Sitec's Truck......

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Originally Posted by Sitec

With the bulk of the fabrication around the chassis complete, time is nearing to start the strip down. The next steps will be to remove all the lockers and side skirts, roof rack, and then the body. Once stripped, I can then service the truck, tidy up and or fix anything that needs it and then paint the chassis. I plan to get everything I've fabricated shot blasted. Once done, I can prime and paint it all in Satin Black. I'll also spray the bumper, front wheel arches and various cab fixtures. The truck can then go and have the cab and roof rack infill panels painted in grey. With the truck chassis 'done' I can then complete the external body coachbuilding and have that painted. This is the colour scheme I have settled on. Thoughts....?

Attachment 164603

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At one or two points in that process you'll stop & think, "Bugger me, I've been here before".


Looking like a real Monster now.

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Originally Posted by oka374

It would be better to paint it a light colour to reflect heat rather than absorb it, painting the roof with thermo paint will also stop heat absorption even if most of it is covered in solar panels.

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Yeah, we thought about white originally, but want something a little different to white or sand coloured... I've been warned of the 'bright' colours like red's, oranges etc as they attract attention... This was the second choice... a lighter grey... We are still a few months off getting the paint roller out though... :)

Attachment 164653

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Originally Posted by Sitec

Yeah, we thought about white originally, but want something a little different to white or sand coloured... I've been warned of the 'bright' colours like red's, oranges etc as they attract attention... This was the second choice... a lighter grey... We are still a few months off getting the paint roller out though... :)

Attachment 164653

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Red is a bastard of a Colour for the Australian climate.

Think of all the faded & buggered red paint jobs you have seen on the roads around the place.


Also think of my Front Verandah if you will.
Being a traditional Oz Bungalow (Circa 1900) the verandahs were always painted red with Paving Paint. Each year or two they need doing again. Ok, not traditional but at least if it faded who is going to notice or care. So was thinking of Grey & still yet to do it when the weather improves.

Maybe keep the Orange for the roof or part thereof for S A R reasons or have Orange tie down canvas/vinyl panels that you can string up in an Emergency, & paint your roof with reflective


Just sayin'.

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Originally Posted by 4bee

Red is a bastard of a Colour for the Australian climate.

Think of all the faded & buggered red paint jobs you have seen on the roads around the place.


Also think of my Front Verandah if you will.
Being a traditional Oz Bungalow (Circa 1900) the verandahs were always painted red with Paving Paint. Each year or two they need doing again. Ok, not traditional but at least if it faded who is going to notice or care. So was thinking of Grey & still yet to do it when the weather improves.

Maybe keep the Orange for the roof or part thereof for S A R reasons or have Orange tie down canvas/vinyl panels that you can string up in an Emergency, & paint your roof with reflective


Just sayin'.

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I tend to agree... Our house is Colourbond Woodland Grey, and the roof Colourbond Dune. It's well insulated and doesn't seem to get too warm. The truck roof is going to be covered in solar panels with an air gap, so a bit like a Safari Roof on a 109! The grey is very neutral, and always looks good with silver and black... That's where I'm at.

So, a late decision to add a large opening to the rear of the truck saw me busy for another weekend. We planned to have two opening windows at the rear, but have now added a large door, so we can sit in bed of a morning with the rear of the truck open and watch the world go by. It will also be pretty safe to have the door open of a night to allow the breeze through. First up was to make the frame and door.

Attachment 164896

Next up was to cut a large hole in the rear of the Hab Box... and lift the door and frame into place.

Attachment 164897

and then weld it in!

Attachment 164898

With the door now in place, we decided to sit up there and admire the view! Parked in the middle of the outback with the door open should be pretty good.

Attachment 164899

With everything fabricated around the chassis, and the major structural work done on the hab box, the time has come to strip it all again ready for a chassis service and paint. First to come off is the roof rack. Unlike the last time, I decided to make use of the step in the workshop! It bought me 1.2m of reach with the little tractor. First i had to remove the lights and roof rack panelwork.

Attachment 164900

And then the roof rack...

Attachment 164901

With the roof rack removed, I could set about removing the rest of the side skirts.

Attachment 164902

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Originally Posted by Sitec

So, a late decision to add a large opening to the rear of the truck saw me busy for another weekend. We planned to have two opening windows at the rear, but have now added a large door, so we can sit in bed of a morning with the rear of the truck open and watch the world go by. It will also be pretty safe to have the door open of a night to allow the breeze through. First up was to make the frame and door.

Attachment 164896

Next up was to cut a large hole in the rear of the Hab Box... and lift the door and frame into place.

Attachment 164897

and then weld it in!

Attachment 164898

With the door now in place, we decided to sit up there and admire the view! Parked in the middle of the outback with the door open should be pretty good.

Attachment 164899

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Just ensure you don't park in the dark & wake up in a Public Car Park on a main Drag when you have your first fart & outdoor ****.[bigrolf]

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Originally Posted by Sitec

So, a late decision to add a large opening to the rear of the truck saw me busy for another weekend. We planned to have two opening windows at the rear, but have now added a large door, so we can sit in bed of a morning with the rear of the truck open and watch the world go by. It will also be pretty safe to have the door open of a night to allow the breeze through. First up was to make the frame and door.

Attachment 164896

Next up was to cut a large hole in the rear of the Hab Box... and lift the door and frame into place.

Attachment 164897

and then weld it in!

Attachment 164898

With the door now in place, we decided to sit up there and admire the view! Parked in the middle of the outback with the door open should be pretty good.

Attachment 164899

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The main downside I could see is a potential loss of torsional rigidity with a large penetration in a transverse bulkhead? Don't know what other bulkheads there are internally though.

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Originally Posted by cjc_td5

The main downside I could see is a potential loss of torsional rigidity with a large penetration in a transverse bulkhead? Don't know what other bulkheads there are internally though.

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Yup, you are right. There are two braced partitions about 2 meters back, and the rear wall is stepped with spare wheels below in the recess. The lower part of this wall is also braced, and in theory if I have my torsion free subframe right, there should be no twist load on the body. However, I have also incorporated 13mm pin locks instead of normal latches, and also have a pair of bus style dove tail locators which will be fitted once the alli sheet is bonded on. Hopefully it shouldn't move too much.

With the chassis stripped of all the side skirts, I could start the job of removing the body. I built the shed with the step with this job in mind. First up was to lift the body off the chassis with bottle jacks and blocks of timber. I then had a gap, allowing me to position the slide rails and then tack them to the retaining wall edge in the workshop floor step...

Attachment 165018Attachment 165019

The stage is set and the slide can start! A few hours of working ratchet straps, re jigging, adjusting blocks etc saw the body off and the truck empty once again. I had two pieces of 75 x 50 RHS with an eye welded on one end sat between the body and sliders, making it reasonably easy to slide across...

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The next time the body meets the chassis, it will be clad, and the chassis serviced and painted.