walls. We didn't do this, and we have limitations on where we can hang stuff now.

Oh, and take lots of pictures of the wall guts before you cover them up, they will save you later - trust me on this one. :-)

PS - when you separate the shell from the floor and jack it up, brace the bejeezus out of the 2x2 shell on all sides, it flops around like a folding pancake as soon as it isn't attached to the floor. Plus, we had the aluminum sheeting on ours - I would not even try to remove the shell without the exterior sheeting. Your interior luan might do the trick, too, if you put it up before separating the shell from the floor. On campers, framing plus exterior shell plus attachment to floor all sum up to a rigid box, but without just one piece of that equation, things can get a bit floppy.

[fishNcrappie]

blaze,

was wondering if you laid your plywood (for ceiling) from wall to wall length wise or did you go length wise front to back. looks like you went length wise wall to wall. if so, how did you get it to bend without splitting? i have 1/4 inch luan and i couldnt get it to make the bend on ceiling. any suggestions?

[Blaze]

fnc,

We sent side to side:

We did have some challenges getting the ply to bend in the

rounded front/back areas. It took some patience, but it worked

out alright. We also used some old trim pieces to cover seams in the ceiling.