Sorry for the delay here, the last few weeks have been a trainload of time consuming illnesses, friends in need, and house projects that had to be bumped to the head of the line.
But finally things got back on track this last week and I was able to make some progress. (warning, lots of pics)
First things first, here is the first floor board and one of the containers that will go into the pantry drawer.
And here we go with putting things together, from a clean floor to the first test box:
Next on the list is carpet, cutting an access panel in the center of the floor, and another for the jack storage area. The carpet should be thick enough to sit flush with the carriage bolt heads and deaden any squeaks that might show up in the future.
When looking at picture 4, it occurred to me that if I ditched the sliding tray altogether, I could easily fit a water tank in that hollow space... maybe 22 gallons or so. It would go a long way toward lowering my center of gravity, too. Meh, another project for another day.
As you can see from the test box in the last pic, the floor is short enough to allow me to remove the cargo boxes and carry passengers from time to time. That's very helpful when the in-laws are in town for a Mariners game. The box is long enough to carry a few MaxTrax and my dog's sliding ramp. I'm still in the process of sussing that out while I wait for slide hardware anyway, but I wanted to start one box at least.
We took it for a test drive and everything was so well secured that we couldn't hear a single squeak or rattle and the dog fell asleep like it was his second home. I'm really happy with how this prototype is turning out.
Next weekend, RTT!
