There hasn’t been much progress over the last month, I’ve been away on holiday and sorting out my garage rather than working on the truck.
Had a bit of spare time today so made some cardboard mock ups of the interior furniture layout to get an idea of how much space I have to play with.
First up is the rear storage cupboard – the top will serve as a worktop but will have a hinged lid to access in the inside. I anticipate that food and toiletries will be stored in here. The lower half will contain 2 drawers which open out of the rear door. Likely storage for tools, recovery equipment and spare parts.
To the left will be the toilet (small box under the platform) accessed via a flip up lid. Next to this will be another storage box for clothing (where the folded cushion is). The lids of both these sections will be covered in padding and will act as a sofa.
Next some higher level cupboards. On the left will be more storage for clothes. Next to this above the rear door will be for cutlery and plates etc, and on the right will be more storage for food. To the lower right will be a continuation of the worktop, and in this ‘L’ section will be the sink, below which will be a container for drinking water.
I think this configuration gives me the maximum space for storage and moving round the interior. Below you can see the empty floor area for moving round, dressing, and living etc.
Next I moved my attention to the mounting points for the roof rack/pop top which will act as the sleeping compartment.
I will need eight or 10 gutter clamps to mount the rack on the truck. I have settled for the below design, likely to be made in 5mm steel
The bolt will be replaced by some threaded bar, welded to the L-section. This will pass through a length of pipe (masking tape) which has been welded to the main bracket. The bolt head will instead be a nut, which when tightened will clamp the two components together, sandwiching the roof gutter.
Below is this is situ
I’ll then weld bars across the roof, to join each pair of clamps. Then strengthening bars running lengthways to form the rack.
Next job is to buy a welder, and some metal. Oh, and then there is the minor task of learning to weld…
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