On the Road Again

kitchen complete, sort of

This past Sunday I built a cabinet to hold a couple jugs of water, the pressure system, and sink, along with a counter to keep everything somewhat uniform and flush. It's still a "work in progress", but from what you can see, it's essentially finished.





So what needs to be done to make this kitchen area finished?

1. Paint the bare wood. The legs and braces will be painted black to match the floor and the trim; the counter will need to be painted white just to seal the wood, and then a couple coats of a sealant (like Mod Podge). Maybe I should think about using a heavy sheet of plastic so that food items don't get trapped in the grain?

2. Caulk. Sink; don't need water seeping under the sink if I can help it. Bottom supports; don't need water seeping in from the outside and into things.

3. Trim. See how the wood paneling is all ragged on the edges? A nice black duct tape along the edges will give it a trimmed look.

4. Should do this before I paint the counter, but sand the edges. No one needs slivers.

5. Run a hose from the sink into the big blue water tank.

{COMING UP}
1. Replacing all the utility box handle / lock assemblies. All the locks are so far gone (rusted shut) and the handles are close behind. Instead of putting on padlocks, save that money and just do it right the first time.

2. Tarp awning. Waiting for the tarp to arrive so I can get the hooks in the right positions.

3. Run the propane line. Have the PVC needed and all the measurements, just looking for the right length of hoses.

the end is in site

With little over a month to go, we have hit 'crunch time' (not to be confused with shadowcrunch time, which is, in itself, a messy situation). With this first week of May being a wet one (not to be confused with a Wet One), the opening weekend looks to be busy. The plans include: putting up the hooks for the tarp awning, finishing the kitchen counter, and... running the propane line!

I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to run the line. I mean, I know what I'm going to do: cut to length PVC, insert hose, affix, done. I'm just trying to figure out how to go about running the line through the pipe. My intent is to measure some PVC to match my plans, put hose in that segment, and repeat, going segment by segment. Yeah, more I think about it, that'd be the safest way to go. The hard part is determining which end to start on (utility box end where tank is stored) or kitchen end. You see, my problem is I don't think the piece that connects to the tank is going to be able to pass through the PVC elbows; I want the extra hose footage by the tank so I can pull tank out to attach / remove hose, instead of it being tight and my having to reach inside.

I'll figure it out though. That whole paragraph is pointless, at least until the hose arrives and I can see if it'll pass through or not. *checks Amazon* Looks like the hose is being delivered today, so problem will be solved this evening.

...

Okay, plan.

1. Friday I put up the hooks for the tarp. This will give me the chance to hang the tarp and work in a dry area should the weather turn bad.

2. Saturday morning, run the propane line. I have to take Steve to an eye exam that afternoon, so I may or may not finish, but at least it'll be a damned good start; and if I have to finish later in the afternoon, so be it.

3. Sunday, if luck holds, I'll be able to paint, caulk, and trim the kitchen. At least the legs and supports. Sit the utility sink a little better, caulk the sink. If Sunday doesn't work, I can take care of that throughout the upcoming week.

...future plans...

1. When my "pioneer kit" arrives, install that. Simple lay the tools on the open utility box doors, outline with marker, rivet velcro straps to door to match tools.

2. Get a dang drain hose for the sink and run it into the blue storage tank!

3. Replace the handles and locks on the utility boxes. I have some on order, but haven't received and shipping information yet. This will involve drilling out four rivets per assembly, popping out old assembly, attach new, rivet in place. Keys may not match, but that's fine, I'll at least try to get the matching locks onto the same boxes.

...

The following picture loosely shows what I'll be doing with the propane. The gray box is the utility box, blue oblong within is the 20 pound propane tank; red tube is PVC that is running under the wooden floor; brown tube is what is coming up the floor and into the kitchen.

Long red tube is going to be attached to the frame of the van with those metal screw strap thingies. You see small ones used as hose clamps, but I'm going to be needing something a bit bigger. I think they have ones that'll be big enough. With the smaller length of tube, those U shaped conduit fasteners. I've already been under the van to plot things out, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem (famous last words).

busy weekend

FRIDAY - Put on my make-shift awning. As described in an earlier post, just a heavy duty tarp and some hooks. Keeps the sun off the van, and acts like a tent.






SATURDAY - Saturday was a busy day all around, with van work and errands for wife, mother, and son. But I got something major accomplished: ran the propane line encased in PVC. What I have to do now is wrap the elbows in aluminum tape. For the record, the exhaust pipe is about two feet away from the PVC leading into the floor, so there is no chance of exhaust filtering though while driving.






SUNDAY - Lastly, painted the kitchen, refitted the sink, and began the installation of the pioneer kit; laid out the tools onto the utility box doors, outlined them, drilled pilot holes and sandwiched rivet / caulk tape / door / velcro strip / washer to secure the tools. At least half of them. Only did the axe side, will work on the saw side throughout the week.






COMING UP - Installation of the saw-side tools and then the buffing and polishing of the van to make it look more presentable.

{EDIT}

Originally, I wanted to get wooden handled tools, figuring that if the handles break, I could always craft something to use. But wooden handled tools are expensive, or at least more pricey than these fiberglass and plastic enforced Fiskars. After watching a fair amount of videos, it looks like these are quite hard to break, and if they do, they are covered with a lifetime warranty. That's a nice bonus. Also, I liked the orange highlights... I have a tendency to not see what I just put on the ground, and the orange will help make things stand out. Not that I'd ever really use these (unless I absolutely needed to, better to have and not need and all that). I've also got a pick and shovel mounted in the van.

update

1. The utility box lock assemblies (T handle, casket, cam lock, housing) came in at some point last week; after checking each one. I was happy to see they were all set to the same key. Exchanged them with the old ones this past weekend... now each box and open, close, and lock. Yay!

2. Tossed the battery in, and the Doghouse fired right up. Excellent! So this coming Tuesday I'll be dropping it off at a local shop so it can go through general maintenance on Wednesday.

3. TV cable cord now runs to the outside of the van, so I don't have to unwind it and slide it under the door any more... hooks up just like a home. The bonus to this is I can get a long cable and hook the antenna up in a tree, instead of relying on the makeshift pole. Also swapped the 19" tv with a 24"; it's a lot better now.

4. Swapped the standard propane splitter with one that has a gauge.

5. Wrapped the joins of my PVC housing (for the propane line). Will probably add some more layers to give it some added strength. Also wrapped the hole I cut in the box (for the propane) with some of that split plastic cable wrap stuff.

Minor things all around, but things that had to get done.

...

Upcoming

1. Had to buy some more rivets so I can finish securing the second half of my pioneer kit. Hoping to have this completed by week's end.

2. Other things I need to finish by this weekend: drill new holes for the hooks that will secure the stove (big whoop), sink drain (bought the parts today), clean out the cabinets, and make a jig to keep the propane tank from bouncing around.

3. The big thing is to buff and/or polish. Want to make the van look decent, get rid of the marking where the letters used to be.

4. The final week before the trip I'll need to charge all the batteries: AA, AAA, power packs, phone chargers, and so on. Will also need to spray lubricant on the door's rollers and latch.

Almost there!