SCORE! Origninal long-wide camper shell: $50!

[Brad54]

Lucked into this over the weekend. I haven't looked on Craigslist for one for months, but happened to look last week and saw it.

It's rough, for sure, but I was mosty interested in buying it as a set of templates for reproducing one. Mainly, I wanted the windows and hardware, the liftgate and hardware, and the trim pieces around the ends.

For $50, I couldn't go wrong!

I bought it for my '62 K10 long-step project. I'll have to decide if I want to keep it as a fleet-side topper and rebuild it so it hangs over the fenders, somewhat like a slide-in camper would, or narrow it on the rebuild so it fits on the stepside bed with no overhang.

My bed has the fender-mount spare tire, so I'd have to notch the shell to clear that--Easily done, and it'll look factory. I'd then have to move the side window back and center it between the tire notch and the back edge. Again, also easily done.

I'll put new white aluminum panels on it, with a lighter, new top vent, and I'll have my tin guy make new diamond pattern aluminum lower sides. I had him do it for the interior panels of my nostalgia Altered race car, so that'll be easily done.

I'm building the truck as a hunting and camping rig, but with the hard camper I can also pull the race car with it and camp out at the track.

I also like that at the back, there are twist-lock fasteners for an awning or canvas porch. I'll be keeping that option, and will have a canvas awning made.

I've got a ton of vintage camping gear that'll work, too: old camp kitchen (large wood box with compartments that opens up to form a work station), 3-burner Coleman stove from the late '40s, with a folding stand, three sizes of green Coleman coolers, and a Korean War surplus Officer's Field Mess Kit with stamped aluminum service for 8.

[jocko]

Now that's just cool. Good period camper shells are getting hard to find, congrats.

[bpmcgee]

Brad,

Nice score! If you decide you don't want to re-purpose the hardware from that shell, I recognize most of it from the work I've done on my vintage camper.

The part over the lift-gate is a standard window drip cap, and the moulding that covers the roof-to-back seam is called, imaginatively enough, roof edge. Vintage Trailer Supply has them both. www.vintagetrailersupply.com/