A Tour of the Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem Finished! from Todd Burleson on Vimeo.

Really, She's Done!

So, I might have been a tad bit ahead of myself in declaring that she was done yesterday.  I had one last job to do; test the trailer wiring on the tow vehicle.  I had tested it before completely finishing the cabin shelf area, but not on the actual tow vehicle.  Of course, there was a problem.  Isn't there always?  I could not get the left tail light to light up.  I tested every connection that was 'visible.'  It turned out to be one that was under the shelf.  Again, good thing I made the shelf (which was covered in insulation and cedar) removable.

Removing the two panels was refreshingly easy; you never know how well things like that will work out.  In this one case, it worked as designed!

I just set the two pieces aside while I worked on the wiring.

Finally, after buying a new wire harness to 'tap' into my existing wires, I finally got it all to work.  One of my connections under the shelf had come loose.  Everything is tight and well taped.  Hopefully I'll not have a problem in a long time.  I did put electrical repair supplies in one of the 'tool boxes' in the floor storage.

The Carpe Diem with her tow vehicle.

Having the basket bolted to the tongue provided me with a rigid hand hold as I moved the teardrop to the tow dolly.  I took her on a victory lap around the block.  Ended up meeting a fella around the corner who also has a 1947 travel trailer; his is a 'Standy.'  He thought when he bought it that it would fit in his garage to let him work on it, but it didn't, so he's slowly working on it in his back yard.  Funny how folks looked at me; not sure what it is.  Can't wait to see the looks we get when we taker her on the road!

"She's Done!"

I can't believe it, but I think I can say that 'She's Done!'

I had a few of last touches that I wanted to do today.  Two of them were merely cosmetic, one was going to be very useful.  I have been waiting for weeks to be able to finally put my Carpe Diem decal on the hatch.  I think it looks incredible!

Moving to the front of the teardrop, I needed to apply my foam rock guard.  I decided against the steel diamond plate due to cost and weight.  I think the neoprene will work well for many years.  And, if it gets too messed up, I can switch it out for a very low cost.

After installing the rock guard, I carefully drilled the holes for my cargo basket.  The best part is that I've kept the tongue piece on so that if I wanted to, I could remove it and insert it on the hitch of our car quite easily.

I installed the 120 volt inverter under the shelf in the cabin.  Now we can use either 12 volt or 120 if we ever need it in the cabin.

The indoor/outdoor thermometer is easy to move about; it's simply velcroed to the side wall.  I also did a bunch of little things in the cabin:  I installed a few pieces of trim molding and put in a cedar floor in the bulkhead. 

My terrific daughter helped me finish these simple orange polka dot curtains.  They provide just the right amount of privacy while still allowing the air to move in and out.

And that's about it!  I have just a couple of small details to finish; one in the galley and one under the trailer.  Those two things will be finished easily tomorrow and then we can start planning the first road trip!  

I had the chance to show off the Carpe Diem today to a couple of friends who came by.  They were quite impressed!

Before and After Paint

Before and After Paint from Todd Burleson on Vimeo.


Teardrop Trailer Paint Job from Todd Burleson on Vimeo.

New Trim, Lots of Rivets and a Silver Rustoleum Hammered Finish!

Huge day today! Maybe the most overall visible progress of the whole project.  I started out by installing the trim pieces.  I was finally able to cut and install all of the replacement trim along the bottom of the teardrop. Next, I took the teardrop off the jacks and gave it a thorough washing. 

Before shots.  Look at the residual paint and generally gnarliness of the skin on the teardrop.

 

I ended up re-using the wheel well trim.  Now that I knew I was going to paint it, I wasn't worried about the residual paint.

This was my first shot at installing trim.  I learned how to use my pop rivet gun; my hands were quite tired by the end, but it looks awesome!

I ended up using the trim's thicker side along the bottom; this allowed me to cover a lot of the imperfections in the skin.  This is especially true and visible in the image below.  I had some really yucky trim there at the back of the teardrop.  This allowed me to be able to mask this.

The other side's trim.  Once I figured things out, it was a breeze to install this trim.  I also went ahead and filled any earlier screw holes (the knucklehead before me just drilled right through the skin to install the license plate and brake lights) with pop rivets.

The following images are all 'pre-paint.'  I wasn't able to re-take all of these photos afterward, but tomorrow I will post some before and after shots.

When I decided that rather than sand it all down and polish, I would paint it, I started noticing just how 'bad' the finish was.  I'm so glad I decided to paint it.

Here are a few images of the painting process.  One coat:

 Two coats.

Three coats.

Some places, like the roof, actually got four coats.

 Finished and all the yucky tape pulled off.  It's not perfect, but it's a heck of a lot better than it was when the day started.

I am thrilled with how it looks.  There are a couple of areas that might need to be sanded down and re-painted, but all in all I'm pleased.  Next, I am thinking a cool racing stripe in orange, and painting the rims to match!  More on that and some more before/after shots tomorrow!

Sand, Sand, Sand, Polish, Polish, Polish, Paint?

Took a trip to Harbor Freight with Jack today.  Came home with a 7 inch variable speed grinder/polisher and a 6 inch random orbit sander, lots of sanding pads, polishing compound and plans of polishing the teardrop.  How hard could it be right?

Right away we figured out that the polishing compound we were using was not the right kind.  It was impossible to get on the pads because it was too 'solid' or hard.  When we applied it by 'drawing' on the skin of the teardrop it scratched the surface pretty badly; so badly that we could not 'polish' it away.  What to do?

Jack got me working on the hatch.  We rigged up a tarp to keep the sun off of us.

We went to Advanced Auto Parts and talked to the folks there.  We decided to buy some rubbing and polishing compound.  

We tried using these new compounds.  They applied better and did 'sort of' polish, but it was clear that the surface of the teardrop was not getting 'roughed up' enough to really shine.

If you look closely you can still see the paint the seller used to mark the year and price.  Something needed to be used that was more abrasive.  Back to the auto parts store.

We came home with 400 grit sand paper.  This stuff is super fine, and it did 'scratch' up the surface a lot more than any of the compounds we used, but still not enough to really shine the surface.  Time to go back to the auto parts store.

We came back with 320 grit sand paper and started in with this.  This really got rid of the leftover paint and got rid of most of the 'worst' scratches.  We then put a coat of polish over it and tried to buff it out.  There was so much debris from the sanding, that we ended up washing the hatch down with soap and water.  Finally, I applied a really caustic aluminum 'cleaner,' that is designed for pontoon boats.  That really cut the crud and gave a uniform look to the hatch.

Here is the 'finished' hatch.  I could spend a couple of more hours sanding and polishing just this section, but I decided to clean up and stop for the day.  

Here is a shot where you can see the 'color' of the top of the teardrop and the hatch.  It isn't as shiny as I wanted it to be; I was truly hoping for that magnificent shine of the restored Airstreams, but I am not sure I'll be able to achieve that.  Which is why I started thinking about painting.  I'm going to do some research on the process of doing this.  

This guy's teardrop has a cool retro look.  

I plan to call a few body shops and inquire as to how much it might cost to have it done professionally as well as ask a few questions on the teardrops and tiny trailer forum.

Hot Day!

The temperature outside the teardrop on the patio was 102 degrees (in the shade) and the temperature inside the teardrop was 97 degrees.  I really don't like hot weather; especially when I want to work outside.  I cannot imagine how the guys who work on the roof or on the roads do it.  I took lots of breaks, drank lots of cold water, and moved my zero gravity chair into the garage to cool down.

Not a lot of photos to document my work today.  

I made the hardware for the window curtain rods and painted them glossy black.

I carved the foam pieces for the bulkhead.  Covered them in foam and then installed them.  Turns out the glue (PL 300) did not work well on the insulation (1/2") that I used on the bulkhead.  I didn't think that very thin plastic layer on top of the insulation would be a problem, but the glue only 'stuck' to it, not the actual insulation.  So, I needed to pull out four of the strips of cedar and re-glue them.  I ended up using Gorilla Glue.  I also used a little bit of it on the foam covered pieces along the wall of the bulkhead.

Used the marine grade contact cement and clamps to glue the foam door panels to the door.  They turned out fantastically!

Very carefully created a pattern for the cut out for the mattress.

Traced the pattern onto the foam mattress.  Used a $14 electric knife to cut the two small wheel well sections out; ended up with two really nice pieces of foam that I may turn into a back rest or possibly a couple of pillows for the teardrop.  Couldn't believe how easily I could cut the foam.  Two minutes and it was done.  The mattress pads fit right over the cut outs; we may not even need to customize the covers. 

Not quite as productive a day as I would have liked, but all in all it was successful.  Tomorrow is the day to start working on polishing the body.  Not sure what new experiences that will bring for me!

Razor Knife Two; Fingers Zero!

Father's Day! 

Slept in.  Got a new French Press coffee maker!  Already an awesome day!  

Started applying the contact cement to the headliner material.

Second door is perfect!  Ready to have Grace do her thing!  This is a really good shot of the molding glued into place.  Bracing it overnight fixed it right up.

Look at how nice that trim looks above the door!

Here's where the title of today's blog post comes from.  My razor knife is quite sharp.  So sharp that when I was slicing through the foam, I took the end of my pointer finger off.  It didn't hurt; sign of a sharp blade.  A bit later I sliced through the fabric and took out my middle knuckle.

Two bandages; one hand.

Got Jack to help sweep out the floor and sand and clean the excess glue off of the bulkhead.

My assistant Grace covering the second door!

The wood base under the doors is not bolted fully to the frame; long story.  I've tried jacking up the floor and bolting it together; it just pulls away when the pressure is off.  So, I've caulked, applied backer rod and then added a slice of insulation over it (see next pic) to keep all water out.

I think this is a good way to ensure that no water, ever comes up through this small seam.  The caulk, backer rod, more caulk and then the insulation strip should hopefully provide the seal I need.  Also, the mattress will compress this seal and further protect the area.

Here is the 'finished' door.  It looks pretty good, but I have to admit that I am not 'thrilled' with the imperfections I can see along the area where the window cut out is.  So, I decided to call upon my trusty garage door bottom insulation:

It's pliable, rubber, and I have 16' of it.  

After carefully gluing and using straight pins to hold it in place, I think the nearly finished product, that you can see above, looks pretty darn nice.  I also added a couple of strips over the hinges, just for looks.  I may do the same thing on the inside.

Both windows drying in the sun.  

Grace needed to get some things at the fabric store, so I tagged along.  I had, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, figured out a solution to the curtain dilemma.  So, I decided to go ahead and purchase some fabric to make the curtains.  We decided on a polka dot material, because my wife loves them.  The main color is orange with a cream field.  Can't wait to design some curtains and have my incredibly talented daughter sew them for me.

After an amazing dinner at Red Lobster, I came home to find my door panels all ready to install.  Don't they look awesome?  I am SO happy with how they look.  I am feeling incredibly pleased with the finished product of the Carpe Diem's inside.  With all of the improvements, I don't know that I could have 'built' one from scratch that would have been better!  As a guy who takes a lot of pride in his work, that's saying an awful lot!

Tomorrow:  tiny finish details in the bulkhead and a few small trim pieces to install in the shelving and bulkhead compartments.  Then, it's off to Harbor Freight to buy a 7" variable speed 'grinder' to begin the process of polishing this baby back to its original beauty on the outside!