M109 Camper Build

I am starting the the conversion of my son's Shop Van into a camper. The truck was his eight birthday present and something for him and I to spend time on together. The major work is to address rust issues and new electrical wiring for the box. The plan is to keep the exterior of the truck looking stock or very close and then make the upgrades to the interior. I have pulled out all of the interior shell, removed the insulation and the old wiring. Found that much of the wiring insulation crumbled in my hand as I pulled it out of the truck. I am not planning on putting the exhaust fan back in the rear of the box. Here are some photos to show what the inside looks like as you pull out the shell. Still need to do better drawings of how I want the interior to look. Did a quick draw in Excel but need a real program. Anyone know of an inexpensive and easy to use design program?

Here is the general plan for the work
1 Replace Army patches done with pop rivets that leak with welded pieces
2 Pull out the major dents in the right rear
3 Blast and prime the exterior and interior of the box to clean up rust issues
4 Paint the exterior 383 green and the interior in sand
5 New wiring in the rear for lights and replace power strips with outlets
6 New wood for the floor, not sure yet on this one
7 Replace insulation and interior skin
8 build a camper style dinette booth for eating and sleeping
9 Add cabinets, TV, A/C to front window
10 Camp, camp, camp

The cheapest way to plan out something like this is to use good old fashioned graph paper. I have yet to find a cheap, easy to use design program that can do all the things I want to do. With graph paper I just set the scale and go to town and it's easy to transfer measurements over to other pages to do multiple views. You can even print on your own paper using the grids found here:

http://writeintherain.com/Categories.aspx?Category=7897dfce-4826-4a68-bbb2-6901dc7f2d3c

I would just get some lumber and start cutting. damnedest thing happens.. I cut twice and its still too short.

Cut it again then!

cool birthday present,looks like a fun project.we turned a school bus into a camper,had fun doing it. steve from western maine

How much of a nightmare was it to remove all the interior sheeting??

I'm not sure I want (or need) to do that to mine, but you never know!

What type of insulation did you find in the walls and ceiling? I have a 109, but I do not care to remove the interior pannels, they look to be in pretty good shape. Good luck with your project, I'll be watching to pirate your good ideas.

Looks like you are getting to a good start. Keep it up. I am about half way transforming mine into a camper as well while keeping the exterior stock. Lots of fun and the type of camper truck that will let you camp pretty much anywhere

PaFarmer said:

What type of insulation did you find in the walls and ceiling? I have a 109, but I do not care to remove the interior pannels, they look to be in pretty good shape. Good luck with your project, I'll be watching to pirate your good ideas.

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When I opened the walls in mine to run some wiring for clearance lights on the outside of the truck, I just found standard pink insulation you would find in any home. It is pretty thin (~1.5 inches thick), but at least it is something.

sgtrisk said:

How much of a nightmare was it to remove all the interior sheeting??

I'm not sure I want (or need) to do that to mine, but you never know!

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Taking out all of the interior was not hard. I suggest goggles, a dust mask and bunny suit. Mine had quite a bit of rust and loose insulation. Since a lot of this work is overhead you will end up with a bunch in your face. There are a lot of small screws and a couple of the rusted ones needed a shot of PB and some time to soak.

PaFarmer said:

What type of insulation did you find in the walls and ceiling? I have a 109, but I do not care to remove the interior pannels, they look to be in pretty good shape. Good luck with your project, I'll be watching to pirate your good ideas.

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The insulation was squares about 2" thick of normal, non backed fiberglass. It has some adhesive to hold it up in places. I am going to hit the inside with a spray on sound barrier / insulation along with some new fiberglass insulation with an R-13 rating.

I will try to get some more photos posted after this weekend.

camper M109

Green_gator said:

Anyone know of an inexpensive and easy to use design program?

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Google Sketchup is free, and a fairly good program. Easy to learn, and it is importable to CAD (some CAD).


http://sketchup.google.com/

Looks good, if I can suggest, when you get ready to reinsulate, and after you apply the spray on sound barier, there is a cheap way to realy insulate this camper: Get kitchen grade alluminum foil, it comes in rolls, it has a shiny side and a mate side, using spray glue, or equvilent, cover the inside of the walls and ciling with this foils, shiny side to the truck. Usualy 1" overlap on foil to foil is sufficient, When this dries, Home Depo or Lowes, or equvilent type place, has styrofome sheet isulation, comes in 4x8' starting with 3/4" thick and up, cut the styrofome sheets to size as needed, using glue, or duble sided stiky tape, attach styrofome panels on top of the foil. ( for more insulation Value, if you have the room, or are using two thin sheets of styrofome, you can add one laer of foil in between the styrofome panels, foil also being shiny side out to truck). Before instaling the Interior panels, also prep them with sound barier, and then apply the same foil, using spray glue or brush on glue, this time with the shiny side of the foil facing the foam already installed. Once assembled, if there are gaps betwin the panels, use silicone calking to seal it. This method has been sucsesfully used before, it realy works well, it is more expensive than fiberglass, but it retains the orginal look of the truck, it is easy to do, does not reqire special tools, and is very quiet, and is 3X + the R value, in hot or cold climate, and is still cheap to do.
Feel free to try it. Good Luck.

A couple are from hunting, I put up a fold-away table with a piano hinge on the passenger side. Where the cot is will be a water heater, sink, stove with oven complete with countertop and storage underneath. Where you see the air mattress will be a queen size bed raised up with storage under. The floor was in good shape so I just water proofed it then covered it with Pergo.

Plans include a small wood burning stove next to the table, overhead a/c, tv, roof rack over the cab for propane, etc.

And here are some ideas I've picked up, but haven't implemented yet. A couple are for door locks, one is a solargizer, and the rest are for the roof rack. Personally, I'd make the sides of the rack a bit taller.
-Chris

Bushman5000 said:

And here are some ideas I've picked up, but haven't implemented yet. A couple are for door locks, one is a solargizer, and the rest are for the roof rack. Personally, I'd make the sides of the rack a bit taller.
-Chris

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Hello,
Here is a stock appearing lock assy for the Deuce box:
McMaster Carr
Page 2911
Go to item:

1272A12

Otter,
That locking assembly for the rear door looks like it will work for the 109, I will have to measure mine to see.

Here are a couple of progress photos on van. So far we have removed a bunch of the small parts and the side windows of the box. Going with sanding most of the paint and only blasting the badly rusted areas. We have two coats of base primer on the sides and rear of the box. The last shot is of my storage unit with the interior shell of the box and other assorted gear. My wife got a look at this the other day and shook her head while giving me one of "those" looks.

Looking good, hope to see it at the Ga Rally in '09!

Bushman,
Do you have any photos of how that roof rack is attached to the cab? This is one thing I may add depending upon the type of a/c unit (roof, front window, interior) I add.

clinto said:

Looking good, hope to see it at the Ga Rally in '09!

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Clinto,
I sure plan on making it for next year. Will we see you at the Florida Rally?

Green_gator said:

Clinto,
I sure plan on making it for next year. Will we see you at the Florida Rally?

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Good one Walter, will we see Clinto at the FL rally? Hey Walter, you might consider bringing some of the cots you have to sell at the rally or post up that they will be available. Campers and cots go good together.