Miss Slowbrick gets a Dak Dak Bus

Boom 20ft cabinet and 20ft sofa bed team up to make 20ft campersuite.

Put up some lights and sofa got some mad cush.

Started wiring up the rear cabinet. This will house all of the electrics and will be the central distribution point for all of the power needs for the van. When its installed the only part visible will be the switch panel and outlets.

Philia_Bear

Renogy 50amp dc dc charger with built in mppt is the shiznit for van life

I already had this Victron unit laying around after converting the duckpen pond filter from solar to 240v. The power requirements are going to be quite low with the largest single load being the 200w inverter or maybe the fridge on startup.

I got around to fitting the side floodlight and the two lights in the rear tailgate. Should be perfect for camping and roadside repairs at night should they occur :S

Duck grotto went to AC because I built a shed on the slab next to it. When I went to disassemble the solar setup to move it into the shed I found that ants had built a nest in the controller and the inverter. Inverter was still alive but controller died after shutting it down and wouldnt power up again. Bought a spare but then got quotes to hook up the shed to AC if I wire it up and have them connect it and sign off. Was much cheaper to do that than repair the 3 year old mini solar setup and also would be much more reliable in terms of the pump that runs 24/7 as well as having reliable yard lighting.

After all that I ended up with a spare controller that I was just going to install in the HQ when it eventually is finished but the van gets it instead. The van already had solar but it was just a simple kings unit which ill just keep as a spare.

Victron is just a solar charger and battery doesnt charge from the engine at this stage. Its something i might look into at a later stage.

Sink is just going to be a portable pop out unit that goes on a table outside and water will be just a portable jerry with a hose connection to a 12v pump to enable it to be removed when not camping.

Philia_Bear

If you want to have water pressure and avoid having a cycling 12v pump

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Quality-Water-Pressure-Tank-2-12-24-36-50-60-80-100-Litre-Suit-Water-Pumps/252445156230?hash=item3ac6e76386:g:FwgAAOSwlk9c8MYh&frcectupt=true

Just have a standard water hose inlet and a on/off valve for filling it

also... stupid long ebay link for one of them hot water heaters that you can plumb in as well https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GASLAND-Gas-Hot-Water-Heater-Portable-Camping-Shower-LPG-Instant-Caravan-Black/273994738282?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item3fcb5bea6a:g:HX8AAOSw3IFfEBEM:sc:AU_StandardDelivery!2148!AU!-1&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkY3FSd4Ad8xn3oRtkVexxrGYfrJaJRNjRI9zN1uXVXFylw6flq6XCzRKsm%252Bl7bA5iBy%252F2EVYEaetwHtBJxNE62%252Bz9Ux%252F6ainIp6q1%252FQsVVELWKe1jBgIXDWWBq1JWymD0%252FC9ObRD2PPZXO4SaHWgSQzThJ03bQQA2jNloN69DHS6p4qCxKJYPrX9YRfqwNHfrVHQRoLFCJMpOfx2oQIPCINOXH7qVcNBjmjtQZGTqRKgL4OFhYNXhlwr5x5%252Be46BX0v8HQMHBmR6ZSvBFpLNCwHBzh4nVcPO5syK1WzUAq3rf5UEoCriN%252FeeHJgwMdff6V4IVCns7gOhCIzaAYlBpbvc2ex6s9ajYR3WU5JDUtY8fN%252BLAVf1wIkxCVuDFS0b6kLgp1E2IaIv4u0vn2b8KLvSoePnU2vjcXABVdsgZG2OGPCYr9UiZsJVAPiAc4dbc4vgzK20UU04VAjKzEsfT%252B4Xkzb8JUCwFrR7iLqbsCKKkXOzGdDuAWJyv7zUimu5N1Fo9IuFBSYDl91kJlzyEGiI5TcipeUaxFpEHVuPTRoBGhNCfm9FUnu0UcQ%252Frw8VakajJu%252Be2%252BgQMIKZ9SWX4waRoq6%252F1G6ZHI5imTp88RlS%252BdnNttRD5LGqSIvXln7X7RNVsOha4Z9Y6z4uR6ud2EZMsjngNyrTbAYNlMGNlJLfAB%252FLUyqV9j%252FH%252B6JI0IEyRYU3nVLVNvpZrAEHbI5suWctXxgpljY%252FMg4CHE4bIR%252BiqsUhEgXbi9qpl8UsN2YL8AXG5YfKTD1hOwFEJCZXVXw%253D%253D%7Ccksum%3A273994738282361c7382da5941a98c0b95bc72fcd15e%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524

Though I have been thinking that you should be able to take the heater core loop and have it run through a 12L insulated tank (just a coil of hose inside the tank) after driving for 45min I would expect the water in the tank to be nice and warm and stay warm for a while

The usage of the water pump will be so small that it wont be worthwhile to install something like that. Also there really isnt alot of room inside for something of that size. A quick and cheap portable 12v pressure pump will be what we use and it will just be used to wash off dishes, wash feet after the beach etc.

In regards to hot water we will most likely use a solar one or a portable one that doesnt require a permanent mount because space is a limited resource.

I have thought of alot of these ideas but they all get vetoed because of space and a requirement of simplicity.

Yesterday I got mission control installed along with all the lighting circuits. Lights can now be switched on and off separately from mounted switches in the cabin. Also tried out the bed and its pretty comfy. Plenty of room thats for sure!

No can do bruva. Not keen to cut a hole in the roof. The body is straight as a die so not keen to change that. I'm planning on swapping the two middle windows to sliders and might put a fan on one of those. But no holes in the roof.

They do but I want to try and keep the 2.1 WBX in there as long as I can. It seems pretty healthy and pulls just fine for the type of vehicle it is mounted in. Dont want the pot plants and cutlery flying all over the place!

Dak Dak did a trip to Brisbane and back with Rachael. Ended up on a tow truck in Brisbane when the 30 year old shifter ball broke and stranded it stuck in reverse.

Got towed to a local Brisbane VW mechanic who replaced it but also replaced the two shift rod bushes with a different type that uses a boot to seal out the dirt from the grease but unfortunately this type causes extra resistance on the shift rod causing the gear shifter to seize. We battled it all the way home and had to pull over about every 5 hours or so to disassemble and relube it.

Other than that it went great and we even braved the 20km clay/gravel road up to Elenborough Falls in the rain.

Ive since replaced the bushings with those of the original type and the shifter is back to working as it should.

Last weekend we went to Dubs by the lake and had a great time so its looking like the van is going to stay because its proven to be a fantastic holiday thing but also has a great community supporting it which is a real plus!

Next jobs are to rebuild the clinch bolt assembly in the shifter to enable the 1st and reverse gear lockout detent and to replace the drivers side gearbox output shaft seal as its started to leak a bit.