Home again home again jiggity jig

[deltasonics]

I started living in vehicles in 1971 when in Putney, VT. I acquired a 1953 Miller Built ambulance. Sort of a studio apt. truck. It was a Cadillac chassis. Had the pillar-less passenger side such that when both pass. side doors were open you could almost drive a VW Bug inside. A few years later in western Mass I moved up to a '41 Ford REA (Railway Express Authority) delivery truck with a "water heater" wood stove. Now I am lucky enough to own a 1978 35' Crown Supercoach. Perseverance furthers. I've worked a great deal around boats as a marine mechanic so she's having a proper Hershoff style interior installed. The Crown is a magnificently purpose built vehicle. Mine has the Elston brand "sanders" ahead of the rear wheels. AC brand anti-lock brakes and a 6/71 natural w/Fuller five speed. I won it on ebay in 2006. Flew out to Seattle to the WA state surplus facility in auburn to pick her up. Had a marvelous time on the road back to NC. Everything worked! 330K and everything worked! Used one quart of oil in 4000 miles. Never met a 6/71 like that. Anyway, this forum and Mr. Sharkey's site are for me, a Godsend. Thanks to you all, its nice to be aboard.

WFB

[southpier]

any chance you could share progress photos while this transformation is taking place? sounds like you have the means to make this a first class rig!

[deltasonics]

Hey Southpier,

I plan to but at present don't have a digital camera. When I get time I'll borrow one and post some images.

Thanks for asking.


I dug up these shots taken last year.

OK if I do this right, hmmm... copy this.... then paste it here... Well what do you know? TA-DA!


Above: Stern view of the '78 Supercoach taken last year.


Above: Ruby at the helm.


More to come...

[deltasonics]

Southpier asked for some interior progress pics of the Supercoach conversion.

...And here they are.



Starboard side galley shows sink counter with "ell" cabinet. The paint is actually an extremely light grey. The brown colored trim is Sappele wood (Spanish cedar) with two coats of amber shellac. Sappele looks and works like mahogany but is wonderfully aromatic.

The counter top will be black pretend-slate Formica. The ell cabinet is removable to allow access to the engine hatch and will hold the tilt out trash bin and utensil drawer.



So far it's a toss up between magnets or drop latches for holding the drawers shut. Anybody got any ideas?



This port side hanging locker along with the starboard side head/shower area will divide the owners stateroom (where the bed is that I'm kneeling on) from the rest of the space, which will remain as open as possible. All cabinet and wall corners projecting into the walkway (aisle, hallway?) are truncated (beveled) to lessen bruising in heavy seas and lend an air of space where there is little.
The panels are birch ply and I'm having trouble deciding whether to paint or shellac some of them.



Still in development is the electrical panel. There is a voltmeter and an ammeter for checking either 120VAC leg of the 240VAC line or gen-set feed. And several circuit breakers for the various 12VDC and 120VAC circuits.

Well that's about it for now. Time to get back to work. Any suggestions are welcome and thanks for looking.

Bill

[stuartcnz]

If you are going for the boat type approach, you could use the lift and slide system, where you need to lift the draw a quarter inch before it will slide, then there is no need for latches for your drawers.

If you are not familiar with this system let me know and I will try to describe it in more detail. They look like normal draws but are secure enough for ocean crossing and are simple to build.

[deltasonics]

Hello stuartcnz, thanks for the thought. I considered that approach, but when I opted for inset flush drawer fronts the fit prevented that option, as the drawer must have clearance to be lifted out of the notch.

The drawer fronts will fit inside the sappele bead that lines the perimeter of the drawer holes.

I'm toying with the idea of a knob inset in the drawer front that has a vertical 1/4" dowel nested in a bore centered in the thickness of the drawer front. When the exposed knob is lifted the dowel is lifted out of a bore in the rail beneath.

It sounds tedious but with three simple jigs all the drawers can be done in relatively short order. We'll see. Magnets might work too.

The practice of boring a hole in the drawer front or cabinet door and installing a latch that requires activation by sticking a finger through the hole (especially on cruising yachts) always gave me the willies. I for one really like my fingers. I remember many such installations though.

Your considerations are appreciated. Please feel free to interject any ideas you like as I am always open to suggestions.
Thanks again,
Bill

[stuartcnz]

Your idea sounds like a different approach to the same idea and I think would work better than magnets.

[Rudy]

Bill, Where did you and your pictures go? Have you fallen off the cyber planet?