Our MTVR camper:

[MTVR]

It actually dipped below freezing last night, and even though we haven't foamed the gaps, our own body heat alone was almost enough to keep us warm. We had a tiny little 750-watt heater in there, but we kept having to turn it down and turn it off to keep us from sweating...

 

[Nomadic]

Impressive insulation. Well done.

As an aside, the Comfort Zone heater is fing amazing. 750w or 1500w settings, a ceramic element, a fan and a thermostat for $30.

 

[MTVR]

We spent the night in it again last night, and this time we didn't use any heat. Once again, it dipped below freezing, and once again, we stayed warm enough...

 

[MTVR]

Foamed the drawbridge insulation today:



We hope to trim the cured foam and glue and screw the outer plywood on tomorrow.

The drawbridge is several steps behind the rest of the structure, and we want to get it as done as we can before moving to Texas. After doing the outer plywood, we still have to epoxy it inside and out, drill and mount the hinge, drill and mount the spare tire carrier, prep it for paint, paint it, and source and install the weatherstripping...

 

[MTVR]

Trimmed the cured foam today, and sheathed the outside of the drawbridge with 3/4" plywood, screwed and glued with urethane construction adhesive...

 

[MTVR]

Drawbridge trimmed, sanded, and filled. Hoping to be able to epoxy it inside and out tomorrow...

 

[MTVR]

We ordered the drawbridge weatherstripping too...

 

[MTVR]

Drawbridge epoxied inside and out- three coats...

 

[MTVR]

In 24 hours, we can scuff it for paint...

 

[MTVR]

Tomorrow is projected to be the last nice day before we move to Texas, so we finally painted it...

 

[MTVR]

We also layed down the first coat of epoxy on the floor inside today.

We plan to lay down the second coat of epoxy on the floor tomorrow.

And we plan to do a little prep work on the outside of the drawbridge and then paint it.

 

[MTVR]

Put down the second coat of epoxy on the floor, did a reasonable amount of prep work on the drawbridge, and then let my wife paint it...

 

[MTVR]

Drawbridge weatherstripping showed up.

We also picked up the nuts, bolts, and washers to mount the drawbridge hinge.

Hoping the weather will give us an opportunity to mount the drawbridge hinge over the next couple of days.

Once the drawbridge hinge is mounted, we can start road testing the vehicle and changing the gear oil in the planetary hubs.

We're only about two weeks from moving to Texas...

 

[MTVR]

The drawbridge is mounted! I tested it afterwards by sitting on it in a folding chair and having a beer.

That was a big step for us. We were thankful that it worked correctly on the first try.

We still have a little work to do on it, to include installing the weatherstripping, but we ran it up and down about ten times, and it works perfectly...

 

[MTVR]

It is getting harder and harder to get anything done outside, because of the weather. It's been raining and/or below freezing, and is going to continue doing that. A lot of the things that we're using (paint, urethane, epoxy, silicone) won't set up in those conditions.

Today is the only day before we move that is predicted to be dry. It's not going to be above freezing until about 0900, today's high will be about 40 or so, and sunset is before 5:00 pm.

 

[MTVR]

Weatherstripping installed...

 

[MTVR]

First road test went VERY well. Everything worked, from the lights, to the wipers and washers, to the adjustable Jake brake. We put about 10 miles on her, including cruising up and down the freeway at 55 mph. Planetary gear hub temps all in the mid-90s, tire temps all about 70 degrees, all dash gauge readings good..

 

[Navy dude]

Gotta hand it to you, quite an amazing job...... Nice work!!!!

 

[MTVR]

We are a little bit more ready today, than we were yesterday...

 

[Nomadic]

Looking good! Nice work.

The drawbridge is a good idea. It seems to expand the real estate quite a bit while extended.

What is the interior height?