The bad news is that there is more paying work coming in the door . . .
(not enough time for the truck !!!)
However one of the jobs allowed me to do some small amounts in between setups so I decided to put the reversing vision system in as it didn't require the use of any of the machines to make anything.
I had bought this at one of the 4WD drive shows and wrote a comment on it some time earlier.
I have since bought a second camera as I had all the other bits like cables and connectors etc.
First the screen needed mounting in the cab . . .
(this was obviously taken later as you can see the view straight down from the back of the house:)
Then the bit that I hate - drilling holes in the fibreglass walls through which cables have to be fed and screw fixings made, which I never like as they are potential leaks, but an external cable would just look silly.
(It was tempting as the cables merely go in one end and out the other to get into the cab where the screen is mounted.)
It occurred to me that I needed to make provision for something going wrong at some time and needing to remove the mounting bracket (you just never know . . .) so I couldn't just bolt through with bolts and nuts (normally used) as they would be hidden behind the insulation and walls.
If it became necessary to remove the bolts to replace some part then the nuts would fall down behind the wall and be useless but only if I could get them undone in the first place!
So I decided to drill and tap a piece of stainless steel which could be fixed to the inside of the wall and would remain in place to allow me to undo and do up the necessary bolts.
Next some Very High Bond double sided tape was attached to the back of the piece.
and the piece was pushed into position using the bolts to line up with the holes so that the plate ended up in the correct position.
The bolts could then be removed from the back and reinserted from outside to hold the camera brackets in place.
The left hand side camera was pointed so that it was looking down close to the back end of the house.
They're fairly wide angle any way so it still covers a lot of ground while allowing to see the very back of the truck while backing.
The right hand side was aimed to give a longer view.
While working both in and outside of the house it was a nuisance to keep dragging extension cables inside and out and I needed to get the camera cables into the cab as well so I decided it was time to decide where the cables would enter the house and make at least a temporary power access point.
A location near the front edge was chosen and some temporary holes made (which will be tidied into a proper junction box later when I have worked out just what needs to go through there).
The proper waterproof receptacle was just screwed into the floor for the time being but at least I now have convenient power inside wherever I need it.
In this view the underside has been sealed around all the joints but will not be proof coated until all the work has been completed.
While inside I decided to also fit the gas bottle box which is required to be both gas tight and waterproof among other things!
I had a local sheet metal worker make up the basic pressings as I don't have the required equipment for that little job.
It fits in right next to the hot water system leaving just enough room for the water fittings at the back of the heater (to be fitted later).
In order to reduce the number of small doors on the outside a single door was made to allow access to the gas compartment and the hot water system (if required).
As they needed to be quite separate a dividing frame and central seal was also incorporated.
Being "on a roll" I decided it was also time to put in the air conditioner which is mounted in a recess just above this door.
As was mentioned some time ago rivnuts had been fitted in the correct spots to allow for mounting with stainless steel bolts rather than the zinc plated screws provided.
Then a trial run was undertaken.
It is quite interesting that the unit merely idles when the temperature is below 20 deg. C. and is almost silent from outside.
As the temperature rises the compressor cuts in and it gets a bit louder.
I could see how in a quiet campground this could be a little annoying . . . but then I don't plan to be in too many campgrounds.
Last thing to do is fix the cover on the out side.
Well second last really.
There is this stupid little drain tube for condensation which is going to drip all down the side so I will have to find a way to route it somewhere else.
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