sakurama
Adventurer
Thanks.
I was talking to my friend Taylor the other day about how, the more I use the van, the more I like the idea of converting it to a camper. I bought the van to tow the trailer and while we are still having struggles on that front it's doing the job. It struggles on the steep climbs or perhaps it is what it is - I'm not sure.
In my mind I thought that I'd be flying up mountain passes at 65 but the reality is that 6-7% grades require second gear and 40-45mph. This past trip it was 100 degrees and the temp gauge inside never moved but we overheated on a 20 mile monster hill out of Fossil, OR. Actually cracked the radiator on that one. I maybe should have gone with 4:56 or 4:88 instead of 4:30's. Anyway, the camper is a large thing that is both very cool, comfortable and really nice to have for longer trips with the family but it's also a drag.
What it is not good at is exploring and going into the mountains. Something the van really excels at. My friend Ben has an amazingly set up FJ cruiser with a roof top tent. I love how self contained his set up is. He's actually considering putting the tent on a trailer because the drag for him is having to take the tent down if you want to run into town to grab groceries or something.
Anyway I was telling Taylor how I wish I could convert my van to a popup camper and he explained how they're a nice idea but I end up with the same problems Ben has - has to be pulled down any time you move, isn't insulated or weather proof for the cold - and that the solution is probably to put a real high top on. So that is probably what I'm going to do.
And to answer to your question about the welding I think I'll still go ahead and build the rack for the roof of this top and then I'll be able to sell the whole thing and replace it with something taller. I guess it's something that I couldn't have known before getting and using the van and seeing the evolution of it's use. So now it looks like I'm going to work towards actually converting this to a stripped down camper with a high top like Jsweezy put on his. It's tall but it never needs to come down and allows the van to have a sleeping loft and I'll put in upper windows.
So rather than save this aluminum I'm still going to make a roof rack for this top and have been experimenting with my settings. What I'm learning is that aluminum has a far smaller window of correct amperage. Also, that it requires some speed. You can pause on steel or slow down a bit but aluminum doesn't like that and it heat soaks. Getting those shiny, smooth stacks is more about keeping the puddle cool, adding enough filler and not putting in too many amps. That central weld is a good example - the left side of the tube the fillet is too cold but the right side is about perfect. They were probably at nearly the same amperage with only speed and feed differences. It's a very tiny window of "correct" and the only thing that will get me closer is more hood time.
The good news is that any of those weld beads would be sufficient for a roof rack. I've at least progressed to that point. Building this is going to teach me heat control and welding out of position. Part of what makes a great welder is consistency under all conditions. So once I get there I'll let you know what settings I end up with and what works. You can see the tube is 1/8" wall and it could certainly be smaller wall but that is a hedge against my learning curve. A buffer if you will.
More soon!
Gregor
