This weekend saw me go through with my plans mentioned in my previous blog entry. For those that haven't read what's going on, here's a quick summary:
My Splitty wouldn't fit in my garage by a margin of only a few mm's. The problem was the up and over garage door that was in the way. Having pulled the door off and driving the Splitty in, I confirmed that this was the problem. My proposed solution was to make the garage door removable.
So on Saturday I started on the remounting, with the labour assistance of my friends Richard and Stu. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking this week:
Nuts, bolts and locks - all ready for action
Lock with bolts
Holes marked on garage door with felt tip pen
Holes drilled, first to 2mm and then to 6mm
Lock bolted in from behind, using 1 small washer and 1 large washer to spread forces
Had to remove old sprung loaded mechanism to get out the way - The force that thing generates is amazing!
Had to get old side lock out the way. This was very thoroughly mounted
Door on, minus bits for female part of lock
Holes for female part of lock
Female part of lock screwed in
Spacers required due to warped wood and garage door
Garage cleared out, carpet removed
Camper in!!
Locks all on and locked
Padlock on
A nice site to have, 1 cosy and dry Splitty
I really can't tell you how happy I am about this! With all the rain that we've had of late I've been worrying more and more about the rust situation on the van. This has put my mind at ease, big time! Plus the bonus is, there's actually a bit of room around the side of the van for working on it!
So the van is now in there for winter, bar coming out for the Slough Swapmeet this weekend, and maybe 1 or 2 more load hauling journeys, providing there haven't been any gritters on the road....
Previous Blogs From Jon Ladley:
Split Screen Desire - The road to true love is never easy
Vans in the News and 19 Windows
My 27th Birthday and an AA Recovery "Low" Loader
Pushing the button...
Too low?
Welding woes
A Very Tight Squeeze
Fuel Crisis
Winter Plans
Have your say!
Latest comments
November 02 17:19
Vemund
That gate will not be a tough one to get opened.. You should use some better locks if you really are to secure it..
November 02 17:35
Dirk
Sorry to say, but you've left the cross head screws on the female part exposed and easy to undo. Also using just a screwdriver and a strong arm could lever them off. I'd rather point that out then see your bus go missing.
My advice, get a pole type device that is concreted into the ground, maybe even two.
November 02 18:26
N.HUTCHISON
Mate get some extra nuts on the bolts on the back of that door or even better nylon threaded nuts. They will be easy to loosen and get into that garage.
November 03 10:55
Jon Ladley
Thanks for the advice guys, I was aware of the obvious flaws with the screw heads being exposed and the lack of locks, but the initial issue was more to do with keeping the bus away from being exposed to the elements than one of security.
95% of the time my other car is parked right up against the door too, so that would need to be moved too to get to the Splitty. Either way it's safer than it was on the drive.
I will be looking at the security aspect in future weeks, including the extra padlocks and the extra nuts on the back for the thread lock (thanks N.Hutchison). I am also looking at a more secure way of fixing the female parts to the frame, and possibly even an item similar to the pole type device you suggest Dirk.
Thanks again for your comments, keep them coming!