hello darrel,
you have given me great inspiration to get moving on my compact II project. i will leaving for my first camping trip with my compact II on wednesday. looking at the pictures of the empty shell has given me numerous ideas on how to make a layout that best suits my needs. the issue with the supports will be challenging, but not impossible. i will be attempting to design a layout that will sleep 4. i will not need a cooktop or sink, but a refrigerator and bathroom would be ideal. i will check on this thread from time to time and share some ideas as well. keep up the great work!!!

joey

Sleeping 4 AND putting a bathroom in a Compact II sounds pretty challenging.

As to the supports: Can you put up a plywood rib structure of some kind?

Something like what is seen in this picture:




Bobbie

Joey

Your sleeping for 4 with bath and fridge sounds challenging. If it is four adults I think it would be tough to sardine them in this little 10 foot by 6 foot space in the compact II. I want a generous sleeping area so we wont be cramped and will be using coolers, portable toilet. I have worked out a plan for shower facilities using some ideas from this forum. All will be modular as well so they can be used in or out as needed. I also will not be reinstalling my 16 gallon fresh water tank. I have devised a portable (modular) system which I am working on that will give me some versatility in that area also.


Bobbie

Those wood trusses could work but I am trying to stay away from any wood other than the floor in my trailer rebuild. I removed the cabinets and floor from mine because of wood rot and deteriation. I am going to use aluminum and fiberglass for the most part in my re-do so I won't have to worry about that any more.

( ps: Is that your boat project? nice!)

Nope, not mine, my boat is molded fiberglass! But if you use marine plywood it isn't going to rot.

Bobbie

Bobbie
I agree the wood should be waterproof. I am using a waterproof louan (mahogany) wood sub floor material for my new floor. I hope that will keep the floor from deteriorating.

I think I have figured out a plan for the roof support. I will use a 2x2 aluminum square tube running lengthwise along each side of the pop up opening. I will use a 2x2 upright aluminum support each side from the floor to the lengthwise tube positioned at the end of the dinette / bed position. I think this will give a cantalever support to hold the roof in position. The aluminum will be light weight and strong and I can run wires through it along each side to provide lighting points as needed. The front 2 feet of the roof tapers downward so I will trim the square tubing to match that taper to give continuity to the support. Also I will trim the back of the support to contour the door opening area and connect to my new aluminum door frame. That should provide a firm attachment at the end of the lengthwise support as well as the upright floor to roof brace support. I hope this explanation isn't too complicated.

The origional wood support was all laminated with fiberglass to the roof but I have removed all of that. I will attach this lengthwise beam to the Pop up flange with aluminum braces. I will provide pictures of my progress.

I finally started to put Bedroll back together. The problem with the factory floor, besides being rotted, was it fit down the middle of the floor and left open areas on the side. I think it was ment to keep it light and was covered by cabinetry. It also allowed water to run out under the floor. Unfortunately it also allowed dust and vermin to come in. I also decided that the four foot wide panel was the largest floor they could fit through the door. As you can see in the pictures the fiberglass wraps under the trailer like the casita but leaves a rectangular opening in the center.

My plan for the floor was to build it to cover the whole floor up to the curve of the fiberglass wall. Because I couldn't fit a full premade floor through the door I decided to cut it outside and then laminate it in place in the trailer.

I Really wanted a non wood floor but Aluminum and polyethylene were too expensive. I finally compromised by using luan panels which are used for subflooring applications in homes.

Here is the future floor: Click to view attachment

First I made a template from heavy cardboard (neighbors discarded water heater box)
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Here is the first cut using the cardboard template for a pattern transfer to the luan. I used two sheets for the first cut plus a 1 foot section through the middle.
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This is the layout in the trailer
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Here is the first cut of the second layer.
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I still need to cut the five filler sections for the ends and sides of this panel and another full panel (repeat of first cut)for the third lamination. I got a killer deal on gorilla glue to use for the laminating adhesive. Lowes wanted 18 bucks for an 18 ounce bottle but had a sale on the 36 ounce bottle for 15 bucks. This is as far as I got last night. I will update this post as I go.

Here are more pictures of my resto mod of Bedroll.
This first one is the other floor sections cut out on the second lamination layer.
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This is the third lamination for the floor.
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These pictures show the Propane tank, Battery mount and tongue jack I have installed.
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Notice that the jack is inside the frame and swings under the battery case. I did this so any off road obsticles would not catch the jack and rip it off.

Well the bedroll is rolling. I took it on an outing this month. It is not finished but usable. Here are a fiew pictures showing my progress to date.
the first pictures show the floor pieces being laminated.
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This picture shows the completed floor and an aluminum shield I installed to prevent deterioration from the exposed floor under the trailer.

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this is the old floor I removed.

Here are more pictures. The first picture shows the the new floating pergo wood floor. The other pictures show the framing system I used. I used aluminum for all support framing and bolted it to the body mounting locations using stainless steel bolts and stainless nyloc nuts. Note also that the roof support beam along each side of the top opening are tapered at the ends to follow the slope in the front roof. Also the single support from the floor to roof on each side which replaces the cabinetry previously running from the door along each side to a mid point on the roof. The new location cantalivered the top rail to allow for the new bed size, yet supports the roof.

More pictures.
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This is the window air conditioner I installed by removing the center section of the front window. This is a temporary installation while I was working on the inside of the trailer in the hot desert weather. I will still use this location for my removable A/C but plan to upgrade the installation to make it easier to install and remove.

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here is the inside showing the seating and new bed arrangement.

A few more

Here are a couple of pictures I took on my first roadtrip after getting back together and roadworthy.
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Purty classy Darrell.

This is will surely become "one-of-the-best" if not "Theee Best" Compact II out there.

Thank you Loren.
I am trying to make it as user friendly as I can but still be durable enough for my off road plans.

I just finished a new curtain system that is a lot cleaner than the original. I didn't want to put holes in the fiberglass so I used four aluminum saw guide units and mounted them to the window frames using the window mounting screws. I then used wire and turnbuckle to hold the curtains tight against the aluminum. Instead of screwing the wire to the mounts I crimped a electrical connector to each end of the wire and then bent the connector so the it would clamp onto the edge of the aluminum mount and tighten up with the small turnbuckle. It is easily removed by loosening the turnbuckleand and sliding off the frame. I will have pictures soon.

I am now working on my 12 volt and 110 volt electrical and lighting. I gave the lighting a lot of thought and finally settled on keeping a modular theme by useing a track light system. I will use a dual electric track that will allow me to have both 12 and 110 volt fixtures in the track. I am also using electrical outlets on the track so other 12 or 110 volt fixtures or appliances can be plugged into the lighting track. I should be able to post some pictures this weekend.

Thanks to everyone on the forum for all your great ideas and encouragement.

Here are the pictures of the track lighting. I took some of the curtain mounts but my flash didn't take so they are dark. I will retake them and post them later. As you see the track lighting is mounted over the front curtain area. The lights I bought didn't have a off switch so I put one on them to be able to control the lights when in bed.
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These show the lights over the galley area and the closet area. Note the track extends over the seating/bed area so that area will be lighted.
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This picture shows the full width curtain mount on one of the side windows.

Here is the closet side lights.
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