[pete_79]

With all of the body, suspension and interior sorted, it was time to move on to making the roof.
The original roof was completely rotten, I had to take all of my measurements for the new roof off the alloy sheeting.
Fortunately there was a couple of ceiling battens in reasonably good condition that I could use for templates to get the curve in the roof right.

After seeing how poorly the original roof was slapped together and consequently fell apart, I wasn't going to make that same mistake.
Everything is now screwed and glued and sealed and painted and sealed again....






The top is done with 5mm structural bracing ply.
It’s only a C/D finish, which doesn’t matter at all, but it’s an A bond, which matters a lot.





Looks like everyone has had a go at sealing the hatch in this roof over the years. There’s more screw holes then tin around the cutout.
So to help get a decent surface to seal on I knocked some a 40x40 trimming around the timber opening.
Hopefully this will help.



The roof is now fully glued and screwed, with all of the top trimmings done.
Ironically the new timber flooring for the hallway that hasn’t been installed because of the trailer build did a great job holding the roof down while the glue set...



I picked up all new rubbers for going between the roof and the body when it's closed up for travelling.



Fitted the roof hatch and sealed it all up properly.
Also found a pretty neat spot for the solar connection. The panel will come later, but now it’s just plug and play.



It’s alive.....



I picked up a couple of sheets of 15mm thick foil insulation to go in the roof cavity.
The insulation didn’t need any mounting brackets, I just cut it a couple of mm bigger then each spacing between the rafters and squeezed it into place. It’s not going anywhere.



Then glued the ceiling sheets.



Pretty happy with the finish.



Then it was just the last few finishing touches before getting the rego done.

The coupling and wiring done.



And having 100mm of travel in the suspension has a little bit of an effect on the handbrake cable length, but got it sorted so it’s not too loose when lowered, but also doesn’t pull on the brakes when fully raised.



The original rear tank guard is 3mm plate, which is massive overkill. Because I had it here I fitted it back on without any changes.

Then knocked up a new guard for the front tank.
I had a piece of 1mm zinc plate that I intended to use for this guard, but it was a bit flimsy for my liking.
Fortunately the left over piece of 1.6mm alloy checker plate from doing the sides was just the right size for the guard.





And it fitted up nicely.
Just had to give a little trim around the upper control arm.





The last bits were the spare tyre mounts.
Can now fit any stud pattern rims and have easy adjustment up and down for different tyre sizes.



Also finished off the number plate light.



Then finally got it out for the first test drive.
I set the airbags at full pressure, expecting it to bounce around a bit being basically empty.
But it towed beautifully. ;D

And to my surprise my tare weight of 960kg is only just over the tare of a new standard Outback Finch.

Registration is done.
Tare= 960kg
ATM= 1800kg
And officially registered as a "Complicated Camper".....

It's now over getting the new canvas fitted and should be ready to collect on Tuesday.
The guys sent me a couple of progress photos the other day and it's looking pretty good. Can't wait to get it back home and sit it all up.

I also picked up a couple of good sized solar panels the other day.
We just signed a contract to get a new 10kw 3 phase solar system on the house, I got them to throw 2 used panels in for free to close the deal....



Should fill my camper batteries just nicely. ;D




Can't wait to get this this out bush now. ;D

[Marko_SJ]

Well done Peter. Hope you enjoy it.

[sideways]

Looks great pete, I'm not a camper trailer sorta person but I like following this build. I'm pretty sure you could do a build thread on a shelf and it would still be interesting and informative.

[pete_79]

Haha, thanks mate. Glad you enjoy them.

Well it’s pretty much ready to go now.
Canvas is done and the misses picked up a couple of new mattresses for it yesterday.



Got some fancy custom windows and storm cover put in it.

[Joe]

Looks great Pete

[kubes222]

That's a work of art! really nice build. great work.

[Eddy]

Damn fine little gadget! Congrats!

What does it weigh in at now?

[pete_79]

Eddy wrote:

Damn fine little gadget! Congrats!

What does it weigh in at now?

Thanks mate.

The Tare weight is 960kg.
That's with 2x spare tyres, 2x 100ah batteries, the kitchen bench extension piece and cooker, the full canvas awning (including all of the side walls) and the original canvas tent section all in/on the camper.

So the tare weight is an actual tare weight.
The only fixed extra weight that will be added is about 20kg for the upright fridge when we eventually get one.

Other then the fridge, my 840kg payload is actual payload, not like most campers/caravans these days that do their tare on the absolute basic unit and everything else comes off your payload.
If I take off about 150kg for the big domestic solar panel that will be fitted on the roof, 2 gas bottles and both water tanks full, I still have heaps of carrying capacity.