359 Peterbilt Conversion

[85 359 Pete]

New to the forum and thought I'd share my project with you guys.

Mine is more of a finish/restore than the new builds that I've seen on this tread. The truck was originally converted around 06' by someone else. They had the frame stretched, deleted one of the drive axles, and added the 24'box. All of the tin work, plumbing and electrical were also done. The work done was all really nice but the project was never really finished on the inside. The original builder was really good with everything except wood work. Fortunately my father and I are both in the construction industry so that part is easy for us.

A little info on the truck itself. Its a 1985 Peterbilt 359 extended hood with a 400hp Cat and 15sp with overdrive. The engine was rebuilt and as had the fuel turned up, the power is impressive to be that big.

We've started tearing apart the interior of the box basically taking it down to the studs. The wife and I want to have a nice place to stay at the track on race weekends without spending a fortune. Due to the condition of the truck and a motivated seller we picked the truck up cheap.



Looks like they used furniture from a donor travel trailer or rv. Which is probably where the Genset and water tanks came from as well.



The nice part is the cab is all origional and in really nice shape to be over thirty years old.

[85 359 Pete]

Demo was pretty easy since the previous owner simply screwed in the wall paneling. Just back out the screws and throw away!

We installed the new paneling by gluing and screwing cleats to the steel studs and cabinet frames. This allows us to nail the finished panels without having the not so pleasant looking exposed screws as it was done previously.


A color scheme was decided since all of the cabinets and trim will be stain grade.


The bed and bottoms of the rear cabinets were finished first. We hinged the mattress platform for storage underneath.


Next the rear cabinets are finished and the upper wall cabinets were built and installed. We used short screws and high strength glue to hold the uppers to the fiberglass box walls. LED lights were added to the bottoms of the upper cabinets with false floors hiding the wiring for them.



More to come!

[samcrimm]

Nice! When I installed the washer dryer in my Rig screws were great, no split wood, no beating and bangin....

Sam

[85 359 Pete]

I have been away from the net for a while but steady working on the truck
We just got back from our first weekend out with it and while we had a few opportunities with it, it was a good test and I must say having the house at the track with you is very nice! The interior is about 85% compete now and now that we are done racing for the year I can focus on tightening up the loose ends.

We hung the new cabinets in near the celinig with LED lighting. Added a barn door style track in the bedroom, and carpeted the walls.

[85 359 Pete]

We also built all of the kitchen cabinetry and installed all new 110v wiring

[jasong]

Looks much better than the old RV furniture.

[38Chevy454]

Nice work on the cabinets. Your upgrades will be nice for many years of enjoyment.