So...I bought an Appleby.




Well first I bought the Tracker. Then I wanted to go to the mountains to see if I would enjoy 4 wheeling. To do so I needed - well...wanted but needed gets things done more quickly - a camper. I could have towed the Tracker behind our '84 Winnebago Elandan but to get where I was going involved some pretty rough dirt roads. The ideal solution would be a camper light enough to tow behind the Tracker. The fact that I'd get over 25 MPG towing it vs 7 or 8 being towed didn't go unnoticed either. So I went where America Shops for Value...Craigslist. There the Appleby was waiting for me.

Seemed like the perfect choice. Light - up on 13" wheels - decent canvas - lumpy sides - pretty much ready to go - $200.

I went up to Taylor Lake Park and camped for a couple of nights, participating in the Colorado Adventure while there. The Appleby performed admirably. Kept me dry, warm (with the use of an electric heater), had a tremendous amount of space inside (it was just me on this trip), stable even in nasty storm winds.

Well...the Appleby had some needs.

The floor plywood had rot
The top lid sheet also had rot
The sides were lumpy. The right side looked like it had taken the brunt of a blown tire!

I started out thinking I could lift the body and lay a fresh sheet of plywood under it. Then I'd use Epoxy to seal and fill the wood rot. I got so far down that road I'd bought and painted a sheet of 1/2" ply, Once I go into it though it was quickly apparent that this idea wasn't good. I had to remove and replace the original plywood floor sheet. That entailed drilling out a lot of rivets.

Once I had the box apart I looked at those lumpy sides.   I went out in search of stucco embossed aluminum sheet ... to no avail. Seems they don't make it in that thickness (.050) any longer. All I could find was the thin stuff they use to skin storm doors. I stopped in at a sheet metal shop near me that I've done work with in the past. They suggested a few options. Sheet Aluminum, Stainless Steel....both pretty spendy choices. Then they suggested clad steel. The steel used to make steel roofing. Comes in a wide range of colors - good tensile strength, bonded finish over galvanized surfaces. Ah - says I - but what about interaction with the aluminum front and rear panels? They replied that builders use aluminum rivets and fitments on these steel panels without corrosion. Well - maybe - but what the heck. The odds of it corroding anytime soon are nil and having both side panels fabricated, labor and materials, was just an even $100. We shall see - but I liked that price

One really weak spot on the Appleby is the top rail where the lid hinges attach. The aluminum was tearing out in more than a few places and the panels flexed a lot from the load. Since I had the opportunity, I had the fabricator make the top edge bend an even 1" . This allowed me to place a 1" square aluminum tube from front to back. The addition of that tube makes a huge difference. I have solid surface on which to mount the hinges, and it tied the front and rear panels together with the sides. This is now one strong box!

In addition to all that, I mounted a spare tire under the floor deck at the rear, added a frame cross brace behind the axle, and I added a front deck board on which I can strap a cargo bin or cooler.

As for the finish... before I did the floor sheet and full box tear down I'd replaced the top lid sheet. I varnished that piece. When I did the floor I went instead with Glidden oil based porch and floor paint. That choice was easy since I had an unopened gallon on the shelf. I painted both sides of the floor sheet as well as the original right side lid sheet and front cargo deck. Once I had it all back together, I didn't like the unfinished look of the inside of the box. So for that I went to 1/8" ABS plastic. I found it in Green and had it cut into strips 17 1/4" wide. Those I placed up behind the 1" aluminum tube and pressed into the floor crease. To retain it I screwed a thin aluminum strip to the floor edge. I think it presents a nice finished look and it will protect the side panels from damage that might be caused by items carried inside the box.

That's about it. New lid latches - new tail lights - stuff like that. Oh - and I'm having the Appleby Logo done in vinyl by a sign shop. They didn't do that but I think it'll look nice. A mock-up is shown in the photos.

If you care to, you can see photos in this Photobucket Folder... http://s488.photobucket.com/albums/rr246/Peter_Crowl/1974%20Appleby%20Restoration/?albumview=slideshow
Hope this helps somebody down the road!

Peter
in Denver
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Great job on the rebuild! Love to see nice old stuff brought back to a useful existence. Your Tracker looks pretty nice too.   

It looks really nice.   

I also have an Appleby.  Mine is a 1968 and doesn't have the rear door.  It pulls great behind the Tracker. 

I know of one in River Grove Illinois that may be for sale.  I've seen it sitting in someone's back yard for years.  It is a couple houses west of the River Grove Metra train station.

Here are pics of mine.

http://keithert.com/appleby/appleby.html

I bet being made out of aluminum those are a breeze to pull.  I pulled a rehabbed Nimrod popup ( 63 ) with mine for a bit, was fun but still a haul in the mountains even with the turbo.

I hardly notice it behind me.
The metal in the box is the least of the weight. The 3 sheets of 3/4" plywood is really where that comes from.

When I had an Ultravan ( http://www.corvair.org/chapters/ultravan/ )  I knew a guy outside of Seattle who rebuilt his floor using a fantastic aluminum product he was able to buy as surplus from Boeing. It's two aluminum sheets with a honeycomb core. Weighed very little and was crazy strong. Using something like that would drop the weight of one of these by 100# at least.

There was a Nimrod on Colorado Springs CL just a few days ago - I see it's gone now. They're really nice campers.