Making a ifting roof on a 110

[wuntenn]

Ah well after a load of faffing about - tank in- tank out- tank in - tank out - tank in - tank out...................more times than I care to think about, it's fitted. It was a real pain. The gap between the back of the locking filler cap and the tank was very tight and required both the respective necks on filler/tank to be trimmed carefully in order to just touch and allow the plastic pipe and jubilee clips to 'capture' each one. Skinned knuckles, lots of swearing and a sore neck from laying on my back and craning to see whats going on. But, job done.



Tank supported on threaded rod, with a steel plate across the bottom at each end of the tank.



You can see the proximity of the tank neck to the van side panel.



I put a square of alloy in behind the wing to strengthen it behind the filler neck, and to give the three perimeter fixing screws more 'purchase' - that's the four pop-rivets in the square pattern around the filler. The two rivets at bottom are to attach the van side to a small bracket on the water tank as the strut that braced the side to the chassis has been cut out as it was in the way of the tank.



All the piping is in - filler neck pipe to outside, locked, breather pipe up to the inside to keep it clean and clear, and feed pipe out the rear bottom in a protective plastic sleeve and protected by the outrigger and fed back inside the van to the sink.

 

[java]

Well you should be proud, thats squeezing every last bit of useable space there!

 

[Arjan]

Talk about a tight fit...

Very impressive !

 

[wuntenn]

Just to give a lower view (looking towards the front of the vehicle):



That's the blue feed pipe inside a plastic sleeve for protection, and the joint-to-tank outlet is behind the rather 'home-made' protective cover. It'll do the job! Once the pipe is pulled up inside and cable-tied it will be well out of the road.




Despite its appearance it's actually sitting at the same level as the base of the battery box under the seat just visible to the left in the lower image, so well up out of the way of most stuff.

 

[wuntenn]

Another inch forwards today. Managed to fit the sink. Used some cheap pine board as a worktop which the supplier only has at 300mm wide, and I need 400mm, so had to glue and clamp to make up the width. Why? Cost. The 300mm board cost £8 and the 400mm cost £29. Easy choice! The sink required a lot of fiddling with to get in due to the ridiculous tolerances that the cut-out requires. Still it worked.





Tap is a simple 'flipper' suction type so very low-tech (hence more reliable I hope).





Still need to do the other side over the fridge, where the cooker will be - this has been glued together from 300mm boards to make up to 420mm. Board needs rounded on the end corner at door, and also made slimmer just after it clears this end of the fridge where the storage boxes against the van side will be stored - they're narrower so the worktop can be narrower giving more sitting/shoulder space in the seating area just behind the front seats.



Still undecided whether to keep sink unit front vertical, or to cut on an angle to give more elbow clearance when climbing in/out.

 

[java]

Looking good! your making very quick progress!

 

[wuntenn]

Cheers! I'm managing about 3 hours each day on it, 4 hours if I'm lucky so it adds up through the week. The interior should see more speedy progress than the water tank which ate time as it was so fiddly. I've got a small waste tank I'll fit as well, it's being delivered in a few days and hopefully will be easier to install. It can go in just above the exhaust in the dead space in the rear corner. I did think about a simple bucket and pipe, but a tank is more hygienic. Roughing it is all well and good but you wont get far if you've got some gutbug and your feet are falling off!

 

[Arjan]

I'd slope it to get a bit more room when entering or exiting.

Looks nice !

 

[wuntenn]

Hi Arjan - I think you're right. I was considering it today (had a day off) and was looking at it in the pictures and recalling what it was like yesterday to go in and out now the sink top is in and the worktop is (temporarily) fitted on the other side over the fridge - which I've kept just about 1" wider than the fridge so the fridge is slightly 'protected' by being set back a little. And it made the entry/exit just a little more constricted so taking the sink front down on the angle will make it much easier, and I wont really lose a huge amount of storage space. It's funny how stuff evolves and 'plans' are no substitute for experiencing 'the real thing'.

 

[krl81]

Nice to see it's progressing. Trial and error is one of the best ways of perfecting a build.

 

[wuntenn]

Have had a wee break for Easter but back on the job again. Got the van cleaned up and out of the barn and back on the drive at home.



Today I drilled and tapped the roof bars which are intentionally left 'loose' and inserted an M6 button head stainless bolt at each end.





These prevent the bars coming out, and when removed allow the bars to be easily slid out, or their position on the roof altered depending on what my needs are. I have various things I'll carry at different times such as an open (canadian) canoe which needs a flat surface for lashing onto. Or a pair of sea kayaks which requires a set of J cradles on each side which are shaped to the hull profiles and allow the boats to be carried on their edges, with sufficient space in between for a long (ski length) roofbox which carries wet stuff such as wetsuits and paddles, buoyancy aids etc. Because the boats are on its edge the curve of the hulls in their centre sections (at the cockpits) 'drops' lower than the roof bars so the gap between the bars needs to be quite long, and this method enables me to have that capability. And when I don't need them I can wind out a bolt and pull the bars out in seconds.

 

[krl81]

Brilliant idea! I was thinking about your build earlier today and was going to ask how it was going. Guess you beat me to it.

 

[Arjan]

That is a good solution !

Perhaps some large "R-clips" would work even better ? Saves the need for getting up with tools in the wet & darkness... We use quite often.

Looking very, very nice.

What's the plan with the side "cargo rails" if I may ask ?

 

[wuntenn]

Hi Arjan - decided against the R clips because if I can get them out that easily so can a passing rascal! I'd rather have the 'inconvenience' of a few minutes removing the bolt with an allen key than lose the pipes. Anything metal that's easily removed these days is a target for the scrap thieves.

The cargo rails? Well my idea for very thin strong (Dibond) alloy panels that can slot into the lifted-roof sides to form temporary hard sides is going ahead, and I've started obtaining the materials.

I've been trying to figure out places to put them (there's two pieces for each side = 4, and a single hinged folding piece for the rear end) and can get some of this on the roof, but thought it might also work on the side too. Also I've been down to Morocco a couple of times and would like a return trip in a year or two with the family, and the ability to strap a load of stuff on the side will be very useful, especially some extra water, sand mats etc. I figured if I was going to fit them it was easier to do it now whilst I have the interior stripped out so I did, and was able to get in behind and make sure they were well fixed and sealed.

I'm working on a simple awning (with zip-on sides) for both the back door area, and another for the passenger side (both will fold closed and lie flat against the sides of the 'new' roof) and I intend that the support leg for the side awning uses the cargo rails for support, so they should prove useful in the longer term in several ways. It's not hugely expensive stuff so it was worth fitting them just now. And I also put a few of the bolts for the cargo rail through a timber block in the inside, which is hidden behind the ply lining, which I'm using to fasten some of the interior fittings onto, giving them a good 'grip' of the wall.



Today I made a start on the gas bottle holder on the side panel beside the back door. Went for simple steel angle and used a grinder as I've not got any form of steel cutting capability. I can grind in a straight line reasonably well. Two bits were bolted onto the van to give me a starting point, with the gas bottle hung off the roofrack with a strap to use as a guide so it's all aligned. This involved another strap off to another vehicle to keep the bottle in the right orientation. The rear panel has no straight lines - the van side slopes, the rear window slopes etc so making it to suit with the bottle in situ seemed the most sensible course of action. (And yes the gas bottle was lifted well out of the way when I was using the welder!)



It's a simple triangle to support the bottle, and this also allows tighter clearance between the frame and the spare wheel as it swings round. A square base would be more complex and bigger.





I'm thinking of securing the bottle with some flat-bar that I can bend into a semi-circle and then attach to the frame with threaded rod - bit like a battery clamp system but horizontal. I can fab a curved steel 'loop' that will secure the nuts and be padlocked to stop the bottle being stolen. It's another of these 'evolving' jobs that you start and are not quite sure where they will end up, or how.





A few ideas for fastening the bottle's base to the frame have been abandoned because several of the bottles I've seen have had bashed bases and this might create problems with attaching clamps that hook up inside the inner lip. So I've still to figure out a simple-to-fabricate-on-the-drive solution for the base. Once its all done it'll get a good clean up and red-lead and topcoat to seal, then a big squish of sealant in behind between the steel and the alloy.

 

[Arjan]

Thanks for the reply - you've obviously given it more thought than me... Theft is here not really a problem as in the UK. Yet..

Those Cargorails are a very good idea - in fact, I'm very much looking into getting some as it could be a very simple solution for a problem we've getting signwriting on the vehicle that isn't getting torn away all the time. Even painted on jobs suffer badly.

TBH, I never really like the idea of the gasbottles on the rear although a lot of people do fit them there. They get very hot - esp. in Norhtn Africa - and they do suffer from corrosion. Here in France, it has given problems with the Gendarmerie as they don't like them.. Also, the amount of space they take up there to the nett amount of gas in it, Hmm..

How about a diesel cooker and a 20 ltr. can ? The "Optimus" type one are very effecient and refilling is easier than with gas..