Project Choose Your Own Adventure

[ScottyB]

well a lot didn't happen, then a LOT started happening in the last week.  

essentially i'm on a warpath to finish this in 2 weeks.  we have a camping trip planned for Oct 10-13, and i'd like at least a week of shakedown time (testing battery run time, leak checks, making sure the galley is equipped right).  its probably stupid but i need to see this thing roll, if not for at least the sake of my sanity after all these years!

last Friday, after a 3 month wait, i got to pick up my aluminum sheetmetal.  the color combo is going to be mill finish top/hatch and orange sides.  1 mill finish sheet was destroyed, in amazing fashion, in transit to the dealer and we had to wait for another which took an extra month.  we originally wanted blue, but then i bought a blue car, and we painted the house blue...starting to get a bit much.  can't do red because then we're UGA fans, wife didn't like yellow, green blended in with the woods too much, black would cook us, purple was out, etc etc.  orange felt fun, warm, and you can't beat the visibility on the road and when camping.  its loud and i'm cool with that.




unfortunately, even the new mill sheets had some blemishes.  the dealer was nice to give me half off of those.  mild creases, some scratches, and some tiny pock marks can be seen, but i just did my best to roll with it and try to be pragmatic about it.  if it was the painted side sheets, different story, but plain silver on the roof, you don't see it too bad.

the orange sheets were 4x10 and the mill finished silvers were 4x12.  the only way to get them home was via a huge double axle uhaul 6x12 utility trailer.  pretty beefy at about 1800 lbs dry and a good test on the soccer mommobile.  

so then i got it home, but what you guys can't gather from pictures is that our driveway is steeeep.  most people that visit us refuse to even drive up it.  i wasn't even going to attempt to drag the trailer up there for fear of dragging the tail all over the street on approach.  so i made a "sled" out of 2 tarps, and then proceeded to almost throw my back out getting it up the grass, and across the driveway.  



finally home.  between sourcing it, getting it delivered intact, and transporting it home, this was the most difficult material aspect of the build.  but here it was in my garage...oh crap, now what?


due to the only available sizes being limited to 48" wide, and my camper being 62" wide, i had to make multiple cuts to run sheet width wise to make it cover.  i was worried about how best to do this, and read a few people had success using a 24 tooth-per-inch jigsaw blade.  it seemed...i dunno, too easy maybe, or too easy to mess up, but i decided i had to try it since i already had a jigsaw and an old set of blades.  turns out it cut like butter.  not the straightest cuts you'll ever see, but once they're on and the edges are covered by the trim you'll never know!



took a step back and got a big shot of this circus


oh yeah, my doors came in too.  some minor corner re-working on the camper and they fit right in.  


currently already starting to dry-fit most of the trim and have made cuts to the roof panels for solar wiring, roof vent, and main wire loom conduit out to the tongue box.  getting there!