MJ Happy Camper

[fiatslug87]

That bed liner finish was pissing me off so I punctured the cans, poured out the remaining material and rolled it on.

[fiatslug87]

The tent supports are basically 1” ID zinc plated steel pipes connected with copper elbows. The ends that pivot to raise them were collapsed by over tightened hardware so I expanded them back out using some sockets. I then inserted 1” solid plastic rods for support which also made inserting the quick release pins easier not having to “hunt” for the hole on the other side.

[fiatslug87]

Just finished final assembly, next is putting it on the trailer with the new seal. I’ll post more pictures when that happens, hopefully Sunday but here’s a couple.

 

[DesertRat1991]

Really nice work!

 

Did you do any waterproofing on that old canvas?  Been a long-time since I went tent camping but I recall there was a spray we used to use on the outside and along the seams.

[rokinn]

I considered buying this myself but wife approval would have been highly dubious to non existent.  But you are definitely way more deserving than I given what you have done with it.  We'll be looking for some photos of it in action out in the wild.  Congratulations.

[fiatslug87]

On 2/18/2023 at 5:43 AM, DesertRat1991 said:

Did you do any waterproofing on that old canvas?

The tent (8-ounce nylon pack-cloth) has a waterproof polyurethane coating on the inside that appears intact except for a couple places on the vertical ends. I want to get it back on the trailer before next week’s rains and will test it for water leakage, then go from there.

[fiatslug87]

A couple tips if anyone is doing this:

-It’s very difficult to put the bulb seal in if the hinges are in place.

-Wet the area of the tent that gets screwed down so it will stretch easily.

[ExpatMJGuy]

This is so cool.  I've been tempted to cut my parts MJ in half to do just this!  I've been trying to save it but I've seriously been on the fence sense I saw it had decent collision damage up front!  I'm just a beginner welder, like 3 weekends of Saturday classes with a stick welder and a few times after actually fixing some brackets.  I don't have the confidence to go this big yet!  But I want to!!!

 

This goes above and beyond what I was thinking with just a camper top to store the food, camping gear, and keep things dry!  Amazing!

[fiatslug87]

Got the WilderNest mounted to the trailer yesterday. Since it’s ~3” shorter than the bed there’s a stainless steel L-shaped filler piece at the front but it flexes and I don’t think it will make a good seal so I added a piece of 2” angle iron on the inside to sandwich the filler to the shell. Drilled a few holes through the angle iron as cargo tie down points.

 

[fiatslug87]

Added a couple Rough Country MOLLE panels, they’re meant for the left and right rears of a Tacoma but they fit end to end in our long beds, they need trimming if they’re set behind the bed rails (they will also fit our short beds as intended for the Tacomas). For the bottom standoffs I installed nutserts into the bed and used 1” plastic rod cut into 2” lengths that were drilled and countersunk for the nutserts.

 

[fiatslug87]

The custom printed spare tire cover just came in , it’s a picture of one of my dogs.

[Pete M]

nice    is the tarp for storage or travel?

[fiatslug87]

Storage, I’m getting a little water intrusion at the rivets that hold the windows in place. I don’t plan on doing anything about it anytime soon so will store it under the tarp.

[fiatslug87]

[fiatslug87]

Last of the stainless bling.

Before:

After:

[fiatslug87]

I never posted pics of it back on the bed, here are a couple.

 

[neohic]

Looks so good. 

[fiatslug87]

My fantastic sister in law just gave us a new cooler! Fits perfectly behind the wheel well and is color coordinated.

[fiatslug87]

It’s the little things that bring me joy!

Before:

After:

[Pete M]

chrome is like a 20% bump in horsepower.   at least for a trailer. 

[fiatslug87]

20%, 100%, it’s all the same when you start with a 0.0L 
 

Next little thing is using a Comanche fuel filler neck for the water tank.

Before:

After:

[fiatslug87]

Latest detail thanks to @boxyjeep, now it matches my ‘88.

Before:

After:

My ‘88 (have to replace and clean up):

[fiatslug87]

Started on the drawer. Got the carcass done, need to paint it, attach the top and build the drawer. Pretty happy with how it’s coming along.

 

[fiatslug87]

We have running water!!!

[Pete M]

careful.  you're going to get spoiled.