Check Out This Sweet Rear End

Ewwwwww.

    I loved many things about our little camper from the get go. This rear end was not one of them. The lights were barely functional, the plastic letters were tired and faded, and the wood-grain decal was just plain sad. In my previous post I talked about how a little bit of linseed oil instantly brought the plastic letters back to life. It turns out that was the low-hanging fruit. Everything else was a bit more involved.

    First I figured out how to take off the entire rear panel, which was held on by some rusty clips. Then I snipped the wires, disassembled the lights, and took it into my shop for cleaning. Meanwhile I scoured the decades of grime it was hiding on the body.

    I thought the wood-grain look looked pretty classic, so I ordered a roll of high quality, outdoor-rated stick-on wood grain and painstakingly applied it to the clean surface.

    Next I painted the light brackets and installed new fixtures, in hopes of eliminating the intermittent brake-light problem. One glance at the old wiring and it was obvious why they were spotty at best. I'm amazed they worked at all.

That original one on the right was put out to pasture.

It took some fiddling but I got everything to match up.

    Then it was a matter of putting it all back together, connecting the wires, and giving it a test. Happy to report that it not only looked great, but worked perfectly. 

    I fully expect this rear end to get bombarded with whistles and catcalls as we cross the US. It's gorgeous.