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October 10, 2007
October 8, 2007
Floors and walls
Now that we've gotten back into working on the Crusher regularly we're making great progress. Well, Dave is making most of the progress while I'm working on keeping the websites going that are paying for the project.
Dave got most of the wiring all figured out. We're going to have 3 outlets on each side of the truck, which should be sufficient. Now we will put the roof back in place and install sheet metal on the walls - thanks to Thornton Plumbing and Heating. We're thinking laminate flooring for the floors. I tried to buy it online thinking I good get hooked up with a good deal, but turns out that shipping 80 square feet of flooring will cost $150 so we decided to look into other options. Looking on craigslist.org i noticed a lot of people tend to over-buy when doing flooring projects and we found some people selling their extras for pretty cheap. We haven't bought anything yet, but i think that's a purchase we will be making soon.
Now we're starting to plan out the layout and decorating of the mobile office. Once we get the floors/walls in place we are going to take another small trip to try out a few set-ups to see what works best.
Dave got most of the wiring all figured out. We're going to have 3 outlets on each side of the truck, which should be sufficient. Now we will put the roof back in place and install sheet metal on the walls - thanks to Thornton Plumbing and Heating. We're thinking laminate flooring for the floors. I tried to buy it online thinking I good get hooked up with a good deal, but turns out that shipping 80 square feet of flooring will cost $150 so we decided to look into other options. Looking on craigslist.org i noticed a lot of people tend to over-buy when doing flooring projects and we found some people selling their extras for pretty cheap. We haven't bought anything yet, but i think that's a purchase we will be making soon.
Now we're starting to plan out the layout and decorating of the mobile office. Once we get the floors/walls in place we are going to take another small trip to try out a few set-ups to see what works best.
October 5, 2007
The Crusher goes to Brighton
Our first journey:
So, the mobile office isn't done yet, but since we have all the major components for powering everything, we figured we'd take it out for a little mini-trip.
Destination: Brighton, Utah
We loaded up some make-shift desks, power strips, laptops, lawn chairs, snacks and of course, a bottle of wine to celebrate our first trip. We headed up the canyon where we picked up a hitchhiker. He was a schizophrenic guy named Tom. We gave him a lift up to his cabin.
We got up to Brighton. Luckily, the resort has wireless internet so we parked right up by the lodge. At this point we realized that the metal cage we were in very effectively blocked out all wireless internet access. We rearranged the desk situation so we were closer to the window. Success. We set up shop and went to work. I've found I'm much more productive when I'm working from exciting places. We opened the back doors so we had a perfect view of the mountains. It was a little chilly, but we brought hoodies and blankets so it wasn't too bad.
This little trial run gave us a chance to see what was needed/needed to be fixed to effectively run our office. The internet thing will be an issue - especially once we get the wall up in the cab. Dave will run some sort of antenna on the roof so we can pick up a signal. Everything went pretty well. We had a productive day and it gave us the motivation needed to get back to work on the truck.
So, the mobile office isn't done yet, but since we have all the major components for powering everything, we figured we'd take it out for a little mini-trip.
Destination: Brighton, Utah
We loaded up some make-shift desks, power strips, laptops, lawn chairs, snacks and of course, a bottle of wine to celebrate our first trip. We headed up the canyon where we picked up a hitchhiker. He was a schizophrenic guy named Tom. We gave him a lift up to his cabin.
We got up to Brighton. Luckily, the resort has wireless internet so we parked right up by the lodge. At this point we realized that the metal cage we were in very effectively blocked out all wireless internet access. We rearranged the desk situation so we were closer to the window. Success. We set up shop and went to work. I've found I'm much more productive when I'm working from exciting places. We opened the back doors so we had a perfect view of the mountains. It was a little chilly, but we brought hoodies and blankets so it wasn't too bad.
This little trial run gave us a chance to see what was needed/needed to be fixed to effectively run our office. The internet thing will be an issue - especially once we get the wall up in the cab. Dave will run some sort of antenna on the roof so we can pick up a signal. Everything went pretty well. We had a productive day and it gave us the motivation needed to get back to work on the truck.
October 4, 2007
Back in action
And we're back!
So now we've got all the necessary equipment for powering the mobile office. I'll have Dave go more into that later. Basically, we have 2 generators, a power inverter, 2 additional batteries and a battery charger.
Dave is working on setting up the door that separates the cab from the rest of the truck. It's a wooden wall with a sliding door. It will be well insulated to block out much of the truck's running noises.
Next on the to-do list: wiring.
So now we've got all the necessary equipment for powering the mobile office. I'll have Dave go more into that later. Basically, we have 2 generators, a power inverter, 2 additional batteries and a battery charger.
Dave is working on setting up the door that separates the cab from the rest of the truck. It's a wooden wall with a sliding door. It will be well insulated to block out much of the truck's running noises.
Next on the to-do list: wiring.
September 23, 2007
Not a lot to report. . .
We took a break from working on the truck to work on building up our company, getting a few projects up and running and taking on a few clients. We hope to get back on this project soon. We are ready and anxious to get on the road.
June 19, 2007
Took a couple days off
We took some time off from working on the truck. I moved out of my old house and into a new place, so I took a week off to move and get settled. I used the truck to haul all of my crap. It's coming in handy aready.
We got quite a bit done before the break, just just never got around to posting anything about it. We got the floor installed as well as the walls. Gary (who is now my new roommate) isntalled support beams in the cieling. These will support the sort of "upper level" pop-out sleeping area we will be isntalling later on. Dave is working on assembling the door that will divide the cab from the back of the truck as well as getting all the wiring figured out. Here are some pictures of the progress up to this point.
We got quite a bit done before the break, just just never got around to posting anything about it. We got the floor installed as well as the walls. Gary (who is now my new roommate) isntalled support beams in the cieling. These will support the sort of "upper level" pop-out sleeping area we will be isntalling later on. Dave is working on assembling the door that will divide the cab from the back of the truck as well as getting all the wiring figured out. Here are some pictures of the progress up to this point.
June 7, 2007
Update
Ok, so I have not been the best poster here... I just work on it. So I'm going to fill you in now on what I've been working on.
As you know we started out ripping it apart. We bought it under the assumption that we were going to be able to use some of what was already there and build off from it. The more research I did, and the more I understood what I wanted the more of it we ripped out. As you can see we finally took it all out and started from ground zero.
THE RECONSTRUCTION
Ok, so the goal here is to be as light weight and as efficient as possible while saving as much space as we can. Starting with the walls, I did a ton of research and found this paint additive that is based off the technology the space shuttle uses to insulate itself so it doesn't burn up when coming back into the atmosphere. Its pretty cool, roll on insulation! After getting all that on the inside I decided that was just not going to do, mainly because of noise factor. It does well against temperature, but not much for the noise factor.
To combat this I decided to get 15/16 plywood and screw it to the walls, but then went the extra mile and layered 1/2 inch foam insulation between the walls and the wood. Now because I know we would not be unhappy going even farther on this, I put another coat of insulation paint on the inside of the wood. So now we have 1 thick layer paint, 1/2 inch foam isolation, 1 really thick layer of paint, and 15/16 plywood! I think we have a good efficient insulating factor here!!!
TECHY STUFF
Our next task here is to figure out how to power the whole office while driving. This is harder than it sounds. We have to power 3 not so energy efficient computers, duel monitors on each one, router, external hard drive, AC unit, heater, lights, Stereo, phone/ipod etc chargers, possible microwave, fridge, oven, assorted kitchen stuff, and well I could go on and on. SO... I know we had to get it right the first time so I went out and found a BRAND NEW 5000 Watt Diesel generator. I also purchased a 2500 watt 12v power inverter and 2 12v deep cycle batteries. The goal here is to have 2 different power sources to work from so we don't overload either one of them. So we will have a total of 7500 watts to work with. I think we should be good. There is a hurtle though... WIRING THIS ALL UP...
We have not done this yet but I have a good theory as to how I will do this. We have to develop 3 different circuits that go through the truck. 1 being the generator, 1 being the inverter, and one being the line we plug into when we are docked. This can become quite confusing. I also want to keep it nice and clean, so there is not all these wires hanging around and tons of plugs to keep track of what is what. I will have pics later to show what I did to combat this problem.
Wish me luck,
Dave
As you know we started out ripping it apart. We bought it under the assumption that we were going to be able to use some of what was already there and build off from it. The more research I did, and the more I understood what I wanted the more of it we ripped out. As you can see we finally took it all out and started from ground zero.
THE RECONSTRUCTION
Ok, so the goal here is to be as light weight and as efficient as possible while saving as much space as we can. Starting with the walls, I did a ton of research and found this paint additive that is based off the technology the space shuttle uses to insulate itself so it doesn't burn up when coming back into the atmosphere. Its pretty cool, roll on insulation! After getting all that on the inside I decided that was just not going to do, mainly because of noise factor. It does well against temperature, but not much for the noise factor.
To combat this I decided to get 15/16 plywood and screw it to the walls, but then went the extra mile and layered 1/2 inch foam insulation between the walls and the wood. Now because I know we would not be unhappy going even farther on this, I put another coat of insulation paint on the inside of the wood. So now we have 1 thick layer paint, 1/2 inch foam isolation, 1 really thick layer of paint, and 15/16 plywood! I think we have a good efficient insulating factor here!!!
TECHY STUFF
Our next task here is to figure out how to power the whole office while driving. This is harder than it sounds. We have to power 3 not so energy efficient computers, duel monitors on each one, router, external hard drive, AC unit, heater, lights, Stereo, phone/ipod etc chargers, possible microwave, fridge, oven, assorted kitchen stuff, and well I could go on and on. SO... I know we had to get it right the first time so I went out and found a BRAND NEW 5000 Watt Diesel generator. I also purchased a 2500 watt 12v power inverter and 2 12v deep cycle batteries. The goal here is to have 2 different power sources to work from so we don't overload either one of them. So we will have a total of 7500 watts to work with. I think we should be good. There is a hurtle though... WIRING THIS ALL UP...
We have not done this yet but I have a good theory as to how I will do this. We have to develop 3 different circuits that go through the truck. 1 being the generator, 1 being the inverter, and one being the line we plug into when we are docked. This can become quite confusing. I also want to keep it nice and clean, so there is not all these wires hanging around and tons of plugs to keep track of what is what. I will have pics later to show what I did to combat this problem.
Wish me luck,
Dave
May 26, 2007
We got a lot done this week
It's been a couple days since I've written, so there is a lot to catch up on. First, Dave and Gary took off the back bumper and welded on a new extended bumper which will hold the generator:
We finished painting the walls and the floor with the insulating paint:
We got the wood and insulation to line the floor and ceiling:
We got the whole floor installed:
It's hard to see in the picture, but i painted a smily face on Dave's back. Now he has a tan line from it. :)
Oh, and we couldn't have made it through the day with out a couple injuries:
We finished painting the walls and the floor with the insulating paint:
We got the wood and insulation to line the floor and ceiling:
We got the whole floor installed:
It's hard to see in the picture, but i painted a smily face on Dave's back. Now he has a tan line from it. :)
Oh, and we couldn't have made it through the day with out a couple injuries:
May 24, 2007
May 23, 2007
Paint
We've spent the last 2 days painting the interior walls. It's sort of a grayish/whitish/yellowish color. It looks like a space ship. OK, not really, but we did mixed in this fancy insulating powder that NASA developed. We still have a coat or two to go on the walls and we're going to paint the floor as well. Since it's for insulating purposes, rather than aesthetic, the color doesn't matter at this point and most of this won't be showing anyway. After we are done painting we'll be covering the walls with plywood and thin insulation then covering the whole thing with sheet metal to give it a high-tech feel.
May 22, 2007
Week 3
Dave's been getting a lot of the technical aspects figured out for the truck/mobile office. I'll have to have him explain those in a little better detail since most of it is still a little over my head. We've got most everything we need as far as power is concerned: 7000 watt generator, batteries, inverter, etc, etc. Over the past few days Dave got the rest of the framing and the floor out of the truck and we started painting the walls with the insulating paint. To provide further insulation, as well as sound protection, we've also got plywood and some thin insulation. We will only lose about an inch on either side with this method, as opposed to the original framing and insulation which took almost a full 4 inches off either side.
May 19, 2007
Countdown to success
According to the fortune cookie I got with my dinner last night, success is only a month away.
May 18, 2007
Happy Friday
It is Friday, isn't it? I don't really keep track of the days anymore. We work everyday, so there isn't really much need to keep track.
Dave's made some progress tearing out the walls. We dropped the truck off to have it serviced so we haven't been able to get much done the last couple of days. We're also waiting for the insulating paint to come. It's supposed to be here today. Once we get the whole thing painted then we can really start to get the whole thing put back together again.
Dave's made some progress tearing out the walls. We dropped the truck off to have it serviced so we haven't been able to get much done the last couple of days. We're also waiting for the insulating paint to come. It's supposed to be here today. Once we get the whole thing painted then we can really start to get the whole thing put back together again.
May 11, 2007
Making progress
Dave's been making a lot of progress getting everything taken out of the (still nameless) truck. Now that most everything is out we have a lot more space to work with. We're in the process of rounding up supplies and trying to figure out the most efficient way to set everything up. We found this insulating paint we are going to use to save space rather than using regular insulation.
I guess I'll just keep this short and just post the pictures.
I guess I'll just keep this short and just post the pictures.
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