1977 Coleman Concord Pop-Up Build (19 Viewers)

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Lucy_FJ55

Lucy_FJ55

Joined
Sep 5, 2002
Threads
42
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1,663
Location
Bend, Oregon
1977 Coleman Concord Pop-Up Build


I found a slick pop-up this weekend on Craigslist!


I've been wanting/researching trailers for awhile now and I finally came across one that I think will do just fine.


Picked it up today. She's a beaut, eh?! :)

P1040038.jpg


P1040037.jpg


P1040036.jpg
 
Damn nice find, good luck with it!

What's the big picture hold?



Pat
 
Good question Pat... thanks for asking.


Basically, this will be a slow/long term off road pop-up build.


My wife recently gave birth to twin girls. We are campers, backpackers, climbers, etc. We are used to 'roughing it' in tents in all conditions. However, with the new additions to our family we are thinking a pop-up may be nice. We are not interested in joining the RV crowd to 'camp' in designated parking lots/campsites. There are plenty of places to tow a pop-up to here in the Pacific Northwest where a pop-up wouldn't normally survive. Therefore I thought an off road pop-up would suit our needs well...

As others have stated, I am not fooled by the 'off road' pop-ups being sold currently. They are certainly expensive, but more importantly, they are weak and use lightweight materials that I don't believe will stand up to the task of off roading. At least not the type of offroading I plan to do.

I have been drooling over atoyot1031's build here. It is a great template for an off road pop-up build. I hope to acheive something similar in the end. This pop-up is beat, but it has a few key items I need and is a soild platform to begin with. Oh, and it just oozes character!


The more I assess the situation, the more work I realize needs to be done. This will be an epic project! :)




titanpat57 said:
Damn nice find, good luck with it!

What's the big picture hold?



Pat
Click to expand...
 
Unfortunately. the roof has suffered some hail damage and it has been quasi-repaired in the past, but it currently leaks.

Here are some detailed pics of some of the problem areas...


Hail damage on the roof-

P1040130.jpg



Corners have been 'repaired'-

P1040131.jpg



Lots of caulking slapped on the roof sometime long ago-

P1040132.jpg



I plan to rip the roof apart and rebuild it. :)
 
Nice .... I just picked up this sat a 72 starcraft "starmaster 6"... I'll be taking it out on a run to the sierras July, I'll be watching your post here !
 
nice ole pop-up---looking forward to your off road build

i bought a 2006 skamper pop-up last supper, with roof ac............i like it a lot........
 
I could almost smell old canvas just looking at the pictures.

Looks like a fun project.
 
hudyhue- Right on! I've seen a couple vintage Starcrafts in the area. Great pop-ups. Have a blast and post some pics. :)


Assassin- Oooohhh. That sounds nice. AC and all...


rusty_tlc- HA! Classic. It actually doesn't smell old or musty at all. Surprising. It is rough though, I can't deny.



Thanks for the comments folks. :)
 
The pop-up came equipped with a 3-burner stove and a sink with a mechanical pump faucet and some cabinet space. It didn't come with a heater or refrigerator, but I hope to eventually add those.

It did come with this power converter...

P1040152.jpg


... and another outlet...

P1040153.jpg



... and these slick orange curtains. :)

P1040143.jpg
 
Last edited:
Great find, I look forward to watching this build. Some things may look pretty rough but I think it's all an easy fix. A friend of mine over in Redmond has bought a lot of rough trailers over the years and most everything has turned out great. I think you'll have fun with this :cool:
 
I am about finished with my '77 Coleman rebuild. The Coleman is about the only pop-up worth using off road (not all of them, though) because they have a tubular chassis. All the others have C channel and will torque into pretzels. I refurbish a lot of pop ups and see a lot of these come through my shop.

The only thing that I am using off the original is the frame. It now has a 3500 lb Dexter axel with a steel tubular frame for the box on top that is fitted with honey comb 5/8 inch alumium on all sides, top and floor. This concept is used on many of the modern rough and tumble military trailers.

The "Roadie" has 33 gallons of fresh water, 6 gallon water heater, 12 gallon gray water tank, slide out galley with sink and 3 burner stove. The top folds out in two sections, 180 degrees to the front and to the back and turns into two beds with air mattresses. Everything is covered with a tent including most of the length on the drivers side. On the passenger side back corner is a auxillary shower that also will enclose in its own tent with room for a porta potty. It is equipted with a converter charger and is solar / generator ready.

The finished product will weigh substatially less than the original and have a lot more storage space. With an articulating hitch, roll over danger will be minimized but if it does ever roll over, recovery should be easy and I don't expect any bebilitating damage to the structural components. The strength of the honey comb will prevent it from collapsing.

Lucy, take a good look at your wiffle tree. That's the mechanism inside the box under the floor and it controls the cables. Throw it away. It is not reparable but you can easly build a new one, let me know if I can help with that.

Mitch
Roadie 001.jpg
Roadie jr.jpg
Roadie Jr 002.jpg
 
Don't get discouraged by the road ahead. When I realized I needed to build a new frame, box, and roof, I wanted to light the whole thing on fire. In retrospect, I realize I wouldn't have ended up with camper I have if the thing would not have been in such bad shape.

I would strongly suggest a close look at the frame as someone else mentioned. The c-channel stuff won't hold up to wash board fire roads let alone real trails. At the very least, you should reinforce the crap out of it IMHO.

Canvas is easy, but relatively expensive. The layout will be great for the family! Also, if I may, the furnace is a necessity for the family, especially real little ones so you don't have to wrap them up too much and increase the SIDS risk.

Feel free to PM any questions. A number of folks have talked about doing something similar projects in the last year and a half, but haven't. If this is any motivation, the year before the camper, we only went camping 3 or 4 times because it was such a PITA, time and labor intesive. This year, we've already been on 5 trips and haven't been on more due to a bunch of other traveling. My goal is to spend 30 nights in it. Currently, I'm at 10 and counting with the whole summer and fall hunting seasons ahead of me!

Good luck!
:cheers:
Nick
 
ajsmith- Thanks for the kind words! I hope to be able to tackle most of the rebuild on this 'ol trailer. I may end up reconfiguring just about everything. :)

I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions for the masses...



mschliebs- Cool build- I recognize that rear bumper. :)

I really like the offroad/overland trailer concept. Looks like a total rebuild alright! You fabbed up wheel wells, which I have been contemplating...

Do you have a build thread?!

I have the c-channel frame, which apparently needs to be beefed up or redone. I will probably swap a 3500 lb. axle under this and run Toyota 6 lug rims, etc.

My wiffle tree?! All the mechanicals work well on this camper, but I'll look into said wiffle tree... :)



Atoyot1031- I was wondering when you would post up. :)

I appreciate your advice and plan to use your build thread as a template for my project. I can only hope to accomplish half the build you documented.


I originally thought I would have a local business deal with the frame fab work, now I am contemplating using this project to teach myself simple fab skills. We'll see. I'll be redoing everything and I have never tackled a project quite like this. Should be interesting.

The walls and roof need to be rebuilt, which means I'll end up redoing the cabinets as well. I'd like to add a fridge and a furnace. All the canvas, foam, etc. needs to be replaced. I'll be taking my time with this...

30 nights?! I'll be lucky to get in 3 nights this whole year. Thanks for the inspiration!



Thanks again everyone for the advice and posting up. Still trying to wrap my head around the enormity of this project. :)
 
Out of curiosity, do you have pics of the old body being demo'd, and the chassis before adding the new skeletal structure?

Also curious about details of your axle.
 
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