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81 FWC, 87 K5

Rebuild of the 81 FWC for my 87 K5
Did ATC say how they would build the door? Wood again or Aluminum?

ATC did not. I tried to ask for a reference picture of the type of door they would build but they were pretty short with the two email replies I received. Honestly, they didn't seem too interested and then referred me to FWC. I understand them not wanting to pick up on some old basket case parts order, but I was pretty detailed in my description of what I needed (including measurements and pics). I had hoped for a little more customer service. They are still on the list of backup vendors if I do end up needing to order a full door.

From what I gather on the WTW forum FWC has gone down hill since moving to CA and wont be very interested either. I will check with them once I hear back from Dexter Doors.

The main difference between the two (that I could tell) was ATC still builds square doors and FWC builds rounded top doors. I am leaning towards the square door for ease of install and not having to retrofit more of the exterior (especially since the aluminum skin is not easily found). The round top door offers potentially better water resistance by eliminating the top 2 joints.

Side note: See the ref pic. ATC doors look exactly like my original FWC door, but they open the opposite direction.
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FWC is not looking to deal with anything on the old stuff. If they do, they will price it out of the world to scare anybody else away.

I think the route I'm going to take is to replicate mine with aluminum tubing and enlist the help of the body guy at work and use our welder with the aluminum spool gun there to make a new door.
 
FWC is not looking to deal with anything on the old stuff. If they do, they will price it out of the world to scare anybody else away.

I think the route I'm going to take is to replicate mine with aluminum tubing and enlist the help of the body guy at work and use our welder with the aluminum spool gun there to make a new door.

If you find a suitable trim or way to fabricate the door trim I would love to see your idea!
 
It's been pretty slow lately but I started picking away at things a couple weeks ago.

It's been slow progress due to work and life getting in the way. Covid shortages on random parts has been annoying too.

Made a fair bit of progress since my last post on here overall though. Have completed a quick test fit on the truck and have been working on finishing up the exterior sealing and door rebuild. Then it's on to the roof repairs and a quick simple popup replacement so we can get to using it. Material only came in a roll with a little over 2x what we actually need. We will take our time making a 2nd popup section with nice windows.

Check out the rediculous solution to the new style door handle requiring removal of nearly all the door frame wood lol

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Great progress. Did you add a hot water heater too? Noticed something added to the driver side with a new opening. I am not looking forward to rebuilding my door, but it's in need for sure.

Glad you enjoyed the trip pics. 10 months to Blazer Bash '22. At this pace you'll be able to have it ready by summer and get some validation trips in.
 
progress is looking good, I am also curious to Hear some about the v1 i see in the background of the pictures, Have anything done to it?
 
Great progress. Did you add a hot water heater too? Noticed something added to the driver side with a new opening. I am not looking forward to rebuilding my door, but it's in need for sure.

Glad you enjoyed the trip pics. 10 months to Blazer Bash '22. At this pace you'll be able to have it ready by summer and get some validation trips in.
Yeah, I added a little 4 gal water heater (or was it 6? lol)

I have a new heater, hot water heater, electric water pump, and nice multi speed covered roof vent for creature comforts.

Need to figure out a good modular / mobile AC setup for track camping.
 
progress is looking good, I am also curious to Hear some about the v1 i see in the background of the pictures, Have anything done to it?
Thanks!

I actually bought it off of a fellow OK CK5 member lol. It's a stock 2004 other than a few poly mounts and bushings (LS6/T56). Eventually I want to run a cam, headers, coilovers but it's been low on the priority list. Just my daily.

Bought a shit box R53 Mini to autocross for the cost of consumables for a season on the CTSV lol
 
Its been pretty slow going, nearly stand still progress on the camper lately. I did get the rear door installed, all exterior other than roof and pop-up installed and water proofed.

I found a vinyl shop not to far away that quoted ~$350 to do the pop-up section!!! Gathering up the parts list and ordering the windows, screens, thread today. Need to get back to working on this project as I have been dying to use it.

I am planning to raptor line the roof in white but the crazy temp swings has delayed the roof repairs until spring time.

Currently, I have the Cadillac torn apart in the garage for a bunch of maintenance: Clutch, diff bushing, rear main, front cover, oil pan, balancer, intake, injectors cleaned and flow tested, trans seals, rev lockout. I think that's the majority of it? lol

A major cold snap left the K5 leaking coolant, so I have to get around to fixing that soon. I need to replace the master cyl and booster too. Hopefully that solves my poor fuel economy. If not, I am going to load in all the parameters from a different PCM as I noticed there were several settings different between the PCM from my 01 LM7 and other 01 / 02 5.3L PCMs I have pulled data from.

I won a dyno tune session in a raffle with the local SCCA group I race with! Once I have the fuel trim issues sorted on the Blazer I think I am going to use the tune session with it just to make sure everything is dialed in. Hope to start towing the Mini to and from events with the K5 as the Mini is getting pretty un-streetable at this point. Got some new parts to get installed and car aligned before March too!

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Its been pretty slow going, nearly stand still progress on the camper lately. I did get the rear door installed, all exterior other than roof and pop-up installed and water proofed.

I found a vinyl shop not to far away that quoted ~$350 to do the pop-up section!!! Gathering up the parts list and ordering the windows, screens, thread today. Need to get back to working on this project as I have been dying to use it.

I am planning to raptor line the roof in white but the crazy temp swings has delayed the roof repairs until spring time.

Currently, I have the Cadillac torn apart in the garage for a bunch of maintenance: Clutch, diff bushing, rear main, front cover, oil pan, balancer, intake, injectors cleaned and flow tested, trans seals, rev lockout. I think that's the majority of it? lol

A major cold snap left the K5 leaking coolant, so I have to get around to fixing that soon. I need to replace the master cyl and booster too. Hopefully that solves my poor fuel economy. If not, I am going to load in all the parameters from a different PCM as I noticed there were several settings different between the PCM from my 01 LM7 and other 01 / 02 5.3L PCMs I have pulled data from.

I won a dyno tune session in a raffle with the local SCCA group I race with! Once I have the fuel trim issues sorted on the Blazer I think I am going to use the tune session with it just to make sure everything is dialed in. Hope to start towing the Mini to and from events with the K5 as the Mini is getting pretty un-streetable at this point. Got some new parts to get installed and car aligned before March too!

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Those tires look sticky
 
I found a vinyl shop not to far away that quoted ~$350 to do the pop-up section!!! Gathering up the parts list and ordering the windows, screens, thread today.
That seems like a decent price. Any ballpark on what the material will cost?
 
Its been pretty slow going, nearly stand still progress on the camper lately. I did get the rear door installed, all exterior other than roof and pop-up installed and water proofed.

I found a vinyl shop not to far away that quoted ~$350 to do the pop-up section!!! Gathering up the parts list and ordering the windows, screens, thread today. Need to get back to working on this project as I have been dying to use it.

I am planning to raptor line the roof in white but the crazy temp swings has delayed the roof repairs until spring time.

Currently, I have the Cadillac torn apart in the garage for a bunch of maintenance: Clutch, diff bushing, rear main, front cover, oil pan, balancer, intake, injectors cleaned and flow tested, trans seals, rev lockout. I think that's the majority of it? lol

A major cold snap left the K5 leaking coolant, so I have to get around to fixing that soon. I need to replace the master cyl and booster too. Hopefully that solves my poor fuel economy. If not, I am going to load in all the parameters from a different PCM as I noticed there were several settings different between the PCM from my 01 LM7 and other 01 / 02 5.3L PCMs I have pulled data from.

I won a dyno tune session in a raffle with the local SCCA group I race with! Once I have the fuel trim issues sorted on the Blazer I think I am going to use the tune session with it just to make sure everything is dialed in. Hope to start towing the Mini to and from events with the K5 as the Mini is getting pretty un-streetable at this point. Got some new parts to get installed and car aligned before March too!

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$350 seems like a bargain!
 
That seems like a decent price. Any ballpark on what the material will cost?
I ended up buying almost twice the vinyl I required due to how its sold so that could be lower from a different vendor. I was also buying everything planning on the pop-up lasting as long as possible.

Total cost of material so far $311.37 without tax or shipping.

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$350 seems like a bargain!
I thought so! I was thrilled. Same cost or better than buying the sewing machine and I can work on other things while this is in progress.

I heard prices ranging from $1500 - $3500 on a few websites / dealers. When he said, "three-fifty" I had to ask if that was 3,500 or 350? He said, "Woah, I'm not RV World haha!".
 
I have also been wondering about using Hook and Loop glued / stapled to the roof frame to secure the headliner. I know its like, "but why?!". But hear me out lol.

The headliner material has to go on prior to the pop-up section which makes handling it a bit of a pain in my garage. Lots of down time between the roof repair, insulating, mounting lift supports. The headliner material is likely going to get pulled, ripped, stretched. I am fairly worried about access to wires, etc. when I eventually go solar after using it for a while (mostly due to budget). If there are ever any roof leaks, removing the headliner will leave me with a very noticeable patched repair job.

If I use hook and loop, the headliner wont sag or fall down over time, its easily removable for future repairs or upgrades. I also don't have to make those annoying super thin wood strips to secure the headliner in place.

Bonus, hook and loop of various widths are available on ebay or pretty reasonable prices lol

Crazy idea or semi logical?
 

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