TOPIC:

More progress, mostly on the interior fittings...


Starting on the sinks:








Lots on sanding require on the right hand side units:






Neodymium magnets turned out to be powerful in aggregate, but singly not so much - I had to double them up to get adequate grip before Aralditing so it's thrown the depth out a bit ... I'll use flange nuts instead of locknuts & griod a whisker off the end of the threads.






Working on the burner range:




Full set of left hand units waiting for sanding; clockwise working from 12:00:
- seat unit
- fridge main unit
- range/oven unit
- range/oven greeblies
- extractor hood
- fridge door
- overhead unit






Rear door, still need to work on a lock. Spare wheel cover also filled...

Nice!
If you want to recoup some cash from the old body parts, why not build a trailer out of the old pick up bed? I bet the crawler boys would pay a pretty penny for such a thing!

Edit: Anyone else think this should be fitted with drift tyres??
Edit 2: Ah I see you already thought of the trailer idea

The Unic Camping drifter

A bit more progress ...


1 + 2 = Interior fixtures sanded


3 = sound generator arrived so I plumbled that into my test board & fiddled with the settings; "petrol" settings are pretty unrealistic, as is the 6 cylinder option (just too "crowded" without being in the least bit smooth)... I settled for a 5 cylinder diesel of medium clatteriness & a "light" flywheel, 3 or 4 cylinders were also an option.

Maximum revs are not that high, TBH I'd only recommend this unit if you want a clattery, low revving big diesel sound, or a clattery narrowboat/marine diesel engine sound. It's also far from plug & play, and takes at least 5 seconds to self check after being powered up.

There are things I do like about it though - startup from a small throttle input, "failed start" run down & stop, the run down & stop after it's been idling for a while, and the sound I picked does suit the RV, even if it wasn't what I'd planned on initially.

It's also LOUD - indoors, even on minimum volume, it begins to make your brain pulse after a short while, at full whack it should be audible at some distance outdoors. The volume control is not accessible from outside the case, so another modification will be required.


I'm getting a bit concerned about all the electrics required ... I'll do some further testing to see if I can do without the UBEC (apparently the sound generator is very fussy about input volts), but sooner or later I'm going to have to do a dry build of all these bits. I can't say I'm looking forward to that, I know it'll all fit in the bunk area, but there's a lot of shortening/lengthening of cables & careful routing required. On the plus side I have dropped one pair of 5mm white LEDs from the front as they really were just duplicating the "main beam" function.





4: more detail parts for exteriors. Still weighing up the ease/accuracy of painting (sticking bits of with superglue after painting) or the not falling off & getting lost of "welding" all the exterior parts before paint.



5 & 6: bodyposts. Fronts are spares box specials with chunky nylon standoffs (not plastic 1150 bearings, honest); rear is another foundling, machined down a little on the top & a spacer added on the bottom. This will be relatively accessible through the rear viewing hatch.


7: shaved front axle outers; with the narrower alloy hubs on, these should match the height of the flange nuts. Location of the hubcaps is already a lot more positive.


8: Lights (Bullhead, I believe) fit fairly well in the Blackfoot grille & will save some work

I changed the rear springs for something a bit lighter as the hard ones were causing the trailing arm on the left hand side to bend first ... I then got to thinking of the "articulation" shots that seem compulsory for 4x4 builds...

I suppose 55mm is not too bad for the stock CC-01 setup on little wheels, all 4 are still on the "ground" at that point ... but so is the bodywork.

Note also the angle at the rear - I think you'd be loosing a bit of crockery there.

Amazing work so far matey, although every time I see a pic of the speaker enclosure I think you've put a replica industrial washer/dryer in there ha ha!

TOP a low rider camping car. Be carefull with the sound cause when you'll drve, it will be very lower.

I've had the chassis apart again to take a bit more off the front axles & bodyposts + loose a couple of mm off the rear axles too, all the hubcaps are now on

While it was apart I had another go at the shocks (medium rear springs turned out to be completely inadequate), this time I just put rubber pipe over the shafts to stop it bottoming out, so there's very little actual suspension at the moment

I dropped all the electrics in (very untidily, steering servo & motor wires are routed out of the bunk area through a window & back in via a cab window) + all the interior; with a battery it's up to 3.7kg


I've had a quick test drive around the house, initial impressions are that it needs the lights installing so I don't have any more brain farts thinking something must be broken (braking causes the sound generator to rev, but the RV doesn't move, obviously ... in hindsight), and that top speed may be a bit lacking for outdoor, on road use. I have a 35T motor somewhere, that may reduce the need for a wheelie bar too.

I'm looking for a tiny electrical connector to use as a trailer hookup on the back of my RV build, it would need to have at least 4 pins, preferably 8, and be a panel mount socket & in line plug. The smallest suitable ones I've found so far are 5- or 9-pin DIN plugs (and 4, 6, 7 & 8 that I didn't previously know existed) - but surely things have moved on since 1970s microphones?

I've also considered PS/2 connectors (1990s pre-USB keyboards), this is my best bet so far, but panel mount sockets seen to be a bit of a problem, and they're only 6-way.

Any suggestions for something smaller/better? Knowing what they're called would be most of the battle in finding them... I'd really like it to be round BTW.

How about a 4 pole 3.5mm jack?