Reinstalling the easy boxes

Now it's time for the fun stuff.  Putting the newly painted and rebuilt boxes back in Frostbite makes for a great feeling of accomplishment since it is starting to look like a camper again.

For the first box, which is by itself to the right of the door, I had to rebuild the top due to water damage.  This was the top that I detailed in the post, "Rebuilding the first box." 

It's funny, the thing seems sorta flimsy by itself but, when I put it in and screwed it to the floor and the back wall, it is solid as a rock and can easily hold the weight of someone sitting on it.  Here is another angle:

I plan to put a final coat of paint and some clear coat on the counter tops once everything is installed.  It probably would have been best to completly finish the painting and everything prior to installing the boxes but, to be honest, I was getting bored with painting and sweating in the hot sun and would prefer to work in the air conditioning.

So there!

Here is box #2.  I rebuilt the counter top on this one as well.

The open left end will be connected to the middle galley box.

A shot of the two of them together.

Now for the big one, the long bench and storage area:

Yes, it needs another coat of paint.  I'll get to that.

There is a hindged door that allows access to a storage area inside the box.  When I put it all together, I couldn't get ahold of the door to open it.  I'm sure there was some type of handle originally attached but I couldn't find anything in my box of parts.  I did find a new cabinet handle I had purchased for some other project I never got to so I installed that and it works fine.

Just for fun (and a place to sit) I went ahead and put the new covers on the cushions for that bench.  This took a bit of work as there were several times that I was convienced that my seamstress had made them too small for the foam inserts.

I kept goofing with it and eventually they got in properly.  It was a perfect fit!

Just for laughs, I went ahead and hooked on my new rebuilt table.

Now it's really starting to come together.  There are five boxes total in Frostbite and 3 of those are already installed.  I still need to put on the cabinet doors and hardware but that should be easy.

The final 2 boxes are the galley and the electrical storage underneath the galley bench opposite the table.  These are the 2 boxes that needed the most rebuilding and will be the most difficult as it will require hooking up the water/gas/electric.  I've already rebuilt some of the box parts which I'll detail in the next post.

Currently I plan to have the inside boxes installed by the end of the upcoming weekend.  Bluebell is still spending the nights outside until I can empty the garage of Frostbite parts.

Fixing the Tables

There are 2 tables in Frostbite.  One is the main table for the inside benches.  Another larger table is for attaching to the outside of the camper to the left of the door.  I have never set either of these tables up because the folding legs on both were broken and barely hanging on the the table itself.

I've been thinking of how to fix these things since I first starting working on Frostbite and have managed to put it off until now.  During our trip to Lowes last month, I was insipired in the plumbing section.

I found some pieces of steel pipe along with attachments, caps, and extensions that seemed (in my head anyway) like it would work fine.  This weekend I finally got around to putting the idea into action and I thought it turned out pretty well.

This is the larger outside table.  I had to add a piece of wood for two reasons.  One, I thought it best not to attach directly to the table since it was particle board and the previous legs had stripped out all of the holes anyway.  The second reason was that I only had 1 inch wood screws and needed the extra thickness so they wouldn't pop through the top.

This is the smaller inside table.  It already had extra wood supports but I still needed more thickness due to the aforementioned 1 inch screws.

Here are some closeups of the leg attachments:

The only real problem I see with this solution is the leg cap on the inside table.  I worry that it might be too rough/hard and might damage the floor somehow.  I'm going to leave it as it is for now.  If it cracks the floor, I have plenty of extra tiles and can replace that and then figure out how to put some type of material on the cap to make it softer.

If it doesn't damage the floor, I'm golden.

This weekend resulted in massive progress on Frostbite and I will detail the work I did in future posts and photos here this week. 

Believe it or not, this thing is starting to look like a camper.

She's a beauty!

Removing the tape turned out to be much more of a pain than I originally thought.  I worked on it about 2 hours yesterday and quit only because I needed to install the new vent in case it rained.  The tape, in places, left a sticky film and in other places seemed like it was baked on. 

I tried to use real "Painter's tape" but it kept falling off like it wasn't sticky enough.  Instead, I used masking tape which is probably why I'm having problems getting the stuff off.

Stupid tape.

Anyway, I did remove about 90% of the tape yesterday and installed the new vent.  Hopefully, she is looking much better.

The new vent went on OK.  I put in some weather stripping underneath and caulked it all up.  I opened it up a bit just so I would be sure that I was orientating it correctly.  Now, I wish I hadn't of done that since it is now open for rain to get in and I will need to pop up Frostbite to get to it so I can close it.

Hopefully, it won't rain today.

The Big One

I managed to pull off the "Big One" this weekend; painting the outside of Frostbite.  I started by getting out my trusty wire brush drill attachment and scraped off all of the decals and lettering.  The "brown" and "tan" color scheme wouldn't fit with the new look I have in mind and, besides, it's not like I have some obligation or allegience to the StarCraft Camper company anyway.

Once this was done I then started taping up all the parts that I didn't want painted.  This took much longer than expected.  It was Sunday before I even started painting.  She look pretty rough before hand.  Here are some "before" shots I took just before I started painting:

I put on 2 coats and even managed to save some paint for touch ups which I will probably find a need for.  I thought it turned out pretty well.  You are going to have to wait until tomorrow before I post the "after" shots, though.  I needed this afternoon/evening to remove all the tape and install the new roof vent.  I want Frostbite to look her best for the first "after" photos.

I hope to paint the frame itself black alter this week.  *Nearly* all of the inside box parts have at least 2 coats on them.  Most have four.  I will start putting the boxes back together soon.  I have some clear coat that I intended to paint onto the counter tops.  I might wait until they are all installed before I do that.  I can't think of any reason why not and, frankly, I'm tired of painting.

More Painting

The past couple of afternoon/evenings have been spent painting panels, cabinet doors, and boxes.  I've been putting on 3 - 4 coats on each piece and they generally look pretty good when they are done.  I also rebuilt a 2nd water damaged cabinet top.

My goal is to start putting the boxes back together in Frostbite this weekend starting early tomorrow.  I took tomorrow (Friday) off and Monday is a holiday (4th of July) so this makes for a nice long weekend.  Could it be possible that the inside of Frostbite could be done (or at least functional) by the end of the weekend?

Yes, it possible (of course, it is also possible that magic fairies will finish the work for me while I sleep.)

I still have one box, the most complicated one, of course, that needs the front paneling replaced with bead board due to water damage.  I might address that as early as this evening.

While waiting for paint to dry, I might even muster up the energy to take my fancy drill wire brush attachment and scrub the rust off the metal trailer frame and remove all the Starcraft decals from Frostbite.

Then I can paint the frame black and the outside box white.

Wish me luck.

Here are some pictures of the painting progress so far:

Still working, mainly painting

Still working away on Frostbite trying to get the boxes ready to go back in.  I've been painting away at the pieces for a week or so.  I've even comandeered the garage since I need room to lay the pieces out so they can dry.  Both Bluebell and Sonny are spending the nights outside. 

This past weekend I did manage to take out the paneling I put in on one bunkend that turned out to be the wrong paneling to use since it absorbs water and replaced it with beadboard. 

I took pictures and trust me, it looks pretty good.  I can't post the pictures yet as I had to take out the batteries in my camera and put them in a Wii remote for my daughter and her friend and the photos have not been downloaded from the camera yet.

I really need to pick up some batteries at the store!

I've identified two boxes that will need the front paneling replaced due to water damage.  Unfortunately, one of those boxes is the main galley box and it is the most complex of all of them.  I've taken pictures of the boxes before I took any of them apart and will make sure to capture this one from multiple angles as I will need to refer to them so I will know how to put this back together.

Another irritation is my stupid $15 jigsaw.  I used it to cut the beadboard for the replacement panels underneath the bunkend and the blade stopped moving.  The engine revs up but the blade doesn't move.  If I hold the jigsaw upside down, it starts going up and down again.

Hopefully, something just needs tightened or adjusted.

I'll have to have this thing working because I will need to cut square holes in the beadboard for the cabinet openings.

I also had a great idea about the cabinet doors.  There is a rounded edging around each of the doors.  I've already bought shiny new silver cabinet handles and hindges but I thought this edging would look cool if it was painted blue since everything else is glossy white.  I thought about taking an extra floor tile to Lowes and having them match the blue color and give me a small can of paint to paint the edging.

I'm pretty sure they can do this.  I saw this in a TV commercial so it must be true.

I'm going to try and get some batteries today so I can post some updated pictures of my progress.  I'm planning to spend the week painting and rebuilding the boxes and will strive to start putting the boxes back inside by the weekend.

Frostbite has got some new shoes!

On Saturday, we drove Frostbite to Dickson to Dickson County Oil and Tire so she could get some new tires and wheel bearings put on.  I had originally intended to do this myself.  However, I decided that a professional having a look at the wheel and axel would be a safer bet this first time.  I would be unable to notice serious problems like the axel being close to breaking in half or something like that so I opted to play it safe.

We had to leave her on Sat. because they did not have a mechanic working that day but they promised to get to it on Monday and we could pick her up anytime the next week.

I went to get her after work yesterday.  The owner told me that everything looked good (a big relief for me!) and that they put on new wheel bearings, gaskets, and some other jibber-jabber that I didn't commit to memory.

I went ahead and got three tires so the spare is brand new as well.

Better safe than sorry, I suppose.

I drove her home and, after a long series of cussing and steering wheel spinning, managed to get her backed up into our driveway.

Now, there is literally nothing preventing me from finishing her up.  I did more painting since last post as well and will include some pictures in my next entry.