Stu’s UTE

Bumper looks really good, Did you complete the install? Or are parts coming from Southern?

 

So, it turns out the KC400 that I hoped would fit in the hoop of the bumper were just too big.



The next obvious place to put them is on the headache tubing. I repurposed the original ditch lights bracket . The only problem here is that when I mount the camper these lights are going to be a little tight against the sleeping platform. I hope it’ll work.

 

Southern think they can fab the pieces and powder coat in two weeks and hope they can have them here before we leave on our trip..

 

Yeah totally. I noticed that you have Aux lights up on your headache rack. I’ve heard through the grapevine that those are technically illegal in many countries; any lights above your headlights. Might want to check it out. I’ve heard it’s just a source of bribes. Your hood vent light is trick

 

Interesting, that’s okay. I can always take them off in those countries. We plan to spend a couple of years touring the US and Canada first anyway. It’s allowing me to for fill my teenage dreams, for the meantime.

 

I’m envious of how much you're getting to do your own build. My wife convinced me that we didn’t have enough time

 

It’s mainly that I’m a tight Scotsman who has a hard time parting with cash for something I could do. And it is a great way to procrastinate on more important jobs :/

 

Tell me about tightness; over our 30 year marriage I’ve built from scratch two Full size houses and remodeled another two to save money and I must admit, enjoyment. My wife says I can’t relax.

 

I don’t mind hanging Sheetrock... I’m headed up this weekend to rip out the old knob and tube wiring in a small rental house we have in Corvallis, not paying a electrician when i know I can do it safely

 

Mostly it’s the mudding I hate. My old hands hurt. 12 buckets up and hopefully 2 more to go. This is our seventh and hopefully last remodel. Though we have talked of doing a narrow boat in the UK!

 

. I hire out the mudding, it’s such a pain without a bazooka

 

This project only took me a couple of hours.







I made a mounting system the same layout as the rack on the camper. This allows me to mount the Gerry can or snow boards or chainsaw on the truck when the camper is not in use. Temporary painted it bronze to see if I like it. I’ll powder coat it later when I have some more rack components made.

 

Back in metal shop.



Another Gerry can rack, but a little different. I decided to go with two smaller cans that stack to make 5 gallons. This way I can have one with chainsaw mix. Which is apparently okay to put in your tank in emergency.





Combined they are three inches taller than a regular can, so I’m coming up with an adjustable hasp that will allow me to go to a regular size can in the future if need be.

 

Cool! Could you use a smaller mixed container and get the height lower? 2 and 1/2 gallons of mixed is a lot. That’s about what I use to cut 3 cords of oak firewood

 

Why not two cans of gas and a couple ounces of premix oil to mix when needed?

 

True, you’re right in that you don’t have to mix up an entire 2 and 1/2 gallons and a full tank in a saw goes a long ways. it also makes pouring gas into your truck tank a lot easier/lighter.

you’re right, why not

 

I like that idea too.

 

Heck you could even carry a measuring device that measures the exact amount of mix to go in a tank of straight gas. That way you create your mixed gas one tank at a time. I’d shake it up a bit in a throwaway container before adding to the saws tank though

 

I’ve got some 10cc syringes that would work well for that.

 

Today I added an extra 1 1/2 inches of insulation to the underside of the camper. To be honest I don’t know wether it will make much difference, but it was cheap and easy. Having lived for several years in trailers, trucks and even yurts I have learned that floor insulation is important and hopefully this will help against thermal bridging.



Then slammed out a quick frame to hold a Trasharoo, since I don’t have a spare tire. We’re getting down to crunch time on our trip to the Southwest. So I just clear coated it for now. See how it does on the trip.