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Jarrin's Amazing Traveling Boudoir
8/27/2005 10:50 AM

My hope is to convert my old pirate truck into a mutant vehicle suitable for Burning Man this year. Let's see if I can pull this off. This entry will grow as progress it made. Look towards the bottom for the most recent set of photos.

Okay, that's it. I'm taking what I've got to the playa. I just hope it's good enough.

"No time for love, Doctor Jones."

The legacy is nearly over; I've finally found a home for all the scrap that had been accumulating in and around my garage for the past year.


Image Gallery: Stage One
The truck as it was and some preliminary interior work.
Rear interior trim has been removed. Soon I will remove the windows (hopefully in one piece) and then cut the sheet metal off. Exposed wiring. This is how it began. Once I got my new Jeep, the Blazer got parked here and here it has sat for several weeks. Now it's going to be dismantled, piece by piece.

Image Gallery: Stage Two (April)
Cutting off the back half of the truck, all the way down to the chassis.
I drew dotted lines where I thought I should cut. I ended up just kinda cutting everything everywhere, though. Then the walls. I also opted to remove the tailgate (which was rusting out, anyway). And cut off the fenders. I wanted to base to be lower and I don't think this will present any problem.
See all 15 images.

Image Gallery: Stage Three (July)
I decided it still looked too much like a Chevy Blazer, so I removed the doors, windshield and top.
So I just cut the top free and caved it all in. Mostly the windshield stayed together as one piece so clean up wasn't too bad. Now we are ready to design and builds the mutant. I was originally hoping to get it out intact, but since I don't have the necessary tools (specifically, a "hot knife") I ended up cracking it. And once a little bit of it was cracked, the whole thing was worthless. Removed doors. What am I going to do with these now? I was trying to remove a seatbelt attachment point, but the star point bolts holding them in are all stripped. I spent some time kicking this one to get the metal bracket to bend out of the way when it suddenly exploded! I didn't sustain any serious damage, fortunately (just a bruise near my knee). Smashing stuff is fun!
See all 7 images.

Image Gallery: Stage Four (July)
The deadline for application was July 15, so I had to decide on a theme and sent in an application.
Jarrin's Amazing Traveling Boudoir! This is the rough sketch I sent (along with a long application) to Burning Man's Dept. of Mutant Vehicles. I don't expect to hear from them for a couple weeks yet and they might still not allow me to bring it; but I have to commence construction regardless if I want to get it done in time.

Image Gallery: Stage Five (August)
Welding the main platform together.
The completed platform. With a stroke of genius I devised a trap door access panel for the fuel tank. Genius! Andy and Logan came over to help me weld. Me, welding. Can you spot at least five safety rule violations? Logan, testing out the frame.
See all 20 images.

Image Gallery: Bonus Stage
I decided to weld up a little storage space beneath the rear of the platform. This isn't critical path, but I thought it would be a fun diversion.
I welded the vertical supports onto the upper platform first using C-clamps to hold them in place. That was easy. <p> Then to get the shelf in place I wheeled my little 2-ton car jack under it and balanced it on top the little jack head as well as I could, and jacked it into place. I used C-clamps again to secure the vertical posts to the spots when they came into alignment. All said, it went pretty well. While poking around under the truck I noticed this crack in the muffler. I proceeded to try to patch it up but I think I just made a bigger mess than if I had just left it alone. I didn't take a picture of my hack job because I'm embarassed by it. A simple 6' x 20" frame with expanded steel. I can stand on it and it doesn't break. I think it's ready to support 526 pounds of water (9 7-g containers x 8.345 lbs/g). That went pretty well, though I was a little sloppy about it.

Image Gallery: Stage Six (Last Minute)
Steps, canopy, dust ruffle and assorted fabric work.
And turned it into an automated misting system! Covered in carpet (as the rest of the bed area will soon be). The sides of the steps will have a yellow "dust ruffle" fabric over it. I have become a pleating expert. I finally did something with the hood. I don't like it much, but eh, it's finished. The canopy set up along with half of the dust ruffle.
See all 17 images.

Image Gallery: Stage Seven (Dumpstered)
Finally got rid of all those pieces of scrap metal and unneeded doors.
Quite well topped off! Q: How do you stuff a 1991 Chevrolet Blazer into a 1998 Jeep Wrangler?<br> A: With a <a href="http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1287673">$99.99 DeWalt Reciprocating Saw</a>! Chris and Ken's (pictured) basement flooded a couple weeks ago thanks to heavy rains. Consequently, they had to rip up carpet, tear down drywall and put it all in a dumpster. Luckily for me, there was plenty of leftover room in said dumpster for me to top it off with sheet metal and interior trim.


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