Lots of Paint

I had no idea when I first thought of painting the inside of my teardrop how much paint I would use.  I decided to use paint to seal the door and window frames and I thought I would use the same paint to give the interior of the cabin a fresh look.  (It was originally painted a pale turquoise that reminded me of a trip I took to Florida in 1979 when just about everything was that color!)  I think I've gone through 8 or 9 cans of Rustoleum gloss gray paint!

However, I am very happy with the result.  The inside is looking terrific.
Along with the screen windows, which are painted black, I painted the sliding doors on the bulkhead black.  I like the effect of the accent color on the interior.  The biggest lesson I learned from painting the interior is to be patient and to use a mask and gloves!  Thank goodness I had a mask with a nice respirator on it because the outside of the mask was nearly completely gray by the time I finished painting the inside.

I also ended up making another set of screen window frames; I'm such a perfectionist that the first set of  frames did not meet my standards.  That took less time than I thought because I bought the finest toothed saw blade I could.  It cut smoothly and with very little splintering.  That made finishing a breeze.  So, with new screen window fixtures, I began considering a couple other design issues.

The original hinge on the hatch was missing the hinge on both sides.  I had started to replace the hinge with a 1" hinge I found at the hardware store.  This worked okay, but the previous owner decided to drill new holes for the hinge they installed.  So, even with the new hinge, there were still holes in the hatch and the area above the hatch.  I had attempted to fill these holes with rivets, but the rivet holes were too large and they don't make a rivet large enough that will work in my rivet tool. That's when I thought about using a larger hinge.

I picked up a 2.5 inch from the hardware store.  This hinge would cover the holes from both of the previous hinges and would be a bit 'beefier.'  I hope to give this a try soon.  My only concern is whether the hinge holes will leak.  I'll caulk the hinge and the holes when I put them on.  This way, it will be both cosmetically and structurally sound.  One issue that creeps up by choosing these larger hinges is how to fasten them.  I might be able to rivet them, if I use a hole that my rivet gun can fill.  I will try that first.  If it does not work, I have purchased bolts that I could use and then I'll need to route out a channel in the screen window frame to make up for the additional space on the interior that the bolt requires.

With the interior nearly finished, at least at this stage, the cabin is close to being water tight.  The only other cabin related item I have planned is to build the storage boxes into the floor.  I have to investigate how the frame connects to the plywood subfloor.  If its possible, I am excited to build some storage space into the floor.  This will open up the bulkhead for more storage too.  I like how Joanne used aluminum to cover the edges of the hatch and the lids.  I plan to use a similar design.

I'm waiting on my hatch hinge, door and hatch locks and body trim to arrive.  While I wait for those items, I am planning to remove the aluminum cabinets from the hatch as well as the hatch cover.  By removing the hatch, I will be able to paint and rivet the non-essential holes in it much more easily. Once all of the cabinets are removed, I can start designing the galley and treating both the floor inside the galley and the cabin.

There are several pieces of metal, I believe they are aluminum, that are critical to the structural integrity of the teardrop.  These pieces fit on the floor of the galley and on the actual galley hatch. Thankfully, these pieces were kept by the previous owner, but they are in terrible condition.  (I found them when I was cleaning out the teardrop).  I hope to be able to hammer them back into shape and re-use them.  I doubt that it would be possible to find replacements for them, they are strange angles and shapes.  I discovered yesterday at Lowes that there is a spray for galvanized metal that 'restores' it to its original finish.  I may give that a shot on this trim once I've gotten it back to its original shape.


Quick note on the electrical design.  I want to remember to use 'connectors' for both the tail lights and galley light fixture.  This will make it simpler for me to remove the hatch, if I ever had to do so, without cutting all of my electrical wires.

I found this DC electrical panel from West Marine.  I like that it has LED's that light up and that it has two 12 volt receptacles built into it.  I'm thinking that if I used this panel in the galley, I could just use those two receptacles for the galley.  This would save me a bit of work wiring the two additional outlets.  Then, I would only have to put the two in the cabin.  This would also allow me to use the four circuit panel because I would only have four additional circuits.

 

I will add a tiny volt meter to my electrical box in the galley.  I have seen several that would fit the bill.  Will probably go with a red one to match the LED's on the breaker panel.  

The weekend can't come soon enough!