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Jarrin's Folly
6/12/2006 12:05 PM

Lots of white panels. It'll look much cooler when it's all lit up. I hope.
Lots of white panels. It'll look much cooler when it's all lit up. I hope.
06Aug28: Major problem. The trailer is too massive for my Jeep to safely tow. I am forced, after being fourty-hours behind schedule, to abandon the mutantvehicle for this year. :(

While last year's mutant vehicle was fundamentally successful it did not exceed my hopes and it was very expensive to transport. My plan for this year's should remedy these problems nicely as it involves driving my Jeep down to the playa and, once there, reconfiguring it into art (Wranglers are wonderfully modular that way).

06Jun21: Primary construction is complete!

06Jun29: With only two days until the pre-registration deadline I decided to completely rebuild the observation deck support structure. This means (a) I won't have a very complete mutant vehicle to show to the BM DMV, I'll have to describe it as best I can and (2) the entire system will be more secure, more stable and much betterly designed over-all.

06Jul27: I have made a significant breakthough in the panel mounting design. I have yet to build a prototype/proof-of-concept but I am confident this is going to work - and it's going to look cool!

06Aug15: I finally finished rebuilding the railings. The Jeep has been services and is ready for final implementation. I'll spend the next week dealing with lighting and panels. I hope it was all worth it - in the end.

06Aug20: Six days until we leave and I'm finally started the process of attaching the plastic panels. Go go craftsmanship!

06Aug27: So far behind schedule I can't even see it. We should have left yesterday and I'm still not finished. I've done everything I absolutely need to do here and have left the rest to do on-playa (where they can be plenty of time during the hot day). This will be the last update before I return. Hopefully I'll have something positive to report in two weeks



Image Gallery: Beginnings
Me on top of the skeletal structure of the MV. Now for the hard part: the art. I decided to turn my garage into my workshop to save me the trouble of running lumber and metal from the basement out to the carport and back several times a day. This required me to dig up the broken electrical line in the backyard and jury-rig it. I also hung a big ol' fluorescent work light so I could see what I was doing after dark. So far this is worked out pretty well. First attempt at a rear staircase. I made the stringers out of some scrap 1/2" plywood. The steps and supports are all cut from scrap 2x4. I'm glad I did it with scrap material first because now when I do it again I can get all the measurements just right. Except that on one of my runs to gather stuff from my basement to bring out to the garage some thief riding down my alley decided to swap his shitty bicycle for my comparatively nice one which was hanging, unlocked, in my open garage. Seriously: it happened in the five-minute span of me being in my house. The second attempt at a rear stairway. The stringers are now made of welded 1x1 box steel and the steps are some scrap lumber. All in all this is much lighter and stronger than the first version. I may yet put better steps on but these will work for now.
See all 9 images.

Image Gallery: Version 2
Third version of the railings are pretty solid. Hurray! I decided to compeltely rebuild the support system. Here are some of the new joists. The recess into each other a very small amount to keep them properly aligned while the platform and upper railings are attached. After a good long time I finally got around to rebuilding the railings (version three). The lights and panels should be able to mount to these superior railings with ease. A panel test - a quick mock-up of the semi-opaque plastic panels with some shop lights behind them. Stupid stuck bolts. It was so stuck that IT BROKE MY HAMMER!
See all 9 images.

Image Gallery: Exterior
It took me three hours to break down the entire mutantvehicle into its constituent parts. I'm not very confident this is going to fit into my trailer. The rear of the vehicle. Almost nearly panel complete. The first attempt at upper-deck panels. I think it's going to be okay. I wish I had more than six days. Still, six days can be plenty of time if I focus on the task and <i>stay off the internet</i>! I decided to rebuild the side panels and I got an idea for the front.
See all 13 images.


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