I started watching your videos with the CalCraft series. It really is amazing to see your knowledge and build quality grow exponentially from this first trailer to the way you restored the CalCraft! We want to see the CalCraft get finished too!! Keep up the good work on the next series.
Thanks for watching through all these! It's my hope that these photo booth campers don't take long to knock out and I can get back to the Cal-Craft before the end of the year, but we'll see. I expected to be done with it originally by last summer, lol!
Hi Conan, just something I was thinking about. I saw you used a board to replace that big wide piece which was rotten. But would it not have been better to use a piece of plywood instead of a board to replace it? I mean, a board, square footage wise, is more expensive I think then a sheet of plywood, is it not? And a piece of plywood is more resistant to warping? And if you use pressure treated plywood, there is a bigger chance of not rotting anymore in your lifetime either, right? Or is my thinking wrong here? Cheers, love the vids, Will.
Hey Will, thanks for the question! Plywood is dimensionally stable, meaning it won't suffer from movement the way solid wood will, which is part of what causes warpage, but it only resists bending better than solid wood perpendicular to the ply so it wouldn't really be ideal in this case. Also the plys don't always hold nails and screws as well as solid wood, which is an important part of what this board does. Cost-wise, it would be a lot more expensive to buy a full sheet of 3/4" plywood to make that piece, but if you already had some cutoffs sure it'd be cheaper. Ultimately neither is going to be prohibitively expensive in this case, so I don't think cost is a major consideration here. But never ever ever use treated wood in a camper. A) it shrinks dramatically as it dries out, B) it releases toxic fumes into your camper, and C) it will corrode any metal in contact with it including screws, nails, staples, and the aluminum skin of your camper! If you need the kind of rot resistance provided by treated lumber, your camper has some serious flaws that need to be addressed first. But regardless, some campers were entirely built from plywood so it's definitely possible to use plywood instead of solid, I just don't know that there's an advantage for this particular application.
@@TrailerTrashtoTreasure Thanks for the quick reply Conan. And also for the remarks as far as using treated plywood, I never thought of the fumes and the corrosion thing. We have a 1977 ish 16 foot Scamper we are taking apart and have to rebuild again in order to use it for what we want it for. I took all the windows out already and now I have to remove the interior. Not looking forward to that part, lol. But I have to rebuild the walls from scratch because the inside is all done for and the framing of the walls need fixinf in a lot of places. Thanks for your videos.
You're welcome! Leave the interior until after you've taken the walls down. The interior holds the walls up (and is probably what's holding them together if you have significant rot) and the cabinets will likely be attached from the outside anyway.
@@TrailerTrashtoTreasure Ah, so you don't recommend to trash the whole interior and then come out with only the walls as you did with the Cal Craft? Because the interior walls need renewing too, they were part of the rot from the outside. Another question I have is, do you have a video on anything propane? I just saw the electrical on your photobooth, which was nice, but another thing we want to add is propane, maybe for the fridge (actually, for sure for the fridge) and also maybe for the stove we would like to get, eventually. Cheers, Will.
No, I did a lot of things backwards on the Cal-Craft; correcting that will probably be my first video when I get back to making them. I have never done a propane video because I've never used it, but it's in the plans for the Cal-Craft, so at some point I will be doing a video about it. It's not really that hard though. But I'll just be using it for a cooktop; we'll be using a 12v fridge.
Great videos, where did you get the metal for your custom ties? what would i search for? also what size staples did you use for your gun? thanks again these videos are tremendously helpful during our camper restoration!
The gusset plates were just cut from ordinary roofing flashing that you can buy at any hardware store. The staples were 18 gauge 1/4" crown staples. I will mention that now I prefer to use a pocket hole jig with screws rather than the gusset plates, but both methods work. Thanks for watching!
Conan I am guessing the wall studs are 1 1/2 x 1 1/2? From seeing you move the wall what would the weight be for that wall with inside sheeting? I am trying to figure out the weight of my build by adding all these pieces and hopfuilly come up with a approx answer. Good job I watch every week!
No, on the Play-Mor the walls were only 3/4" thick with 1/4" paneling. The actual stud widths varied, but none were more than 1 1/2". I'd guess each wall was like 50 lbs, but I'm not really sure, less than a bag of concrete anyway.
Yeah, I think if you click through to the next couple of videos in the series you'll see some of the insulating, but I didn't really focus a video on it at the time for whatever reason. But we insulated using foam that we measured each opening for and cut to size. It was tedious to say the least. Thanks for watching!
Say I have 1964 mini-Winnie and I have a bit of a mess on my hands. I am questioning how the walls attached to the floor, from what I can tell it didn’t look like the walls where tied to the floor. Is it possible that was to allow so flexibility? It looks to me the walls where tied very looses to trailer joists.
Well, I've never worked on one of those, so I can't say for certain, but every camper that I've had apart had walls that were nailed, bolted, and sometimes strapped to the decking. If you've got really rotted walls, it could be that the older fasteners may have just rusted away and fallen out. Regardless, you typically don't want a lot of flexibility in your walls, so I would tie them in securely to the decking if it were me.
@@TrailerTrashtoTreasure Thanks, it is exactly what you said both outer floor joists were completely rotted away. I am in the process of replacing them thank you. You videos are great
Hey Conan, I wonder if the wood glue holds up once the camper starts to move and shake? I know typically wood glue is really strong on stationary objects, any research/thoughts on the subject? Thanks
Well, wood glue has about 3500 psi of shear strength, so it'd have to be some pretty significant and destructive motion to break that bond. Plus if you look at many vintage campers you'll find the wall sheathing bonded to the studs using wood glue, and oftentimes that's the only thing left holding the walls together!
Do you find that the 1x2s are strong enough for framing? My old ‘74 Bell camper had 1x2 framing and it seemed quite flimsy, but I’m thinking it felt like that because it’s a bigger camper. I’m wondering because another camper (around 15ft) that I might redo has thin 1x2 walls, and wondering if I should make them 2x2. We have a ‘68 trailblazer camper that is framed with 2x2s and it seems more sturdy then the Bell. Thoughts?
I would keep them the same size as original. When you start making changes you start introducing new problems that can have unexpected consequences. But more importantly, the strength of these campers comes from the plywood that faces the walls and the shape of the campers themselves. The framing is there to attach things to and to keep the plywood from buckling. A sheet of 1/4" plywood is incredibly strong in sheer, and on a curved roof camper with even 1/8" thick plywood ceilings the panels are stressed in the front-to-back dimension which actually increases their resistance to side-to-side buckling. A flat roofed camper though, requires a bit of additional bracing, and in many cases it's actually the interior cabinetry that carries some of the load and contributes to overall rigidity of the body. So yeah keep it the same, but don't skimp out and use cheap material on your walls. These campers are very simple but really pretty ingeniously designed.
Well, for one I didn't have a Kreg jig when I was doing this, but also this camper was originally assembled using corrugated staples, and the gun that shoots those is hundreds of dollars. Ultimately you just need the studs to stay in the correct place until the paneling is attached, that's what makes the walls strong, so using gusset plates was just a quick and easy way of keeping everything aligned. I did use a pocket screws to assemble my next camper, and I'd say it was slower and no more accurate, but probably adds a tiny bit of extra strength. I'll probably continue to use pocket screws in the future.
Treated wood is bad for a few reasons. One, it offgases as it dries out releasing toxic fumes that you probably don't want to fill your camper up with. Two, you don't want it touching the skin of your camper as it will cause the aluminum to corrode. And three, treated wood will change dimension slightly as it dries which is undesirable. Honestly though, you just don't need it. Just use a good exterior grade plywood and decent wall studs and you'll be fine. These things don't rot because the wood wasn't treated, they rot because someone didn't take care of the seals around the windows and vents and such. Good luck and thanks for watching!
Lol well it was a little tricky learning to score a video correctly. Hopefully it's gotten a little better now that we're paying for our music. Thanks for hanging in there for 20 minutes 😂
I started watching your videos with the CalCraft series. It really is amazing to see your knowledge and build quality grow exponentially from this first trailer to the way you restored the CalCraft! We want to see the CalCraft get finished too!! Keep up the good work on the next series.
Thanks for watching through all these! It's my hope that these photo booth campers don't take long to knock out and I can get back to the Cal-Craft before the end of the year, but we'll see. I expected to be done with it originally by last summer, lol!
Hi Conan, just something I was thinking about. I saw you used a board to replace that big wide piece which was rotten. But would it not have been better to use a piece of plywood instead of a board to replace it? I mean, a board, square footage wise, is more expensive I think then a sheet of plywood, is it not? And a piece of plywood is more resistant to warping? And if you use pressure treated plywood, there is a bigger chance of not rotting anymore in your lifetime either, right? Or is my thinking wrong here?
Cheers, love the vids, Will.
Hey Will, thanks for the question!
Plywood is dimensionally stable, meaning it won't suffer from movement the way solid wood will, which is part of what causes warpage, but it only resists bending better than solid wood perpendicular to the ply so it wouldn't really be ideal in this case. Also the plys don't always hold nails and screws as well as solid wood, which is an important part of what this board does.
Cost-wise, it would be a lot more expensive to buy a full sheet of 3/4" plywood to make that piece, but if you already had some cutoffs sure it'd be cheaper. Ultimately neither is going to be prohibitively expensive in this case, so I don't think cost is a major consideration here.
But never ever ever use treated wood in a camper. A) it shrinks dramatically as it dries out, B) it releases toxic fumes into your camper, and C) it will corrode any metal in contact with it including screws, nails, staples, and the aluminum skin of your camper! If you need the kind of rot resistance provided by treated lumber, your camper has some serious flaws that need to be addressed first.
But regardless, some campers were entirely built from plywood so it's definitely possible to use plywood instead of solid, I just don't know that there's an advantage for this particular application.
@@TrailerTrashtoTreasure Thanks for the quick reply Conan.
And also for the remarks as far as using treated plywood, I never thought of the fumes and the corrosion thing.
We have a 1977 ish 16 foot Scamper we are taking apart and have to rebuild again in order to use it for what we want it for. I took all the windows out already and now I have to remove the interior. Not looking forward to that part, lol.
But I have to rebuild the walls from scratch because the inside is all done for and the framing of the walls need fixinf in a lot of places.
Thanks for your videos.
You're welcome!
Leave the interior until after you've taken the walls down. The interior holds the walls up (and is probably what's holding them together if you have significant rot) and the cabinets will likely be attached from the outside anyway.
@@TrailerTrashtoTreasure Ah, so you don't recommend to trash the whole interior and then come out with only the walls as you did with the Cal Craft? Because the interior walls need renewing too, they were part of the rot from the outside.
Another question I have is, do you have a video on anything propane? I just saw the electrical on your photobooth, which was nice, but another thing we want to add is propane, maybe for the fridge (actually, for sure for the fridge) and also maybe for the stove we would like to get, eventually.
Cheers, Will.
No, I did a lot of things backwards on the Cal-Craft; correcting that will probably be my first video when I get back to making them.
I have never done a propane video because I've never used it, but it's in the plans for the Cal-Craft, so at some point I will be doing a video about it. It's not really that hard though. But I'll just be using it for a cooktop; we'll be using a 12v fridge.
Great videos, where did you get the metal for your custom ties? what would i search for? also what size staples did you use for your gun? thanks again these videos are tremendously helpful during our camper restoration!
The gusset plates were just cut from ordinary roofing flashing that you can buy at any hardware store. The staples were 18 gauge 1/4" crown staples. I will mention that now I prefer to use a pocket hole jig with screws rather than the gusset plates, but both methods work.
Thanks for watching!
Conan I am guessing the wall studs are 1 1/2 x 1 1/2? From seeing you move the wall what would the weight be for that wall with inside sheeting? I am trying to figure out the weight of my build by adding all these pieces and hopfuilly come up with a approx answer. Good job I watch every week!
No, on the Play-Mor the walls were only 3/4" thick with 1/4" paneling. The actual stud widths varied, but none were more than 1 1/2". I'd guess each wall was like 50 lbs, but I'm not really sure, less than a bag of concrete anyway.
You did not insulate your walls in the video, did you at some point insulate? Great little build on the walls.
Yeah, I think if you click through to the next couple of videos in the series you'll see some of the insulating, but I didn't really focus a video on it at the time for whatever reason. But we insulated using foam that we measured each opening for and cut to size. It was tedious to say the least. Thanks for watching!
What type of wood did you use? Thanks
The studs were just ripped out of premium 1x6s mostly, and the facing was 1/4" birch plywood.
Say I have 1964 mini-Winnie and I have a bit of a mess on my hands. I am questioning how the walls attached to the floor, from what I can tell it didn’t look like the walls where tied to the floor. Is it possible that was to allow so flexibility? It looks to me the walls where tied very looses to trailer joists.
Well, I've never worked on one of those, so I can't say for certain, but every camper that I've had apart had walls that were nailed, bolted, and sometimes strapped to the decking. If you've got really rotted walls, it could be that the older fasteners may have just rusted away and fallen out. Regardless, you typically don't want a lot of flexibility in your walls, so I would tie them in securely to the decking if it were me.
@@TrailerTrashtoTreasure Thanks, it is exactly what you said both outer floor joists were completely rotted away. I am in the process of replacing them thank you. You videos are great
Thanks for watching and good luck!
Hey Conan, I wonder if the wood glue holds up once the camper starts to move and shake? I know typically wood glue is really strong on stationary objects, any research/thoughts on the subject? Thanks
Well, wood glue has about 3500 psi of shear strength, so it'd have to be some pretty significant and destructive motion to break that bond. Plus if you look at many vintage campers you'll find the wall sheathing bonded to the studs using wood glue, and oftentimes that's the only thing left holding the walls together!
Do you find that the 1x2s are strong enough for framing? My old ‘74 Bell camper had 1x2 framing and it seemed quite flimsy, but I’m thinking it felt like that because it’s a bigger camper. I’m wondering because another camper (around 15ft) that I might redo has thin 1x2 walls, and wondering if I should make them 2x2. We have a ‘68 trailblazer camper that is framed with 2x2s and it seems more sturdy then the Bell. Thoughts?
I would keep them the same size as original. When you start making changes you start introducing new problems that can have unexpected consequences.
But more importantly, the strength of these campers comes from the plywood that faces the walls and the shape of the campers themselves. The framing is there to attach things to and to keep the plywood from buckling. A sheet of 1/4" plywood is incredibly strong in sheer, and on a curved roof camper with even 1/8" thick plywood ceilings the panels are stressed in the front-to-back dimension which actually increases their resistance to side-to-side buckling.
A flat roofed camper though, requires a bit of additional bracing, and in many cases it's actually the interior cabinetry that carries some of the load and contributes to overall rigidity of the body.
So yeah keep it the same, but don't skimp out and use cheap material on your walls. These campers are very simple but really pretty ingeniously designed.
why did you use staples that way? instead of using screws and kreg holes?
Well, for one I didn't have a Kreg jig when I was doing this, but also this camper was originally assembled using corrugated staples, and the gun that shoots those is hundreds of dollars. Ultimately you just need the studs to stay in the correct place until the paneling is attached, that's what makes the walls strong, so using gusset plates was just a quick and easy way of keeping everything aligned. I did use a pocket screws to assemble my next camper, and I'd say it was slower and no more accurate, but probably adds a tiny bit of extra strength. I'll probably continue to use pocket screws in the future.
Would you recommend treated wood for the structure?
Treated wood is bad for a few reasons. One, it offgases as it dries out releasing toxic fumes that you probably don't want to fill your camper up with. Two, you don't want it touching the skin of your camper as it will cause the aluminum to corrode. And three, treated wood will change dimension slightly as it dries which is undesirable.
Honestly though, you just don't need it. Just use a good exterior grade plywood and decent wall studs and you'll be fine. These things don't rot because the wood wasn't treated, they rot because someone didn't take care of the seals around the windows and vents and such.
Good luck and thanks for watching!
How did you use the router to cut out the windows in the interior plywood without cutting the outside frame?
I'm not sure if I'm answering you exactly, but I drilled a starter whole larger than my router bit and dropped it in and a way we went!
@@TrailerTrashtoTreasure what bit did you use?
Any flush trim bit will work, but I would probably do one with the top bearing.
Dad is way under cast...he steals the show with his drinking remarks.
Lol well you'll love this next episode then. Even more 'drinking with Dave' jokes 😅
What level of thickness is the plywood
Great question! The walls on this camper were covered with 1/4" birch plywood.
That's ad music.
More like SAD music. :(
Your music choices became unbearable after 20 minutes.
Lol well it was a little tricky learning to score a video correctly. Hopefully it's gotten a little better now that we're paying for our music. Thanks for hanging in there for 20 minutes 😂