kiwi build thread. ARB, OME Dakar...drawers + fridge underway.

Looking good. Will the drawers match the 60/40 split of the seats? Any plans for a sleeping platform? I've considered completely removing the back seats. At the moment the bench portion is replaced with my hound platform which creates a full flat surface for his bed and provides a bit of storage under and in the footwells.
 

KiwiKurt

Explorer
Looking good. Will the drawers match the 60/40 split of the seats? Any plans for a sleeping platform? I've considered completely removing the back seats. At the moment the bench portion is replaced with my hound platform which creates a full flat surface for his bed and provides a bit of storage under and in the footwells.

I dont think exactly match the 60/40 split by drawer edges, if that is what you mean...but its close. I didnt really look at that alignment specifically but will try to remember to photo it when installed. The drawer side is on the 60%(driver side) fold...that was done so that with the fridge installed, you have more open trunk space over the drawer with no cage and no fridge to run things long ways in the trunk.

No plans for a sleeping space. The Mrs. and little one always accompany me on trips, so we do it tent style. Plus, im too tall to sleep in the vehicle unless im diagonal across the trunk with one foot up. Been there. Done that. No desire to do it again :p Sleeping platforms never appealed to me. I like a quality cot or thermarest pad with a mummy bag.
 

skibum315

Explorer
Ditto ... I like this. A lot.

Remind me (apologies if it's easy to find, it's not top of mind right now), does the work space (tan part in the picture above, I'm assuming it's a table/work top - maybe not) cover more shallow storage volume? It also looks like that's a staged drawer ... so if you wanted to just open that part it'd only go out as far (roughly) as the deeper side; but if you open the fridge slider, then the shallow lower drawer can be opened that much farther ... that about right?
 

KiwiKurt

Explorer
Ditto ... I like this. A lot.

Remind me (apologies if it's easy to find, it's not top of mind right now), does the work space (tan part in the picture above, I'm assuming it's a table/work top - maybe not) cover more shallow storage volume? It also looks like that's a staged drawer ... so if you wanted to just open that part it'd only go out as far (roughly) as the deeper side; but if you open the fridge slider, then the shallow lower drawer can be opened that much farther ... that about right?

It does. Since the Xterra has no form of tailgate, I wanted to be able to stop, pull the fridge slide out, then pull that work space out from under the fridge and be able to make a lunch quickly on the road. Or have a quick impromtu table for (insert reason) That drawer is deep enough to fit galley items or other kinds of tools...navigation etc.

So fridge comes out to full extension on its own, and that shallow drawer/work space comes out to full extension as well.
 

KiwiKurt

Explorer
working on the coating and hardware mounting. new slide should be here tuesday and i can finish install.


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KiwiKurt

Explorer
monstaliner is curing/setting. if fate is kind, I'll be able to get it installed tomorrow.


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RobRed

Explorer
That shallow drawer holds a cr*p ton of .45 magazines.... I'm just sayin :)

Looking good - excited to see the progress this weekend.
 

KiwiKurt

Explorer
That shallow drawer holds a cr*p ton of .45 magazines.... I'm just sayin :)

Looking good - excited to see the progress this weekend.

guns are evil and barbaric.

looking forward to having it done. :whew:


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KiwiKurt

Explorer
bad news guys.

Large portions of the MonstaLiner did not cure correctly. after 2.5 days it is still off-gassing a strong odor, is damp and tacky to the touch, and is leaving my hands covered in a greasy/tacky residue after handling.

I laid the unit on the kitchen floor and the monstaliner stuck to the linoleum, and pealed right off the system and stuck to the floor. laying news paper on the liner results in paper bits and fibers being pulled into the liner to the point you can even pick it out. I'm able to grab portions of it and pull it right off like latex paint (exactly what it feels like) and then here and there will be a patch that hardened correctly and has to be chipped off.

I'm not above saying it is possible I made a mistake, but the instructions are pretty clear and simple to follow on surface prep and mixing....the fact that some patches hardened correctly while the majority did not and the off-gassing nearly 3 days after coating leads me to wonder if it was a bad batch, or its simply the nature of being a lower quality material compared to actual Line-X.

Compound the fact with even the parts that hardened correctly look like you just melted a black plastic trashbag with a heat gun over top of the surface, which I'm simply not ok with.

Where I did screw up is on the small angled drawer face by drilling a handle hole in the wrong spot. :rolleyes: :lookatmego:

The correct slide did not arrive today from the supplier, either.

Talking with Dave at TrekBox tonight we have decided to hold off on getting this done. The original intent was to get the template cut for future use and for me to have it in time for my death valley trip this up coming week. between his pending new-born arrival and my travel schedule, it just hasn't worked out. The result I was looking at tonight wasn't the fit and finish I wanted in my truck and not something Dave wanted to put his brand name on. The way the coating cured (kinda?) really detractied from his craftsmanship. Thus, we've decided we will reconvene in a few weeks and get it done right.

I need to strip the monstaliner off to prepare it for the Line-X. Originally I wanted to avoid the $700+ cost of spraying the Line-X.... but the quality, appearance, and finish of the monstaliner simply isn't up to snuff for what I want. The point of this is to have a gucci/well finished system, and monstaliner doesn't cut it.

Sorry guys, I'm disappointed at the delay as well. I was really stoked to get this in, but I'd rather wait and have it be 100%, and so would Dave.

Subscribe to the thread and I will update it when the system gets installed. :thumbup:
 

richard310

pew pew
I'm not familiar with the instructions but did you try letting it dry out in the sun; let the UV rays cure the coating? From what it sounds like, the surface wasn't prepped well enough as the material never adhered to the surface and/or the mixture wasn't mixed well enough. It could possibly be a combination of the two. We've had paint fail due to poor surface prep and also not completely curing due to heavy coats/bad mixing (which can also attribute to the black trashbag-heatgun texture). OR it could, like you mentioned, just be a bad batch. Good luck with the strip and the application of Line-X though.

Really unfortunate what happened though. I hope the rest of the project goes smoothly for you and Dave.
 

KiwiKurt

Explorer
dunno what went wrong. I prepped the surface per the instructions, and mixed everything the way they said. They even included the mixer wand that goes into your power drill to get it mixed up.

It sat outside in the sun for 2 days straight. No luck.

There is one surface on the box that cured and hardened well and seems like it would be durable, but even that isn't acceptable from an appearance standpoint.

In the long run, I know I'll be happier with the Line-X. Just gotta get this other garbage off first. The peeling parts are easy, any suggestions for the parts that did harden?
 

richard310

pew pew
dunno what went wrong. I prepped the surface per the instructions, and mixed everything the way they said. They even included the mixer wand that goes into your power drill to get it mixed up.

It sat outside in the sun for 2 days straight. No luck.

There is one surface on the box that cured and hardened well and seems like it would be durable, but even that isn't acceptable from an appearance standpoint.

In the long run, I know I'll be happier with the Line-X. Just gotta get this other garbage off first. The peeling parts are easy, any suggestions for the parts that did harden?

Test on a small area first of course and protect around the area you don't want affected, but I'd try some aircraft paint stripper in a corner and see if that will loosen the adhesion. Let sit for a few minutes to let the chemicals do their work in a well ventilated area. Then go in and try chipping it off with a putty knife. You may need several passes of stripper depending on the level of adhesion.

The aircraft paint stripper you can find at your local auto parts store (Autozone/O'Reilly's). I've had numerous successes using the stripper to eat all the way down to bare metal but I'm not sure how the stripper will work with a wood base. I'd find a scrap material and see how the stripper reacts on wood or whatever the base material is before attempting on the actual cabinet.
 

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