Mark's Off Road Warehouse Fire Thread (1 Viewer)

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I went this route last year! Wife has driven it, but not very happily! I am happy to drive, it’s 30ft!
 
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Bumper Sticker and License plate frame *may* also be an exercise on how to embarrass your adult children ... :rolleyes::cheers:

Really do love the van, though. Have always been tempted by something like that and then cruise the Country .. It's funny how the zeitgeist works, too. Just read an article on the RV industry rapidly changing from the giant 25' Motorhomes to small trailers and conversion vans because of what else? Wanderlust Millennials. Mark is a 20-year-old at heart.
 
#vanlife

That's awesome Mark.

My :princess: and I have been vanning for several years now. She is a former tent camper that got to the point where tents didn't cut it anymore. The van ticks all the boxes for her.

We will be traveling near your place next Jan-Feb and will be sure to drop by. Or meet up in DV for a few days. :):)


Kevin

I was really hoping you’d chime in. I remembered you posting about your van earlier in the thread. And it’s always nice when you can compare notes with someone who’s already been down that road.

Didn’t have a lot of time to read through your build thread, but it has already given Tina and I three more things to think about before we start cutting wood for version 1.0. I did a 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 with my K5 Blazer back in the 80s. IOW, I’m not stuck on the idea that it has to be perfect the first time. Right now we don’t see a need for any drawers of any kind. So version 1.0 shouldn’t be too complicated. LOL.
 
Any more progress on the container suites ? Odd ? but do you have any aux. tanks for a fj40 laying around ? I want to take out the NWMP aux. tank in the rear of my 40 and move the axle back to about 100 in. WB which means I need a smaller/different shape/custom aux. tank ? Door looks nice by the way. You forgot the door handle, maybe its a push thru like the old bar doors
 
Kevin

I was really hoping you’d chime in. I remembered you posting about your van earlier in the thread. And it’s always nice when you can compare notes with someone who’s already been down that road.

Didn’t have a lot of time to read through your build thread, but it has already given Tina and I three more things to think about before we start cutting wood for version 1.0. I did a 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 with my K5 Blazer back in the 80s. IOW, I’m not stuck on the idea that it has to be perfect the first time. Right now we don’t see a need for any drawers of any kind. So version 1.0 shouldn’t be too complicated. LOL.

We are still improving/changing our van. I think it will be always evolving.
 
Any more progress on the container suites ? Odd ? but do you have any aux. tanks for a fj40 laying around ? I want to take out the NWMP aux. tank in the rear of my 40 and move the axle back to about 100 in. WB which means I need a smaller/different shape/custom aux. tank ? Door looks nice by the way. You forgot the door handle, maybe its a push thru like the old bar doors

No progress on the lemonade stand since we last talked John. It’s not a priority at this point. Getting a long overdue bead blaster into the shop is a much higher priority, and I don’t seem to be getting any closer to making that happen. Work is piled up, I will be out of the shop as much as in for most of April and May, and then I will be busy getting a new roof on the shop.
 
THIS IS NOT April fools. I am officially overwhelmed. I am closing the shop for the month of April to get caught up with existing commitments. If I haven't already committed to doing something for you or selling you something, it will have to wait. Thanks for your understanding and your patience.
 
Well, one week into operation catch up, I’m really glad I’ve done this. I’ve still got 3 more rebuilds to get through this week, and a new mystery issue with the MM40.

But between last weekend, a couple of hours during the week, most of the day yesterday and 3 hours today (20 hours total) I now have version 1.0 of our new sleeper van!
 
The large front table stores two cube ice chests with room to open the lids. The deck has five sections. The forward middle is removable for being indoors in inclement weather. Rear crossbody storage accessible from back doors for outdoor gear (table, chairs, etc) one lid compartment on the passenger side for spare parts and fluids.
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A random piece of T-bar I had laying around came in useful for suspending the left side of the platform to maintain a larger storage space.
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I think you could have a 3rd career in Van conversions...
 
I think you could have a 3rd career in Van conversions...

Thanks Alf

Like just about everything else I do, the old life motto holds: 90 percent of the job is in the preparation. I probably spent almost as many hours visualizing how everything was going to fit together. I almost built this as a spectator, pleasantly watching my own hands take each piece of material and use 50 years of experience to almost effortlessly shape them to my exact needs. Not a single piece of material was discarded because of a mistake. Speaks to that concept of manual competence I wrote about in chat.

When I bought the property across the street from my shop at 18, I had visions of starting a cabinet shop with my best friend from college. We both quickly discovered I have a persistent habit of building things with little or no sketches of the product, just a short list of critical measurements. My buddy insisted on a complete rendering of everything. Wasn’t going to happen..

Funny how certain things repeat themselves. I will be revisiting this scenario next week when I recruit a new friend to help raise the roof on another friend’s house. No drawings, just a half dozen critical measurements and a new to me worm-drive Skilsaw.
 
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Thanks Alf

Like just about everything else I do, the old life motto holds: 90 percent of the job is in the preparation. I probably spent almost as many hours visualizing how everything was going to fit together. I almost built this as a spectator, pleasantly watching my own hands take each piece of material and use 50 years of experience to almost effortlessly shape them to my exact needs. Not a single piece of material was discarded because of a mistake. Speaks to that concept of manual competence I wrote about in chat.

When I bought the property across the street from my shop at 18, I had visions of starting a cabinet shop with my best friend from college. We both quickly discovered I have a persistent habit of building things with little or no sketches of the product, just a short list of critical measurements. My buddy insisted on a complete rendering of everything. Wasn’t going to happen..

Funny how certain things repeat themselves. I will be revisiting this scenario next week when I recruit a new friend to help raise the roof on another friend’s house. No drawings, just a half dozen critical measurements and a new to me worm-drive Skilsaw.
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Did you guys trim those 4x8's ?
 
Did you guys trim those 4x8's ?
2x8s. Consolidating three room additions that have a patchwork of different flat roofs under one shallow hip roof 30’ across. It is an engineering challenge to say the least. I’ve had to tidy up 35 years worth of bootyfab construction, from light fixtures with no support to wood stove chimneys with no firebreaks, tie-ins with more imagination than structural soundness, etc.
 
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Well, where ever that is, at least it looks like they don't get a whole lot of rain ... ;)
 
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