And here is the restoration. Bought it in Richmond Va. 08/15/2014
You can see in the picture above where I had to amputate part of the camper (left side) to jockey it into my truck.
Here how the top and bottom halves stack together when lowered.
The width at the tailgate of my truck is 60 1/4″ and the camper was originally 64″ wide at the rear. That’s why I needed to modify things. Here are the original dimensions for my 1978 Alaskan. 
It’s 80″ tall raised up – not including the roof vent, 57.5″ lowered.
Here is one of the interferences that I’m going to have to modify. There’s another one just like it on the other side. They’re protrusions at the rear of the camper ( behind the wheel wells) that allow for extra interior room. The problem is that it made the rear of the camper too wide to fit into my truck. I’m going to remove the street-side box flush with the camper and take 3″ off of the curbside box.
Before:
After:
Here’s the street-side rear modification. I cut the entire box off and re-built it flush with the rest of the camper. You can see on the underside of the overhang how far the box originally stuck out. The black stuff is Rustoleum rubberized waterproofing spray that I put on to seal the plywood floor edges.
I added a new 110 volt electrical inlet and outlet and a 12 volt outlet to the side. I moved the water inlet to the back of the camper (I removed the ones that were along the bedrail).
Got some decals made and painted the emblems…
I pulled off all of the hardware, doors, drawers, windows and fixtures and refinished the interior. I changed the O-rings on the hydraulic pump and pistons, too. Here’s a shot of the interior with the top half separated and blocked up on the lower half.
Here’s something that I never expected to find in an old camper… quality woodwork.
Since most campers come off the production line as fast as they can slap them together, finding book matched cabinet doors was quite a surprise (especially for something built in the 1970’s). So I looked up Manheim, PA – where this Alaskan was built – and it’s in Lancaster County, the heart of Amish country.
The lower edge of the veneer on the upper half of the camper was delaminating so I re-glued the veneer and added some drywall corner bead to hold it tight to the wall. The corner won’t show once the two halves are put back together.
Now that I have the interior refinished (but not finished), I can get back to restoring the exterior. All of the windows needed a good cleaning, new putty tape and new screws. I’ll be replacing the running lights, too.
I forgot to get a “before” picture, but here are my serial number tags during and after I painted them. I taped over the punched numbers and then once the paint dried, I wet sanded the tags and removed the paint from the raised lettering.
I hadn’t really noticed all the dents before it was painted. This camper must have been driven through a hail storm. I’m going to cover over the worst part of the front with some anodized diamond plate. The paint job was Rustoleum with a roller.
After new O rings in the pistons and pump, I was able to raise the roof again and finish the interior. I rebuilt all the counter tops and table with new wood and Formica. I added a refrigerator but I took out the gas cooktop… it can be put back if needed.
Before I put it on my truck, I attached some pressure treated 1×4’s to the bottom of my camper. That will raise it 3/4″ and give me a little extra clearance over the truck bed rails.
Heading to the mountains
And a trip to the beach
Camping at Hunting Island State Park, Beaufort, SC
early morning video, getting ready to travel – grandkids still sleeping:
and another one done this April:
Mine was built by Pennacamp in Manheim, Pennsylvania. Finished on 9-22-1978.
At the American Pickers store – LeClaire, Iowa
Thanks, I used shellac on the Alaskan interior.
Hey Bob, nice job! What oil or finishing product did you use to refinish the cabinetry?
Outstanding! A very nice restoration with newer materials.Like seeing old RVs restored. The simplicity is what I really appreciate. Thanks for sharing your project.
My guess is that it weighs about 1800 pounds empty – I should weigh it one day.
Amazing! I redo Airstreams, and recently found a derelict Alaskan Camper that I believe is a 78ish. Now to try to get the guy to sell it. How much does yours weigh if you don’t mind me prying.
Nice piece of work and a good presentation. I’ve recently gotten a ’91 and am planning a similar restoration, this is a great resource.
Very nice restoration! Thanks for sharing. Milton
I installed D rings to the front sides of the camper and attach it with turnbuckles to some existing D rings in my truck bed.
Awesome job. I have a question I’m a new owner of a Siesta Beach Comber. I have now found any info on that model but I did find info for a Cruiser. That has nothing to do with my question. How do you secure it in the bed. I will be putting it in a 2019 Ram with a 6ft bed and tailgate down 8ft so I will be running it with my tail gate down any suggestion would be appreciated
Thanks for the compliment Kevin, but I think that I’ll hang onto this one a while longer.
Any interest in selling this Alaskan? Really love the work you did.
Thanks, they’re great campers – you’ll have a blast.
Excellent site. I just picked up a 1965 8ft. Standard.
Excellent post! I found a used 73 and have the same issue with the width not working. To bad I don’t have the time or resources to make this work in my newer Tundra.
Very nice job on the remodel!
Cheers 🙂
Thanks, I didn’t have to tear my camper apart too much, so I don’t have any pictures of the internals, but I did check out a lot of sites as I was working on mine and found a lot of good pictures here: http://campereparadise.com/wp/?page_id=1656 – a slideshow of an Alaskan rebuild.
Beautiful. Like the structure and guts pictures. I seem to have a hard time finding photos of the Alaskan’s deep innards taken with eye focused on the anatomy.
What a great job…good taste…you now have one classy looking Alaskan Camper!
I look forward to checking out your Alaskan, it’s always fun to see another old camper get fixed up.
Great blog post! We’ve got a ’78 CO we are just about finished putting back together. I’ll have pictures soon 🙂
Thanks, those Alaskan campers are worth the effort – you’ll enjoy it a lot.
I am about to start the same project. You are an inspiration. Great job!