Chalet transformation - not for faint of heart

[imiceman44]

OK so I bought a few years ago a chalet shell from Dremu followed by a full blazer chalet, so the shell sat for years.
It was a stripped shell and it was cracked in a few spots some repaired some not, and it was supported in a cradle that Dremu made which helped a bit but not enough so more cracks happened in the meantime.
I started drawing up plans for it and never settled on an idea so it just sat.
Fast forward to 2 days ago when my wife got tired of seing it in the side yard in front of our guest room window so I decided to move it and put it on a pickup to maximize the space.
While trying to handle it it was so flimsy and was cracking more so I decided to help it.
I seperated the pop top and the back door from the shell, still was heavy and flimsy so I got the sawzall...

 

[imiceman44]

I did not cut all of what I wanted to cut to help it stay in one piece untill I figure out the final lines I want to keep.
The chalet is 7' 8" so it will not fill an 8' bed, I want to keep the back side with the door but I want to cut the whole length to the bed side height.
I just don't know if I should stop at the corner and keep the tail light in the chalet or cut flush with the bed side and have the chalet look like it sits inside the bed.
I already have the details of how I will mount it to the bed (although I am thinking of building a bed from scratch with storage on the outside and maximum use of space) and how I will make everything waterproof and stable.
I am thinking of putting it on my crew cab now since that will be my truck for long trips or towrig if I ever tow anything like my boat (I will never own a wheeler that is trailered so that is not one of my needs)
The shell need some work on most areas so seperating it like I did was necessary and made moving it and handling it easier too.
So for now it will sit another few months before I get to do anything with it but now is the time to finalize my plans so here is your chance to make comments.
Some more pics

 

[Big Ray]

hmmm...I like the idea of cutting the back so it sits fully in the truck bed, keeping the door....

that would get rid of some overhang back there...

 

[Roadhazardguy]

Sounds like a good plan, but too bad I cant see any of the pictures yet! Yall have any idea when I can start seeing pictures?

 

[imiceman44]

Sounds like a good plan, but too bad I cant see any of the pictures yet! Yall have any idea when I can start seeing pictures?

Unfortunately the pics posted in the thread can only be seen by paying members, I don't link to photobucket so you can't see them, sorry.

 

[imiceman44]

hmmm...I like the idea of cutting the back so it sits fully in the truck bed, keeping the door....

that would get rid of some overhang back there...

That is the whole idea of me cutting to begin with.
But the detail of leaving the corner covering the bed or letting the bed be the end is the question

 

[sledheadak]

shorten the bed. problem solved.

 

[Big Ray]

That is the whole idea of me cutting to begin with.
But the detail of leaving the corner covering the bed or letting the bed be the end is the question

IMO, let the bed be the end.

 

[Roadhazardguy]

Unfortunately the pics posted in the thread can only be seen by paying members, I don't link to photobucket so you can't see them, sorry.

Ahh, I didn't know that. Oh well, thanks for letting me know.

 

[imiceman44]

Ahh, I didn't know that. Oh well, thanks for letting me know.

For now it's easier for me to upload pics on here.
Someday I will be making an album on Photobucket for all my pics but that takes time and I don't have much of that.

 

[dremu]

My camper! My eyes! But yeah, #1383 was pretty beat. Now, you start sawzalling #1080 and I'll have some words for you!

One solution would be one of those, erm, camper-cab-extension things that go on the bedrails and extend the cab backwards. You'd end up sawzalling the he!! out of it too, but would do the trick.

Umm, one of these things...

I know they make 'em for our trucks, just donno what they're called.

-- A

 

[magik235]

Interesting concept

 

[imiceman44]

I will never touch the full blazer chalet.
If this one turns out good enough I will be selling the other one though, I don't need 2 and I would rather have a custom truck anyway.
As for the space, now it looks like I have a gap, but in fact I will be moving it all the way forward and I just need 4 inches which will be provided by the blazer back half to make an easier attachment, and that will be welded to the back of a truck cab.
And now that I found out my crew cab is a rusty mess, I will be using the bed sides to build a custom bed to hold the chalet shell.
My point is to use the space wiser than what GM did.
I also will be most likely have a one piece cab and bed after I brace the frame to prevent twisting.

My camper! My eyes! But yeah, #1383 was pretty beat. Now, you start sawzalling #1080 and I'll have some words for you!

One solution would be one of those, erm, camper-cab-extension things that go on the bedrails and extend the cab backwards. You'd end up sawzalling the he!! out of it too, but would do the trick.

Umm, one of these things...

I know they make 'em for our trucks, just donno what they're called.

-- A

 

[Big Ray]

pickup truck sleeper box!


linky used (IN)

linky new

 

[Blue85]

You're talking about cutting the back of the bed off, right? That lets you keep most of the same bed mounts and moves the back of the camper shell on top of the frame. You might be able to add extra support to the back of the camper, as well.

This seems a lot easier than sectioning the camper shell longer, which seems particularly hard with the pop-up.

 

[imiceman44]

You're talking about cutting the back of the bed off, right? That lets you keep most of the same bed mounts and moves the back of the camper shell on top of the frame. You might be able to add extra support to the back of the camper, as well.

This seems a lot easier than sectioning the camper shell longer, which seems particularly hard with the pop-up.

What I was saying is I want to take off the rest of the bottom part on the camper, so it will slide all the way forward, all I want to leave is the rear facing side where the door is.
Now that will still leave me with 4" gap which will either be a rear section of a blazer shell to attach to and transition on to a truck cab, or part of a custom frame and bed that I would build around the shell to make the best use out of the space.
That part would be best but also would take more work.
I am still working on the plans for now but I had to reduce the impact of all my inventory so I had to do something to move the camper over on the truck which prompted the imediate action.

 

[a77blazerchalet]

(via post #21)By the way don't open the next Post I am starting, you probably won't like it.

Aww, it's ok, we can't save 'em all. I forget where ol' dremu found this shell, I believe the Blazer for it is long gone, thus no collector value to be retained. Should turn into an interesting project, the lines of these campers are more interesting than the standard square boxes.

 

[imiceman44]

Aww, it's ok, we can't save 'em all. I forget where ol' dremu found this shell, I believe the Blazer for it is long gone, thus no collector value to be retained. Should turn into an interesting project, the lines of these campers are more interesting than the standard square boxes.

That's why I did this.
I realized it didn't have the collector value and It was just sitting there getting in worse shape becuase of lack of support on the front.
Now it sits fine and will not deteriorate while I figure how I will do this.