Oka 146 - Trever and Mary

Well, bed frames are made. We have put insulation in roof and it is now in the hands of the upholsterer who we decided should put the lining in, bad enough doing insulation with the stinky glue!! We are putting a vehicle grade carpet to line the roof, similar to what it had in it, but new. While Trev doing welding work etc, I have cut out all the marine carpet bits to re-do the dash tops and engine cover etc. Tomorrow we glue these in and also pick up the roof which has been done today, and then it will be paint the roof job next with some fantastic specialised paint, we have got onto, we put two bits of aluminium out in the sun, one untouched and the other with one coat of the paint, unpainted hot to touch, painted was cold!!! very impressed. Then on with the roof yaay!! Are putting a small wind out window in the back of the roof, hope it is dust proof?? It actually now feels like progress is being made now. It is so much work, but so worth it when its all done.
Mary

Roof pretty much ready to go on, just waiting for the paint to cure. Dual spare wheel carriers made and ready to paint, dash, and engine cover carpet all glued in place, have varnished timber surrounds on beds, have chosen single bunks, one running across the back and one along passenger side. Idea from another Oka members build, but slightly different set up. We kept the 2 seats behind driver for eating at, etc if weather is bad and will put a fold down table there. Double bed ended up being ruled out due to not being able to fit everything in that we want inside, Bed running along side is raised and Engel 80l upright fridge will be under it also 40 Lt Engel on slide to be used as a freezer, plus a bit of storage. Plan on putting in some overhead cupboards. Photos coming up soon!! Have purchased new vinyl for floor which will go in before interior is commenced. Have cut hole in side for access to storage area under bed across rear, and will make access door/s. Slowly getting there. Hubby still doing some part time work, so it slows things a bit.

Wonders will never cease, we are actually going to put some photos up in the next day or so, I have no idea how to do it but Trev is going to have a bash at it!! Today he put the bar on to the dual spare wheel carrier he made, to put the lifting gear on, purchased a natty little device called a Jack Strap for the job, Aussie invention, so it must be good! So now we will have to put another set of tail lights on higher up as the wheels cover the original, which will also be the case when Trev makes his motorbike carrier. Roof hopefully going on in a day or two, still deciding plan of action for that. His mate has a forklift and suggested , making a bit of frame with timber, putting roof on that raising it up, then drive Oka under and lower it on?? We could possibly also use our big front end loader bucket, but forklift might be easier, will see when the time comes.. Then at last the interior can be assembled. Have had a million floor layout changes, every time I drew something up, looked great, then would find a small (or large) problem with fitting in the items, but believe we now have it sussed.

Mary

At last have worked out how to upload pics. Shot is of vehicle as purchased by us. Will now upload progress pics when I can find the others. Roof was fitted today!!

Progress pics at last!! Will show the lid on tomorrow.

Spare wheel carriers will have to undergo some strengthening mods!!, beds finished , tomorrow will finish front panel roof lining, then in with the new floor covering. After that will be beds and fridge/ freezers put into position, facia made and covered, for airconditioner outlets to rear of vehicle, feel it is actually starting to come together now. Boy it is a lot of work!! and plenty more to go.

Trever it might be too late as you already have planned it out but give thought to fridge, toilet and external shower positions if fitted.
Ideally all three should be on the drivers side to avoid access problems when the side awning if fitted is used and you're sitting around under the awning. The fridge heat if vented externally doesn't need to be trapped under the awning and the external shower doesn't need to be creating a puddle under the awning either ))

Thanks Oka 374, all comments gratefully accepted. Put beds in today and new floor covering, and planned on putting fridge on drivers side as it fits nicely under the bed , it has its own fan on the back so will put an air vent in behind it, it is an 80 litre Engel upright fridge, bolt it down tomorrow. We are going to have external shower, and will put it on drivers side, thinking of some sort of pull out system for it?? Porta Potti can only fit on passenger side but down near rear of vehicle, wish it was a few feet longer and a bit wider ha ha, we women are never satisfied !! Will only be partially ready before our trip but at least we will see what does and what doesn't work some things can still be changed. It's a bit of a learning curve, but we will get there in the end. Main thing is we have beds in, fridges, & dunny, anything else is a bonus before we go. May get some cupboards done. Replaced the two way radio with a new digital one and started putting in new sound system, but there was that much spaghetti (wiring) in under dash that Trev gave up and getting professional guy in on Monday. There is so much excess wiring in there, most of it looks like it is not in use, so get installer guy to remove any unnecessary, Trev has put in heaps of sound units over the years into our vehicles, but this was a bit ridiculous. Looking forward to the trip in our own Oka for a change. Our Oka mate Brett is also going. All interior roof trim is now finished at last, was a big tedious job, reckon I could get a job as an upholsterer now (no thanks).

Oh for the Oka life !!!??

Trevor/Mary,
assuming from your alias that 146 is your Oka and therefore XT model.
with respect to the wiring, the XT model wiring must have been done by a year 8 work experience kid. The LT electrics are designed a whole lot better.
For example some of the relays are switched on with the key and the high current side of the relay then goes through the device switch to the device (and this is as per the wiring diagram). Defeating the purpose of a relay shifting the high current away from the switch. Some lights go through a main fuse and then two subsequent fuses!! Ever wonder why your battery never fully charges; the battery sense is taken from the alternator output, not the battery +ve. Your auto sparky will have some fun. Not to mention earth points (or lack thereof), the XT one is behind the grill side panels on the front, drivers side near the top.
Don't take the writing on the fuse designator stickers as correct either, or that your wiring is as per the manual.

It's all good fun, isn't it.
cheers,
frank

Well our Techie man came a day late, but did a great job, installed sound system and left extra speaker wire for Trev to install more speakers. He removed a big handful of wire that was obsolete, and left in there from previous sound systems (more than one!). Trever Installed the fridges and the 12 volt connections for them, fit nicely and still room under there for a reasonable size storage compartment. Have cut ply front facia for my bunk as it part of the storage box at rear for necessary tools, spares, fishing gear, detecting gear, etc, and have put first coat of varnish on. Will have overhead cupboards but that is down on the list of priorities at the moment. Finish off the storage box first plus the access doors to it, then probably the awning.

Work on Oka has come to a standstill as we have been out of town working on another project! Will start again tomorrow, at least managed to get curtain fabric and picked up our mattresses, and a few bits and pieces whilst in Albany.

dandjcr wrote: Nothing wrong Mary, just some minor reorganisation for consistency.
I'll do a bit of reconfiguring and let you know.
David

Mary, Trever all your Oka 146 development posts are now here in the Members Vehicles section but your welcome messages are still in the Welcome Mat category here .

Note this Members Vehicles category is accessible by anyone. If you ever wanted to make your entry private (ie for access by registered member only), I can move to to the private category.

You should still be able to edit any of your own posts but if you have any problems let me know.

I'll tidy up (delete) this and some of the admin posts in the near future.

Regards, David

Bit more progress - spare wheel carriers have been beefed right up and spare wheels and lifting gear (Jack Strap - great bit of gear, recommended!) have been mounted. Not happy have been waiting for solar panels now for 18 days!! Were being sent express freight from over East, should have been here well over a week ago, finally got a tracking no. but provides virtually no info, so tomorrow will see local agent and find out where the heck it is. Awning is on, new front seats fitted, front privacy curtain fitted to close off rear of cab from living quarters. All curtains made, just need fittings put up which will happen this afternoon, along with the reading lamps. Next item to tackle will be the toilet cubicle. I have started polishing the bus, but very physical, think I will get Trev to show me how to use the buff!

Mary

Managed to get the Oka to an acceptable stage just before our trip to the Kimberley. Beds done, toilet /wash basin cubicle fridges mounted in and a temporary bench, good enough for the trip. Plus put in a basket type storage unit for clothes (another temporary item) rest of gear went in tubs on floor for this trip. Worked okay, but of course will be much better with proper cupboards. Oka is now parked up for a while, as Trev has 2 other projects which are more pressing, so Oka will probably stay as is for at least a couple of months!

M

We saw these guys that owned 146 at Longreach last year, they only stayed 1 night at the caravan park we were in had a quick chat as they were busy with there group set up , Okas are a funny thing once you have one time disappears ,some coin and hair ,have fun fitting yours out we did ours twice as the first time we had no seat inside we thought we would no want one but when it rains you need it, so we have had a complete fit out and put one in ,ours is a pop roof so for lunch we now can sit inside or out,cheers peter &kay

Hi Peter, yes we kept the 2 seats behind driver, I said no at first but glad Trev insisted as they are very handy in bad weather, plus I'm sure six year old grand daughter will want to go camping with us at some stage, she loves the Oka. Yep I have already decided to change some things (that we haven't done yet) with the rest of the fitout. Funny the couple we spoke to in Broome had also redone their interior, it was their second fit out.! seems to be a common thing.
cheers Mary

At last after being off the radar for some time, busy sorting out other things, the Oka is coming out of the shed very shortly to have interior fitout completed!!

Hi Trevor at the risk of spoiling the party I don't know what your GVM is,but my high roof bus fitted out and loaded can go 6200kg.Just uprated to 6000.Out with the scales