BUILD- Finishing

The countdown was on, we only had 7 more days to be ready to depart for our first adventure, 1 week bush camping at Sheepyard Flats on the Howqua River near Mansfield with a group of friends.

The bed frame was completed and the double mattress put in its place.

The kitchen benchtop was readied for the oven to be installed when the gas plumber came to do the gas install.

His work consisted of the gas regulator and hoses for 2 x 9kg bottles, a bayonette fitting for the outside BBQ and plumbing in the oven. We were then issued with the much needed Gas Certificate for the engineer.

We bought Fusion-Loc towel rail and caddies from Bunnings and built the mirror cabinet to finish off the bathroom.

We finally covered the internal steps with some leftover vinyl. We used double side tape to and then an aluminium angle to secure it all in place.

Mark machined up some old timber we had at home to make the table top, which I stained and put 3 coats of polyurethane.

 The table works great on the Lagun swivel leg.

We asked our friend Ray and our son Tom, to help to install the Dometic awning. Mark screwed and siliconed on the track before they slid the awning onto it. Then the legs were secured onto the body.

The final outstanding items for compliance were the clearance lights. 

The last item that the engineer required was to get the trucks Tare Weight. So we drove down to a public weigh bridge in Dandenong. We paid $40 at the automatic machine and got a certificate specifying the total Tare weight of 5.44T (front axle 2.46t, rear axle 2.98t) with 70l diesel and 85l water.

 

Mark lined the floor in the storage area under the bed with a rubber mat for now (will fit it out properly when we get back home) and began packing for our trip.

We bought some containers from Kmart for the overhead cupboards inside which fitted well and managed to pack all we needed and some with plenty of space to spare.

Finally, after 2 months of working on the truck nearly 7 days a week we now had a functioning motorhome. Yoo Hoo!

We will review how everything went in the next blog....