Polar Bear 1

[Zaskoda]

First day working on the van since I returned home from that party in the woods...

Tonight I worked up some brackets for some led flood lights I found cheap on Amazon. The existing brackets were fairly weak and though I was tempted to install them anyway, my gut said I would regret it.

I managed to get the 6 brackets cut up, drilled up, ground up, and a first coat of paint on tonight. Before painting them, I did a test fit and pattern test. I'll focus the beam a little further away from the van than I show in the photos below:

[MadScience]

My van had halogen worklights mounted like that. They were super bright and sucked battery like, well, halogen brights.

I've since replaced them with driving lights with low lux led bulbs. While at first underwhelming, they keep the sides of the van from being totally dark without killing anyones night vision. It generally just leave them on all night long while we're camped. I'll likely add some brighter lights as well, but now that I've lived with the dim ones, I'm not giving them up.

[Zaskoda]

Mad - Here are the LED lights I picked up:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008BQ ... UTF8&psc=1

Probably not as bright as what you have, but very low power draw. They're definitely cheaply made, but they're also very cheap. One of the wires burned out instantly when I added power. The fuse did not pop. I may have made a mistake wiring, but I can't see how. It was pretty straight forward.



So here's the paint/assembly:



And the light pattern test:



Frankly, I'm not happy with the brackets..I built them as beefy as I could and it would take some crazy force to pull them off, but why not recess them?... Right?... crap... more work to do. Maybe not.. Here's how they're mounted:

[Zaskoda]

So, believe it or not, I still work on Polar Bear from time to time. The biggest current project is the installation of the furnace I bought from NomadCat back in 2011!!! The tank is mounted, the furnace is installed, and the gas lines are in. I need to cut a hold in the side of the van for fill access and wire up the electrical to finish. Well, I also have to run the heater vent tube, but that'll have to wait until I have the rest of the cabinent built.

Here the mounted tank and the furnace itself:



And today I put togther an enclosure:


I'm doing some organic shaped hand holds and supports around the inside. I am also including lots of holes for tying down gear. Here you can see what I've got so far in the back:




And here's the next support with a handhold that I also started today:



And a couple of pics for fun... Here's a snowy/foggy sunset the other day:



And finally, a shot from the shop showing how crowded things have been getting:

[REF]

I just flipped through this entire thread for the first time, that was my rig back in '11....funny....flag me down next time you see me

[86Scotty]

Looking nice Zaskoda, nice shop too. You've got enough overhead room for a lift. I'm jealous. My basement shop has about a 7' ceiling, so it's never gonna have a van in it, and certainly not a lift.

[Zaskoda]

Originally Posted by REF

I just flipped through this entire thread for the first time, that was my rig back in '11....funny....flag me down next time you see me

Hey REF, I'm not sure I totally follow your reference. Sorry.

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

Looking nice Zaskoda, nice shop too. You've got enough overhead room for a lift. I'm jealous. My basement shop has about a 7' ceiling, so it's never gonna have a van in it, and certainly not a lift.

Yes, I'm lucky to have access to the shop I use. I get it on the cheap as it's a shared space, but it's also challenging working on top of each other. =/

I got a little more done tonight. Here's the start of some cabinents:

[Nomadcat]

WOW! I was wondering whatever became of that project. Please let me know how it goes. I may have to buckle and eventually get another one. If they ban me from the NYC tunnels, so be it. Please keep us posted.

Paul

[REF]

Back in 2010, not '11, when you first started this thread, that's my rig you snapped a pic of in front of Only Natural Pet store.

Originally Posted by Zaskoda

Meanwhile, I spotted this Sportsmobile in town and almost drowned in my own envious drool...

[Zaskoda]

Originally Posted by REF

Back in 2010, not '11, when you first started this thread, that's my rig you snapped a pic of in front of Only Natural Pet store.

That is a beauitful rig... absolutely beautiful... so you've still got it? I haven't seen it around.