Frame Welding

[Kenn-TC]

Today my brother and I rolled the box outside and got it ready for the big lift tomorrow. We removed the casters, installed the lifting pins and then mounted the A/C unit on the roof. It all went well and was great to see it outside with the windows and trim. I though I would take it for a test drive behind the XB. With the casters you can do some wild drifting LOL. I will take lots of pictures of the lift and post them.

 

[Dragonslayer140]

Wow huge progress, Looks like you have the lift all worked out, lifting arms look good. Good luck tomorrow, look forward to seeing pictures. Really close to being a complete truck, at least on the outside. By the way just got your phone message you left a couple of weeks ago, cell phone just decided to save up about 20 messages and then randomly send them to me all at once. Keep up the great work.

Dave

 

[Kenn-TC]

Kenn's big lift

Well it went just as planed. The crane guy was very skilled and made me feel comfortable. The lift pins worked great and everything fit just right. I was able to weld the outside without any burning of the FRP. I spent a couple hours cutting out the flatbar diagonals and sanding the floor frames. Next up will be to do a lot of interior welding and then screwing in the plywood floor. I will install the entry door after I load all of the plywood.

 

[Dragonslayer140]

And just like that it looks like a motorhome. You should be very proud, all that hard work and planning has paid off big time. Looks really good, cant wait to see it with the trim and door installed. Are you still hoping to have it ready to take to the show next weekend?

Dave

 

[GENECARP]

Great job, much to be Proud about right there....

 

[racer2e]

How much was the crane charge, if you don't mind.
Jayme

 

[Kenn-TC]

crane

The crane was $135 per hr with a $30 set up fee. They have a three hour min. He drove from the Portland area which is about an hour and thirty minutes. He charged me the min so a total of $435. I had looked into renting a boom truck and it was over $500 a day and it came with no rigging or operator. I felt good about the $435. I think it helps if you are ready for them to go right to work when they arrive.

 

[racer2e]

Yeah, thats not bad. I was afraid it was $2000 and that would mean I have some MacGyver stuff in my future.
Jayme

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Looks great. I like those roll up doors.

 

[Kenn-TC]

test drive

Today we took the truck for a test drive and after some heavy black smoke and no power I found that I left a large rag in one of the air intake lines. It runs much better when it gets air. I got all of the lights working and the entry door and latch installed. I think we will make the Brooks show in three days.

 

[hot rod]

Great to finally see all the jigsaw puzzle pieces falling together. Looks great.

 

[Kenn-TC]

Long Leggs makes it to Brooks truck show

Well I just got home from the Brooks truck show. Long Leggs ran great both ways and we had a great time. We had all the lights, back-up camera and radios working. Dave (dragonslayer) and Michelle drove down from above Seattle had a nice visit. We saw lots of cool old truck. We went across a scale and I was happy with the 20,600 total weight with 10,400 on the front and 10,200 on the rear. This is with 1/2 tank of fuel (60 gal) and no water in the fresh water tank or holding tank. I think when finished it will be in the 26 - 27K range. The truck drives great but I think the speedo reads about 10 mph less than you are going.

 

[Dragonslayer140]

Kenn, here is a picture of you with your rig. It was great to see you at the show, you have come so far from when we first saw it. Looks even better in person than in the photos you posted It was good to actually be able to sit inside of it and visit and talk about what you are going to do to it next. We also really enjoyed meeting your brother and sister. What a great show so many great tucks on display, we can't wait until we can get our project started.

Dave

 

[#90-GTSC]

Nice truck!

 

[Kenn-TC]

stainless trim

Have been working on the trim and I am getting tired of punching and drilling holes. The trim that is mounted to the upper unit (FRP living quarters) is easy to install with sheet metal screws. The lower unit takes much more time and has been a challenge. The corner pieces go into .120 wall tubing and the horizontal side pieces go into a .125 piece of 5" flat stoke welded to .120 tubing. My first plan was to use the sheet metal screw into the thicker material by drilling a larger hole, not. I did some testing on the workbench and found that it would wipe out the screw threads or just break the screw off. I tried removing broken off ss screws from mild steel and decided that was a bad plan. I got some ss drill point screws that Fastenal said were much stronger and they also broke off. I ended up using 10-24 ss button head machine screws. They are a close match to the sheet metal screws. I did a lot of testing on how to tap 200 + holes most of then into 1/4". I found some taper taps that don't cut a full thread until about 3/4 of an inch. Most of the holes are about 44 inches off the ground so I was able to use an old brace and bit to tap them. You can hold the tap square and run it in at a slow speed until most of the material is removed. My brother and I drilled 42 #26 holes into 1/4" and tapped them all in under forty minutes. We tried using a cordless drill but the lack of feel made me nervous. I still need to drill and tap the rear corner pieces and then plan to use the same black marine sealant that I used on the upper trim.

 

[Kenn-TC]

stainless trim

Well the trim is all on and it makes the outside look finished. If I counted right it took 1,134 screws to hold the trim on and about 300 were machine screws that required tapped holes, good to be done. We have had a week of heavy rain and wind but being able to work under the carport has proven to be more than doable. Yesterday the sun was out so I was able to get some better pictures. We are working on the plumbing from the shower/tub and bath sink to the holding tank. Today I ordered a hot knife to cut (melt) the insulation in an effort to reduce the mess.

 

[RLPRACING]

Very Nice! Are you bending your own SS trim or having someone else do it?

 

[Kenn-TC]

stainless trim

I had my steel supplier shear and bend the .040 polished stainless. He can shear and bend up to 12'. I think the cost was around $750. for the material and labor. I asked that the corners be bend just past 90 and some were short of 90 so I adjusted them over a sheet of plywood on edge. I used screws every 3" to make sure it would be flat against to body. If you have some sheared use gloves as you can get cuts and not even feel it.

 

[#90-GTSC]

We tried using a cordless drill but the lack of feel made me nervous.

If you have a bunch more to tap, try a cordless drill with (1) an adjustable torque clutch and(2) one that has really low volts. If you can find a Black & Decker VersaPak that uses 7.2 volts (two 3.6 volt batteries) ... that should be the ticket. Set the clutch "weak" and with the low volts should "stop" before you break the tap off.

Very nice looking truck; 379 Peterbilt is the nicest looking truck on the highway bar none! I like those tambourine storage compartment doors!

 

[Kenn-TC]

Insulation and floor

Yesterday my brother and I got all of the under-floor insulation in and the plywood screwed down. Today we started on the flooring and it went pretty good except Kenn ran out of gas with a few boxes left to go. I should finish in the morning. The flooring is almost an ash color, but my camera makes it look browner.