Wago-camper build thread
bam-bam
Council Member
Since I wanted this one to be a surprise, I didn't post progress reports, and really didn't take many progress pics. :oops: Here I'll try to reconstruct the process:
You may remember the thread when BabyJ and I went and dragged this one home. Traded another parts car I had to efguy.
This idea had been rolling around in my head for awhile. In fact I wanted to do it for Import Alliance '08, but there just wasn't time. I had been seeing a few teardrop campers about, with sleeping room and a kitchen in the back hatch, hmmmm....
It was really hard to keep my mouth shut as I did the Bseries swap I said I didn't want (needed the torque!). Now you know why I needed a substantial hitch, too!
My co-designer
So a couple of months ago I got serious:
You may remember the thread when BabyJ and I went and dragged this one home. Traded another parts car I had to efguy.
This idea had been rolling around in my head for awhile. In fact I wanted to do it for Import Alliance '08, but there just wasn't time. I had been seeing a few teardrop campers about, with sleeping room and a kitchen in the back hatch, hmmmm....
It was really hard to keep my mouth shut as I did the Bseries swap I said I didn't want (needed the torque!). Now you know why I needed a substantial hitch, too!
My co-designer
So a couple of months ago I got serious:
Comments
right about now is when Revmaynard's swap went down- temporary delay
by then it was time to get serious. There was no definite plan, it evolved as time went on and beers flowed.
Local guys would come over and we'd bounce ideas off each other- what wouldn't work and why.
The whole floor was cut out, from the fuel tank to the windshield. Every fuel line, wire, bracket, seat belt...anything that weighed an ounce extra was removed. I wanted the finished floor to be level with the door sills, but the rear suspension "frame" horns were 2 3/8" higher than that. Floor was framed with 1 1/2" perforated angle that I had a pile of.
The original tongue that I built:
I didn't like the look, and the height was all wrong. The whole concept hinged on matching height, body lines, color, wheels, etc.
So I cut it all off and regrouped
I then laid some 16ga. aluminum"trailer panel" down under the plywood for weather-and-moisture-proofing
Laid the flooring back in and then used it as a form to install the front skin (20ga steel) panel.
This panel was tacked around the perimeter, and fiberglassed to the plywood floor.
cut that and then reversed the process for the fender
BIG PICTURE HIATUS!!! WTF?? I got no pics of cutting the fenders and hood, or the welding and fiberglass work to build that silly "nosecone"
In this pic and the one above I'm measuring and calculating just how short I can make the tongue. I wanted it to be as close-coupled as possible. As it sits today, when jackknifed there's a scant inch of clearance from the front panel to the towing car's bumper.
WAGONS HO!!
Here it went out for paint, and I put the Si tranny in pebbleswagon and fixed the AC...Changed Rev's tranny too, I think?
So it's time for the wall
and the kitchen takes shape
cutting some plastics to fit:
finishing the dash area: plywood box, spray glue, boat carpet 8)
I love it. Now THATS originality!
I gotta take a welding course for sure!
i was looking at teardrop trailers online with a friend at work and just happened to see pics of the finished "wago-trailer" that same day.
way cool!
I decided to do this just for ergonomic reasons. With the stove just sitting on the counter my knees hit the bumper while I leaned in to reach it. With the slides it's out flush with the bumper. I bought the stove at Harbor Freight and the ball-bearing slides at Home Depot.
The pegboard idea was lifted from a Snap-On truck (Something I and my money are all too acquainted with
At Import Alliance I cooked for the HCW gang, Team NSU, plus the show staff and volunteers, plus anybody from home that happened by... During the 2 days we cooked:
96 hotdogs
4 dozen eggs
3# chorizo
10# carne de puerco al pastor
180 tortillas
fresh tomato salsa and guacamole
And that's just at the show! At camp we had masaman curry chicken for dinner.mmm.
Anyway, so the kitchen setup worked well 8)
Bam-bam can cook as well as he can build cars though!
I'm honored. Hoped to see you this year.
She bought the 3" foam for the mattress at a local military surplus store, then tracked down some gray cotton duck for the covers. I cut the foam to fit, and her Mom made the zippered covers.
I put the snaps in the backrest cushion from some of my boat junk
We bought the colored pillows at a stop on the way up to the meet. My interior desecrator wife convinced me to add some color..I'm a blackwhitegray kinda guy :oops:
I relocated the remote gas door and hatch release cables to the C-pillar, It works well. The excess cable is rolled up behind the left taillight.
Yazoo is brewed in Nashville, and only available locally. Dos Perros Ale is some yummy stuff. Came back with 7 6packs. (all I could find in Murfreesboro
"Why do you ask these questions, Two Dogs Fucking?"
Thanks, Brother. Me, too!
Haha. LOL. Oh yea. You are one good "on the road" chef! Haha.
I had to substantially narrow the door panels to fit. Originally they flared inward to the dash. With my raised floor, the doors wouldn't shut! I peeled off the vinyl, filleted the underlying shell to fit, then reglued the covering. It took one trim screw to hold it all together:
The trim piece on the edge of the floor is cut from a vinyl fascia cover (as in vinyl siding for your house!) painted with Dupli-Color interior paint
Tell your cuz I ate his leftover curry for lunch at work Monday
may i ask you some question on this build. do you have any issues as far as towing is concern. do you have a fixed tongue or a receiver as a hitch? thanks
again congrats on the build.
wagon.......................................4ever...........................
I'm not sure. Those speaker grills close against the mattress now, plus the location may be too shallow. We'll see how it goes.
ricefighter: It tows very well, but I wouldn't want to try it without the torque of the LS. I have some brake upgrades in the works for my car, too- that's the only part I worry about.
The hitch is a receiver I modified from a DC Integra. It is VERY well rooted to the car.
Well, there is one other concern about towing: I like to spend a lot of time in the Mountains, biking. Many of the good spots require traveling many miles of USFS dirt roads. Since the car is front-wheel-drive and heavily loaded on the tongue I might have a problem starting off on or climbing some of the steep, rutted pitches. I'm going to put DA struts and springs on to raise the rear a bit.