Compendium of Jobs

Hi everyone !

Its been a while since an update again, life gets very busy sometimes, so I've just been doing small things as and when I can, and this is just an update on those.

Weather has again been up and down, which has also limited the work, but also highlighted the problems with leaks.

The NSR side window is leaking very badly now, oddly the OSR isnt being too much of a problem, and thats the one with the big hole in the rubber where I cut a sample from it. Every now and then if the rain is hard, The OS middle window leaks slightly too now, and the Roof Vent has been steadily dripping water every time it rains too, all in all, I cant do the interior until all the water is kept outside, as Im using ply for everything, ply and water dont mix very well !

This has brought me to a decision. Up until now I have been undecided about what to do with the windows, now, I have decided, if its possible, and the windows have enough metal underneath the rubber seals, Im going to get all he side windows replaced with new Bonded windows. This will stop any leaks now and in the future. The biggest bug bear is the cost, just to buy the window set it is £650, but in my opinion, worth it for the peace of mind, and will still make a cheap camper.

The second thing, is the roof vent, I recently took it apart...





There is a wooden frame under the metal that was saturated, the seal around the vent on top of the roof had failed. I put some more sealer around it which seems to have done the trick for now, but I think I will buy a new vent with a more modern smoke glass top with a 12v fan incorporated. This will be good for cooking on the hob underneath for extracting, also for bringing air down to the dog cage under the kitchen when stationary.

In three weeks I need to use Nina for a Dog Show down in Torquay run by Cornwall & South Devon Boxer Rescue, I will be going down the night before as it starts at 9am and it takes an hour and a half to set up my marquee as a Photo Studio. So going to put it up the night before, meaning Iwill need to camp in Nina ! I'm quite excited to actually camp, even though she is nowhere near finished, so I have set myself a few jobs to have done by then, some lighting etc.

As I dont have the seating cushion pads yet, I am going to have to use an airbed, so I set one up to see how it would be...






I didnt pump it all the way up, and MAN was it comfy ! Just sank in to it. So think I'll be sorted for a bed. Just need a pillow and a sleeping bag and I'm done ! I'm very happy to say my seat/bed works very well when pulled out :). Quite proud of myself I am ;).

My next worry was privacy from the back windows, as my kitchen isnt fitted blocking them all yet. Problem fixed with an adjustable Shower Curtain Pole !


Thats Archie modelling it for you ;). Obviously I wont use the transparent shower curtain that came with it you see in the pic, but one of my sheets I use on my printer table at the shows.

The next thing I've been dying to try out is my Rear View Mirror Monitor and cameras. Curiosity got the better of me one day and I temporarily fixed it up with the inside rear facing camera attached to the bulkhead.









It works extremely well and after using it a few days whilst taking the dogs out, it brings peace of mind knowing they are OK and not stressing, getting too hot, ripping up my seating etc :). Still have to run wiring to the back for the roof one. Hopefully this link will show a YouTube video of it working in practice...


Another job I've been itching to do is my spare wheel graphic. I had intended on having two interchangeable graphics, one advertising Nina's blog, and one advertising my photography business, but couldnt really find a solution to swap them easily, so decided to just go for it with the graphic I had already bought, my photography one. It was fairly easy to apply, it came on some clear plastic backing, and as with the window tinting, just had to give the spare wheel cover a good clean, then spray with soapy water, and apply the graphic, moving it around until it was in the right place, then squeedgy all the soapy water out from behind, leaving it to adhere in the hot sun that day.


I think it looks great ! The dog on the graphic is Barney, the dog sitting underneath the Spare Wheel, the dog to the right is Sam, and the one on top is Barney2, he is based on Barney and was hand made for me by Kass who is the owner of Celery Crafts, go find her on facebook, she does wonderful things with material ! :).
A closer look .....



A friend of mine that buys lots of boats, showed me some battery clamps he bought in the shop What ! the other day. I need to connect my two 70amp batteries together to make 140amps, and needed some clamps too, so popped in and got some myself. Very cheap ! £1.40 a set. These go for loads more on ebay, and they have the cable clamp built in too.


Definately recommend them.

My thoughts are turning more and more to the electrics now. I had an idea for all the little blue LED light switches I bought from HK on ebay, so put it in to practice. I wanted a light switch panel, that also housed a couple of 12v accessory sockets (cigar lighter socket). I ordered a set of 3 marine sockets from ebay, it was £13.15 for all three delivered, Marine means they have a rubber flap to hide the socket. Then I bought a gadget box from Maplin, basically and empty plastic box. Measured and drilled 6 holes for the switches, using some really neat stepper drill bits that I also got from What !..


Then fitted all the switches, and waited for the accessory sockets to come.








Once they arrived, I fitted those too, using the second widest hole my stepper drills could make, 30mm.









This makes a great little control panel, and I cant wait to have it fitted and working ! :). I suppose the whole thing cost about £20 ish to make with all the switches £1.89 each delivered, and the box which was under a fiver. Bespoke and exactly how I want it.

Finally, today, I fitted my second rear view camera on top, was scary cutting such a big hole in the roof, but worked out fine.








I dont think I was prepared for the amount of work needed to run the power and video cable from back to front, ended up dismantling most of the roof space, but once it was all done, it worked brilliantly. Because of the thickness of the back doors, I cant get it to point down right behind Nina so I can see how close the bumper is to something, but I still get a pretty good view of things at the back, like a rear view mirror would give you in a normal car. Very pleased with it. Because the monitor has two video inputs, I can switch between the internal and external cameras via a touch sensitive button on the side of the rear view mirror monitor. Its very cool :).





As it was gone 11pm by the time I finished, these are the two views of the monitor that clamps over my existing rear view mirror. First one is the gates and our driveway, second is the internal camera, both showing that the infra red night vision on the cameras works perfectly ! :). Looking forward to trying them out in daylight tomorrow.

Well, I thought this was going to be a quick post, I hadn't realised I'd done so many little things ! Glad I have, the To Do List is staying pretty static where I keep adding new stuff, but thats evened out by these bits and pieces I'm getting done slowly :).


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Location:Gloucester