DeX Crown

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  Alone in the deep playa D06

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  Saturday D05

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  First DEX sunrise D05

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  Where it comes from

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  D05 deep playa

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  Lowroad dancing on Dex Subs D05

Burning Manual Page: How To Mount DeX Crown, AKA Firmament 2

Scale: Camp, Public
Categories: Mutant Vehicle, Art Installation, Lighting
Core Project: Firmament 2
Sub-Project: vehicle mount
Location: DeX rooftop deck
Skeleton Crew: 2 (+2 strong/tall people breifly for step 15)
Tools: a wrench to fit each of the nut and bolt, permanent marker
Special Skills Sought: one member of the team must have thin arms, be manually dexterous, and able to get to and crawl around on the DeX roofdeck. the other member must be able to support a steel bar at a 45 deg. angle- possibly for several minutes at a time. Both must be able to do so on a platform ~8 ft. off the ground and be able to twist a wrench.
Special Requests: to speed future assembly, when you have absolutely confirmed each bolt with each plate, mount, and location, please identify the sets with the permanent marker. one suggestion is to use 1, 2, and 3 dots for each of the 3 sets from front to back

Summary:
First, three steel mounts are affixed to the wooden rooftop deck of the DeX. After the armature of Firmament 2 has LED tubes mounted to it and is wired, it can be handed up from the ground and affixed similarly as the three deck mounts.

Assembly [if memory serves...]:
1) locate steel mounts, plates, and 12 nuts/bolts. The bolts mustn't be too long or too thick; otherwise they can't be angled into the holes in the deck.
2) pair the nuts and bolts. The shortest bolts must be used with mount where there is the least clearance between a wood plank and the bus roof.
3) the manually dexterous person with the thin arms is a Bolter and their partner is a Nutter. They get atop the DeX roof with the mounts and hardware
4) match up the holes in a square steel plates (with the 4 holes in the corners) perfectly to the holes in a plate welded onto on the deck end of each of the 3 mounts. Remember each plate and its orientation by temporarily, lightly bolting the 2 plates together, while checking each bolt for penetration of both plates and the pre-drilled roofdeck holes
5) locate the 3 sets of 4 holes in the right side of the roofdeck
6) set out 4 paired nuts/bolts with a mount; placing the longest mount in the middle. All mounts point towards the open side of the bus, so the diamond-pattern holes and mount will be the long, middle one.
7) the Bolter unbolts the plate from the mount, remembering the bolt's orientation
8) the Nutter positions a mount at a 45 deg. angle; making its bottom plate flush to the roofdeck
9) the Bolter's arm must be thin enough to fit between the DeX roof and the deck. They place the bolt back into the hole in the plate, and slide both beneath the deck
10) the Bolter pushes the bolt up through the hole in the deck, through the plate welded to the mount, and lightly screw on the nut
11) the Bolter can then retract their hand. They place the 3 remaining bolts for that mount, plus a wrench back below the deck.
12) someone screws the nut onto the first bolt, the Bolter grasps the bolt head with their wrench while the Nutter tightens the nut while still supporting the leaning weight of the steel mount. please don't over or under-tighten so it's possible to break down, but only when we want it to
13) the Bolter pushes each remaining bolt up and both secures them so the wooden deck is sandwiched in between the two steel plates
14) repeat steps 7-13 for the two remaining mounts
14.5) see special request
15) once Firmament 2 has been assembled on the ground, 2 people hand it up the the Nutter and Bolter, who use the remaining 3 sets of plates and bolts to secure the armature upright facing the open side of the DeX