Fits & Starts…or Fits & Starters

We picked up the camper at the cabinet maker a week ago today, as planned, and brought it home to get a few things done over the weekend before taking it back at the beginning of the week.  It was a great plan, but, if we’ve learned anything doing this project, it’s that while planning makes us feel like we’re in control, we absolutely aren’t.

On Saturday morning, we moved one of the trucks out of the garage so we could pull the camper in so Tom could crawl around on cement instead of dirt and chicken poo while he did some things under the bed.  Tom jumped in to start the truck, and…click.  He checked wires, he checked connections, he had a few friends check wires and connections, he banged on things, he wiggled things, and…click.  We canceled the plans to get the truck back to the cabinet maker, and Tom crawled underneath to take out the starter.  He got all but one bolt removed, and couldn’t make it work, so called super mechanic William, who just happened to be about a half mile from the driveway.  William and his mechanic assistant were in the driveway and under the truck about five minutes later, although it took them over an hour to confirm Tom’s diagnosis and get the stubborn bolt out so the starter could be removed.  Off it went with William, who called the next day and said it was repaired.  Tom zoomed over to William’s shop, picked it up, and came home and put it back on the truck.  He got in the truck, turned the ignition key, and…click.

So, he called William, and got on his moto and zoomed back to William’s shop, where William confirmed it wasn’t working.  It’s still there, and we’re hoping it will be done soon so the truck can move.  The upside to this story is twofold.  First, at least the truck is in the driveway, not parked on a beach somewhere with the tide coming in - although Tom assures me we would NEVER park on a beach where there was any risk of getting caught in a tide.  Second, the truck is in the driveway, so we’ve made good use of the time to get a few things done.  And (I know this makes it threefold, but hey) some of the other parts that are being worked on are where they can still be worked on, so progress isn’t stopped.

The starter and the cursed bolt

The moto ramp, ready to be picked up when the truck can move.

The cabinet doors with handles installed, removed so they can be finished.

The head board for the bed.  We have an 8” mattress, so it’s not really as tall as it looks.

Tom used the time the camper is stuck in the driveway to finish (almost) the compressor box.  This involved a lot of crawling in the dirt and chicken poo to get all the bolts and hoses and wires where they needed to be.

 

We have lights.  Tom replaced all of the old horizontal lights, and hooked up the vertical lights.  The only problem is that even before he did this a fuse keeps blowing so we don’t have any tail lights.  But, since the truck is stuck in the driveway, who cares?  We’ll get it working eventually.

They’re hard to see because they’re small and aren’t hooked up yet, but the running lights along the top rail are installed.  And, er, they wouldn’t work even if they were hooked up because they’re connected to the tail lights.  Oh well.

Just One More Thing…

We picked the camper up at Koops’ last Friday, with just one more thing from the original build list to be completed.  We know we’re going to have a few late add-ons for Koops’ before we hit the road, for things like racks, or holes we’ve realized need to be drilled, but it’s finally ready to get some of the other build details finished.  It’s currently at the cabinet makers’ place, but we’re going to pick it up there on Friday and work on things like electric over the weekend before taking it back to have the cabinets finished.  So exciting!

These three guys have made us really happy…Marco, Nelson, and Justin.  Welders & Wizards!

The moto ramp is the last item being finished at Koops’…but at least we have a plan.  Steps on the left, grooved ramp on the right, and it will fold up and lock at the back of the moto garage.

When down, it will lock to the bed with L-track.  We’re also planning on putting a strip of L-track on the side of the camper so we can attach it there, give it a fold down leg, cover it with a piece of sheet aluminum or wood, and have a nice table!

The door is on in the bathroom, and has a good latch so it can stay either open or closed when we travel.

Over the door is a shelf where we can put bathroom stuff when we shower.  We’ll obviously need a rack, or box, or straps, or something - whatever we decide will be one of the add-ons mentioned above.

Lots of work was done under the bed to add storage and cargo carrying capacity.

This side has, from front to back, a fuel carrier compartment, a compressor garage, a garbage/tool box which was the smoker box when this was a bee truck and is thus sort of stinky, and the spare tire.

The passenger side has, from back to front, a spare tire carrier, a grill compartment which will be outfitted with a gas connection and which is below where we intend to attach the ramp/table, a miscellaneous box, and water storage.

We have two compressors inside this box.  Redundancy!

Two spare tire racks have been added under the bed.  Lockable aluminum belts, which can be seen in the side views above, hold the tires.  We learned a long time ago that two spares are a good thing when driving through Mexico, and we figure this will be especially good with a six-wheeled truck.

The steps now mount inside the door when we travel.

Drawer and cabinet faces are being made now.  These drawers will have beveled edges.  Tom also installed the kitchen faucet, which you can see at the top of the photo.

We met with Angel to discuss handle placement.  The cabinets will all be dismantled and taken into the shop to be finished, but we had to make these decisions while they were in place.

The cushions we had made and covered fit.  We are going to add removable washable cloth covers, but this base cover is faux-leather car upholstery so it should withstand the dogs.  And us.  There is logic behind the slightly higgledy-piggledy look which is too complicated to go into here, but this is exactly what we wanted.

The toilet is installed with a vent tube, and the washer is locked into place with a strap, which will be replaced now that we know the concept works.

Bits and Pieces

The camper has been at Koops’ for a few weeks, and we are definitely at the point where the devil is in the details, and while a lot is getting done, not a lot of it is visible.  But, here’s where we are.

The top rail is done, on the front and the back.  It hides the solar panels mounted on the roof, and provides a place to mount running lights, which is the solid panel with the holes.  On the back (not pictured) it will also be used to mount the wide angle reverse camera.

Our water ports have a door!  And, Koops’ got to use their C&C (etching) machine to machine to make this nifty sign on the door.

The entrance door can be latched open!  I’m sure this was done in part for the crew working inside the camper, because it was really annoying to be whacked by the door every time you carried something in or out.

The back doors also have latches to hold them open.  I don’t think I would ever get anything done in a machine shop because I would always want to be making some new gadget that would be super useful…like this.

The bathroom now has a door, which feels surprisingly substantial.  It doesn’t have a handle inside yet, so we were having fun talking about locking each other in there.  With the composting toilet.

This is a hole which goes from the electrical cabinet to the roof, inside the rail.  Cables from the solar panels will come into the cabinet from the roof, and any cables having to go from the inside out will also fit.  It doesn’t look like a big deal, but this took a lot of discussion since we didn’t want it any bigger than it needed to be because we were worried about leaks, but wanted it big enough that we wouldn’t be limited on what could go through it.  Deciding to put it in the rail reduced some of the worry about leaks and allowed us to make it a little bigger.

All Pieces in Place for the Electrical System

We’ve had almost all of the electrical components for quite some time, but just this week Koops’ made the braces and brackets and installed the solar panels and batteries.  As soon as Jon from Sunselectric gets back from the US with a few small pieces we couldn’t get here in Belize, we will be ready get the electrical system going.

The three solar panels mounted on the roof total 1120 watts.

These are two 200ah lithium iron batteries.  We have room in the box for one more if needed, although as it stands, the three solar panels are going to have trouble keeping these filled.  We also plan to mount a battery charger in this box so if we plug in to shore power, we will be charging the batteries rather than running off straight shore power.

One More Worry Alleviated

Since the beginning stages of planning the camper, we have had a designated spot for carrying the motorcycles.  However, since the beginning stages of planning, the actual motorcycles which will be going with us have changed a few times.  I settled on a Honda Wave scooter a while ago, but Tom was undecided until last week, when he took the plunge and bought a Honda Tornado.  Today, we finally have the camper and the two motos in the same place, and decided to make sure both motos will fit.

Lucky for us, they do!

Room to spare!

Also lucky for us, we’re both pretty happy with this configuration.  We will have to do some adjusting to figure out the easiest way to load them, and then to figure out how to anchor them when we move, but we’ll both sleep better tonight after this proof of concept test.

The finished cabinets will look like this -

 

Nicer cabinets than in my house…

This is what we’ve been hearing every time we show anyone either photos, or the cabinets in real life.  Well, newsflash:  THEY’RE FAR NICER CABINETS  THAN WE’VE EVER HAD IN ANY OF OUR HOUSES TOO!

The wood is old growth mahogany which was harvested over 10 years ago.  It dried outside in large square cut pieces for three or four years, and was then milled into boards and dried inside for another six or seven years.  Friends have had it sitting in their garage for all this time, and when they saw what we were doing with our camper project, offered it to us, and we jumped on it.  Our Moonracer neighbors, Todd Klippenstein of Kliffstone Creations, along with his right and left hands Angel Alvarado and William Godoy, have produced a number of beautiful kitchens, so we didn’t have to look far to see where we could get this excellent work done.

These cabinets are not done; they still need to be finished, and more hardware needs to be put in place. But what we see so far is stunning, and we can’t wait to see the finished product.  

Cabinets over the stove, looking into the bedroom cabinets in the cabover. 

The cabinet over the dinette window, which will contain electrical system components, looking into the other side of the bedroom cabover. 

Side view of the bedroom cabinets. 

All doors on bedroom cabinets open towards the windows.  Flush door pulls will be added, as well as latches on the vertical doors so they don’t fall open when we are moving.  These hinges snap shut, but aren’t strong enough to hold the doors shut if something inside falls against them.

The electrical cabinet has doors on the front as well as the side for easy access to the electrical components.  There will be a small lower door on either side for storage easily accessible from the main living space of the camper.