1974 Apache Ramada hardside pop up, renovation and modification.

Been too long without me getting into something stupid to post a build thread on so time to change that.

Background to keep me from typing it all again https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/stupid-idea-or-genius-bad-thoughts-brewing-inside/111226/page1/

TL;DR version, I decided to get into karting and went looking for a trailer and got distracted.

So, to start this is a 1974 Apache Ramada. Its a hard sided pop up which IMO kicks ass, no canvas to rot out or smell musty. Its a bit rare and desirable, so I will probably give the interested peeps a chance to save it from me before I go nuts but generally Im not going to butcher it.

Very odd coincidence, after researching it all day yesterday on the apacheowners.com forum I posted on FB and was discussing my plans and an old friend/co worker told me to check out that site (which I already had) hes the site owner and has restored over 20 of these things so I have the expert on tap now :)

My thinking was/is, I can remove the front benches and the kart can sit inside the pop up to tow. Then at the races I have a shady spot to work if needed or just to rest. I want to build a work top to go over top of the galley to give me a work bench and then some storage for spares and tools and that's pretty much it.

The original interior bits were trashed and the PO built his own parts to replace them. He did nice work but since its not original I dont have to worry too much about modifying it to suit being a pit vehicle. Still I kinda want to keep it camper capable so just removing the 2 benches should do it.

All the normal wear points have been addressed. The "living hinges" wall seals etc have been refreshed. Its been rewired and re-plumbed and has new stove and sink fixtures. Most importantly the lift mechanism for the walls and top works correctly.

It needs a lot of cosmetic work and as a matter of safety some new tires and general maintenance but overall it should be a fun project. I remember swapping restoration stories/tips with my friend me about cars, him about pop ups and back then he had me interested in doing my own but these little hard sides can be a bit pricey. I kinda stole this one and Im looking forward to the restoration.

Retrieval comes later this week so just a few photos from the seller for now.

And because peeps will probably ask, here's the kart. 2003 Arrow AX8 shifter chassis with a Parilla Leopard 125 TaG motor. A little easier learning curve than a shifter but since its a shifter chassis I can upgrade when Im ready.

No real build thread for this one, going to strip the CF vinyl and give it an interesting paint job and some fun graphics but otherwise its ready to run, just going to go through it all and prep it for the season. Bought out the entire operation from the guy so I got spare wheels, tires, parts, tools and a kart stand.

Can't wait to see this happen.

This is cool!

I'm already kinda addicted to it. Kart transport or no its just going to be a fun project. Driving my buddy crazy with all the questions already. The good/bad part about not dragging home a project same day is it give me time for obsessive amounts of research, I'm odd because the research is half the fun for me.

How will the cart go inside? Door is a bit narrow isn't it?

wlkelley3 wrote: How will the cart go inside? Door is a bit narrow isn't it?

Two thoughts on that.

1) Stand the cart vertical and wrestle it through the door.

2) the sides of the slide out slide back into the body so slide the side back, then with the kart on the cart stand roll it on to the slide out and then slide it off the slide down to the floor, thinking on a manual lift system to make it easier but I can move the cart myself if absolutely needed and I'll have no shortage of helpers at the track. I weigh more than the kart and the slide outs are meant to be sleeping areas for people so if it will hold me it will hold the kart long enough to transfer it into the interior.

You havr the worst case of automotive add i have ever seen. My hats off to you.

mndsm wrote: You havr the worst case of automotive add i have ever seen. My hats off to you.

Yes...yes I do. Fully admitted :) Im over 120 vehicles lifetime now. The fact that I've had my abarth almost 4 years now and my Marauder almost 2 is like some kind of record I think. Actually if you dont count the year the Wartburg was out of my possession it would be my longest running car at 6 years. Heck even with that year subtracted 5 years is a record.

My dad used to have a mug with a garfield comic on it that said "It's not the having, its the getting" it seemed to have influenced me at a young age. Truth is I like fixing stuff up and sending it on. Once a car is fixed up it begins to deteriorate, I hate to see my work waste away so I fix them up and let them go while they are at their best and hold on to that memory rather than the memory of watching my hard work deteriorate.

JThw8 wrote: 2) the sides of the slide out slide back into the body so slide the side back, then with the kart on the cart stand roll it on to the slide out and then slide it off the slide down to the floor, thinking on a manual lift system to make it easier but I can move the cart myself if absolutely needed and I'll have no shortage of helpers at the track. I weigh more than the kart and the slide outs are meant to be sleeping areas for people so if it will hold me it will hold the kart long enough to transfer it into the interior.

More thoughts on this. Getting the kart up on to the end platform is easy transferring it from the kart stand but I was still struggling with the best way to get it down off the platform and into the interior of the trailer.

Harbor freight to the rescue. I can mount this (or just leave it rolling) inside up against the platform and slide the kart on and lower it down. I'll need to take some measurements to make sure it all works as it does in my head but this is probably the best solution.

JThw8 wrote:

JThw8 wrote: 2) the sides of the slide out slide back into the body so slide the side back, then with the kart on the cart stand roll it on to the slide out and then slide it off the slide down to the floor, thinking on a manual lift system to make it easier but I can move the cart myself if absolutely needed and I'll have no shortage of helpers at the track. I weigh more than the kart and the slide outs are meant to be sleeping areas for people so if it will hold me it will hold the kart long enough to transfer it into the interior.

More thoughts on this. Getting the kart up on to the end platform is easy transferring it from the kart stand but I was still struggling with the best way to get it down off the platform and into the interior of the trailer. Harbor freight to the rescue. I can mount this (or just leave it rolling) inside up against the platform and slide the kart on and lower it down. I'll need to take some measurements to make sure it all works as it does in my head but this is probably the best solution.

we use that exact cart at work. It is fargging heavy! Also, it does NOT roll over anything uneven very well....

wvumtnbkr wrote: we use that exact cart at work. It is fargging heavy! Also, it does NOT roll over anything uneven very well....

Shipping weight is 90lbs (this is the smaller 500lb capacity unit not the 1000lb) and I wouldn't have to roll it over anything this part would be going inside the camper as a lift to get it up and down from the slide out, it would be slid out on the slide out and fed onto the kart stand from there.

interesting

So today was retrieval day. I'll admit I was a bit stressed about this, it has been off the road for a long time and the tires were sketchy. Rather than the highway route home I took all the back roads. It actually towed fine, couldnt even feel it behind the Marauder. Tires held but I have new ones on order before it sees the road again. After a 40 minute ride home the wheel hubs weren't even warm so the bearings are good. My other worry.

Still mulling over the best way to put the kart in and out. I'd like to go with a non-destructive plan but at the same time, rare and desireable or not, no one is lining up to buy it off me to stop me so if the non destructive ways dont work then plan be is as follows.

That door in the photo below was the access door for a fridge if it had one, it doesnt. So its just open interior space behind there, the exact interior space I want to use for the kart, the door is only 20 inches and I need at least 55 but I could widen it and trim it out like the original so it looked good. Might lower the value a bit but meh, it was cheap.

bit overcast and rainy so only got a small start today. I should be focusing on the "fit the kart" aspect but I wanted to do some general cleaning and maintenance.

Im going to be spending a lot of time just cleaning up all the aluminum bits. PO had started removing the screws, I will replace what he did but I wont remove the others. Steel screws in aluminum, the galvanic corrosion has all but welded them in place and I dont want to drill all of them out. They are doing their job they just rust stain the trim. I'll sand out the stains and wax it and hope for the best. The ones which were removed will be replaced with stainless screws.

Not really going for restoration standard here, just clean. Some owners buff this stuff out to chrome like shine. I'll wetsand 220-400 and then give it a sealer. You can see here the vertical strip on the right that should be aluminum that was painted over. Going to take a bit of sanding to get these back.

Here's the front strip done, that's as far as I got on trim today. Tedious stuff and I had other projects to get to.

I also pulled off the propane tanks, I won't be cooking in this at the races and I'm trying to remove as much tongue weight as I can to offset the weight of the kart. The a frame had been painted in the past but the propane tank brackets were never removed so it was fairly corroded under there. Wire wheeled it all as clean as I could. Again, this project will go by the mantra "perfection is the enemy of completion" I want it to look good and more importantly be sound and protected, but not a showroom resto.

After cleaning a few good coats of satin black rusto and its job done. I will be cleaning and painting the whole frame to protect it from any further rust.

and I know it seems out of place starting with the trim but my intent is to pressure wash the plastics and sand/repaint the metal (blue) the wet sanding of the aluminum makes a mess as you can see and I will no doubt slip and scuff the painted areas at times so best to do all that first before I have to work around clean panels and fresh paint.

Rather than using s/s screws, are you aware that there are aluminum "sheetmetal" screws just for this purpose?

aluminum screws

EvanR wrote: Rather than using s/s screws, are you aware that there are aluminum "sheetmetal" screws just for this purpose? aluminum screws

they are going through aluminum and into steel so one way or another galvanic "welding" is an issue. SS screws were easily available at the local hardware and again, Im trying to make it functional not perfect. Im fairly convinced Im going to destroy its value by putting a side hatch in to make kart loading easier. I paid $400 for this thing, if it was fully restored it might bring $1500, it would cost me most of that to really restore it so screw it, Im gonna make it functional for me and not worry about value

Copy that. Was just a suggestion :)

EvanR wrote: Copy that. Was just a suggestion :)

t'was a good one too, sorry didn't mean to sound negative :)

Cool! This is probably the biggest little hard side camper ever made.

Aluminum trim cleans up brilliantly and with little effort with WD-40 and steel wool. Prolly not a good idea to be splashing WD-40 around before painting but keep this in mind.

That vented door gave me an idea. Build a box behind it and cut out another door about the same size. The vent should keep kart smells out of the interior. Maybe relocate the doors forward so the kart enclosure is under a bed of some sort. If the full width of the camper, it should give secure/safer storage for other smelly kart related items like gas.

Not sure if that makes any sense, but just a thought...

Ian F wrote: That vented door gave me an idea. Build a box behind it and cut out another door about the same size. The vent should keep kart smells out of the interior. Maybe relocate the doors forward so the kart enclosure is under a bed of some sort. If the full width of the camper, it should give secure/safer storage for other smelly kart related items like gas. Not sure if that makes any sense, but just a thought...

I think I get what you are saying. the beds are the slide outs. When its closed up they would be over top of the kart The clearance is about 24" and the kart is 22" so its a tight fit to begin with. If I widen that door to make it an access hatch I probably will hunt down someone with a louver die (or buy louvered sheet and weld it in) so there can be odor venting. Good idea there.

I really need to take some measurements and draw some diagrams so folks can get an idea of the spatial relationship of things. Karts are larger than they appear. 55 inches wide and a little over 60 inches long.

Doc Brown wrote: Cool! This is probably the biggest little hard side camper ever made. Aluminum trim cleans up brilliantly and with little effort with WD-40 and steel wool. Prolly not a good idea to be splashing WD-40 around before painting but keep this in mind.

Had to run out and give that a shot between raindrops. Wow! So much easier than sanding and great result. Thanks for the tip!

After sanding off the old paint I'll have to give the whole thing a good cleaning with degreaser and prep spray anyway so no big worry about the wd40 being near the painted surfaces for now.

Before you start messing with the added hassle of that heavy Harbor Freight contraption, remember that you only have to lift one end of the kart at a time. Maybe set one end on a dolly so it can roll, then lift the other end up onto the trailer and roll it in.