Otis24's Otisbound Outdoors Bodonkadonk Supercharged Twin Locked Micro Camper Build (OOBSTLMC)

My mattress is a 3" piece of foam cut to fit the sleeping platform in the camper.
For a temporary cover I just stuffed it into an old Ikea comforter cover. It's been working pretty well but it's getting dirty and it's a huge pain in the ass to take the foam in and out of the cover so I just leave it in there.

I decided to cut the foam into 3 segments and make covers out of 500 denier cordura.
I think for my first time doing a legit sewing project they came out pretty well.

 

I made a padded fabric box.

 

Added an actual switch to the shower pump.

Before it was just a spade connector.

 

Before


After

 

Before (yes, that is a zip tie keeping the knot tied)


After

 

Before:


During:


After:

 

I made a wind screen for my stove.

 

I made a sleeve for my Silky Saw.
It has Velcro on one side so I can attach it to the inside this padded fabric box I made.
It’s got the hook side so I can also attach it to my carpeted platform thing behind the drivers seat.

 

Put the box in its new home behind the driver seat.

 

What sewing machine are you using? Needle, thread, material etc...

 

The machine is a Pfaff 1540. I got it on offerup for $175.
The dark gray fabric I've been using is Cordura D500. The light gray is Cordura D1000.
I got the fabrics from Seattlefabrics.com. They had what I wanted but it took them 2 weeks to ship.
The thread is #69 bonded polyester. I'd recommend buying thread from Sailrite.com. I bought some on Amazon and it was clearly not #69 or bonded polyester.

The Pfaff 1540 will go through several layers of the Cordura D1000. However, it will struggle when you have to back stitch to lock in stitches and from time to time will tangle on the bobbin side. I just make sure I check thread tension often.

I'm doing all these smaller sewing projects so I can learn to sew and make the tent for the camper.

The tent is going to be made from 10oz vinyl coated polyester. That's a bit heavier than the Cordura 1000 so the plan is to buy a Sailrite Ultrafeed LZ1 when the time comes.

 

Oh yeah, to make the box stable I used coroplast I bought at home depot and wrapped it in Pellen Flex foam -

$98 Pellon Flex Foam 20"x10yd, Natural

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VXEVXA8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8

I used 3m 77 spray adhesive to keep the foam attached to the coroplast. That seems to work pretty well.

I recently found out you can sew through the cordura, the foam and the coroplast.

 

One more thing about making the box.
This video was immensely helpful in figuring out how to make it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlQOWXnmK8k&t=293s

 

I have tried my skills at sewing, but I feel I need a better needle and stronger thread.

 

Yeah, this is a first for me. I still have no idea what I'm doing but I'm improving!

 

Some nice supercharger sounds in this one.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CN3Mr3pHK_-/?igshid=1kgfzmpvpzpb7

 

New Brake Pads!

(Half installed, still needs hardware in pic)

 

Not a bad road trip.
If I were to do it again I would have taken 2 months rather than 1 month.
5650 miles is a lot of driving for 1 month.

 

I took some time to replace my radiator today. It’s been leaking out the top for a while now.

I had to remove the bumper to remove the trans cooler I added that was covering up one of the radiator bolts.

While the bumper was off I weighed it. 166 pounds with the winch.
Im glad I have access to this motorcycle lift. It worked perfectly.


I also drain and filled the transmission fluid while I had the skid plates off.

 

Today’s project is adding another coat of epoxy to the stairs.


There’s a tiny lip at the bottom of the stairs. It’s maybe 1/8” deep. It catches dirt and debris so when I close up the stairs that shit goes into the camper.
I filled it with epoxy.