Uhaul Super Stealth-Box

[WheelEstate USA]

Yup, that's the place and the fish was excellent, as well as a good price.
The Mill seems pretty lax. The owner of a cool old converted bus said he had been there the better part of a month. We were there only a few days before heading on up 101. We stayed at casinos all up the coast. Canyonville over on I-5 was a good casino (Four Feathers) stop too.

You're splitting town...what direction??

 

[camadeva]

Well thanks. I sure do miss all the seafood when away. The whole 101 drive is so nice. I5 has good cities though.
Got to chase the sun. I am past due to get out of the NW. My best option from here I think would be south through California then East.

 

[Unchained]

If you go 101 or I-5 south into SoCali (if 101, you HAVE to stop in Morro Bay), then east to a place called Quartzsite AZ, you will run smack dab into the Vandwellers' winter haven. Great place to rest and also get help on things like solar power and other conversion projects.

 

[Patrick46]

Woot man, Coos Bay....know of Augiedog the infamous, motorized biker then lad?

Is he a member on here?? I build bikes here in Coos Bay, and I've never heard of him.

you HAVE to stop in Morro Bay

just curious if that's where you're from??

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Well thanks. I sure do miss all the seafood when away. The whole 101 drive is so nice. I5 has good cities though.
Got to chase the sun. I am past due to get out of the NW. My best option from here I think would be south through California then East.

Ah yes, the seafood. Just not the same if its not fresh.
We sorta drift away from cities and seek out smaller places.
Hope you make it to Q to show off your build.

 

[camadeva]

I was actually thinking SLO/Morro would be my first destination. It's where I met and hung out with a van dweller for the first time. Got me thinking more seriously about it.
After looking at a map I guess this would me my ideal route...
Down 101 to San Fran to visit some Fam
Down the 1 to San Luis Obispo/Morro Bay
Then San Diego to visit some friends
Quartsite, AZ
Phoenix for the grandparents
Las Cruses, NM
Alamagordo to visit a friend
And other then a couple national parks there isn't much from there til Austin, TX unless it's warm enough to head up to Colorado by then. Always playing it by ear though. Nothing's set in stone.

 

[AltTransBikes]

Woot man, Coos Bay....know of Augiedog the infamous, motorized biker then lad?

Is he a member on here?? I build bikes here in Coos Bay, and I've never heard of him.

Curious then, what kind of bikes is it you build?

 

[camadeva]

Yeah, I am not familiar with Augiedog. Fill us in!

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Sounds like a fun route and visiting family is nice (sometimes).
How about some pics of your progress

With this talk about bikes...what are you taking along??

 

[Patrick46]

Curious then, what kind of bikes is it you build?

Big, Loud, Noisy Choppers. (but I've got a hunch that your's are ALOT quieter.) :angel:




(sorry for hyjacking your thread Caleb!)

 

[camadeva]

I'll take some more pictures tomorrow, but for now this is all I got on my wizard box.

I cut a hole from the cab to the back. Got a piece of some tire lining or something(?) free from Les Schwab Tires. Screwed and caulked it the fiber glass and then put some trim over that. These are last nights pictures. Got all the rubber done and trimmed out on one side today. Got to get some hinges and latch on a door before I can finish the other side.

And here's right before I screwed the floor on. I puzzled some styrofoam to the bottom with adhesive to fit between the framing. Added some aluminum foil as well, but the adhesive didn't want to cooperate with that too much so I had to make with the little bit of duct tape I had. Got a roll of gorilla tape now to go over it with.

With this talk about bikes...what are you taking along??

I'll definitely be bringing my road bicycle. It's an old Peugeot I frankenstined together at the Austin Yellow Bike Project. I think I'd like to work towards getting a Trail 90 or some other little enduro as well if I got the room in the future.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Great idea re-purposing the rim liner. Should look cool when all trimmed.

We're thinking about an enduro too. A 400 would carry both of us onroad or off. We could do a lot more exploring. I'd rack it on the back of our moho.

Ok, back to work on your new home on the range...chop chop

 

[Patrick46]

btw, Caleb....if you need any parts for the van part, lemme know, as I've got a friend who's parting out a Ford van, and he may have something you need for basically nothing!

 

[camadeva]

About ready for some flooring.

And I found this perfect little sink in the backyard of an abandoned neighbor house.

---

 

[WheelEstate USA]

The cockpit opening looks nice, but no insulation on that wall??
Is the area where the tablesaw is sitting going to be the mud/bike room with door??
We have that type of flooring, but am looking forward to covering it with solid vinyl sheet goods. The stuff looks good and I'm not going to run it down. I just like a seamless flooring and wish I had done it that way in the first place.

Carry on, young man, you're looking good so far

 

[camadeva]

Cockpit? Is that the cab? Well, every wall is getting insulated. I am actually going to take a step back with the cab entry though. Taking off the trim and doing something a little different. It will be better for insulation and a couple other reasons. You'll see I guess. It's kinda hard to explain... I'll be sure to grab some pictures of the change...

---

Run it down? Does it wear easy. I don't care about the looks of it so much. My family's pretty close with wood flooring guy and he hooked me up. Otherwise I would have considered other routes. It sure does look nice...

---

btw, Caleb....if you need any parts for the van part, lemme know, as I've got a friend who's parting out a Ford van, and he may have something you need for basically nothing!

And cool. Thank you. I'll probably be hitting you up on his number sooner or later.

---

I'm taking a trip to Eugene tomorrow to get some supplies. There have been a handful of steps that have been awaiting those supplies.
Here's the top floor floored.

And here's what the insulation looks like. I have to puzzle it all in. Not the prettiest, but it'll do it's job I hope.

Now does anyone think for the bottom floor I could get away with just putting down an inch or 3/4 inch of pink rigid insulation under the underlay and flooring, without any framing? Because that's what the plan is as of now.

 

[camadeva]

Hope this rough floor plan is legible.

---

...

 

[WheelEstate USA]

That flooring is good stuff and should wear well and looks cool. Just my preference for a seamless flooring.

Your drawing pulls it all together and makes it easier to follow. Like the nice desk space.

Cockpit...LOL, that's what I call the drivers area in our class A. I guess "cab" makes more sense in a class C, which is very similar to your build.

Looks good so far and we're sure looking forward to seeing it complete.

 

[camadeva]

This project, like every other, is proving to be more time consuming and expensive then anticipated. But the results are satisfying. A majority of my time has been in the insulation. I'm sure most people don't spend as much time on that, but most people don't do it for free. Getting it all sliced to fit right is the timely part. Here's a picture of the dock styrofoam block pile.

And here's a fat pile of the sliced stuff.

I have to first slice to the right thickness with the my hot-wire styrofoam cutter, and then cut it with a bread knife and puzzle it into the wall...

---

this is what's going on with the ceiling.
I first put some thin pieces between the ribs, just cut them tight to fit.

Then layered aluminum foil over that to block radiant heat (a tip I read on here from willy), and then squeezed in real thick squares between the framing. Still working on that though.

Also in the picture is a roof vent I installed from the old scavenged trailer. I'll be installing another one here on the next sunny day, as well as cutting more roof-thick insulation.

---

I also put in a pull-up bar. Just modified my old door one.

will do me some good.

---

For the rest of the floor I just cut two pieces of 1" thick pink rigid foam insulation to fit, then layered the under lament and flooring over that. It feels very very solid. I was expecting a little squish at least, but nope. Hope it lasts. I'm thinking by worst it may compress a little and warp the floor. But there are no pressure points so it could just compress evenly. We'll see.

 

[Patrick46]

I think you should be just fine with the flooring not compressing, seeing that you've got an underlayment to spread out you weight.

Maybe after a few years of regular use you may see or feel some soft spots, but it autta hold up just fine, seeing that you're not gonna carry anything heavy in there.