The Car Port

[Jenki]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

I was wondering how it worked.  If on 29th July they decide mine needs some work, I was hoping it would not go away immediately as that would be the rest of the camping season buggered.  Even if they supplied another pickup as a loan vehicle it would not have the electrics and tie down points needed to use it with the demountable camper.

 

Or had yours been for the inspection before 15th April?

 

I keep hearing stories of the truck being away for months, which would be fine if it was after October.

I think I first went mid Oct, it was 13 early December so needed to go in. I had to do some welding on inner sills, weld the DPF, and needed to change the Sump, as I'd already fixed with some plastic metal. Then just waited until I got the call early Feb. It went down and they failed it on a wheel bearing and a loose CV boot. So I brought it back fixed it and dropped it off in April

[ProDave]

1 hour ago, Jenki said:

and needed to change the Sump, as I'd already fixed with some plastic metal.

I keep hearing that.  Do you really mean the engine sump that holds the oil in the bottom of the engine?  I have never heard of an engin sump rusting through.  OR do you mean the sump guard, as in that usually rusty metal plate put there under the engine to protect it from knocks off roading?

 

Mine is only 10 years old so well inside the window and I was told it was the date it was logged into the process that mattered not how old it is when any work is done.

[Jenki]

On 17/06/2026 at 22:09, ProDave said:

I keep hearing that.  Do you really mean the engine sump that holds the oil in the bottom of the engine? 

Yep the engine sump, rotted from out to in, went in the lower corner that I fixed with plastic metal, but it was rough in several places. When I contacted Parks, he mentioned that this was a major area of concern, and suggested that it was replaced before inspection, as they would.more than likely fail it anyway if there was any sign of leaks. The clutch was ready for replacement, glow plugs intermittently errored, and timing belt was due, so I took out the engine replaced what was needed, cleaned up some rust in the engine bay and sent it for inspection.

[ProDave]

Thanks for that.

 

Back to the car port.  The final "test" today, demount the camper under the car port.  This involves jacking it up on it's legs clear of the truck then driving the truck away, this lifts it higher than in normal use and I had to be sure I had built it high enough to allow this.  And yes I have.

 

 

S next job, start looking at roof coverings.  It measures 602cm wide and 584 cm front to back.  Suggestions welcome.

[saveasteading]

2 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Suggestions welcome.

Standard single skin steel cladding and the right screws for timber.

There will then be considerable wind uplift so check the fixings to the posts. 

Likely to need some L brackets.

 

I think I'd leave a gap at the house wall and just let the weather through.

[ProDave]

The posts are each fixed to the ground with two M10 rawl bolts into the concrete base, and the garage side additionally bracketed to the garage wall.  I can't see what more I can do to hold it down.

[saveasteading]

9 minutes ago, ProDave said:

do to hold it down.

I meant beam to post.

 

[ProDave]

The bottom of each post sits in a bracket like this, bolted down into the concrete.

 

 

And at the top, each post attaches to the structure with 4 coach screws through into the post, and then two M12 threaded rods drilled right through with a nut and big washer each side.

 

 

Now I know the height is okay the tops of the posts will now be cut off.

 

[ProDave]

And after another long break, it is finished.  I had been too busy doing things and going places to order the roofing until now.

 

I ended up ordering it from Steadmans, part of the SIG group.  Their quote was £300 cheaper than Plantex with the bonus they did the facings in long lengths where Plantex only do them in 3 metre lengths which would have meant a join.  The roof panels were delivered last Wednesday and today me and a joiner friend fitted them, which took us about 5 hours in total.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To lift them up there, we wheeled the mobile scaffold in the pictures out onto the grass, on 2 scaffold boards so stop it sinking into the soft ground, and used that as a staging post, lift them onto that, then both up onto the scaffold for the second lift.  It was actually easier than I expected it to be.

 

Tip for anyone doing this sort of job.  While the suppliers are happy to make the roofing sheets to any length you want, they only seem to supply them in "1 metre" width.  Great I thought, my car port is exactly 6 metres wide, I need 6 sheets.

 

Actually the sheets came 105cm wide.  There is a 5cm overlap.  So while it is true each sheet adds 1 metre to the width of the roof, with 6 sheets there are only 5 joints, so the finished width of 6 sheets of roofing is 605cm.  That is 5cm wider than my car port frame.

 

Quick thinking, by cutting a small piece off the top and bottom corner of the first sheet to clear round the garage roof tile overhang, that end of the roof ended up coming closer to the garage wall than originally planned, leaving the other end finishing mm perfect at the end of the framing.

 

There was also a few sheets of "spare" roof sheets used as packing and protection.  I am now scheming what I can use them for.

 

Next phase will be fitting solar panels along the back of the car port.