The M'Cara


Words & Pictures by Brian and Annette Hocker, N65875

Until I helped my brother in-law convert an old school bus to a motorhome, I had no desire at all to be the owner of a motorhome myself. However when the bus was finished, John, Ann, Annette and I did a five week ‘rellie visit’ up through Queensland and the Northern Territory and that’s when the bug bit us both.
Our number one criteria was to be as self-sufficient as possible, and with this in mind we started looking round for a smaller motorhome or campervan; a thirteen metre bus was a bit over the top for us. We checked out vans and motorhomes in the local area but nothing suited our needs, so I said to myself “how hard would it be to build one?” There were moments during the next twelve months when I wished I hadn’t listened to myself.


The project started life as a 1997 wide body Mitsubishi Canter with an old caravan on the back that came to our attention on the internet. The van was in poor shape and had no shower or toilet; we only purchased it for the truck. The wheelbase had been extended by the previous owner and the chassis behind the rear axel also extended to the maximum allowable – in fact another coat of paint on the rear bumper and it would be almost illegal. An engineer’s certificate certified that everything was above board however. So with the help of my brother I stripped it of anything I thought we might use again and took a drive to the local tip where a kind gentleman with a caterpillar tractor pulled what was left of the van off the truck for us.


In the meantime a lot of floor plans were drawn on the computer using Microsoft Publisher, until I eventually got one right. The width of 2.4m was necessary to allow access past a double bed installed crosswise. A length of 5.5m left 40cm for a platform at the rear to carry the outside unit of the split system air conditioner, with room also for a hot water unit and a couple of 9kg gas bottles. The overall height of 2m gives inside headroom of 196cm which accommodates most people. I tried it with a slope on the area that is above the truck cab to lessen wind resistance but lost too much room inside at the wardrobe. As it turns out the original wind deflector on the cab seems to work. I also couldn’t extend over the top of the cab because the cab tilts for engine access. So we settled for the ‘tissue box’ effect; it won’t win prizes in the looks department but a square box is practical.


So in April 2009 the real work started. Once I had the steel floor joists in place and the Formply floor screwed and glued down, we used it as a flat bed truck and drove to Griffith where we purchased the aluminium cladding from Peter at Griffith Marine and Caravans, who was very friendly and helpful. The next trip was to a local timber yard to pick up the 42mm x 19mm ash for the frame and cupboards.


Using the floor for a work bench, I spent the next couple of months making the walls and storing them in the garage, which by this time was getting rather crowded with old caravan bits and new walls, wall ply sheeting etc. By the way, I am still awaiting official recognition for breaking the drought in our area because as soon as I started this project it rained or threatened to rain at least once a week! This meant every night I had to cover the whole thing with plastic sheeting.

On a clear day with no wind, a handful of neighbours and my brother helped me lift the walls and roof into place, a procedure that took all of one and a half hours. We then proceeded to screw the bottom plates to the flooring and also bolt them down to the steel joists. When all the lifting and fixing was done, scones, jam and cream were consumed by all, compliments of my wife Annette.


The next job was installing the styrene foam insulation in the walls and roof. At this stage the beast was being rudely referred to by the neighbours as ‘the esky’. Being a retired electrician the wiring was no problem, although I did have to bone up on rules regarding mobile installations. And with that out of the way, I ‘volunteered’ the help of the nosy neighbours again to install the outside cladding. I felt pretty safe here as well, because as I new nothing about it and they knew just as much as me, it was going to be a snap. The side panels are narrow panels that push up into a groove in the panel above. These were siliconed and stapled on first. The ends and roof are flat 2.4m x 1.2m sheets that had to be seamed together first, then siliconed and stapled in place. They overlapped the sides by about 20mm; this overlap was then bent round the sides with liberal amounts of silicon between. Of course, this was also followed by more scones, jam and cream.


While all this constructing was going on I was also on the internet researching LED lighting, gas cookers and hot water units, inverters, battery chargers and all the necessary paraphernalia needed for my wife to be comfortable while she looks after me on the road in the manner to which I have become accustomed.


I couldn’t use much of what we salvaged from the original van. I used the water tank, about 190L for our grey water storage, and the internal hatch struts were ok but that’s about it. The acrylic windows were crazed and rubbers perished so new clear-glass windows went in (later tinted with solar film). I used the original door frame but the door itself was pretty ordinary and had slots cut in the bottom to clear the original steps (they folded up onto the floor inside). A new door unit costs in the vicinity of $1,300, so I made a timber door – my door cost me $90, including the vertical sliding window I made from acrylic sheet. The new steps lift and slide in under the floor.


Now with a roof over my head I started making cupboards, shower walls and the bed etc. Building a motorhome on a sloping driveway had its problems; I couldn’t use a spirit level so had to rely on my ability to use a tape measure and a square. Because the shower door opening is across the corner, I found when installing the walls, the hardest job was getting the opening square with no twist. I lined the shower walls on the inside with ‘Alupanel’; a fairly rigid 3mm plastic sheet with a thin aluminium skin on both sides, used a lot in signage. A friend fibreglassed the shower floor for me. I moved away from traditional caravan type cupboards and made them more along the lines of old style kitchen cupboards using a timber frame and panelling; I didn’t use any MDF board.


The bed from the old van was a normal queen-size household bed, bed-head and all. So I pulled it apart and cut it down to a double, discarding the head. It now has four large drawers underneath and lifts with the aid of gas struts to reveal more storage space and the 230L water storage tank (a plastic drum purchased for $25 that previously contained liquid soap). I get puns such as “your wife really has you over a barrel” and “so, you have a water bed?”


A wardrobe occupies the whole front wall and is concealed by a curtain which allows easier access beside the bed than solid doors would. The electrical cupboard takes up a small amount of this space on the left side, above the battery compartment which is below the floor. This cupboard houses the inverter, charger, battery monitor, 24/12 volt converter for the LED lights and the 240 volt switchboard.


The kitchen has a sink with mixer tap, a low pressure two-burner stove with grill and a slide-out pantry. This consists of a rack of four slide-out wire basket drawers, the frame for which is also fixed sideways to a pair of heavy duty slides (the baskets originally sold as a set of laundry baskets, but hey, if they fit…). You slide the pantry out and the drawers then slide sideways for access.


The table is fixed to the wall and supported at the front by two legs. We decided on two swivel chairs instead of the usual lounge seat. This allowed a larger table and has added a more spacious feel to the room. The cutlery drawer is under the front edge of the table, putting the knives and forks close to whereyou use them.


Where did we get that name ‘M’Cara’ from, I hear you ask? You didn’t ask? Well, I’ll carry on as if you have. We were a bit stuck when it came to finding a name for our pride and joy – we tried to enlist the grandkids to come up with one but they didn’t show much enthusiasm. Then came the time when I had to start driving around to get things done such as a service on the truck, having gas installed etc. We had to increase our insurance cover. At the time we purchased the truck-with-the-van-on-back we had to bring it from Bathurst to Wagga Wagga but were hesitant to do this without insurance. The only company we could find that would insure us at the time was NRMA. So we approached them to increase the insurance cover. We were told that the category for this vehicle is ‘Motorised Caravan’ and usually shortened to ‘mcara’. So we changed the first two letters to capitals, inserted a hyphen and bingo, we had a name; M’Cara.


I would like to say that M’Cara is now finished, but as anyone will tell you, you are never finished. Every time we come home from a journey, we have found some small addition or modification that will improveour time in M’Cara. The last such improvement was better ventilation of the shower enclosure. Installing an exhaust fan was out of the question because someone didn’t give this a thought during construction. So with the aid of an old fan blade, a small electric motor removed from a defunct printer and a Milo tin, I built a blower. This was placed in the bottom of the wall behind a chair; the shower side is hidden downbehind the porta-loo. Air is blown into the shower from the cabin and exits through the roof vent. It works a treat; no more steamy showers. See girls? There are things a bloke has to hoard!


M’Cara Specs and Equipment:
Because the truck is 24 volt I made the living unit the same to keep things simple and reduce current drawn from the battery (whatever 240 volt appliance you use will draw 10 times the 240 volt current from a 24 volt battery. The same appliance will draw 20 times the current from a 12 volt supply). Our power is from a 225 ah battery (this is equivalent to 450 ah on 12 volts). 240 volts is supplied via an 1800 watt pure sine wave inverter. A five-stage smart charger takes care of the batteries whenever external power is plugged in (the inverter is automatically isolated). We have a Honda 2kva generator which powers the inverter split system air conditioner and in addition charges the batteries and runs the fridge when it is in use. The generator lives on a slide-out platform where the corner kitchen cupboard would have been and is permanently plugged in; just slide it out, pull the cord and walk away. When out in the scrub we can usually go several days before we need to run it for a battery top-up. We haven’t found a need for solar panels yet and the vehicle alternator charges the batteries when we are travelling. An awning might be a good idea somewhere down the track (when our finances recover).


LED lighting consists of two 4 LED wall lights over the bed for reading, four recessed down-lights (Jaycar) in the ceiling and another in the shower. Lighting the kitchen bench and dining table are three strips under the over-head cupboards (two 99 LED and one 30 LED ‘Stingerz’ from Custom Dynamics in America). There is also a circular 22 watt, 240 volt fluorescent in the centre. We hardly ever use it.


Hot water is from a small Bosch LPG instantaneous household heater. It works well and there is no power needed for ignition. A small turbine generates electricity to turn on the gas and light it when water is flowing. It has controls to restrict the amount of gas used and water flow. Gas is supplied from two 9kg bottles to stove, water heater and an external bayonet for portable appliances.


The water pump has variable speeds and is capable of delivering 17L of water per minute. It is very quiet; the less you turn on the tap, the slower the pump works. It lives outside, under the floor.


The fridge is a household chest freezer converted to a fridge by replacing the thermostat. The total price brand new was about $800 including conversion. Its duty cycle is typically 5 minutes on and 20 minutes off and draws about 4 amps from the batteries while running. It no longer freezes but frozen items placed in the bottom stay that way for several days. The thermostat is set about half-way so it can possibly freeze if turned further down. We decided to spend money on batteries and a good inverter so we could run this fridge continuously rather than spend as much or more on a three-way fridge that works less efficiently as the ambient temperature goes up. An auto electrician was horrified when he found that I leave 240 volts running in the back while driving. I asked him how many volts his car generated to keep the engine running. I won.


For entertainment we have a digital TV with an in-built DVD and a sound system that plays anything. The radio antenna is electric but the $50 TV antenna isn’t but gets fantastic reception. We do have a signal strength meter so I know where to point it before Annette tunes the TV in.


Our alternative transport when on the road is either Shank’s Pony or two fold-up bicycles that live under the bed. We first carted our normal bikes around on the back but the oily bits got covered with dust and grime so we gave each other the fold-ups for Christmas (from Aldi).


Trips:
After a few small close to home trips to find and iron out any problems, we took M’Cara to Tasmania in April 2010 for three weeks. We think Tassie is the most RV friendly state in Australia. The only bad experience was when we missed a turn coming down the east coast and inadvertently traversed Elephant Pass; a lot of hair-pin bends with 45 degree cambers and log trucks. I actually clipped a crash rail on a corner with one of the underneath storage bins – was not happy.

We spent four days over Easter last year with our neighbours and friends on their block on the Murrumbidgee at Narrandera. In July 2010 we went north through Queensland and the Northern Territory as far as Katherine before heading home down the centre. We were away for nine weeks on that occasion. We now know we can sit for at least five days without moving with 200L of water and a jerry can of unleaded for the genny (some food and wine also helps). No big trips planned for this year (yet) but we have been known to pick up and go on the spur of the moment – M’Cara is always packed. The thing I like most about this life is all the wonderful people we meet.

I started building M’Cara in July 2009 and had it on the road by March 2010 – 9 months. No wonder Annette calls it our baby. Oh, and I lost 5 kilos in the process (but it’s back on now).