MOBIUS Trip

[GreatPumpkin]

Fiberglassed roof skin joint

Inner wheel well framing. I haven't decided if the top will be maple or corian...

Stove slideout frame. 1/2" Baltic Birch

Stove slideout

Stove slideout

Stove top

[GreatPumpkin]

Swivel eye light I'm using in the front "shelf"

Light shelf framing. The swivel light frame has a slight concave to it

Shelf started. Light frames are held in place with resin due to the curve

Side view. Hooked up to a small 6V battery to test the output

Bottom view. Finished with Plam that has a blue/grey pattern similiar to the corian I may use on the wheel well top/shelf

[GreatPumpkin]

On to the hatch - cutting out the ribs. Waiting to hear back from the many potential semi-local aluminum suppliers. Need to get my hinge ordered. I've got a camping trip planned for later this month but probably won't have it road worthy in time.

[fromeo]

Looks great!

Those light fixtures are very cool.

What laminate is that on your countertop? I really like it.

- Frank

[GreatPumpkin]

Looks great!

Those light fixtures are very cool.

What laminate is that on your countertop? I really like it.

- Frank

Thanks Frank,

I'm not sure the pattern name. I believe it's a Formica brand. I've had a couple sheets of it for years, both in the green pictured and an identically patterned blue. I picked up about 6-7 full sheets (5'x12') for a total of $20 IIRC. Extras from a commercial remodel - they were just going to throw it away!

The piece I used in the teardrop was the last of the patterned sheets. I've used it in my airstream rebuild, and a couple other camp trailer rebuilds over the years.

[fromeo]

Thanks Frank,

I'm not sure the pattern name. I believe it's a Formica brand. I've had a couple sheets of it for years, both in the green pictured and an identically patterned blue. I picked up about 6-7 full sheets (5'x12') for a total of $20 IIRC. Extras from a commercial remodel - they were just going to throw it away!

The piece I used in the teardrop was the last of the patterned sheets. I've used it in my airstream rebuild, and a couple other camp trailer rebuilds over the years.

Thanks for the info, I'll keep my eyes open.

Got pics of that airstream rebuild?

[GreatPumpkin]

Thanks Frank,

I'm not sure the pattern name. I believe it's a Formica brand. I've had a couple sheets of it for years, both in the green pictured and an identically patterned blue. I picked up about 6-7 full sheets (5'x12') for a total of $20 IIRC. Extras from a commercial remodel - they were just going to throw it away!

The piece I used in the teardrop was the last of the patterned sheets. I've used it in my airstream rebuild, and a couple other camp trailer rebuilds over the years.

Thanks for the info, I'll keep my eyes open.

Got pics of that airstream rebuild?

Here's a link to the Airstream rebuild thread on Airforums dot com. http://www.airforums.com/forums/f157/my-64-overlander-adventure-22741.html You can click on my album for all the pics...

[GreatPumpkin]

Looks like it's time for my tri-monthly update.
Didn't realize it had been so long since I updated my progress. As I review my pictures, it seems that I may have lost/misplaced some of the progress pictures.

Anyways, on to progress...

Ribs - made out of 1/2" Baltic Birch. 5 separate frame sections, then glued and brad nailed together. Tied together at the top with 3/4" maple for better strength at hinge, and 3/4" maple at the bottom for the finished appearance.


More Ribs


Ribs installed and skinned = Hatch!
Outside view


Inside View


Hatch after my wife decided to enter my domain (the garage/shop) and open the garage door. If you look at the closed view, you can see a black line down the left side. That is where the garage door opener bracket caught and drug across the hatch. I can live with that, as it will be covered in Aluminum. The puncture came about when she decided to reverse the door and close it back after she saw it had caught. It would have been ok if she had just left it at the first incident.


The plan was originally to leave the inside open, except where the taillights would be. Now I'm going to have to review my options...

[Miriam C.]

Not too bad. Get out the epoxy and glue it back down. You might need some light weight fiberglass for this one...but re-skinning will probably be cheaper...



btw- The rest of it looks fantastic

[GreatPumpkin]

On to the Galley...
Cabinets face frames are maple, rail and stile construction. The cabinet boxes are all 1/2" BB.

Overview


Far left cabinet is the stove top with storage underneath.




Next cabinet over is the icebox.




3rd cabinet is a pull out pantry.




The door on the far right is actually just propped in place for the photo op. It currently doesn't have anything attached to it. I am debating on what/how to do that one. It may end up as a door, it may end up with a pull out similiar to the pantry. The sink, drain, water pump, and AC Electrical junction are all going to be shoe-horned into this space.

Upper drawer fronts - cut from a single piece of maple and will be sequentially lined up so the grain flows as if they were still one piece.

[GreatPumpkin]

:crying1: Not too bad. Get out the epoxy and glue it back down. You might need some light weight fiberglass for this one...but re-skinning will probably be cheaper...



btw- The rest of it looks fantastic

Thanks Auntie M.
I think the easiest thing to do is just push it back down and do a little fiberglass fixing. The part I'm still debating is whether or not to skin the whole inside now or just skin the two outer frames and leave the center 3 open? Not sure if that would look right or not. I'll have to experiment and see. Reskinning would be a nightmare, as it is glued and has about 100 brad nails shot in to hold it while the glue dried!

[GreatPumpkin]

AC Electrical started. The outlet to the right of the breaker box will be on a 20 amp breaker and will have the converter plugged into it. The hole drilled below that will route power to one of the 120V outlets in the cabin area via the wheel well dead space. There will be two outlets in the cabin area, one in each wheel well, and they will both be on the same 15 amp breaker.




Curbside wheel well. Top and front is 3/4" Maple. The uncovered side will be skinned in 1/8" BB. This side will also have a 12V outlet and switch for the cabin lights.



Streetside wheel well. This side will just have the 120V outlet.

[GreatPumpkin]

I know inquiring minds will want to know, so here's the breakdown on the icebox build. I read all the threads I could find on the subject and researched all my options. Top load was definitely better than front load.

I don't remember my total R value, but it can't be any worse than the store bought boxes they market as ice chests and I'm pretty confident it will be better! I've tried multiple brands and styles. The "5 day" ice chest melted in 1 day.

I acquired a brand new, never installed RV fresh water tank on craigslist for $20 IIRC. I cut it down to just under 1/2 it's original length and then calaculated the size of box I would need to build to house it and the insulation. The tank is polyethylene, rotational molded, so I ended up with a seamless "box" that is open at the top.

The inside dimensions are 9" wide x 19.5" long and 16" deep. Plenty deep enough for milk jugs and whatever else (foodwise) we need to fit in there. Igloo says their family size ice chest is 48 QTs. I am assuming that's dry quarts? Mine is about 39 Qts. (or 45 if it's a wet measurement).

The box is 1/2" BB, and in between the liner and the box is approximately 1" of insulation. The insulation consists of 1/2" foil backed polyisocyanurate foam board and two layers of reflectix (foil "bubble wrap"). Prior to installing the insulation, I completely sealed the inside with fiberglass resin.

The tank is held in place with stainless steel screws. I screwed through the top edge into a 1" aluminum channel that covers the insulation. This all sits about 1" below the top of the box.

I then deliberated what/how to construct the lid out of. I decided to go with plam, 1/4" plywood for rigidity, and 2 layers of the foil backed foam in a tiered cake setup. I cut the foam so the 1st piece would just fit into the open top of the liner, and the 2nd piece would just fit into the recess at the top of the box. The plywood was the top layer so I could later cement a piece of plam for a finished look.

The foam was taped together with aluminum tape and then fiberglassed. Fiberglass, sand, repeat multiple times. Later attach the plam and see how it fits. Fits great! An added bonus is it can double as additional counter space when the ice box is pulled out. No picture yet of the finished lid. I still need to do 1 more application of resin to fill a few holes and patch a crack.






You can't see it, but refer to the 4th picture. Nothing will stick to polyethylene! Knowing that I still chose to insert a large bead of silicone caulking in between the liner and the aluminum framework. While it did not really "stick" to the liner, it did seal it very well in this application. I know this because I had to take it back apart to install the door front to the box, and had to pry the liner from the aluminum framing where the caulking had glued it in place.

Lid construction.

[GreatPumpkin]

In this picture you can see my power converter mounted. It's not the one I had salvaged and was planning on re-using. This one came at a very good price though. Free! and it takes up much less room. The only downside is this one does not charge my battery. However I do intend to have the battery charge while towing.



It's output is 13.4V DC. I ran 16 Gauge AWG thru the ceiling to where my reading lights will be in the cabin. (That is what I had on-hand at the time and it was free!) The output measured in the cabin? 13.3V. A very negligible voltage drop!



The lights currently in place are 6V (2 wired in series) with 6V 5 Watt bulbs. They light up the whole tear and won't even come close to overloading the wire. I'm probably going to replace those though and go with 12V lights. I currently have a large amount of (free!) MR16 bulbs that are 12V, 50W. That's way more light than needed, but still within the safe limits of the wire. I'll probably go with a 20W bulb instead.

Just placed a order at Del City for all the pieces and parts I should need to complete my DC set-up.

The battery will be in a box mounted on the tongue. I'm running power to the back in a 4G stranded wire. It will be switch selectable for either battery or converter power. The 4G is overkill, but again it was free! Well kind of - it was in a car I bought for my daughter. Evidently ran power to the amp in the trunk. There was no amp when I bought the car, just the leftover wire which I pulled out and saved. It's got an inline fuse also!

[Cliffmeister2000]

Wow! Great update! Beautiful work, too!

I've been thinking about adding some drawers in my deep, rather underutilized base cabinets in the kitchen. This is an idea I plan to steal. Thanks!