Lowly the Lorry. . .

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

With the tanks back in the shop I was able to start fitting the components to turn them into working diesel and grey water tanks. The diesel tank/box has the following hookups: compressed air, diesel heater pickup, level sensor/sender, breather, engine diesel pickup & return, drain valve, fill port.




Next was the grey water tank/box. The tank had the following hookups: inspection/rinse port, level sensor/sender, effluent intake, breather, drain valve, tank defrost loop bungs, cleanout port.

The box attached to the grey water tank had the following connections: compressed air, tank defrost loop, engine defrost loop, diesel heater & electronics port, valve electronics port, diesel heater air intake port, diesel heater exhaust port.


The 3D printer was once again fired up to make parts for the various pass-through components and for the diesel heater system that was going to be mounted inside the box attached to the grey water tank:


Brackets for holding the components onto the diesel system mount plate:


Printed a flexible dust/waterproof? seal for the fuel and electrical pass-thru:


Things 1&2 were put to use assembling the heater system mount plate:


Once assembled the panel was mounted into the box:


- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

Some more 3D printing, this time for the interior. First was the latches to hold the interior back wall hatch doors closed:




A bunch of these are needed to conceal behind the hatches and be opened with the flick of a finger:


When the rear bed is lifted up to the ceiling the area under the bed platform will have some LED "can" style lights that turn on to illuminate the dining area. I had to design and 3D print some connectors using parts from a van door that will pass electricity from a stationary frame to a vertically traveling bed frame:


I haven't hooked them up yet but they seemed to print okay:


- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

I designed the dining table to not only telescope up and down but to also double in size. This required a bunch of headaches as one would expect. First was milling the holes/slots for the concealed hinges. These had to be exactly aligned using a router set to different depths. 3D printer to the rescue to make clamping and router jigs:


With the two table tops aligned the router jigs were prepared for battle:


The table tops were clamped and oriented vertically, the jig located and then the two matching shallow slots were milled. Half-moon shaped inserts were plugged into the jig and the deeper slots were milled out. This process had to be repeated 4 times:


Testing revealed a very tight fit with the hinges resulting in a one-time-only installation. Removal of the hinges will require destruction of the table tops; here's to hoping that won't be necessary!

The telescoping base mounts underneath the tops. When the upper table top swings open it needs something to hold it up in the deployed, cantilevered position. The 3D printer was used to crank out some knobs with captured nuts, clamping bases and pull bars. Some all-thread and aluminum tubing completes the package. Here are a handful of pics to hopefully augment this explanation:





Yet another assembly that won't be proved out until it is installed. Fingers crossed it will work!

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

A scattershot group of 3D printed components for the habitat while the cabinets get sanded and I wait for warmer temps in order to get them finished.
First is a multicolor nameplate for a couple of electrical buttons on the fresh water side of the system:


I needed to provide illumination for the license plates. Using a clear LED side marker light, I designed and 3D printed a series of housings to choke down the light to make a "spotlight" that shines onto the plates from the rearmost outrigger on the subframe:


Feet for the microwave to keep in bolted in place:


Feet for the oven to keep it bolted in place:


Screened cowling for the combined air exhaust of the dryer, shower vent fan and toilet vent fan:


The screen was printed out of flexible filament for removal and/or replacement if smaller orifice size is necessary:


Mounted to the habitat:


- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

More 3D printed goodies. Above the passthru between the habitat and cab is the location where air and electricity is run from one side of the truck to the other. I needed to build a cover for this area to hide the ducting and wire runs. I thought about cutting down a large PVC pipe and using its quarter-pipe as the cover but figured I could do something similar on the printer. Had to break it up into interlocking segments (the nature/limitations of printing):


Test fit into place:


Had to make several pass-thrus for electrical to enter-exit the habitat from below. These will have custom printed flexible inserts to seal the pass-thrus once the wire runs are finalized:


An air exhaust port on the back of the toilet was needed for connecting up to a flexible hose along with a gimble for passing thru the urine hose:


A flexible boot was needed for covering the electrical connection on the light that shines down on the fresh water tank to allow for visual inspection of the level:


This light will mount to a hole located in the mount bracket of the sliding toilet base:


- Sheik

 

[Link_cat]

This thread is amazing, thanks for sharing the detail of this project!

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

Its been a minute since my last update - summer and family stuff keeps piling on.

Progress continues but at a less than desirable pace. Here's some stuff to prove I haven't thrown in the towel. Cabinet installation was completed resulting in test-fitting of all sorts of goodies. The 2 chest fridge/freezers we will be using needed cradles to be fabricated so they could be securely mounted to their full extension drawer slides. Johnny from RGW once again worked his magic:


Sewed up some heavy duty straps/buckles to hold the chests down to the cradles using the chests' handles:


Test fitting the cradles and chest fridges was next:


The fridges are only meant to be slid out when needing service or getting restocked; in this position their lids can be fully opened. When stowed, the fridge lids can be opened for access but cannot open fully. Large magnets from Harbor Freight were repurposed and embedded into 3D prints to hold the lids open in this stowed position. Here's the 3-pack getting printed:


The single mag version printed and functioning:



Effluent plumbing runs were test fit into the build. Components were removed, laid out and photographed for future installation and maintenance purposes:


Realized I had been accumulating a large number of 3D printed jigs and fixtures for this build. Here is a pic of most (but not all) of them laid out:


- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

For the record: I hate painting.

Finishing the cabinets was a big hurdle. We decided to "whitewash" the built-in cabinet carcasses. Diluted white milk paint was mixed using a thrift store blender and applied using foam brushes so that the baltic birch plywood face and end grain would still be apparent:



A color scheme on the drawers and doors was chosen to add some pizzaz and make for easier identification. Colors were based on fabric the seat cushions will be made from. Here is a schematic so I didn't end up painting the parts incorrectly:


Several layers of diluted, tinted milk paint were used to paint the drawers and doors. We didn't need too much of any single color so we were able to cheap out and only needed to purchase sample quantities. Here are the stacks of drawers and doors painted, awaiting a light sanding before heading off to be finished with a protective clear coat:



I'm leaving the clear coat finishing up to a professional - I'm soooooooooo done with painting!

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

Interior cabinetry was finished by a professional painter in a few passes with the assist from the Mrs and my dad. So satisfying to get this done and start unmasking with the Things:




With the interior cabinets finished it was time to go to work installing all of the bits and bobs (many of them 3D printed) that have been waiting. Things 1&2 helped out with some of the hard to reach spots, putting in brackets underneath the seats:





It was also time to install some parts that had been designed years ago but never tested out. The electrical connections that allow lights to work underneath the counterweighted lifting bed were tested out and it worked!




I had to dig out my old hand-drawn schematic of the fresh water system before firing up the 3D printer once again to start procuring brackets for running the plumbing around the truck

:




I was also able to finish installing the MaxxFan unit, large overhead hatch/skylight and rooftop electrical passthru:


- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

Had a bit of time to work on the spare tire bracket located on the back of the habitat box. The bracket will be mounted to the box using the T-slot corner extrusions and used for keeping the 2 spare tires upright and resting on the the steel outrigger which extends off the back of the truck's subframe. I used the components themselves to determine spacing before tack welding in place and then finish welding on the bench:




Bolts were then welded onto the mounting flanges, using the flanges bolts and lug nuts to maintain perpendicularity alignment:


Spacers were 3D printed out of PETG+Carbon Fiber to slip over the bolts and provide centering alignment between the bracket's bolts and the lug holes in the wheels. These will be used on the final assembly:


The wheels were then used to locate the appropriate centering/spacing for the formed bracket weldments to be located on the cross-bar weldment:


A bit more welding and then off to the powder coater.

- Sheik

 

[mog]

You would think as large as your cabin is, you would give your sons bigger berths 😇