shady boy sunshade for brunnhilde

I started the rough installation design of the Shady Boy sunshade which replaces the Fiamma F45i awning two days ago. The length of the Shady Boy sunshade (I think sunshade is a better term for the minimalistic Shady Boy) is much shorter than the Fiamma F45i it replaces. The case length does not span the distance of the two mounting points Westfalia provided for the Fiamma awning. This calls for a custom aluminum V-shape channel that serves as an adapter plate. It will span the two mounting points and the Shady Boy in turn be mounted onto.



Yesterday I made a mockup of this adapter using a piece of 2x4 lumber. The wood mockup allowed me to temporally secure the Shady Boy to the camper and deploy it to determine the ideal fore and aft mounting location with respect to the sliding door opening.

i think i can move it forward 4 inches or so and it would not look odd

if you look carefully you can see the sun shade fabric is supported by 5 fiberglass battens; all originated from 3 machined blue anodized aluminum block (one at each end and one at the middle)

 the two corner posts connects to the fly with these plastic snap connectors

 plastic snap connector disconnected

another "fast food" dish i cooked up; fast as it take very little time to prepare from scratch; linguine with cod, tomato in creamy cheese sauce

Yesterday I took Brunnhilde to the metal store to buy a piece of 1/8 inch aluminum plate to make the awning adapter plate. This allow me to check the angle of the fold in case I need to. Driving Brunnhilde allowed me to check two things - the repair of the rearview camera mounted onto the license plate and testing of the Ultragauge I recently installed. I was planning to fill up Brunnhilde's diesel tank en route so I can initiate the calibration of the Ultragauge.

my repair of the camera is good

Driving with the Ultragauge is very interesting. For the first time I get to see the crucial parameters in real time. At this point I am by no mean have a good graspe of the optimum values. The main ones I pay attention to are the % engine load and absolute boost pressure for now. I found myself applying throttle as if there is an egg under my right foot.

I have mentioned in other post that the oxygen sensor voltage of 2.000 during idle is odd, as the optimal nominal is 1.000. I mistaken this is the voltage of the O2 sensor output as seen by the EMC. I was wrong. It is the lamda value which is unitless because it is the ratio of actual air/fuel and Stoichiometric air/fuel. Under low to medium throttle with the vehicle underway I observed  around 1.7xx and never did it come close to 1.000. I however didn't try heavy acceleration or pushing up hill.

typical values under light throttle in city traffic at constant speed

The other thing I noticed is the fuel rail pressure. I was expecting it more the less keeps the value during idle of between 4000 and 5000 PSI as I was assuming it is regulated. In reality the slightest of throttle will bring it to over 10000 PSI.

I purchased a piece of 1/8 inch aluminum measures 78 inch by 5.5 inch.  It cost under $35. Next I went to a nearby sheet metal shop to make a fold along the length.
The shop I went to so a lot of custom fabrication. Mainly toys for grownups.

this customer cabinet for a motorboat cost over $10,000 to frabricate, according to the guy at the shop

this is the template i made to ascertain the angle of the fold, as well as the dimensions of the aluminum plate

the shop use this computer controlled sheet metal brake to make the fold for me

he place the sheet metal in the machine by aligning it at 3-inch  from the edge and punched in the fold angle i specified and it was done

On the way home I opted to pick up some Asian grocery instead of going to the gas station with low cost diesel fuel. I postponed calibrating the Ultragauge for now. It turned out I made a good decision. I bought some live seafood and best of all, came across a Asian vegetable called kao ky 九妃 at An Dong Market 安東超市 which is very seasonal and difficult to find in Oregon. It is the leaves of mulberry a berry.  Kao ky 九妃 is believed to be very beneficial for one's health by many Chinese. Kao ky 九妃 translates as the ninth concubine. These dried berry fruits are often used in Chinese medicine to brew medicinal tea.

kao ky 九妃 (mulberry leaves)

Continue on the sunshade. This morning I begin work in making the aluminum adapter channel. I de-burr the cut edges with a palm sander.

 I then use a angle grinder fitted with sanding disc to round all the corners; the lenghtwise fold of the 1/8" aluminum plate adds a lot of stiffness

 the corners rounded and sanded

Next I began to figure out how to fasten the Shady Boy to the aluminum adapter channel. I have to plan this very carefully as there are many constrains. For example the Shady Boy's cover hinges open and swings upwards. At the open position it interferes with the upper fold of the channel. I cannot move it down lower then the lower edge of the channel because it will interfere with the top of the sliding door.

 the cover can only be open partially

 the solution is to add 7/16" thick spacers - i made these temporary ones with scrap plywood

with the spacers the cover open more but still fully - it is however generous enough for functionality

you can see in this profile view that the crucial roles of the spacers

There is constrains on how to fasten the sunshade housing to the aluminum channel, as well as how to fasten the entire assembly to the camper's fiberglass using the existing mounting points Westfalia provided. To keep the mounting hardware simple and withing what I can do at home I have to first mount the Shady Boy to the channel using the spacers. The fore/aft location of the Shady Boy is dictated by not obscuring installation of the 4 bolts which the channel will be mounted to the fiberglass top.

the 7/16" thick spacers will just do the trick - overcoming the interference constrains as well as giving the access to the lower mounting bolt

I plan a trip to Tap Plastic to pick up either some nylon or Delrin in closest thickness to 7/16" to make the spacers.
you can see in this photo there is sufficient gap to access the lower mounting bolt for attaching to the fiberglass top

Something I should mention on mounting a Shady Boy to a Sprinter. The height of even the low top Sprinter is very high and this height should be taken into consideration. I am very tall and I at the limit of being able to operate without the used of a stool. When the sun is low the sun shade overhang will become less effective so a bigger area is required to compensate the lower angle of incident
it is a perfect fit for smaller campers like the VW Westfalia

Here is a simple dish I improvised with a bit of the kao ky 九妃 I bought.
the stems are not edible - there are thorns 

 the nasty thorns on the stems

i stripped off the leaves one by one - i am saving the stems so i can grow my own; the good folks at An Dong Market told me you just stick them into the soil and water them

i stir fry it with shitake mushrooms and dried scallops

 mulberry leaves has unique tastes - they have a hint of Chinese herbal medicine