Hi, just posting my MK5 2.5D SWB HI-TOP camper build.

[madmark]

love the propex you cant beat abit of blown heating!

[dachre]

Cheers Guys.... Nearly there..... ...


All the switches/indicators are CBE and came from CAK Tanks.

http://www.caktanks.co.uk/



Rainbow conversions also do them.

http://www.rainbowconversions.co.uk/Equ ... trical.htm



I got all the switches/indicators from them because they will mount the water level probes inside the water tank for free when purchasing the tank from them. They use CBE probes and indicators so i kept it simple and just used CBE stuff for everything. So everything matches on the control panel as they use the same surrounds, ect.

All i had to do is connect all the CBE/CAK Tanks cable push-fit connectors up and everything works.... ..


CBE do some great stuff for camapervans.... I was going to buy the CBE 'PC200 LED display control panel kit' as it would do everything that my ZIG unit and all the other control/indicators do in one tiny modern unit. Then thought i'll stick with a more manual control panel..... Much better chance of me fixing that i thought... ..

I also nearly bought the bright 'Glitter Silver' switch surrounds to match the stainless steel then thought better of it and got the plain dull grey ones....... ......


Cheers guys.... ....

[dachre]

Thought i would have a go and finally finish off the last of the upholstery on the van body. The rear doors still need doing. Just raining so hard at the moment so there's only so much of it i can do this weekend... ...

I've been thinking for some time on how to go about this because the rear doors on a MK5 have a fair bit of space from the inner skin to the outer skin.. they are actually quite deep.






So i thought id make some sort of pocket to go in the gap between inner and outer skins... something similar to what i did to the passenger side of the van by the rear wheel arch. But with some elastic retainer thingys in front of the pockets instead of wooden panels.






The elastic retainers are simply screwed on over the cut out. I'll line inside the cut out with ply to the thickness of the door gap when the panels are placed on the rear doors.






To make sure the screws don't pull out I've put some thin stainless angle on the inside of the panels. These will also retain the ply strips that will create the pocket in the doors.






I'll line the rear doors with soundproofing and insulation before putting the panels on then I'll cover the whole doors with the same silver/grey material I've used on the rest of the van.

I'll try and get some of that done this weekend if it just stops raining.......... .......

cheers.

[madbri]

i thought ud have that hover craft enginge in by now! ive been sat here all day waiting 2 c it

[dachre]

Nope... no hovercraft....... But if i drive it really fast i might be able to skim over the water like the Ground Effect Vehicles called the ekranoplans.......yeay.........


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSYmSnpQ ... _embedded#

[Paul 1]

The door storadge is really neat, top job

[turbovan]

I love the rear doors But i love it all.. top work done there fella just keep it going

[bigmastif]

another cracking idea dachre mate, wish i had half your talent and vision

[Terry]

Hey Dachre
Check out 'the WIG page', for more of your Caspian Sea Monsters.
I 'think' I saw one in the U.S a few years back but wasn't sure if it was as it didn't get 'flown'.

[dachre]

Cheers guys, thanks for your comments... ..


Hi Terry, I'm sure the one in your photo is one of the Wing In Ground-effect (WIG) boats.

http://www.se-technology.com/wig/index.php

They are fantastic machines. I wonder if the air is drawn in through the top of the front nose to the underneath of the boat to help generate lift (hovercraft) as well as the propeller on the back to generate forward thrust.

Half plane, Half boat, Half hovercraft..... ....Great stuff.......

[Terry]

Hi Dachre
I saw the red one (the yellow one didn't have wings), on Lake Winnebago in '03 and it wasn't
on the WIG page last time I looked ! (a good while ago I admit). I assume you are correct about the nose prop , obviously the nicely rounded edges are to get air in smoothly.Do we call it a fenestron ? Its probably only needed at the nose to get the leading edge of the wing up clear of the water, the pusher then allows the wing to do all the lifting.
I would imagine it steers a bit like a hovercraft too,......... imprecisely
I think the big Russian craft, the Berievs e.t.c are much more clever in that they direct the jet 'propulsion' over the wings to generate the lift even before they pick up speed, so getting 2 benefits from the using the jet .
I seem to remember that 6 feet is the dividing line between boat and aeroplane they had to draw a line to decide who needed what sort of licence
Have fun

[ake]

Top work as usual Dachre

[bigmastif]

Hi Dachre
I saw the red one (the yellow one didn't have wings), on Lake Winnebago in '03 and it wasn't
on the WIG page last time I looked ! (a good while ago I admit). I assume you are correct about the nose prop , obviously the nicely rounded edges are to get air in smoothly.Do we call it a fenestron ? Its probably only needed at the nose to get the leading edge of the wing up clear of the water, the pusher then allows the wing to do all the lifting.
I would imagine it steers a bit like a hovercraft too,......... imprecisely
I think the big Russian craft, the Berievs e.t.c are much more clever in that they direct the jet 'propulsion' over the wings to generate the lift even before they pick up speed, so getting 2 benefits from the using the jet .
I seem to remember that 6 feet is the dividing line between boat and aeroplane they had to draw a line to decide who needed what sort of licence
Have fun

james may done a thing on the russian and american crafts few years back for the bbc 2 show he done about hovercrafts and these were featured aswell very cool machines

[dachre]

cheers guys... I do like those WIG and hovercraft's...

Been at the door panels again...


Before i covered the rear doors with ply boards and upholstery material I thought i would make sure the doors and mech are ok. The one thing that was worrying me was the small brackets/washers on the inside of the Fiamma bike rack fittings.

So i took them off and bonded and bolted larger stainless ones back on. Then between the outer and inner door skin i bonded an 80mm x 30mm lump of wood. This should help stop the door skin from deforming by the weight of the bikes.


Photo shows the new stainless fittings before i bonded the wood in.






I stuck some flashing on and then I then bonded a piece of ply to the inside of the rear door door skin.






Then fitted the door panel on and started to put insulation into the gaps inside the door.






The door panels have yet to have the strips of ply bonded inside it which will create the sides of the door pocket. But the basics are all there.






Soon be time to glue the whole door and stick lots of grey upholstery over everything and then put the elastic retainers back on.... ..... Just have to wait for a dry day first i reckon.....

[bigmastif]

best thread by far on the net mate