Project Camper

The kitchen upper cabinets were a challenge to build. Not build  but make secure I should say.  I used corner braces to secure all the joints and metal plates to secure the sides. I stupidly constructed the box without cutting out the hole for the power box. Cut hole first!  I made it work but it was not as easy or as neat as it could have been. I mounted the cabinet using heavy picture frame mounts from Home Depot. I used two 12 inch mounts for the top of the cabinet and one 18 inch mount for the bottom. I plan to put a divider and shelf in the upper cabinet so I can use the left side for storage after I get the power cord situation squared away. Why are there so many different cords? Initially I thought there was only 30 amp and 50 amp. But no. There are 4 prong 30 amps and 3 prong 30 amps. There are prongs with one bent prong. Argh! I had to buy one adapter for my 30 foot extension cord and a different adapter for my 50 foot extension cord.  This adapter connect...

For the Dinette I liked the idea of it being able to convert into a bed (like this guy did on YouTube) and also with storage underneath the seats.  First I made a rough outline of where I wanted the seats to go. Then I cut up some extra 4 x 4 fence posts that I wasn't using. I made them 18 inches long.  I am obsessed with Pocket Holes so I drilled 4 lower and 4 upper 1/2 inch pocket holes in each leg. I used 3/4 inch MDF board for the seats - they were 18 x 20. I left a 1/2 inch ledge on each seat facing the table for the bed conversion. 3/4 inch Tabletop was 27 x 20. Fit perfectly!  I added an extra fold up piece to make this longer using these brackets from Amazon. The table leg I bought from Amazon  and required a 2.5 inch recess in the floor. It is sturdy-ish. I will need to add a bracket connecting the table to the wall to make it more solid. Voila! Dinette! For the cushions I used some cheap foam mattress topper from Walmart and cut it to the size I needed....

 I have never plumbed anything before, ever. I tried installing a water filter under my house kitchen sink and failed. So I was nervous about doing this part of it. I cut out the sink outline from the countertop and placed the sink in. First try - perfect hole. Yes! I used a drop in bar sink The sink had clips that 100% did not fit which was really annoying. I ended up securing it with sealant. For the faucet I used an outdoor faucet  because I thought it was more rugged. Finding a way to connect that to the water inlet  was tricky but the good people at Moss True Value were super helpful. It did leak at first but then I remembered I needed to use tape on the fittings. Once I did that no more leaks! For the grey water I decided to use a 5 gallon water jug  and Snappy Trap . It was easy enough to install and get right the first time. I have a working sink!

For the kitchen cabinets I bought the Cassette Toilet , Sink and Mini-Fridge first so that I could make sure they fit. I built the dividers around them to triple check it. The front wall that I am building the cabinets against is not flat. So I bought some MDF for the backing to stabilize and have them straight. I'll have to do the same for the upper cabinets when the time comes. This might actually be beneficial in the long run because there is about a 1 inch gap between the wall and cabinet that cords and pipes can go through.  Next I installed the countertop. Rounding the corners was tricky - it was my first time doing so with the jigsaw. It ended up fitting really nicely. Disregard my messy tools.

I decided to do a lighter green on the walls than I plan to do my cabinets with. Lucky Clover was what I got from Lowe’s.                                                  First Coat                                                                                                    Second Coat The brown trim is Granola - also lighter than I plan to stain the cabinets.                                                First Coat          ...

Well my 21' Kia Seltos and I had a great run (it was my first ever brand new car!) but she had a hard time pulling the cargo trailer empty so I knew I would need to upgrade if I wanted to tow a finished camper. Towing capacity on my 2021 Seltos was 2000 lbs - the 2022 Seltos is 2900lbs. Pretty much the exact same car with a little bit more power. I even got lucky at the dealership because the car I ended up buying already had a tow hitch! Someone had custom ordered it and then decided not to buy it. It still needs an electrical hookup but that will be much cheaper than getting the whole hitch kit done. The car salesman was very nice but his manager gave me a really shitty deal. He pretended that he was a partner with my bank and gave me bogus rates to show me that he could give me a better deal. I wish I would have applied for the loan with my bank before I went to the dealer because it was WAY better. Like more than $200 per month better.  Normally I would have walked out of the d...

In lieu of insulation I bought some insulation paint from Lowe's and some roof insulation paint from Home Depot. I am very limited on weight capacity (need to stay under 2000 lbs) so I decided to forgo real insulation.                                  Both these items have good reviews so we'll give it a go! This is two thick layers of Cool Coat - I used both gallon cans. I did initially want to stain the ceiling and floor wood but decided to do the insulation coat on them instead. I felt it was more important to get the insulation on as much surface area as possible. I'll just use brown paint.