saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Self builds and DIY projects
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zildjian
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Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 4658Post zildjian
March 15th, 2015, 4:41 pm

that was one of the first things I noticed myself, kudos on the approach for the 'little lady'

/chauvanist off :mrgreen:

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saDgit
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Location: Aups, France (most of the time)

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 4805Post saDgit
March 21st, 2015, 6:08 pm

Major construction and assembly is still on hold for the time being (continuing dodgy weather and forthcoming family commitments) but progress has not entirely stopped. Spent a couple of hours this afternoon cutting the 'ribs' (twenty of them!) around which the curve of the roof panels will be formed.
Image

Also received the stucco pattern aluminium sheets, with which I am going to skin the lower side walls, from DesignBleche in Germany. I really quite like the look of them so now I'm back to wondering whether to skin the whole camper with it after all. Decisions, decisions!
Last edited by saDgit on August 4th, 2018, 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Martin

Previous demountables: Island Plastics 'Suntrekker' on P100, S.Karosser 'EC8L' on Ranger supercab, self-built pop-top on Ranger double cab
Current demountables: Rhino 'Safari' hardside on Ranger double cab

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zildjian
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Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 4806Post zildjian
March 21st, 2015, 7:13 pm

Image

got an image of the roofing material fitted on another camper we can look at

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saDgit
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Location: Aups, France (most of the time)

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 4822Post saDgit
March 21st, 2015, 9:18 pm

Not fitted on another camper, but this is the stuff:
Image

The surface pattern that Karosser and others use, which they call 'hammered' here, is much more expensive for some reason. The other nice thing about the stucco pattern is that it has a relatively high flat surface area on the back which I'm hoping is going to help in making it stick.
Last edited by saDgit on August 4th, 2018, 2:04 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Martin

Previous demountables: Island Plastics 'Suntrekker' on P100, S.Karosser 'EC8L' on Ranger supercab, self-built pop-top on Ranger double cab
Current demountables: Rhino 'Safari' hardside on Ranger double cab

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zildjian
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Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 4825Post zildjian
March 21st, 2015, 9:41 pm

is that malleable enough create a nice contour as you drew, and if so how do you clamp it while whatever holds it cures

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saDgit
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Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 4826Post saDgit
March 21st, 2015, 9:58 pm

Not sure until I do an experimental bit. Clamping with lengths of wood and ratchet straps while polyurethane (e.g. sikaflex) goes off. If I go down this route preparation of the back of the sheet will be the critical bit - abrasion and thorough degreasing.
Martin

Previous demountables: Island Plastics 'Suntrekker' on P100, S.Karosser 'EC8L' on Ranger supercab, self-built pop-top on Ranger double cab
Current demountables: Rhino 'Safari' hardside on Ranger double cab

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saDgit
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Joined: August 24th, 2014, 12:17 pm
Location: Aups, France (most of the time)

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 4920Post saDgit
March 24th, 2015, 3:56 pm

Finally we've had a couple of half decent days so I've been able to get down to the local builders yard to pick up some sheets of exterior ply and then to cut the outer, 10mm floor panel and fix it to the frame that I made what seems like weeks ago.
Image

The timber that I've used in nearly all of the framework, including the floor, is nominally 27mm square - a very odd size, I know, but it's a standard for unplaned wood in this part of France anyway. In reality though, at least from my supplier, it's invariably 25mm x 30mm but that's great because it's enabled me to build all of the framework with a wall thickness of 30mm, and that's a standard dimension for XPS insulation (extruded polystyrene). So those five open cavities in the floor will be filled with insulation before I fit the inner, 15mm panel.

Goodness knows when that will be. It's just started raining again and we're promised more tomorrow!!
Last edited by saDgit on August 4th, 2018, 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Martin

Previous demountables: Island Plastics 'Suntrekker' on P100, S.Karosser 'EC8L' on Ranger supercab, self-built pop-top on Ranger double cab
Current demountables: Rhino 'Safari' hardside on Ranger double cab

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zildjian
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Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 4922Post zildjian
March 24th, 2015, 4:17 pm

Well anyway, some progress again,
Handy about the timber all the same.

Can you identify that Tischer (in) the back of the Hilux in the other thread BTW

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saDgit
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Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 4969Post saDgit
March 26th, 2015, 3:30 pm

At last a day that has been dry enough and warm enough to enable me to get the ply of the outer floor sealed. Having spent quite a lot of time exploring the wisdom of wooden boat builders on various websites and forums I'd decided that I would take the extra precaution of sealing it with a two-part epoxy sealant even though the ply claims to be good for exposed exterior use (i.e. conforms to national French standard CTBX). But, like all epoxys, the stuff I bought, called Resolcoat 1010, came with recommendations that it should only be used in temperatures between 18 and 25C and when humidity is relatively low. Easy enough to manage if you're working in a building but my 'workshop' doesn't have walls or a roof so I've been waiting for the day. And today was it!
Image

So, in a perfectly acceptable sunny 20C, I've lashed a heavy first coat onto the ply and then filled the countersunk screwheads, also with an epoxy, before the sealant has fully cured - another tip from a boat builder that I found somewhere. It apparently means the filler will bond better than it would to the raw ply.
Image

Apart from the fact that I mixed up twice as much sealant as I actually needed (And at 40€ a kilo I can't afford to do that very often!) it all appears to have gone as planned and so hopefully, given another nice day tomorrow, I can get the filler sanded off and a second and possibly even a third coat of sealant put on.
Last edited by saDgit on August 4th, 2018, 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Martin

Previous demountables: Island Plastics 'Suntrekker' on P100, S.Karosser 'EC8L' on Ranger supercab, self-built pop-top on Ranger double cab
Current demountables: Rhino 'Safari' hardside on Ranger double cab

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saDgit
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Location: Aups, France (most of the time)

Re: saDgit's flat-faced pop-top

Post: # 5081Post saDgit
March 29th, 2015, 4:44 pm

Good weather continues and so I've been able to finish sealing the outer floor panel with epoxy - three coats on the face and four around the edges. Also got the outside of the lower side walls and the side benches faced with 5mm ply, ready to be skinned with the aluminium from DesignBleche. It seems a bit odd to be applying areas of finished skin before I've even put the framework together but I figure it will be much easier to do these panels now, when I can work on them flat, rather than when they're in place on the camper - vertical and upside down!
Image

I think I've probably over-built this bit of the camper. Five millimetres of plywood and an extra millimetre of aluminium does seem excessive, and I'm certainly not going to build any other panels that way, but I did want the lower walls to be tough. Although the primary purpose of the two hatches on each side is to allow access to the tie-downs I know from experience that we'll also chuck muddy walking boots, bags of dirty laundry, waste buckets, and anything else we can cram into the space between the side of the camper and the side of the pickup, and I wanted the walls to be able to withstand that without getting pockmarked and damaged.

Incidentally I'm trying to keep a careful account of the weight as the build progresses. Total so far, including all the framework and ply, is 84 kilos. Seems like quite a lot for not very much!
Last edited by saDgit on August 4th, 2018, 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Martin

Previous demountables: Island Plastics 'Suntrekker' on P100, S.Karosser 'EC8L' on Ranger supercab, self-built pop-top on Ranger double cab
Current demountables: Rhino 'Safari' hardside on Ranger double cab

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