Welcome Zachary Michael Hahn

22nd December 2013.  Baptism of our ninth grandchild, Zachary Michael Hahn.  Born 12th October 2013.

Welcome to the Clan

Building the Tray - Part 3

Having outlined the outer dimensions of the tray, it was time to work out the compartments required to store our gear.  Another 40 odd metres of square section later and the tray is beginning to take shape.

The next step is to get a sheet 2400 x 1200 x 3mm folded to fit in the floor under the hitch.  This will join the rear section to the front subframe and provide a little rigidity to the tray.   I will also get two pieces 1200 x 460 x 1.6mm  rolled to half circles with a 400mm radius to form the inner wheel arches.

As it is Christmas and most of the businesses around here are closed till early January, I will have to wait till I can get this done ready for Part 4.

Now to sleep on what I have done and work out the best way to cover the shell.

Building the Tray - Part 2

As I am still working full time at present, I only get the weekends to work on our project which is not such a bad thing as I get the week to go over what I have done and plan the next steps.

This weekend I finished the drilling of the fishplates for the Hitch (photo in previous post).  While it may not sound difficult, drilling 16mm or 5/8 holes in 10mm plate and then lining up and drilling corresponding holes in the chassis was quite a feat given that I only had a power drill with a 13mm bit and a rat tale file.

Next I decided to build the exterior shape of the body work using 25mm square section 1.6mm thick.  I used 36 metres of steel to do this - you wonder where it goes.

Back to the steel merchants to purchase more square section ready for Part 3.

The Work Has Begun

Huge day today, shortened the chassis by a meter and cut the 100 x 50 x 4mm 'C' section for the subframe. This subframe is going to be the base of the box that is going to hold the gear that should make our travel a lot more comfortable. Size is 1600 long by 2000 wide and 1870 high and will be divided into  compartments.

I ordered the accordion rubber gasket from America this week. This will be inserted in place of the rear window of the cab and the top compartment of the box. This will be the home for Pepper.

In order to comply with our ADR's, I had to cut and fit two lengths of 100 x 75 x 10mm angle fishplates to the chassis rails. Each fishplate had to be drilled to accommodate 6 x 16mm hightensile bolts with nylock lock nuts.  The angle was 20mm above the chassis rails and again drilled to suit the 'Highjacker' slider hitch.

Next week I need to get the 1200 x 2400 x 3mm steel plate which will form the tray, folded up.  I also need to have two lengths of 1200 x 460 x 1.6mm steel rolled to create the rear wheel arches.

More to come and photos to follow.