XenaCommanders Place

Making good progress on the second major goal for the holidays....   and the weather was holding well.. 

Sunday 2nd January 2011:  The opening for the last lounge window was cut yesterday and the frames left to dry and set overnight..   This morning I welded them in place and primed the steel prior to installing the final rectangle  window...

We hadn't even tried this window in the hole before applying sika to window...  so fingers were crossed..   I had to grind a little off the corner to allow the screw to fit into the hole but all was well...    We cleaned up the glue and braced the window fromt he inside to set...

With that done there was a decision to be made whether I go ahead and do the round windows...   I was keen but the windows don't actually get fitted from the outside.. they are fit from the inside which implies the inside needs to be lined before installation.    Allan points out a complication with the shower as the walls slope and makes it difficult to even use the window...!!!   The only way I see it possible is if I custom build the shower cubicle in place out of fibreglass..  Hmmm will delay that one for now.. More thought required..  (and fibreglassing skills....)

I was keen on putting one of the flashings in place so decided to do the toilet window.    More decisions over position...   height...  lateral placement..  Final decisions being made.. always scary..   However... I closed my eyes and drew the circle on the outside of the truck and started cutting..!!!   Very scary.!!!

First round hole in the side of the truck...  The round windows are my idea of maintaining a nautical theme to the truck.   Commander enjoyed his days at sea.

Ahoy!!!   Perfectly round..  Now to frame a round window..!   Allan talked me out of fancy round framing so we did square and 45degree angle which made it plenty strong enough...   This truck is stronger now with windows than without..!!

Monday 3rd January:  The weather packed in a bit...  and the day was mostly spent on planning and discussing the options for different things..  Mostly placement of hot water cylinder and the awning..   I was in two minds about these fit on the side awnings you see on motorhomes..  I have heard of stories of them blowing away...  But Allan assured me the brand he uses is Kiwi made for Kiwi conditions...  so he has swayed me to get one.

Time was spent on where to fit it and where to place the mounting plates on the inside of the truck to hold the awning struts.   He also talked me into getting a hot water cylinder as opposed to a califont and needed to figure out the best placement of it.

In terms of construction all we did today was glue in the frame for the round window...

Looks very cool..    Bigger one to go this side behind driver.... 

Tuesday 4th January:   Allan and Marge packed and moved on to their next destination so I was back to the grindstone..   with the windows done for now...  I didn't want to install more round window flashings as I will only have to tape them over and try to keep out the weather..!!

So I moved onto some heavy rust removal.   I had a list of bits I needed to tackle..  one on the rear Left corner which I had already started bogging....  so spent the day pottering around doing a few clean up jobs and sanding this LH rear then more bog.. more sanding..  then priming.. sanding...  priming..  who would be a panel beater..!!

Wednesday 5th January:   I removed the cab lining and was going to remove the fan from the roof.   I took out the electric motor and found it was a 26volt..  Maybe I can use one of these yet... I will check with auto electrician again to see if it is useable...    I removed front cab lining and found rust so spent the day removing that. 

Thursday 6th January:   I finished the front rust treatment and moved around to the worst spot at the bottom of the rear hump.  Out with the grinder and discovered the extent of the rust was worse than I thought...   (It always is..!!)

I am so sick of rust.. I think I am going to get an expert to remove the rest of it so I can make progress on the construction.   I patched up this spot temporarily until the experts can do it...

Friday 7th January:  It was raining a light misty rain first thing this morning...  So I decided to ride to Taupo to get some screws for the hatches I had ordered...  So it was a relaxed morning..  Coffee at a cafe and some retail therapy.   TK was heading back this evening so the rest of the day was spent cleaning up...  I washed the truck and cleaned up the steel grindings which will rust if left lying around...

Saturday 8th January:  This was an R&R day..  I decided that I needed to do something different so decided to combine a bike ride with a cache hunt..  check out report here.

Sunday 9th January:   Last day of hols...   So we had to take the truck out for a run and a picnic next to the lake.   I wanted to take a pic or two with the windows in.   So we loaded up at the end of the morning and drove to Stump Bay.

The right hand side looks good...  with all rectangle windows in place..  centre hatch up for ventilation...

Left hand side looks messy with my "stuff up" patched over..  and the panel work needing paint..  will remedy that soon. 

All in all it was a very productive holiday...  great fun..  lots of frustrations...  no major injuries..  only some burns from the welder..!!    All good experience..   I think the floor is next major install...

Thanks for stopping by...   and stay tuned for more.

oh..   and Happy New Year..!!!

XC