We bought our popup,a 1999 Jayco Qwest 10, from some friends in November 2011. They had purchased it brand new and had used it a lot during the time they owned it. The camper was in great condition, without all the issues that you see from used popups.
My wife and I have both been tent campers since we were kids and tent camped with our sons as we raised them. We had talked a few times about how it would be great to have a popup.
The first camping trip was in June 2012. We camped at a campground less than 10 miles from home. We thought it would be helpful to be able to run to the house for anything we forgot. Like the pillows. It worked well. We learned a lot about setting up and using the camper.
The second night we rode out a severe thunderstorm, with hail. No real damage to the camper, just added some more hail dents to the roof. No leaks from the roof!!
The rest of that summer was very hot and busy and we didn't use the camper the rest of the season.
As you can see from the pictures, it had your typical decor and cabinets.
Over the winter of 2013, my wife found Popup Portal through Pinterest.
We were inspired by what we saw.
It was great to see all the ideas and changes others had made to their popups.
When the weather warmed up I added a Fantastic Vent and 12V jacks to the light fixtures to plug in the fans that hang in the bunkends. I also added the hardware to hang an organizer. Installed a new faucet. We did not like how the original operated when hooked to "city" water, which we have access to quite often.
Memorial Day Weekend of 2013 we camped in the Black Hills and started talking and planning what we wanted to do to make the camper ours. We camped two more times that summer and by the end had a vision for what we wanted the camper to look like inside and out.
The Restoration Begins
Painting
In October of 2013, I started sanding and preparing the frame and the body for paint. I used a spray on stripper to remove the vinyl decals. I went over the frame and the tongue with sandpaper and a wire brush, and then washed it with soap and water. I then masked off the body and anything that didn't need to be black. I used Rustoleum Professional Black in a spray can. I did 2 coats allowing plenty of time to dry in between.
I removed all the hardware, lights and anything else that could be removed.
I used a green pad to rough up the surface of camper, I also sprayed Simple Green on each area I scrubbed. I bought the concentrate of Simple Green and did not dilute it. The combination of the two did a great job of preparing the surface for paint. We then gave it a good wash and rinse with soap and water. We let it dry for a a day before we started painting.
We taped off the frame and anything that we could not remove. We painted with Rustoleum Professional White. We applied the paint with a roller. My wife did the painting of the body. She a was able to apply 2 very good coats and still had about a quart left. Let dry for 2-3 days and put the latches and any other hardware on that was needed to seal it up for the winter. Pulled it out of the garage and covered it for the winter.Unfortunately, we lost all the photos that were taken during the painting of the body of the camper.
Demo and Flooring
The camper was pulled into the garage in March of 2014. After waiting thru some cold temps and not able to get much done I was finally able to start doing the demo on the inside.
I removed all the paneling from the cabinets and their frames. Also removed the paneling from the side walls. Removed the furnace to make room for two new drawers. Pulled up the vinyl flooring.
Prepared the floor for the new vinyl by scraping and sanding and then vacuuming and washing the floor. I put a coat of flooring primer on the wood floor. It is the same product I have used in my home. We installed 4" wide vinyl planks. Very easy to work with, installs quick, easy to trim. Looks great when done and from experience in our home, is durable and easy to clean.
Walls
Once the flooring was installed, I started on the side walls. I used 3 9/16" planking with a V groove. It is tongue and grooved, so it fits tight.
Cabinets and Counter Tops
Once the cabinet frames had been covered, I made new doors using 1/4" plywood and the paneling. Glued and nailed the paneling to the plywood. Trimmed the door with pine outside corner trim. I made the drawer fronts the same way. I bought drawer boxes online that needed to be assembled. Once all the doors and the cabinets were done, I sprayed on 3 coats of spray-on polyurethane.
Counter tops were made from Edge Glued Pine panels. I cut them to size and then cut the holes for the sink and the stove. The stove was the style that sat on the counter or could hang on the side of the camper. After the counter tops were cut and fitted, I sanded, stained and sealed with polyurethane.
The Magic Door
If you have a popup you know that the ends have the angle that makes for the angled doors on compartments. For the storage under the sink, I wanted to maximize the opening. When i made the door, it came out the size I wanted but it wouldn't open as far as needed. I came up with the hinges to allow it to bend. When closed, you hardly see the break in the door.
My friend Todd, named it the Magic Door after seeing it for the first time.
New Table
The table was made from Edge Glued Pine- 1" actual thickness. The two pedestal legs make the table extremely stable and strong.
New Cushion Covers
My wife made new covers for the seating cushions. She used the old ones as a pattern. The floral cushions are made from Outdoor Canvas, same as you would find on cushions for outdoor furniture. The bottom cushions are covered with a suede type material that is for upholstery. The pillows are made from the leftovers.
Other Inside Mods
Organizer
One of the first mods that we did. Installed the "O" Rings to hold the 1" dowel. Eventually made a longer dowel to add the hooks. The organizer also has 1/4" plywood pieces, which you can see in the picture, in each compartment to stiffen it up.
Bed Corner Shelf
I came up with these to hold our glasses, cell phone, etc. Fit perfectly in the corners by our heads.
Bunk End Board
We use the one bunk end to store our duffle bags and other things. We came up with the idea to place a piece of luan plywood on top of the mattress. It makes it much easier to slide items around. I put one coat of stain on the board after sanding lightly.
The Bar
Took the bracket off our stove that was used to hang it from side of the camper. Cut a board from some of the extra left from making the counter tops. Perfect for setting stuff on going in and out or your favorite beverage.
We call it; The Bar.
Shades & Valances
The original shades & valances were ugly, just like the upholstery. The shades & valances on the window sides were one piece and used plastic hangers on tracks. They also had the those strings with sliding stops that slid up and down. The valances over the bunk ends used plastic hangers and had their own track. The shades also used the plastic hangers and had their own track.
My wife used the old shades as patterns. One side of the shades was the blue that went with the upholstery and the other was a tan. You can see the color in the above pic. She used the tan side and sewed on the red. All the shades hang from their original tracks using the plastic hangers. To keep the shades up when they are rolled up, she added ties to hold them. The valances were made from scratch by my wife. They hang from the ceiling with hooks, see the picture. The valances have cafe` rods in them.
Stove Heat Shield
Since we installed the stove permanently, we needed a heat shield. The one that came with stove would not work. I used 2 pieces of 12" x 18" aluminum. Attached them to each other with hinges. I found some door edge trim for cars, that looks chrome, but is plastic. Works perfect to cover the sharp edges of the aluminum. When we are not using the stove, it folds up and gets put away.
The Awnings
Front Side
The camper came with your typical bag awning. Took the vinyl awning out of the bag and used it as a pattern to make the new one. We used Outdoor Canvas. My wife found the instructions of how to do the scallops on the web. The awning slides into the channel just like the bag did. A piece of vinyl coated wire was sewn into the awning. We used all the poles that came with the awning.The original bag is now used to store both awnings when they are rolled up.
Back Side
When we started talking about what changes we wanted to make to our camper, a Back Side Awning was high on the list. First, for shade, second, for privacy.
I searched all over the web for one to buy, used or new. I also spent a lot of time on Popup Portal looking at what others had done.
What I came up with uses elements from bag awnings and rope awnings.
I attached a channel to the back side, just like the one that came on the front side.
We had already made the new awning for the front side, so learning from that, we just needed to decide what size we wanted it to be.
It slides in the channel just like the fronts side, with the vinyl coated wire sewn into the awning.
A pocket was sewn into the outside edge to hold the wooden closet rod cut to length.
Holes were drilled in each end of the wooden rod for the tent poles. Eye bolts were placed just to the left of the holes.
The brackets were made from brackets I found at the hardware store. Cut each in half to make the 2 pairs. Painted them black, attached with self drilling screws.
The cups that the poles are sitting in are the end caps for the top rail on a chain link fence. The black rubber caps on the poles make them fit tight into the cups.
An eye bolt with a wing nut and washer hold everything in place on the bracket.
The poles are adjustable tent poles I bought from Cabelas. I added a few more holes so the poles could be adjusted shorter. The black rubber caps I added.
Added some adjustable bungee cords to keep things tight.
I also tie and stake the awning down in case of high winds.
Graphics
I went to a local graphics shop and found out they could make vinyl decals that they would place on the camper.
I sent them a picture of the camper, similar to the one above, and they were able to send me a picture of what the graphics would look like.
We were able to have them change the colors, the red they used was to pale, and change the position of the graphic, as well as make the graphic longer to fill the side of the camper. The best part; they came and installed the graphics according to the example we had worked up.
This picture was taken right after they finished.
