Rebuild - upgrade - rebirth the next couple years

Acavallo was first seen in a dream, a pair of dreams, and brought forth into being by a band of friends in a shop on Van Brunt Street, in Brooklyn NY, in 2007.  

We're not done dreaming!

The original design was insane... well, not insane, but despite all my best thoughts, completely impractical.   The ship has undergone subsequent re-builds,  the biggest being 2012 - closing in on the actual solution to the real world constraints of highway travel, particularly, and uncovering new problems, solving old ones, evolving, evermore.  Learning what works, and what doesn't work.

2027 will be her 20th anniversary, 20th birthday - and I've begun the process of planning for one more rebuild, to really get into her bones and refine things for the next twenty years.  I'm very conscious of my future, and am planning to still be able to set her up when I'm 73.  Or 83.  I won't be standing on a rickety ladder 30' in the air to rig the ropes, that's for sure.  And neither will the roustabouts - I should say that I'm not expecting to have no help when I'm 83, but that I don't want to needlessly endanger lives because I've not worked out a better solution. But that's not all.

We've never had the time on the schedule, on the actual spreadsheet, for making her pretty.  Refining the rawboned steel and splintered boards, the hundreds of compromises made in the rush to get to Burning Man.  Not that she isn't beautiful now, she is, but the chance to lovingly tidy, to forge intricate hinges, to carve detail into the smaller scale interactions... well.  It makes me cry to think about it.

I'll detail more about the actual issues to address, set expectations, work through budgets and schedules in the further sections.

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Vision, Narratives, and Approaches

The vision, the goals:

Go thru everything!  

It's been ridden hard for twenty years, it's time to do a deep dive

into all the components, looking for cracks, rust, anything dangerous!

Better Trailering

Bigger wheels, more sensible weight distribution, better brakes,

better lighting, easier breakdown, easier setup (see below), little

things like a driveshaft that can stay connected, better air supply,

more durability, address wind resistance if possible, conversion of

the truck to an RV

Expanded outreach

if there are changes that could enable.. tractor pulls, for

example, or other events - as spectacle, wider audience for

art cars and burning man art in general

Ease of setup / breakdown

less dangerous unfolding, more sensible unfolding, actuators,

strap winches instead of dead lifts, less danger in accessing

the rigging, less parts and pieces, keeping things together as

much as possible... and small things, like a side-stair that works

when it's folded as well as when it's unfolded...

Simple maintenance, adequate access to systems

single hatch for motor & trans, better house for generators,

batteries, better battery systems, with easier access, easier

access to cooling & fuel & drivetrain 

Fire system

more coherent routing of hoses, separate from crank wings,

safety chairs, shrouds, reinforcement, ease of setup / takedown

Wiring and electrical systems, integrated more efficiently

rewire & repair the 110v distribution with a proper panel, 

at the generator station, with better distribution onstage

less extension cords everywhere

Better sound, more durable, more beautiful

better bass, a cleaner, more balanced system, integrated into the 

car  so it doesn't have to be all taken down every time - subs

built into the deck, all-weather speakers elsewhere - groovy horn

shapes, unconventional enclosures, custom built hifi-style 

using latest ideas - single point horns, for example, or ??

goals: DIY, unique, beautiful, vs marketable, upgradeable, replaceable

Wings and awning upgrades

To add visual impact to the car, the wings are a beautiful addition

that have been many years in the design.   The awning needs to be 

able to shed water, it needs to be durable enough to survive multiple 

seasons and the membrane be easily replaced, integrated as a package

with the furling wings, and all that entails.

Stage upgrades

more room, better wiring, better equipment, better equipment storage,

more sound gear location, enclosure, mixer, mics, anything to minimize

confusion and increase access to power supplies, amps, switches, stuff

like that.  Better access to the stage for musicians/performers with 

limited mobility.  A lift chair? 

Additional elements, suggestions?

two crows nests up the mast for jugglers, performers, aerial rigs,

interactive lights, interactive sound elements, AV (projection)

Powertrain upgrades

A modular design for the drive-unit, such that different units could 

be used for different events - a quiet, efficient PU for parades,

festivals, a fire-breathing V8 for tractor pulls.  Is that possible?

this is very much up for debate and I encourage ideas for how to make

this work!

Narrative, how this will go:

2025

The first step in the process is to ready the shop.  It's essentially an agricultural building, with a concrete floor, and a container on either side.  One will house the 'machine shop' and the other the plasma cutter & gross metalwork operations.  I've assembled the pieces, and will be putting them together this summer.  The upcoming expense will be pouring the concrete slab, which will be in September.  The goal is to have the shed up and ready to receive Acavallo after Fall Barter Faire, at the end of October.  Some work will get done over the winter, but the real goal is design time.  I need to measure things, I need to remeasure things, make a good plan for the coming summer.  With it in a place to be analyzed, I can really get into the details for the redesign, to be ready for a spring build.

2026

Spring Fundraiser party!!! put this on the calendar.  One more event before we pull her apart.

The major surgery begins.  It starts with a teardown, removing the upper structures and exposing the trailer frames beneath.  And off we go.  There's a lot to do - critical cuts, lots of critical welding, I'll be recruiting for qualified welders for the substructures.  Part of this is committing to, and sourcing, the new powertrain components, the trailering components, etc.  All of it.

2027

Sound, Wings, Detail.  Really get into the fun stuff, take the time to do it right!  Without losing that piratical edge, walking the line... but getting her details together.  And then Burning Man, whatever fixes or repairs are necessary from that experience (it will be a lot of new systems) and then she's off into the world for another 20 years!!