Restoration 1986 Viking 800

[Double B]

Was given this gem free of charge other than to take it home. It needs work, but have other camper to use with the family. Took it to convert to hunting camper. The intent is to use for only 1 week a year camping off grid in the extreme up north of Canada moose hunting with my daughter.

As you can see, it had a leak.





The roof has been rebuilt and installed with new wood and painted. Here is a pic of the wood installed before assembling the trim.



So far I have been working on replacing the chip board floor, bench, and cab over bed with plywood. I'll post those pics in the next post.

[Double B]

Here are the in process plywood replacement.

Passenger side wood taken out;



Same side new wood in;



Drivers side with the wood out;



With new wood in, but no tin put back on;



Update in next post.

[Double B]

Currently all the tin is back on, the bottom floor has not been replaced yet, holding off until I get beck from my upcoming business trip. Been busy cleaning the tin and getting ready for paint. I have found the best way to get all the old caulking and silicone off is with a drill and wire wheel going slow and steady.

Some of u might say "why?" I say why not? I need something to provide me stress relief after work and get me out to the garage. This is this winters project.

I have a couple of questions as I go thru this project. One is tying down to the inside hooks in my pickup box. Why not? is the question. I want to use ratchet strap from the camper to the box tie downs. I don't want to add anything to my new truck frame.

Talk me out of this....

[Bedlam]

Torklift tie downs do not require any drilling or welding on your truck and just bolt up to the frame.

Your camper is relatively light and may work OK with ratchet straps, but then you are relying on your bed mounting hardware to handle any twisting load exerted by the camper. Depending on where you plan to take this camper, the truck frame may twist on rutted trails. You will need to add springs to the mount points or allow enough slack in the ratchets so it does not pull the camper apart.

[Double B]

Makes sense. An observation though from the only time I had it on the truck. The current locations for the tie downs are not perfectly U/D. The are more F/A on an Angle. Say 15-20 degrees.

Stupid me, I thought this angle will provide the give needed if it should roll a bit C/C, but still be stable.

My plan is logging trails upper Ontario for Moose season. So frame mounted tie downs might be the only way.

Anyone have pics of home made truck frame mounted tie down braces? I live in the machining capital of Canada. So custom made brackets are possible.

[Bedlam]

In the older generation tiedowns, people used "belly bars" that were bolted to the underside of the frame, but it does reduce your chassis clearance. In the rear, a bar can be run through your main receiver cross tube and clamped down.

[Double B]

Just an update. Was able to clean off all the residue from the windows. Just needs a wash before paint with acetone.




Was able to remove the fabric. Only need to replace one window. Will check local boat canvas place how much to get done.

Thinking this weekend I'll swap out the bottom floor wood. Thinking a check piece of linoleum and a sheet of ply. Have a left over pail of glue from previous project. Wish me luck.

[garbonz]

Nice job. I love seeing these projects. Good on ya.

[Double B]

Just posting an update after finishing painting the white.

Here is how it looks;




If you look closely at the last pic, you can see an added frame that still needs to be painted. The last owner of the camper was a tool shop owner with access to a forklift. After his first trip with the unit he removed all the jacks and welded a customer pallet frame that was screwed to the bottom of the camper. I have not removed this as I like the added weight on the bottom, lower the center of gravity, and it keeps the unit off the ground in storage. I still need to paint it black. Possible tonight. I'll get more pictures when it is done.

I have a couple of questions to those that stop by for a look. When I come to re-install the old windows, why don't I just use silicone clear instead of the Butyl tape? I would get a better seal with the silicone if done right than the butyl. My local dealer said to use the butyl tape and install the window. then apply a bead of silicone around the window to prevent any leaks. Again why screw with the butyl?

[Double B]

Another question to the membership; anyone know any decal makers that make multi layer graphics?

I want new Viking decals like the originals;




I look at them and they are only three layers of vinyl (white, black, and burgundy) in a standard lettering and standard font effect.

Any help on this one would be great. I need 4 "Vikings" all the same size and 1 "800"

[Idahoruss]

Did you use "rattle cans" for the paint? It looks nice.

[Double B]

Did not get much done last night. Went to install the old jack mounts to the camper and the new bolts where too long. Need to return to the store and get short bolts.

You may be wondering why they are longer if I just bought what was there, I'm adding 2 layers of 3/4" ply between the camper and the mounts. I'm trying to increase the height of the jacks where I can. It seams that 2500 pickups from 1986 are lower than current 2016 Chevy 2500. By about 4-5" in height. The current jacks do not raise high enough to get the unit off my truck. I was going to add 1.5" between the mounts and I was going to screw together jack plates of 2x4's and plywood. Did this for my 35' Laredo jacks.

As to how I painted it. Foam 5" roller and a Gallon of Rustoleum paint. 4 coats. Double coats what semi wet to build paint. I thought since is was a 30 year old trailer, the paint job was not going to be the feature that determined the resale value.

The plan tonight is to get the new bolts and install the jack mounts. Wish me luck.... Sorry no pictures today.

[sam-3]

I did reinstalling of six windows in my RV. Yes,Absolutely use butyl tape. I would highly recomend Lexel caulk. It can be purchased at ACE hardware or on line. You don't want to have water leaks on your new wood. You tube has a video on this subject. My windows were done five years ago. No leaks or other window problems.

[Double B]

Well where to start?

In stalled all the jack mounts so I'm not relying on 4 paint cans to hold the entire weight of the camper.



After I worked on assembling the Propane cylinder hatch. First needed to relocate and extend the old 4 pin connector harness. I wanted it at the rear of the camper on the drivers side. This would put it closer to the actual hook up in my truck. Here is a pic of the harness after soddering in the new pieces of wire.



This is after fishing the added length of the harness under the furnace, thru the wiring bay, etc to the rear of the camper. The excess length of wiring was coiled under the propane support platform.



This is with the galvanized fire shield in place. Notice the butyl tape...



Went thru 2 rools of Bytyl tape this weekend and need more.