My Plan - I need help...

[willf]

I have had a quote to make a full GRP mould. That would have to take it to a full business plan rather than a one off self build.

It would cost £6-7000 to make a plug and one body shell and one roof shell. The gazelle is £10600 empty so it is a saving but still more than I would like to pay for an empty shell with nothing t all with it.

I have sketches. Hundreds of them!

So many ideas.

[willf]

I might give in and use marine ply.

maybe aluminium roof maybe GRP roof as it will cost significantly less than the whole body in GRP.

I like GRP as it won't rot and if rain sits under the body on the load bed it won't soak up into it.

The more thoughts I have the more questions I have!

[zildjian]

I (briefly) thought about it initially,
few things spring to mind
in my case, level of patience required is clearly beyond my attention span and almost anyone could stick at it beyond that.

attention to detail and sourcing all the little components seemed very time consuming unless you order stateside.

to make it lightweight GRP would be just great, did you see SBS will construct a shell for you to fit out,
in your case essentially you need on the lower half with upper being hinged off base and lighter in construction

[saDgit]

Been looking at this myself recently. Although there are obvious logistical difficulties, if you're looking for someone to build you an empty shell Truck Camper Europe, based near Malaga, offer ally-framed and skinned, pop-top shells at surprisingly low prices. They come with windows, skylights, some pre-wiring, tie-downs, etc. all of which can be fitted to your own specs.
They're at https://sites.google.com/site/truckcampereurope/inicio

[willf]

Cheap but a very long way from South Wales! Do they post them!?

[Robmac]

Been looking at this myself recently. Although there are obvious logistical difficulties, if you're looking for someone to build you an empty shell Truck Camper Europe, based near Malaga, offer ally-framed and skinned, pop-top shells at surprisingly low prices. They come with windows, skylights, some pre-wiring, tie-downs, etc. all of which can be fitted to your own specs.
They're at https://sites.google.com/site/truckcampereurope/inicio

They are good prices!

I couldn't see a price for the bare shell though?

[willf]

€4900 plus vat for the adventure model. But add 48 hours of solid driving there and back!

[Robmac]

€4900 plus vat for the adventure model. But add 48 hours of solid driving there and back!

So I suppose quite a lot of fuel costs, and VAT/Import duty when coming back?

Are there condensation issues with pop-tops?

[zildjian]

Well i'd heard the insulative qualities (perhaps obviously) weren't as good as a hardside camper, but then TBF you might reasonably have deduced that yourself, so it all depends on where and when you intend using it.

the hardy campers amongst us camp all year round I don't

[Robmac]

Well i'd heard the insulative qualities (perhaps obviously) weren't as good as a hardside camper, but then TBF you might reasonably have deduced that yourself, so it all depends on where and when you intend using it.

the hardy campers amongst us camp all year round I don't

Yes I suspected as much.

I camp all year round including a lot of Scotland in Winter, so maybe the hardside would be the better option. It wouldn't really bother me too much as I also winter camp in tents, but it wouldn't help in persuading Mrs Mac that we NEED a demountable!