Micro camper from Ranger service body

[Jim Oaks]

What are you doing for ventilation? Are you putting a fan anywhere?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I would put a 1x2 or 2x2 under the both edges of the new shelf. It will stiffen it right up. And if that isn't enough add another piece of plywood glued and screwed under that.

 

[holyford86]

What are you doing for ventilation? Are you putting a fan anywhere?

All of the windows open and there are panels that secure to the side openings to allow the doors to remain open when it gets warm. There isn't enough real estate in the roof for a vent fan. I do plan to carry a battery operated fan with me though, just in case.

I would put a 1x2 or 2x2 under the both edges of the new shelf. It will stiffen it right up. And if that isn't enough add another piece of plywood glued and screwed under that.

I plan to add 1/8x 1.5 aluminum along the edge which should help with the structure quite a bit, just haven't had a chance to get to the metal store just yet as their hours perfectly align with the hours I work. Vacation starts Friday, so Monday morning I'll have the metal I need. The only problem area I think that I'll have is the middle of the forward edge of that shelf. There is no structure in that entire area, just skin covered with 1 inch foam and 1/4 plywood all kinda wedged and glued together.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

All of the windows open and there are panels that secure to the side openings to allow the doors to remain open when it gets warm. There isn't enough real estate in the roof for a vent fan. I do plan to carry a battery operated fan with me though, just in case.



I plan to add 1/8x 1.5 aluminum along the edge which should help with the structure quite a bit, just haven't had a chance to get to the metal store just yet as their hours perfectly align with the hours I work. Vacation starts Friday, so Monday morning I'll have the metal I need. The only problem area I think that I'll have is the middle of the forward edge of that shelf. There is no structure in that entire area, just skin covered with 1 inch foam and 1/4 plywood all kinda wedged and glued together.

1/8"*1.5"*1.5” angle front and back. Angle screwed on from underneath, or bolted for more strength, makes it a sliding, removable shelf. No need to compromise the wall.

 

[holyford86]

Did some sanding and polyurethane on all of the remaining wood panels which requires removing all of the windows. Since my garage door is about a foot too short I had to migrate to my mother's house to get it done, since the weather has been so unpredictable lately.

I also rediscovered the need for a sway bar on this thing, so that's Sunday's project. Two of my parts bronco 2s have 3/4 inch rear sway bars, so I'll be adding one of those to this, it should hopefully help a bit.

 

[holyford86]

Sway bar installed. We cut down and sleeved the axle when it was set up originally so the u bolts and such all ended up just working on the trailer axle. Using the very scientific method of rocking the trailer it seems to have made a pretty significant difference.

 

[holyford86]

Ended up with some extra time and cut out the hole for the counter (and measured wrong in the process) then roughly mocked the drawer slides in. Hopefully will have those mounted up in the next day or two, after finishing up the shelves and such.

 

[holyford86]

The shelves are all installed, they seem sturdy enough for what they are, hopefully they hold up well. Adding the aluminum to the edges seems to have stiffened them up quite a bit.

Here you can see how the front one keys into the track to help support them.

I riveted a small piece of angle to the edging of the front shelf and screwed through the shelf to support the inside front corners of the side shelves.

and the whole thing all finished.

Now on to finishing up the slide out counter.

 

[SenorNoob]

Looks like it's ready for mood lighting...

 

[holyford86]

Looks like it's ready for mood lighting...

Already ahead of you

 

[SenorNoob]

NICE!

 

[holyford86]

Finally had some free time to finish up the slide out counter, it took more fiddling around than I thought to get everything lined up so it slides in and out without jamming. It's a little more wobbly than I had hoped but still plenty serviceable for what it is.

I've added some aluminum panels under the slide out to keep most of the road debris out of the mechanisim and such since I took the pics. I have a bottle opener I'll be mounting to the end to act as a handle and, well, a bottle opener as well.

Next up I used a piece of color matching scrap from the rear window cut outs to make a door. The paddle latched was harvested from the battery door of a blue bird bus, it's the perfect size for the door. The hinge is just a scrap of stainless steel piano hinge one of my friends had.

I did try to hide the hinge in different ways but it wouldn't have worked given the real estate available behind the side panel. There's a wheel well that cuts across diagonally about half an inch ahead of the rivet closest to the tire.

Now to pull the counter back out to sand and finish the top, then mask and paint the door. So close to being done, haha.

 

[holyford86]

And it's effectively done! A little test run in the back yard to make sure the awnings work and such and it's good to go. Got the latches modified to be able to open the doors from the inside using junkyard scrounged handles from old step vans and some key stock, cleaned up all the debris from all the work and admired it for a bit before rolling the awnings back up for now.

I plan to take it out the first weekend of August and finally use it in its completed state after nearly 2 years of work. I'm pretty excited about it. Hoping to get some good shakedowns in on it this year and am shooting for taking it on an adventure next fall, ambling through NY, bothering @lil_Blue_Ford on my way through PA and ending up at the trs meet up in Kentucky in 2026.

 

[RobbieD]

That, my friend, is totally bad ass.

Pat yourself on the back, for a job well done.

 

[holyford86]

That, my friend, is totally bad ass.

Pat yourself on the back, for a job well done.

Thank you sir, the kind words are much appreciated.