Functional I suppose, but not really in keeping with the rest, besides which the bench top was not flat anyhow, there being a huge dip in the right front corner.
I decided to do the left side first, it being the smaller of the two sides and would hopefully (did) provide a few hints about how to proceed with the right side.
Removing the woodwork I had put in was easy, the whole thing was only held together with screws against this very eventuality, removed screws and it all falls to pieces, too easy!
This left the rectangular wheel box exposed and the first problem. The wheel box was flanged and screwed to the underside of the floor from below, with the transfer to the new truck under access was impossible. No problem, the solution in the form of a sledge hammer presented itself. A couple of good clouts on the corners and the half inch wood screws the box was held in with either snapped or pulled out of the floor ply. A couple more whacks to cave in one corner and whole thing pulled out through the hole in the floor, job done!
I braced across the hole with a couple of 100mm x 50mm beams slathered with builder's adhesive and screwed into place to provide a solid platform for the plywood patch the filled the hole in. My plywood collection was running low by this stage, I had to join a couple of pieces together to get the size right but it seemed to work out ok. It was the last of the original dining table.
Then it was just a case of shortening the seat box. I left the step at the end in, it makes a comfortable place to put your feet when you are sitting lengthways as well as providing a bit more room inside the bin. Worked out well.
This opened out the floor space to something like it's final size and made a comfortable chair possible. More about this shortly.
Now it was time to make a start on the right side seat/stove/galley unit. I had scratched my head a bit over just where to put the stove, in the end I decided the right hand end of the bench, more or less under the window was the best option. So, clear the decks and see how we go.
Not the best photo but you get the idea. The sledgehammer technique was applied to the wheel box, and now I knew how it was done, had it out in no time flat.
This time I covered it with freezer panel, having run out of plywood. Not really safe to walk on but no problem since it would be buried under stove anyhow.
I wanted to move the bench up and to the right, 45mm up and 55mm to the right as it turned out. The sink was tucked away under the ledge formed by the bunk, not really ergonomic, leaning against the bunk ledge naturally placed your hands at the far right of the sink basin. Not to be helped in the original layout, but now I had some space to work with. Once the bench top was raised up and moved over, I screwed it to the wall to give me a 'zero' to work from. First order of business was the right hand wall. By happy chance I had exactly the right amount of tongue and groove left with no room for error.
Since nothing was square, I was cutting and trimming one board at a time. This took a while but was quite enjoyable.
Looking good! For now the underside is going to remain open, I haven't decided on how that's going to turn out. Initial plans called for a tin box behind the outer hatch to house the gas bottle, but future plans call for a pair of 9kg cylinders,so those are better mounted outside somewhere. Probably they will get mounted on the truck chassis along with the gray water tank. Mean time I'll keep on using the 2 jerry cans under the bench. Plenty for short trips, weekends etc. Mean time, the new woodwork gets wiped down with Linseed oil to match the rest. Oiling rimu timber is very satisfying! I think it looks great! Now to start on the stove stand.
I had given quite a bit of thought to stove height, in the end I decided I wanted the cooking surface just below the end of the bench so hot pots and pans can't slide onto the bench. With a bit of work, it ended up 15mm below the end of the bench, perfect! At this stage there is nothing to stop pots etc from sliding off the right hand side of the stove and ending up uncomfortable close to whomever is sitting on the adjacent seat, but sooner rather than later I'm going to make a nautical style rail to stop this from happening. Just have to be careful for now.
Making progress! Clearly visible is the piece of freezer panel I used to cover the hole left by the wheel arch. I had been saving the ply left over from the original stove stand, this got a small trim and was put back into service. The end piece of the tongue and groove was left as a whole and cut to make the right hand support for the stove stand, later I made a filler strip for the gap between the side and the front. The hole between the seat and stove stand will get a lid and be used for storage. Meantime, I have to re-install the asbestos sheet I saved from the original stove unit. That was a fairly easy if slightly ugly job, it needed a number of filler strips to cover all 3 sides, but I got there in the end, then covered the whole lot with ali diamond pattern sheet left over from the original stove stand. The outer side was a bit grimy from 30 plus years of fry-ups, but by just turning the sheets around, Presto! Good as new!
Quite good! Some new 8mm internal diameter gas line was had from the Foxton Camper and Caravan Shop and duly installed, I've decided to put the gas bottle/s in the back box I haven't built yet, in the mean time I'm going to use a 2kg gas bottle that will be connected and disconnected as needed, a minor pain I'm hoping will inspire me into getting on with the new box. Notice I've put in the vertical filler strip and made a lid for what is now the new pot n pan storage space. More linseed oil and it's all looking most satisfactory! Time to install the stove.
Excellent! Firmly bolted down, gas bottle connected outside and hold down the primer button on the stove until I smell gas. Add a match and...
Whoosh! Houston, we have lift off! How pretty is that? As an added bonus, what I thought was a non-functioning piezoelectric starter for the oven turned out to be a 'flame out' safety device that works just fine. Starting the oven means reaching in with a gas match or lighter, but I'm sure I'll get used to that, the more that I probably won't be using it that much anyhow. The grill seems to work well, Cheese on Toast is definitely on the menu! Good deal! Note the 'step' between the cooking surface and the bench top.
A closer view of the filler strip at the left side of the bench.
Only a couple of inches but makes the sink much nicer to use. All in all and a bit of faffing about, but a major improvement!
And speaking of major improvements, I decided ages ago I needed an actually comfortable seat to veg out in. The table seats are ok if you are sitting up right, but no much good if you are going for a mega-relax.
Now that I have good usable floor space I thought a car seat on a plinth might be good, compact and armless, perfect for playing guitar while sitting. I fished about on TradeMe ( www.trademe.co.nz , eBay for the Antipodes) and looked at bucket seats. Some scouting later an in the $1 reserves I found the front passenger seat from a Nissan Primera within a 20 minute drive of home. Looked ok if a bit tatty, I thought to just get a seat cover for it. No one had bid on it yet, so I posted a one dollar bid, waited 4 days for the auction to end and won it! You beaut!
So I contacted the guy, we set a time for me to go get it and I duly did. What I wasn't expecting was for the set to be in pristine condition, a very attractive dark gray. The guy said it was too good to just toss, he was hoping someone would find a use for it....I was so pleased with it I paid the guy double, $2! Seems Nissan had after market seat manufacturer Ricaro make a run of unmarked seats for some of their cars. The main difference being instead of a steel frame and springs like a usual seat, these were based on 2 molded steel pans, giving a firm seat with excellent rigidity. Looks the part, too.
So I got it home, experimented with seat heights a bit to find one that let me rest my guitar comfortable on my knee, then built a plinth for it from 100mm x 50mm timber. Nice and solid (and the only timber I had that would do) The seat was coach bolted to the base, I left the seat slider in place so it can be slid back and forth. The thinking here was that by sliding the seat all the way forward, the seat can be safely reclined without fear of tipping over backwards. Seems to work. Comfy!
I thought I'd have to restrain it somehow to stop it sliding about while driving, but the weight of the thing seems to take care of that. After a month of driving around I've yet to find it moved from where I left it. I'll stain the base to match the next time I buy some, but at NZ$24 for 200mls, that can wait.
Is it just me or am I gaining?
